Do-It-Yourself: Upgrading Apple's 27" iMac With An SSD

[oxiide]

I don't mind them publishing articles like this, but I do think its a little pointless. I don't mean this as a flame or hateful comment, but the people most likely to be able to pull this off (let alone feel the need to) probably wouldn't have an iMac to begin with.

[citation][nom]lp231[/nom]$11 for a double suction glass lifting tool?!You can get yourself 12 suction cups in a pack for $1 at the $.99 cent store.It will still lift the glass and you save yourself $10 bucks.[/citation]

I don't envy the person who has to call up Apple and explain to them how they voided their warranty and destroyed their iMac's glass display panel in one spectacular act of thrift. $11 for a glass lifting tool, designed for just such a task, versus a new $1500 iMac.

 

[halcyon]

[citation][nom]oxiide[/nom]I don't mind them publishing articles like this, but I do think its a little pointless. I don't mean this as a flame or hateful comment, but the people most likely to be able to pull this off (let alone feel the need to) probably wouldn't have an iMac to begin with.[/citation]
Beautifully stated and dead on.

 

[fb39ca4]

Meanwhile, for PC users:
1. Open case
2. Place drive in empty bay
3. Plug in power and SATA cables
4. Close case and enjoy!

 

[fb39ca4]

[citation][nom]jryan388[/nom]THANK YOU for that last part![/citation]
It's not pirating if you already own a Mac, just EULA violating.

 

[halcyon]

[citation][nom]fb39ca4[/nom]Meanwhile, for PC users:1. Open case2. Place drive in empty bay3. Plug in power and SATA cables4. Close case and enjoy![/citation]
Not if you have any of several PC all-in-ones. You should get out more. The weather is often nice this time of year.

 

[lp231]

[citation][nom]oxiide[/nom]I don't mind them publishing articles like this, but I do think its a little pointless. I don't mean this as a flame or hateful comment, but the people most likely to be able to pull this off (let alone feel the need to) probably wouldn't have an iMac to begin with.I don't envy the person who has to call up Apple and explain to them how they voided their warranty and destroyed their iMac's glass display panel in one spectacular act of thrift. $11 for a glass lifting tool, designed for just such a task, versus a new $1500 iMac.[/citation]
My friend has a iMac and I needed to replace the HDD, so I went to and bought myself 12 suction cups for $1 and with four hands we carefully lifted the glass panel and set it safely aside.
By the way, somehow the panel doesn't feel like real glass.

 

[shawngunnison]

@molo9000

Yeah, because you can build your own all-in-one PC. Several manufacturers sell barebones AIO systems..............

As to why someone would actually want an AIO, Apple or PC, is beyond me.

My boss loves to constantly bash MS (even on non-OS and non-PC related issues... to compensate for whatever insecurity). It was funny watching him replace the hard drive in his iMac... I had to help him remove the screen because he was afraid of damaging it. And the job took 2-3 hours.... And he fixes computers for a living. I can pull the motherboard from my laptop, do a repaste on CPU and GPU, and reinstall in less time.

And of course the MS bashing never stops, even when his Excel 08 has issues opening xlsx files from Office 2010 PC.

In our many arguments about such stupidity, it usually ends with:
Me: '$2500 is a lot of money for a laptop... any laptop. $2500 can buy laptop with desktop CPU, hard drive, SSD, and kick the hell out of a Macbook Pro. Most $1300 laptops could do so"
Him: "But Apple's target audience are graphics designers and video editing professionals".

Of which he is neither, nor are most of Apples customers.

Hilarity ensues, and will never stop ensuing.

