iMac Late 2009

[rusty_nickle]

Hello everyone! I'm completely new to Mac and Mac OS.
Last year I got a used iMac Late 2009 (i7, 8GB Ram, 500GB, 27 inch) for 100 euro and I'm loving it. Decided to upgrade the HDD to SSD and the Ram from 8 to 16 GB as it is a little slow, but still up and running pretty smooth. I need some help tho.. I'm not sure that what I find online is right for me, so I wanted to ask somebody with experience. What is the process of exchanging the drives? Can I just make a bootable USB with the OS, put the new SSD in and boot the USB to install?

Thanks for your help guys!

 

[mbosse]

Hello everyone! I'm completely new to Mac and Mac OS.
Last year I got a used iMac Late 2009 (i7, 8GB Ram, 500GB, 27 inch) for 100 euro and I'm loving it. Decided to upgrade the HDD to SSD and the Ram from 8 to 16 GB as it is a little slow, but still up and running pretty smooth. I need some help tho.. I'm not sure that what I find online is right for me, so I wanted to ask somebody with experience. What is the process of exchanging the drives? Can I just make a bootable USB with the OS, put the new SSD in and boot the USB to install?

Thanks for your help guys!

Exactly like this: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201372

One caveat though: after you replace the original drive with the SSD, the fans will blow at full speed as its temperature cannot be read by macOS. There are a few solutions, sorted for price:

1. install Mac Fan Control (free)
2. source a temperature sensor for the optical drive, those go around for a few € (this is what I did with my Dad's iMac): https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...ay.2242303/page-2?post=28620878#post-28620878
3. buy an OWC adapter with temperature sensor

Given the install-once-and-forget combined with low investments, I'd opt for (2).

Magnus

P.S.: My Dad has the very same machine, I also put in a Samsung SSD - runs marvellously!