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How-to: Upgrade your 27" iMac with an SSD drive

I did the upgrade yesterday on my new 27" iMac and I wanted to add some information to the original post that some might find helpful.

1. The photo does not show the right/all screws that you have to remove!

1. Two screws on the left heatsink. The third one is not necessary since it only connects the heatsink to the bracket
2. Two screws on the right heatsink, that's correct (Actually, I think you could even do with removing just one screw on each heatsink, since the two always seem to have sort of a suspension function, connected by a tiny metal piece.)
3. Four screws on the logic board itself. There is one hidden near the bottom of the iMac on the right (of the photo) underneath a wide black cable, don't forget that
4. One screw on the metallic bracket that connects the left heatsink to the logic board. It is marked with an arrow. It also connects the logic board to the enclosure!

I have indicated the screws positions an ifixit's last year's iMac since I don't have a hi-res photo. The position seemed to be the same.

2. You don't necessarily need an angled SATA cable

I had one, but it turned out the angled part was to big. The non-angled side of the cable however was small enough to fit by folding the cable.



I have also indicated the position of SATA connectors on the logic board (underneath, of course) since I could find no information anywhere on that and thought it could've been very helpful.

My iMac now works wonderfully with a 160GB Postville and a 2TB Samsung F4.

I hope this helps.
 

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That's correct! I've done the same to mine today, and I search this nice thread do contribute do it, but the last poster done it first and very well.

I've removed HDD and installed on the same place an excellent 2.5>3.5 adapter that can take 2 SSD drives. Check attachments.

To insert the new SATA cable, I just lift up a little the logic board, but I had to remove all wires first, for precaution. Be careful with cable positioning.

I used a left angled cable, and this was a perfect choice, as the cable comes straight out of the logic board, and it's very easy to attach to SATA connector.

I also used a Y-cable sata power connector to get the juice of the HDD mains cable.

So, now I have a dual slot SSD with all the cabling ready. I have only installed one SSD, but since i plan to install another, this setup is already done.

Kudos to OP. Without his clear instructions would be much more difficult.
 

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wirelessness said:
It is not true that you can only use Sandforce controller based SSD's in OSX. Obviously that is not the case because all of the SSD's installed OEM from Apple are NOT Sandforce based. The Toshiba's do not use Sandforce controllers.

What you need is a drive that supports background garbage collection which. Most of the newer drives support this. The only top tier drive that I think is not optimal as far as long term wear leveling/bgc are the Crucial Real models. Which is too bad because they are awesome drives.

As for that G.Skill Phoenix Pro drive you linked. That is an AWESOME drive. It is one of the very few drives on the market right now outside of OCZ Vertex 2 models that have the latest Sandforce firmware unlocking the drives max IOPS up to 50,000. Is this a big deal? Probably not, but considering they are priced very similarly to other drives that do not support this feature yet (like the Patriot Inferno) there is no reason not to buy a drive that doesn't have the same capabilities as the Vertex 2 models.

I don't want to be opening my iMac up a bunch of times to replace or upgrade the SSD drive so my plan is to get the most available space and the best performing drive I can afford and make this upgrade last.
Click to expand...

Did the install over the weekend ...
photostream


http://www.flickr.com/photos/srikeshava/5006123435/sizes/l/in/photostream/
 
How the contents (like OS) should be managed?

Format the SSD to bootable type in external box => put it in => now imac has two bootable HD's.

- How can I then install OS to SSD and erase the 1TB orig.?

- I suppose the orig. 1TB should be formatted to non bootable, right?

- Is there any jumpers on the orig. 1TB that need to be put to slave position or something like that?
 
Jukka said:
How the contents (like OS) should be managed?

Format the SSD to bootable type in external box => put it in => now imac has two bootable HD's.

- How can I then install OS to SSD and erase the 1TB orig.?

- I suppose the orig. 1TB should be formatted to non bootable, right?

- Is there any jumpers on the orig. 1TB that need to be put to slave position or something like that?
Click to expand...

Put the CD in and choose the HDD you want to install too. You won't be able to see the SSD right away as it will be unformatted. Format it, then install to that HDD.
 
agon said:
... it can be very dangerous since we split the alim cable and the default iMac alim (without SSD option) is barely enough to support them. Also warned me about overheating.
Click to expand...

Is this really a concern? Can anyone elaborate?
 
lbeck said:
Is this really a concern? Can anyone elaborate?
Click to expand...

Splitting the power cable is not an issue at all. Neither is heat. This is complete BS!!!!!!! How do you think the Apple SSD option works?

WD 1TB uses 1watt at idle and up to 8-9 watts of power under use.

Most SSD's use .5watt at idle and up to 2 watts of power under use.

Do you see a problem here? I sure don't.
 
Heat would be LESS with an SSD vs. and HDD by 1000%. Same for the optical drive. The optical drive gets very hot. If you replace both with SSD's you would dramatically reduce your heat output.
 
wirelessness said:
Heat would be LESS with an SSD vs. and HDD by 1000%. Same for the optical drive. The optical drive gets very hot. If you replace both with SSD's you would dramatically reduce your heat output.
Click to expand...

