External SSD Boot Drive for iMac?

[UnluckyXIII]

Hey,

Wondering if anyone can offer some advice with this, my Mum owns an old iMac (2009-2011 - would have to check for exact model). Anyway, it’s a fairly old system now, it definitely doesn’t get daily use so upgrading to a new 2019 model would just be crazy, the only real issue is that it feels really slow to use, last month I replaced the 5400 HDD in her laptop with a SATA SSD and the difference is night and day. I would like to hopefully do the same now but for her iMac (I also have 8gb of RAM I could install as I believe it’s only got 4gb), although looking at things, replacing the iMac HDD appears like extensive work so I was wondering if there was a way to use an external SSD as a boot drive?

Appreciate the help,
XIII

 

[nambuccaheadsau]

Depends entirely on the exact model. Late 2011 21.5" iMac model 12.1`or the 27" iMac12.2 have Thunderbolt and using an external SSD via a TB caddy wiull work great. Did this with a 27" model 2011 and it was a top solution. Alas earlier models do njot have Thunderbolt and USB2 is so s-l-o-w as to be impractical.

These models are prwetty easy to crcack open and replace the hard drive with say an OWC SSD and fitment kit.

OWC SSD Upgrade Kits for 27-Inch iMac 2010

Get everything you need to upgrade your 2010 27-inch iMac SSD for a total system performance and capacity boost. All SSDs backed by a lifetime warranty.

eshop.macsales.com

 

[UnluckyXIII]

Depends entirely on the exact model. Late 2011 21.5" iMac model 12.1`or the 27" iMac12.2 have Thunderbolt and using an external SSD via a TB caddy wiull work great. Did this with a 27" model 2011 and it was a top solution. Alas earlier models do njot have Thunderbolt and USB2 is so s-l-o-w as to be impractical.

These models are prwetty easy to crcack open and replace the hard drive with say an OWC SSD and fitment kit.

OWC SSD Upgrade Kits for 27-Inch iMac 2010

Get everything you need to upgrade your 2010 27-inch iMac SSD for a total system performance and capacity boost. All SSDs backed by a lifetime warranty.

eshop.macsales.com

On checking it’s an early 2009 20” iMac, it has 4 x USB 2.0 and 1 x FW-800 on the rear IO, with the USB 2.0 only offering around 60/MBps transfer rate it’s definitely too slow (the 5400rpm HDD will be giving around 100/MBps) but the FW-800 would be a viable option as it’s transfer capacity would match and exceed the transfer rate of a standard SSD (shame finding a FW-800 SSD is as rare as rocking horse poop).

The video I’ve seen of an iMac tear down made it look rather troublesome as the only access point is going through and behind the screen, with lots of fiddly stages to successfully remove the glass & LED panel before you can start the process of swapping out the HDD (this is why I had explored the possibility of an external solution as getting inside the iMac system is not as easy/simple as removing a rear laptop panel and unscrewing a few screws holding the HDD in place), my worry in removing the front glass and LED panel are the risk of damaging the small connectors between them and the rear part of the system and more likely that dust/particles end up in between the glass and LED panel as I won’t be performing the task in a controlled environment (such as pressurised nitrogen glovebox) and then there’s the worry that the front doesn’t go back nice and flush after completing the task, heaven forbid I break it when it’s technically “working perfectly”.

So, putting the internal option to one side for now, if I could locate a FW-800 enclosure is it feasible to utilise that as a boot drive and what potential limitations would it impose on me (I’ve read of people no longer being able to put their system into sleep for example), beyond that is there anything else I would be required to know before undertaking the task?

Thanks a lot,
XIII

 

[nambuccaheadsau]

For mine it will be too slow. Coming up to eleven years old it has had a great run.

 

[Fishrrman]

A 2009-11 iMac doesn't have USB ports with a speed high enough to make good use of a USB3 SSD.

It might have a thunderbolt port, but external thunderbolt2 SSDs are expensive (compared to USB3 SSDs).

You could open up the computer and replace the internal HDD with an SSD, but that can be a daunting procedure, with the risk of breaking something inside.

It might be time to consider either something new or Apple-refurbished for "the desktop".

 

[Trusteft]

USB 2.0 speeds were good about 20 years ago, but not so much today. The problem is that even for the simplest programs (all things considered) everything has gotten bigger, including size of programs. Even when it is not necessary.
While a USB 2.0 drive would work, with the modern OS and programs size I do not think she would get much increase performance, more like none at best.
What you could do is use an external USB 2.0 drive for other things, documents, files in general and use the internal drive just for the OS. This might give you a boost in performance as the internal mechanical drive won't have to work as hard when multitasking.