 

[halcyon]

[citation][nom]shawngunnison[/nom]@molo9000 Yeah, because you can build your own all-in-one PC. Several manufacturers sell barebones AIO systems..............As to why someone would actually want an AIO, Apple or PC, is beyond me.My boss loves to constantly bash MS (even on non-OS and non-PC related issues... to compensate for whatever insecurity). It was funny watching him replace the hard drive in his iMac... I had to help him remove the screen because he was afraid of damaging it. And the job took 2-3 hours.... And he fixes computers for a living. I can pull the motherboard from my laptop, do a repaste on CPU and GPU, and reinstall in less time.And of course the MS bashing never stops, even when his Excel 08 has issues opening xlsx files from Office 2010 PC. In our many arguments about such stupidity, it usually ends with:Me: '$2500 is a lot of money for a laptop... any laptop. $2500 can buy laptop with desktop CPU, hard drive, SSD, and kick the hell out of a Macbook Pro. Most $1300 laptops could do so"Him: "But Apple's target audience are graphics designers and video editing professionals". Of which he is neither, nor are most of Apples customers.Hilarity ensues, and will never stop ensuing.[/citation]

I went with a MacBook Pro for the engineering, build quality, and build materials. I also wanted a machine that would give me as much of my Mac Pro's ability in a portable package as I could get. Haven't had any problems upgrading either my MacBook Pro or my Mac Pro. The iMac seems like a machine that's not intended for upgrades, outside of RAM. That's fine...it's just one of many options. My mom would absolutely love it and would want to display it prominently. I think Apple intends it for folks just like my Mom.

 

[vakuma5000]

Wow.... This has to be the most relevant article you have ever put on your website. Surely the vast majority of your readers purchase prebuilt computers that are overpriced and are a pain in the a$$ to upgrade...

Homerun Toms....

 

[halcyon]

[citation][nom]vakuma5000[/nom]Wow.... This has to be the most relevant article you have ever put on your website. Surely the vast majority of your readers purchase prebuilt computers that are overpriced and are a pain in the a$$ to upgrade...Homerun Toms....[/citation]
Tom's isn't going to please everyone. If nothing else this article gave the plethora of Apple haters more food. It also helped solidify my position that I'd never buy an iMac.

I'd say, yeahp, homerun indeed.

 

[Guest]

doesn't the 27" have space for an SSD under the optical drive? OWC has a installation kit so you can keep the original HDD too mitigating the fan speed problem?

 

[Guest]

When you need a guide how to install a hard drive then you know how overpriced and useless that product is

 

[04stiman]

@molo9000

Yeah, because you can build your own all-in-one PC. Several manufacturers sell barebones AIO systems..............

As to why someone would actually want an AIO, Apple or PC, is beyond me.

My boss loves to constantly bash MS (even on non-OS and non-PC related issues... to compensate for whatever insecurity). It was funny watching him replace the hard drive in his iMac... I had to help him remove the screen because he was afraid of damaging it. And the job took 2-3 hours.... And he fixes computers for a living. I can pull the motherboard from my laptop, do a repaste on CPU and GPU, and reinstall in less time.

And of course the MS bashing never stops, even when his Excel 08 has issues opening xlsx files from Office 2010 PC.

In our many arguments about such stupidity, it usually ends with:
Me: '$2500 is a lot of money for a laptop... any laptop. $2500 can buy laptop with desktop CPU, hard drive, SSD, and kick the hell out of a Macbook Pro. Most $1300 laptops could do so"
Him: "But Apple's target audience are graphics designers and video editing professionals".

Of which he is neither, nor are most of Apples customers.

Hilarity ensues, and will never stop ensuing.

If you actually compared the specs of any Macbook Pro to a similar priced laptop you would find the computers are actually quite close in hardware spec, except for the crappy physical case design of most laptops. It amazes me how Apple can build a laptop base out of a solid piece of machined aluminum and offer for a similar price to other manufacturers that insist on over (or under) engineering using 14 pieces of flimsy plastic/metal and 500 tiny screws. And yes, I own both a Macbook Pro and a Windows/Hackintosh desktop as well as have owned an IMac.

 

[halcyon]

If you actually compared the specs of any Macbook Pro to a similar priced laptop you would find the computers are actually quite close in hardware spec, except for the crappy physical case design of most laptops. It amazes me how Apple can build a laptop base out of a solid piece of machined aluminum and offer for a similar price to other manufacturers that insist on over (or under) engineering using 14 pieces of flimsy plastic/metal and 500 tiny screws. And yes, I own both a Macbook Pro and a Windows/Hackintosh desktop as well as have owned an IMac.

