Do you know if they sell this kit without the SSD? https://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/K27IM12HP1TB/
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Can I upgrade iMac (Late 2015) fusion drive to SSD?
- Thread starter JazzyJacck
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Yes
https://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/DIYIMACHDD12/
Remember that you still need a 2.5" to 3.5" drive bracket.
I also recommend the iMac Service Wedge just to make the upgrade easier.
https://www.amazon.com/iMac-Two-One-Service-Wedge/dp/B0781GF4MR
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I was wondering if there was one that also came with the bracket, but I can't find it so I guess there's not. I could try emailing them to ask. But I wonder if just buying the bracket from amazon would be the same price if it came bundled.
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I am also thinking of upgrading my ram from 16 GB to 32 GB. Can I buy another 16 GB or ram and put that in along with the existing 16 GB or do I need to buy 32 GB?
Your Mac contains 4 memory slots, each of which accepts a 1867 MHz DDR3 memory module. 2 memory slots in use, 2 available. 16 GB installed, so I could have 32 GB total.
Do I have to buy a whole 32 GB or can I just buy another 16 GB and put it in with the existing 16 GB?
Also do you know if it's possible to upgrade the SSD portion of the fusion drive? I don't want to have a fusion drive configuration, I want to break them up and replace the HDD with an SSD, but I was wondering if I could replace the existing SSD for something with more room because I believe the existing SSD is only 24 GB.
You can buy another 16GB.
The SSD that Apple use is proprietary.
Technically, you can replace it and Transcend actually sells it, but it's crazy expensive
https://www.amazon.com/Transcend-240GB-JetDrive-Solid-TS240GJDM820/dp/B075H9QLJC/
I don't recommend it.
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It says here that the SSD for my model was produced by Samsung. https://beetstech.com/blog/apple-proprietary-ssd-ultimate-guide-to-specs-and-upgrades#hdr-21
Do you know if this one would work? https://beetstech.com/product/solid-state-drive-256gb-655-1858
And do you know if it would be hard to install?
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Yes, but $211.20 for 256GB is pretty outrageous.
It's four times the cost of a 2.5" hard drive.
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Yeah that's why I didn't get the SSD when I bought my Mac. Though at the time I didn't know that fusion drives were bad for audio.
iMacs before the Late 2015 models only have PCIe 2.0 x2 connections on their SSD drives, the maximum throughput you could expect over an SSD is 800 MB/sec. Apple says it's a 5 Gb/s connection on 2012-2014 models, which in turn chops it down to no more than 625 MB/sec in ideal conditions.
Most modern platter-based hard drives don't push more than 150- 200 MB/sec.
Most modern platter-based hard drives don't push more than 150- 200 MB/sec.
So what does this have to do with my situation being that I have a Late 2015 iMac?
So what if I had a Samsung 970 Pro with some sort of external thunderbolt enclosure? Would it run as fast/as well as an internal proprietary PCIe SSD? And do you know of any good thunderbolt enclosures?
For mine I would connect the Samsung to a USB3 enclosure. I run two backups, both Kingston Now 300 SSDs, one connected via TB and the second via USB3. Running SuperDuper to make a clone using Smart Backup on each at the same time, one runs the backup one second faster than the other!
Why not thunderbolt? And also what are some good enclosures? I think my machine uses Thunderbolt 2.
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Note that as of now, you can replace the hard drive with just about anything and you do NOT need the cable. There's a program called Macs Fan Control that will throttle the fan for you based on any number of criteria. I've seen reports of success upgrading 2017 the blade part of fusion drives using adapters, and as of High Sierra, the macOS now supports other than Apple SSDs. Supposedly most NVMe SSDs work, with the exception of Samsung's 970 EVO Plus for some reason.
Funny how one year later can dramatically reduce prices. You can now get that custom OWC Aura for a third of the price now. I recently installed it in my late 2012 iMac and an 8TB WD Red HDD in the HDD location. Both run beautifully. The OWC SDD running under Mojave is giving me 485 MBps writes and 525 MBps reads. The WD Red Drive up to 185 MBps.
This was a good thread.
I was under the impression that the SSD flash was installed on the HDD in the fusion drive for the late 2015. I guess I’m wrong about that?
I took apart entire iMac and addd m.2 vm e flash drive
Feather M13 Turbo SSD - 256GB to 4TB Upgrade
Compatible with NVMe 2280 SSD Macbooks, Macs, and iMacs from 2013-2019. Turbocharged performance using the latest in PCIe NVMe interface technology, reach speeds up to 3100 MB/s read and 2700 MB/s write with no speed drop-offs regardless of capacity used. Breathe new life your Mac without...
And add another Reuther ssd so is I have 2 Tab for is and 2TB for data took me 6 hours carefully to screw up the screen or bend anything