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Model A1312 / Mid 2010 / 3.2 GHz Core i3 or 2.8 & 3.6 GHz Core i5 or 2.93 GHz Core i7, ID iMac11,3

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Utilising an extra eSATA port on my mid2010 iMac

Adding an eSATA port in a mid2010 iMac was announced just a little after the iMac came out and here is an article regarding this at the time… https://www.macworld.com/article/1151094...

Problem is that i cannot find any relative how to video, nor some other info on how to do this right… i wish iFixit could do this :-)

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There really is no secret here! The 2010 27” model has three SATA ports.

Block Image

Back side of the 2010 27” logic board

All OWC did is design a custom mini-SATA (logic board side) to eSATA cable which is mounted into the port in the logic board and the RAM access door. Don’t forget this system only has a SATA II (3.0 Gb/s) interface so you can encounter issues with SATA III (6.0 Gb/s) drives (fixed). If the drives spec sheet doesn’t list SATA II (3.0 Gb/s) compatibility don’t use it!

eSATA really didn’t get any traction as OS-X (or even Windows) can’t handle loosing access to a drive before properly dismounting. and even eSATA is not without issues with static discharge!

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Why did OWC made a custom miniSATA to eSATA cable? Isnt it possible to find such a cable on the market?

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It gets into options! OWC thought people would buy theirs over others.

Remember we are past using SATA with Thunderbolt3 & USB-C. Demand for it is not really there any more..

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