So much so that I took a chance and bought a used 2015 low-end Core i5 iMac with a 1TB Fusion Drive (which combines a 24GB NVMe SSD and a 1TB hard drive)—a machine that’s actually slower than my 2012 Core i7 iMac. This used a PCIe 2.0 x4 interface for our newer Nvme drive to be recognised by the Mac it requires something known as an EFI update.I love Retina iMacs. However, when the Mac Pro (Late 2013) was released, the Mac OS was Mavericks, and the firmware for the machine was designed for the first generation of the SSD storage that we’re about to upgrade.All OWC SSDs backed by a lifetime warranty.I wanted to upgrade the iMac’s NVMe SSD with something that offered more space but was relatively less expensive (in other words, not sold by Apple). Upgrade your Mac with Aura Pro X2 SSD for a fraction of the cost of a new model and keGet everything you need to upgrade your 2013 Mac Pro SSD for a total system performance and capacity boost. The Aura Pro X2 SSD gives you up to 16 times more space and the speed to keep up with your imagination today and tomorrow.You also run the risk of permanently damaging your iMac. If your iMac shipped with a Fusion Drive or SSD, read on.Another disclaimer: if your iMac is still under warranty, this will void it. But there is a viable option you can read about— NVMe via Thunderbolt. Authoritatively stated advice such as “You’ll kill the machine and possibly yourself” was hardly useful (not to mention, completely incorrect), while “Well, it worked in my 2017 ” provided hope, but no specifics.After buying the iMac (it was a bargain I had to jump on) and later talking with vendors, it became apparent that my leap of faith (and general storage knowledge) had been justified.A disclaimer: if you bought a 21-inch iMac with a standard hard drive, you’re out of luck—these iMacs didn’t have an PCIe SSD slot on the board.
Ssd Pro 2013 Mac OS Was MavericksThat’s better, but they were from unfamiliar companies I was unable to chat with. OWC’s compatible drives on Newegg were 40 cents per gigabyte, and Apple’s on Amazon were an incredible $1 a gigabyte! This is 2019: standard M.2 2280 NVMe SSDs start at 15 cents per gigabyte!Perusing further, I found Apple-compatible SSDs for around 30 cents per gigabyte. A huge issue is that Apple uses proprietary connectors. Finding a NVMe SSD for the upgradeAs I intimated, there was never any question that the NVMe SSD could be upgraded, just whether it could be done for a reasonable price. The procedure is hardly difficult, but it requires patience, a modicum of finesse, and some tools. Frankly, I can’t do better than the easy-to-follow and granular guide on ifixit.com, which is what I used the first time. The company armed me with a number of relevant tips, and sent me a 512GB M13 Feather SSD kit with macOS High Sierra pre-installed.I won’t bore you with the complete tear-down instructions for a 2015 iMac. It’s simple, but a few pain points:A post for the power supply is also a screw securing the motherboard.There’s a captive screw behind the motherboard that you access through a hole in said board.The webcam and primary display cables have flip-up locks, don’t just yank on them.Both large cables connecting the power supply with the motherboard have latches. You’ll find the NVMe SSD on the back of the latter, secured by one screw. Pad below the iMac and prop it so it’s tilted back.After that, the whole deal consists of delicately unplugging a few cables, undoing quite a few Torx screws (you’ll obviously need torx drivers), then removing the speakers, power supply (don’t touch the bare solder joints on the back), and logic board. IFixit sells a great roller (see above) for spudging the display off that eases the job considerably. Use a large workspace, and remove move anything hard or pointed that you could conceivably bang into and break the glass. IFixIt and others sell them.One thing I will say is to be careful removing the display and handle it with care. How to use citra mac emulatorIf you’re brave, you can deepen the adapter’s and SSD’s indentations a bit with a round file and much care.Once you have the drive installed and are ready to test it, I recommend that you only do the bare minimum of reassembly (minimal screws, leave the display untaped, no speakers, etc.) so that you don’t have to repeat the entire disassembly again should the something be amiss with the drive or the procedure otherwise doesn’t work.When the computer is operational again, boot with the USB disk you created, run the High Sierra Disk Utility to partition the drive and you should be on your way. This did unfortunately induce a bit of a bow in the SSD, but shouldn’t be a problem. And darn if Apple’s AIO’s don’t look better empty than others do assembled.Remember how I brought up the fit issue with the Sinetech adapter? I was able to screw the assembly in place by tilting the screw with its tip just in the hole, then pressing it towards the assembly. Just to prove I actually disassembled it, as well as ignored my own advice about a large workspace. These are also slightly different from the others with a raised secondary flange beneath the actual screw head.A completely useless picture of what a late 2015 27-inch iMac looks like with the components removed. Don’t just yank.There are upward-facing screws behind the fan that are easy to forget. ![]() ![]() To be fair, it was utilized primarily as cache for the hard drive.Next up is the easy, affordable plug-and-play upgrade Fledging Feather M13 SSD. IDGThough it was okay in 2015, the 24GB NVMe SSD that came out of my iMac was slow by today’s standards, not to mention drastically undersized. Not bad, but not bleeding edge by any standard. IDGIf you’re otherwise satisfied with the performance of your iMac, you can get twice-SATA throughput and 10x seeks running NVMe in an external PCIe enclosure. The older 970 EVO works just fine (I’ve run High Sierra from it for over a year), where the 970 EVO Plus did not. Regardless, the 2.8GBps reads and lightning seeks mean you still get that NVMe kick in the pants, and of course, you don’t have to worry about a slightly ill-fitting adapter.Just in case you aren’t sanguine about opening up your iMac, here’s the alternative I talked about— NVMe via Thunderbolt. Below are the results from the same 2015 i5 iMac, with an Akitio Thunder2 PCIe enclosure housing a Samsung 970 EVO SSD. But it varied from a good (1.2GBps) to mediocre (600MBps) writer, depending on whether the cache had been used up or not. It’s still light years faster than the original SSD and definitely gives you that NVMe snap.As you can see, the Feather M13 is a fantastic reader. The CPU does make a difference.The Fledging Feather M13 is a very fast reader and seeker, but a middling writer. This is what I had in mind—nice, consistently large numbers across the board.
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