Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

External bootable SSD for iMac 27k mid 2015

K

karless

macrumors member
Original poster
Feb 10, 2013
61
9
Athens,Greece
Hello , it’s time to update my iMac which has 1 TB HDD, and I am looking to buy an external SSD to boot Big Sur.

What’s your opinion for Samsung T7 1TB?or if you can recommend me some other models.
 
You should be able to use the t7 with a USBc-to-USBa connecting cable.

But remember that you're only going to get USB3 speeds with a 2015 iMac.

A t5 or a "build-it-yourself" drive would do as well.
May cost a little less, too.
 
Fishrrman said:
You should be able to use the t7 with a USBc-to-USBa connecting cable.

But remember that you're only going to get USB3 speeds with a 2015 iMac.

A t5 or a "build-it-yourself" drive would do as well.
May cost a little less, too.
Click to expand...

Can you recommend me a usb 3 external usb?what about WD my passport go?
 
Fishrrman said:
You could buy a "bare" 2.5" SATA SSD.
I like Crucial and Sandisk.
Shop "for price", not speed.

Then, put it into an enclosure like this:
tinyurl.com

SABRENT 2.5 Inch SATA to USB 3.0 Tool Free External Hard Drive Enclosure [Optimized for SSD, Support UASP SATA III] Black (EC-UASP)

SABRENT 2.5 Inch SATA to USB 3.0 Tool Free External Hard Drive Enclosure [Optimized for SSD, Support UASP SATA III] Black (EC-UASP)
tinyurl.com

This should be all you need...
Click to expand...

Thanx for your advice

SATA III?
 
As an Amazon Associate, MacRumors earns a commission from qualifying purchases made through links in this post.
karless said:
Can you recommend me some?
Click to expand...

I would buy Samsung EVO 860 1TB for good price, or Samsung 970 pro 1TB for a bit luxury feeling.

www.amazon.com

Samsung SSD 860 EVO 1TB 2.5 Inch SATA III Internal SSD (MZ-76E1T0B/AM)

The SSD you trust: The newest edition to the world's best-selling SATA SSD series, the Samsung 860 EVO SSD is specially designed to enhance performance of mainstream PCs and laptops. With the latest V-NAND technology, this fast and reliable Solid State Drive comes in a wide range of compatible fo...
www.amazon.com

For other brands, you should look in the details of warranty policy, The brands that offer higher TBW in their warranty policy should be favored more.

For the below combination of factors, you may have a quite interesting offer of SSD from Nimbus Data

- 3.5in form factor
- high capacity (up to 100TB)
- SATA III interface.
- exotic price. (~$40,000)
 
As an Amazon Associate, MacRumors earns a commission from qualifying purchases made through links in this post.
I'm going to go AGAINST Nguyen's recommendation for Samsung.
More folks seem to have problems with them, then with drives from other manufacturers.

Again, I'd suggest Crucial or Sandisk.
You DON'T need to spend much $$$ -- just buy "for price".

Don't "over-think" this. Just buy a drive, put it into the enclosure, and... get down to business.

My opinion only.
Others will disagree.
Some will disagree vehemently...
 
Fishrrman said:
I'm going to go AGAINST Nguyen's recommendation for Samsung.
More folks seem to have problems with them, then with drives from other manufacturers.

Again, I'd suggest Crucial or Sandisk.
You DON'T need to spend much $$$ -- just buy "for price".

Don't "over-think" this. Just buy a drive, put it into the enclosure, and... get down to business.

My opinion only.
Others will disagree.
Some will disagree vehemently...
Click to expand...

Thank you , do you advice to open my iMac and install is as internal ?i that’s seen that sata is faster than usb 3
 
If you open the Mac, you need confidence in your skills and abilities to do the job.
It can be easy to break something inside.

That's why I usually recommend a USB3 external SSD as an alternative.
Cheap, fast, easy... and no risk of breaking something inside.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back