Can I install 2nd SSD in iMac?

[xibuh]

Hi

I have a mid-2011 27" iMac.

I have TOSHIBA 256GB SSD in SATA 1, and my question is Can I install 2nd SSD in SATA2? That TOSHIBA disk have Apple logo, and I want to install 500GB Samsung. Can it work?



With gratitude

 

[DeltaMac]

Yes. your mid-2011, 27-inch iMac was available new with 2 drives, (HDD and SSD) as one configuration.
So, if you do not have dual drives already, you just need to add the SATA cable for the second SATA drive.
iFixit has a kit to do that, and shows the steps to do the upgrade install - https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Installing+iMac+Intel+27-Inch+EMC+2429+Dual+Drive+Kit+(HDD+or+SSD)/7575

 

[xibuh]

Yes. your mid-2011, 27-inch iMac was available new with 2 drives, (HDD and SSD) as one configuration.
So, if you do not have dual drives already, you just need to add the SATA cable for the second SATA drive.
iFixit has a kit to do that, and shows the steps to do the upgrade install - https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Installing+iMac+Intel+27-Inch+EMC+2429+Dual+Drive+Kit+(HDD+or+SSD)/7575

thanks a lot

 

[Fishrrman]

You can do this, but my opinion (and it's ONLY "my opinion") is that it's not worth the time, trouble and money to do this on an iMac that is now almost 13 years old. Like I said, just my opinion.

 

[Juicy Box]

I have a mid-2011 27" iMac.

The Mid 2011 iMac is very interesting, and one of my favorite iMacs.

It has three internal SATA connectors on the logic board, two SATAIII and one SATAII connector, making it possible to install three SSDs internally. I owned two of these before, and one of them, I set it up for an internally striping RAID as the boot drive.

Other interesting things about it, you can replace the GPU, making it one of the only iMacs (and Macs) that it is possible to have a non-OEM GPU.

It is popular to mod, not only the GPU and drives, but also the CPU, and even install internal USB3 on this older Mac with only USB2. You can also get USB3 from the TB1 port as well.

The ODD is removable, allowing for a third SSD to be installed, but not only that, you can run a long SATA cable out of the ODD slot, making it easy to change out the SATA drive.

It is a lot faster to replace the ODD with a SSD than to install a SSD using the second SATAIII connector, which required the removal of the logic board to run the SATA cable.

If you are comfortable opening up the iMac, and have done it a few times, you can replace the ODD with a SATA SSD in about 20 minutes.