I currently have a 2TB Hitatchi drive and will be installing a 120GB SSD to go along with it. Would that be an issue since my drive is a 2TB and not a 1TB. Do they use more power?
 
lbeck said:
I currently have a 2TB Hitatchi drive and will be installing a 120GB SSD to go along with it. Would that be an issue since my drive is a 2TB and not a 1TB. Do they use more power?
Click to expand...

There is no issue adding an SSD with any internal HD.

There is no issue with heat or power when running SSD's in your iMac. You will run out of SATA ports long before you run out of power.

Apple sells the 2TB drive with a 256GB SSD. Why would there be a problem with yours?

THERE IS NO PROBLEM!!!!!!!!
 
symbology said:
There is no issue adding an SSD with any internal HD.

There is no issue with heat or power when running SSD's in your iMac. You will run out of SATA ports long before you run out of power.

Apple sells the 2TB drive with a 256GB SSD. Why would there be a problem with yours?

THERE IS NO PROBLEM!!!!!!!!
Click to expand...

Thanks man, just making sure. My new iMac is like a third child to me, I dont want to screw it up :)
 
nurivo said:
I did the upgrade yesterday on my new 27" iMac and I wanted to add some information to the original post that some might find helpful.

1. The photo does not show the right/all screws that you have to remove!

1. Two screws on the left heatsink. The third one is not necessary since it only connects the heatsink to the bracket
2. Two screws on the right heatsink, that's correct (Actually, I think you could even do with removing just one screw on each heatsink, since the two always seem to have sort of a suspension function, connected by a tiny metal piece.)
3. Four screws on the logic board itself. There is one hidden near the bottom of the iMac on the right (of the photo) underneath a wide black cable, don't forget that
4. One screw on the metallic bracket that connects the left heatsink to the logic board. It is marked with an arrow. It also connects the logic board to the enclosure!

I have indicated the screws positions an ifixit's last year's iMac since I don't have a hi-res photo. The position seemed to be the same.

2. You don't necessarily need an angled SATA cable

I had one, but it turned out the angled part was to big. The non-angled side of the cable however was small enough to fit by folding the cable.



I have also indicated the position of SATA connectors on the logic board (underneath, of course) since I could find no information anywhere on that and thought it could've been very helpful.

My iMac now works wonderfully with a 160GB Postville and a 2TB Samsung F4.

I hope this helps.
Click to expand...

Did your Samsung F4 come originally with your iMac or did you swap it with the HDD that came with it?

If you swapped it, did you not face the issue with Apple's proprietary temperature sensor cable? http://blog.macsales.com/2751-proprietary-cable-can-put-the-brakes-on-upgrading-late-09-imacs

I was under the impression that iMacs ship with either Seagate, Hitachi or a WD drive but mine comes with a 1Tb Samsung, which I'm hoping to replace with a 2Tb WD Caviar Black (and use the Samsung as my backup). The only thing that's stopping me is that temperature cable :(
 
If i decide to add a ssd to my 09 imac 27" will i still be able to keep my HDD in there or I have to remove it?
 
If I just wanted to replace the current iMac hard drive with an SSD, would I still need to remove all of this or is there an easier way?

Thanks,

Wes
 
I am going to install a patriot inferno 120gb and seagate 2tb in my 2010 iMac. Will I have a problem with the temp sensor on the seagate?

Also what happens when I first boot with 2 unformatted drives. I have never installed osx before. Thanks.
 
great/outstanding tutorial but very very tricky, especially the first part with the glass release from body the point where you must lift it 30degrees, i didnt get that. so i was wondering for those tricky parts will it be easy to make a video of the whole thing? i may be asking for too mutch i know, buit only a video tutorial can be really explanatory on hard subjects like this... so how about a detailed video tutorial? ;)
 
The glass part is easy. With the imac on a desk you just pull the glass at the top towards you using the suckers. Only pull it towards you about 5 inches then lift upwards and it just pops out.
 
ok

1. but the glass is connected with cable with the rest of the body, so did i get it right, 5" is all i can pull it?

2. where can i get detailed 2D plans of the glass (check out what i wanna do https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1040867/)

3. is there anything else connected to the glass that can be taken of it?

4. has anyone got a photo of the glass (taken out) in detail so i can inspect it?
 
WesCole said:
If I just wanted to replace the current iMac hard drive with an SSD, would I still need to remove all of this or is there an easier way?

Thanks,

Wes
Click to expand...

No!
Actually the procedure is very easy if you want to replace your HD with a SSD.

You only need to partly lift your LCD screen
After that you already have direct access to your HD.
You only need to unscrew your HD, disconnect the Sata cable and temp sensor cable.

The temp sensor cable needs to be shortcutted.
Install your SSD, connect sat cable and reassemble.

It took me under 30 minutes to perform the whole operation.
 
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