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Hello Everybody!! I have a late 2012, 27" iMac which Im planning to upgrade to flash SSD. Are there any recommendations on hardware options and tools that I need to prepare with? What would be some of the limitations and issues that I should expect? Thanks! Laksh
@Laks Gandikota - The issue is which interface you are planning on using. If you are trying to use the PCIe blade SSD connector to put an M.2 Samsung 850 SSD it won’t work as your system can’t take M.2 SSD’s. If you are thinking of replacing your SATA HD for a SSD then the SATA Samsung 850 SSD will work. If you still want to use the PCIe slot you’ll need to get a real Apple SSD which is quite expensive! Or you can go with OWC’s blade SSD option OWC SSD Flash Storage Upgrades iMac 27" 2012 But! Before you do this lets look at the drives throughput which is what most people are looking at (faster). The SATA III HD interface this system offers is 6.0 Gb/s (75 MB) the PCIe (2 lane) blade drive interface offers 5GT/s (500 MB). Now lets look at Thunderbolt 2 It offers 20Gb/s (2 GB/s) which is still faster! Remember this is the theoretical throughput must drives (HD’s & SSD’s) discretely can’t push or receive the data at this rate. Only RAID’ed drive sets (SSD’s) can get dam close with todays technology. So what makes sense here? Leave your internal drives alone and go with an external RAID drive set it will offer the best bang for the dollar here. This is what we are using: ThunderBay 4 mini which offers a sustained 1.35 TB of throughput! Here’s a good writeup: Theoretical vs. Actual Bandwidth: PCI Express and Thunderbolt Now here’s the last shoe to fall … This series are a bear to open! You need to be very careful pulling off the display assembly if not you can damage it which would be an expensive mistake. Second getting to the blade SSD slot requires pulling the entire logic board out. Here are the IFIXIT guides: iMac Intel 27" EMC 2546 Hard Drive ReplacementiMac Intel 27" EMC 2546 Blade SSD Replacement In addition, if you swap out the HD you’ll need a replacement thermal sensor: OWC In-line Digital Thermal Sensor for Hard Drive Upgrade for 27" iMacs 2012 and Later and you’ll need an adapter frame like this one: OWC 2.5" to 3.5" Drive Adapter Bracket.
I personally use a Samsung 250GB SSD but the hardware really depends on your company and storage size preferences. The tools you should have on hand are phillips and torx screwdrivers. I believe the screw size on the hard drive mounting bracket are T6. You can just use your fingers to pry off the screen but that can be painful and if you move to quickly you might accidentally rip a wire out so I recommend using an opening pick which of course you can find in the ifixit store. I would also have a soft mat on hand to lay the screen on so you don’t scratch it. You really shouldn’t run into any limitations since your Mac was made before they decided to remove the ability to customize your internal hardware. As long as you have a basic knowledge of what is on the inside of your mac you should be fine. Double check the repair guides to see if you can find a step by step on how to safely open up your Mac.
