Which SSD is more suitable for my iMac?

Question

iMac Intel 27" EMC 2639

Model A1419 / Late 2013 / 3.2 & 3.4 GHz Core i5 or 3.5 GHz Core i7 Processor, ID iMac14,2

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yaraticigeceler @yaraticigeceler

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Which SSD is more suitable for my iMac?

Hi friends!

I have an imac Intel 27", Quad Core 3.4 GHz, Intel "Core i5" late 2013 with 16gb ram. Its 1 tb hard disk is gone and I want to replace it with 500 gb SSD.

My questions are¦

1-) Samsung seems a good option, am I right or you have a better advise?

2-) When I look at Samsung's SSD models I wonder what are the differences between Evo 850, Evo 860 and Evo 960 and which one is more suitable for me.

Thanks in advance for your help.

Selçuk U

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Dan @danj

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Self employed contract worker

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crwdns2931729:0crwdne2931729:0: Mud 9, 2018

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To start with you'll have to deal with the onboard thermal sensor within the HD as once you take the drive out your system will ramp up its fan speed as its missing the input into SMC. You'll need to get this in-line thermal sensor to over come this with any drive you put in: OWC In-line Digital Thermal Sensor for Hard Drive Upgrade for 27" iMacs 2012 and Later. The second issue you'll have if you put in a SATA SSD is the original HDD is 3.5" and the SSD is 2.5" so you'll need an adapter frame to hold the smaller drive.

OK, on to the differences of the Samsung drives you've listed, I assume you are focusing on the 2.5" drives here. The EVO 850 is the older drive in your collection it is a good drive I've put in at least a 100 or so in many Mac systems. My system here is running on one now (2012 15" MacBook Pro Unibody). The EVO 860 was a slightly cheaper drive as the EVO 850 technology was more expensive and Samsung had to fight off some competition and is the newest version of the 2.5" SSD

EVO 960 and the EVO 970 are both M.2 blade SSD's which will not work in your system.

Now it does turn out your system supports a PCIe/NVMe blade SSD which is much faster than the SATA interface your current HDD is using. So you could install the custom blade SSD instead of the SATA drive but its a lot more work. Here's a good reference: The Ultimate Guide to Apple’s Proprietary SSDs while not complete it's the best thats out there.

Now what would I do?? If you can swing it I would put in the blade SSD 256 GB and also replace the HD with a hybrid drive like Seagate FireCuda SSHD. Then setup the SSD as your boot and app drive and then use the SSHD as your data drive.

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Dear Dan,

thank you for your fast answer. I try to understand and decide what to do.

crwdns2934271:0Mud 9, 2018crwdnd2934271:0 yaraticigeceler crwdne2934271:0

Dear Dan,

I already found Seagate FireCuda SSHD.

But can you please name me which 256 GB SSD I can put in the blade? In Turkey, where I live Kingston is a very popular SSD brand and I can find its models easily.

Thank you for your precious help.

crwdns2934271:0Kho 6, 2018crwdnd2934271:0 yaraticigeceler crwdne2934271:0

The blade SSD connector on the back side of the logic board only supports Apples custom blade SSD's. Here is a good write up on the different Apple SSD's: Ultimate guide to Apple's Proprietary SSD's

crwdns2934271:0Kho 6, 2018crwdnd2934271:0 Dan crwdne2934271:0

Does ANYONE know if a late 2012 27” iMac accept the EVO 870?

crwdns2934271:0Mha 16, 2021crwdnd2934271:0 barrysum crwdne2934271:0

@barrysum - I don't recommend M.2 SSD's in the Mac systems. I've seen to many failures. Apple's custom SSD interface offers more than the basic PCI/NVMe lines a collection of other lines that interfaces with the custom Apple SSD its the lack of these lines the M.2 SSD don't have which is the rub. To add to that the quality of adapter.

Yes, I'm !#^&@@! I would have loved to have Apple to support the M.2 drive standard, Your only hope is using a SSD which was fully engineered as the same as Apples, OWC and Transcend both offer good products.

crwdns2934271:0Mha 16, 2021crwdnd2934271:0 Dan crwdne2934271:0

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Dear Dan,

thank you for your fast answer. I try to understand and decide what to do. — yaraticigeceler
Dear Dan,

I already found Seagate FireCuda SSHD.

But can you please name me which 256 GB SSD I can put in the blade? In Turkey, where I live Kingston is a very popular SSD brand and I can find its models easily.

Thank you for your precious help. — yaraticigeceler
The blade SSD connector on the back side of the logic board only supports Apples custom blade SSD's. Here is a good write up on the different Apple SSD's: Ultimate guide to Apple's Proprietary SSD's — Dan
Does ANYONE know if a late 2012 27” iMac accept the EVO 870? — barrysum
@barrysum - I don't recommend M.2 SSD's in the Mac systems. I've seen to many failures. Apple's custom SSD interface offers more than the basic PCI/NVMe lines a collection of other lines that interfaces with the custom Apple SSD its the lack of these lines the M.2 SSD don't have which is the rub. To add to that the quality of adapter.

Yes, I'm !#^&@@! I would have loved to have Apple to support the M.2 drive standard, Your only hope is using a SSD which was fully engineered as the same as Apples, OWC and Transcend both offer good products. — Dan

Paul @paul2022 crwdns2934065:0crwdne2934065:0: 1 · Answer 1 · 2020-12-10T19:05:06-07:00

Paul @paul2022

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crwdns2931729:0crwdne2931729:0: N'w 10, 2020

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I have the same iMac (late 2013, 27”, EMC 2639) which came with a standard 1TB hard drive only (not a fusion drive). How do I know that I even have a PCIe connector on the logic board to install a blade SSD? Thanks!

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@paul2022 - All of the 27" models have the PCIe connector. Review this guide on what brad SSD you'll need and here's the guide to put it in iMac Intel 27" EMC 2639 Blade SSD Replacement. You'll need this tool Plastic Cards as well as a fresh set of adhesive tapes with the opening wheel iMac Intel 27" (2012-2019) Adhesive Strips

crwdns2934271:0N'w 10, 2020crwdnd2934271:0 Dan crwdne2934271:0

Thank you Dan. I think I will just replace my HDD with a SSD (Samsung 860). The Blade replacement looks scary complicated! Reviews for the replacement kit that iFixit sells (with the Crucial SSD, iMac Intel 27" (Late 2012-2019) SSD Upgrade Kit) are mixed too (some issues about display falling off, adhesive not working), so already worried about that too.

crwdns2934271:0N'w 10, 2020crwdnd2934271:0 Paul crwdne2934271:0

Thank you Dan. The blade replacement looks very complex, and even reviews of the kit you sell for SSD upgrade are a mix, with some folks saying the screen falls off or is tricky to put back on. I have to think more about this.

crwdns2934271:0N'w 10, 2020crwdnd2934271:0 Paul crwdne2934271:0

@paul2022 - To be clear I'm not selling anything ;-} I'm just someone here who helps people fix their Mac systems as an unpaid volunteer!

crwdns2934271:0Mha 16, 2021crwdnd2934271:0 Dan crwdne2934271:0

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