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Model A1418 / Late 2013 / 2.7 & 2.9 GHz Core i5 or 3.1 GHz Core i7 Processor

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Is it possible to add an ssd to this model?

I have already looked into purchasing some Ram to upgrade my iMac, however i got a suggestion in another forum about being able to add and ssd. The version i have doesn't originally have an ssd. In the spec it seems it is possible to do. I wanted to know what model of sad is specifically compatible with this mac.

ty in advance

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Just a warning here: These newer thin series are much harder to open than the previous series. Many people have shied away from trying to open let alone upgrade them. IFIXIT rates it a 2 out of 10 for repairability.

OK, your going for it ;-} here's the deal:

First to replace the RAM you'll need to take the logic board out to get to the memory sockets. Here's the IFIXIT guide on what you'll need to do: iMac Intel 21.5" EMC 2638 RAM Replacement

The SSD is a bit more involved here...

First you'll need to decide which way you're going to go here. The first option is to install the special Apple SSD into the M.2 slot which is designed for the SSD. That way you'll have a dual drive setup which you could create a Fusion drive with your HD. Only problem here is getting the correct SSD Apple is still the only source for the SSD. Both Other World Computing & Transcend so far have no options for the newer iMac's. You might be able to find a used original Apple SSD on eBay for this model but so far they are hard to find or are junk units being sold as real Apple part which they aren't and they won't work. Here's the IFIXIT guide if you can get the correct SSD: iMac Intel 21.5" EMC 2638 SSD Replacement

OK, is there something better here?? Yep! I would get a Seagate SSHD hybrid HD which while not quite as fast as a SSD it's dam close! Here you get the best of both a SSD for the high speed cache and the HD for its deep storage. Here's Seagate's web site: Seagate 2.5" SSHD's and here's the IFIXIT guide: iMac Intel 21.5" EMC 2638 Hard Drive Replacement and it will take less work.

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iMac Intel 21.5" EMC 2638 Hard Drive Replacement

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1 - 2 hours

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iMac Intel 21.5" EMC 2638 RAM Replacement

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45 minutes - 1 hour

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iMac Intel 21.5" EMC 2638 Blade SSD Replacement

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1 - 3 hours

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Hi! Is it possible to use Toshiba models? Like this one, for example - http://www.toshiba.com/us/accessories/St...

The reason to use Toshiba instead of Seagate is a better reviews for Toshiba! Especially in durability!

What do you think?

By the way - what manufacturer Apple uses - Seagate?

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Today there is really only two HD companies: Seagate & Western Digital. Both own or in partnership with some smaller companies like HGST, LaCie & Toshiba. Within the last few years after the floods in Thaiand destroyed the production equipment for many companies in the process of rebuilding the quality issues of the past have been resolved. Today all of the drive companies products are equal so picking one over the other makes little sense.

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As to using the Toshiba SSHD here I don't see any reason not to. In other systems it wouldn't work as this drive has a fixed SATA port (SATA III only) where Seagate'd drive offers auto sensing of the SATA pots speed and will set its self to the correct SATA I/O speed. In your case your system has a SATA III (6.0 Gb/s) SATA port and so does the drive.

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Hi, Dan! Thanks for that deep knowledge in this field of study. The only thing which stops me from choosing either SSHD either additional SSD 128 Gb is the question - how to choose the "correct SSD" (above quote)? There was no instructions - how to choose it, only - how to replace... I got a 2013 late Imac - so, how can i find a correct model?

As a matter of fact it's much cheeper to replace a main HDD by SSHD, but i'm planing to replace RAM also, so it makes no difference - i will need to pull a motherboard anyway...

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re-read my posting: "Only problem here is getting the correct SSD Apple is still the only source for the SSD. Both Other World Computing & Transcend so far have no options for the newer iMac's." Sadly you can't get the Apple SSD blade either. Bottom Line here: no way to add in a SSD unit (Apple's SSD Blade).

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I too have a customer who wanted to add a mSATA drive for the machine. Dan is correct they are only available via Apple. I was quoted $930 for the 256 and $1350 for the 512 sticks. This will have to wait for a competitor to produce one.

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I have a partner who is a dealer for the new Seagate SSHD's and he told me that the amount of failure of these drives are beyond belief. Most of them don't get a year of usage before fail. I can't speak for the Toshibas, but the Seagate ones I recommend to avoid.

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Roberto - We have over 200 Seagate SSHD's in the field in MacBook Pro's. We have had only 8 fail last year. So I don't can't explain why we have had such good luck where your friend has not.

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Things to be careful here with Any HD: Banging the system while it is accessing a file (reading or writing), using the correct mounting hardware & making sure you are using the correct SATA port. Only the HD port in the MacBook's & Macbook Pro's have crash protection built-in so if you use the optical drive port to hold the HD/SSHD you need to make sure you are getting the model that has onboard crash protection. Lastly, you do need to make sure the systems firmware is upto date.

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Ok Dan, that's a fairly low failure rate. Maybe my friend had a bad lot (we're in Brazil) as he reported a very unusual number of RMA. Anyway, the intention here was to share the fact and not start a dispute over numbers. I think a good research on the internet can clarify if this happens more often or not.

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Not a problem, just want to make sure people hear first hand experience Vs third hand.

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I've installed about 30 of the Seagate iTB SSHD without a failure.

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