Yet, because Apple is the manufacturer that nice (extremely rigid, clean apparance, metal's durability) "unibody" chassis on the macbook pro just sucks, is pointless, flawed, and certainly not worth any price premium over a similarly internaled plastic'd competitor with so much keyboard flex that the typing experience is affected. I'm not positive about this, but if Asus or some other boutique brand were to incorporate a singular aluminum chassis similar to what Apple uses in their laptops I have feeling it'd be quite popular amongst any Tom's forum members and perhaps even worth a price premium.

 

[04stiman]

Yet, because Apple is the manufacturer that nice (extremely rigid, clean apparance, metal's durability) "unibody" chassis on the macbook pro just sucks, is pointless, flawed, and certainly not worth any price premium over a similarly internaled plastic'd competitor with so much keyboard flex that the typing experience is affected. I'm not positive about this, but if Asus or some other boutique brand were to incorporate a singular aluminum chassis similar to what Apple uses in their laptops I have feeling it'd be quite popular amongst any Tom's forum members and perhaps even worth a price premium.

There is no real price premium. Price out a similarly equip'd laptop from another manufacturer to the Macbook and see what it costs. Make sure you get one with a screen that does not suck. You have to easily spend over $1000 to get any laptop that has a decent video card and processor and something better then a shitty 1366 by 768 screen. You are then still saddle with a flexy plastic case that will start to deteriorate after several years use.

What 'sucks' about the aluminum unibody design?

 

[Avro Arrow]

Jeez, and I thought that laptops were overly-complicated to take apart. Oh, you forgot one important thing... As soon as the first panel is removed, Apple voids the warranty. With the cost of servicing a Mac, I doubt losing that warranty (the one GOOD thing that Apple has) is worth it.

 

[halcyon]

Jeez, and I thought that laptops were overly-complicated to take apart. Oh, you forgot one important thing... As soon as the first panel is removed, Apple voids the warranty. With the cost of servicing a Mac, I doubt losing that warranty (the one GOOD thing that Apple has) is worth it.

That should be in the first paragraph of the article.

 

[ram1009]

Owning an Apple is like being a virgin. It is it's own punishment.

 

[halcyon]

decision to use black pcb in a never meant to be opened case... Looking at how annoying it is to be serviced, it seems it's just not worth it to buy a factory mac... Just get a hackintosh for god sake.http://www.****/****

Many of the comments above confirm that it is hard for many enthusiasts to wrap any logic around the idea of a computer that is not meant to be serviced by its owner. Why...the blasphemy of it!?

There is a market for such a computer though and Apple (and others) want to tap it. Many people have no more interest, whatsoever, in servicing their computers themselves than I have in servicing my car. If my car needs something I just take it to the shop...no muss...no fuss. I stayed away from American cars so I'd have less of a need to go to the shop. Many folks feel the similarly about their computers. ...and those are the folks I believe Apple is after with the iMac. While not being perfect, iMacs, provide a pretty trouble-free experience (generally speaking) and some find it to be attractive enough as not to diminish the surrounding decor, if not add to it. Outside of gaming their performance is quite competitive too. ...but no, the insides aren't meant to be molested by the owner...for that...gotta schedule a service appt. (or possibly void your warranty).

 

[halcyon]

[citation][nom]04stiman[/nom]There is no real price premium. Price out a similarly equip'd laptop from another manufacturer to the Macbook and see what it costs. Make sure you get one with a screen that does not suck. You have to easily spend over $1000 to get any laptop that has a decent video card and processor and something better then a shitty 1366 by 768 screen. You are then still saddle with a flexy plastic case that will start to deteriorate after several years use.What 'sucks' about the aluminum unibody design?[/citation]In reality? Nothing, nothing whatsoever.. ...but for many of Tom's forum members the fact that it's an Apple product makes it suck. In reality it seems that many folks don't mind having a laptop with a plastic chassis and an acrylic screen cover as long as the cpu and gpu are respectable. It's not the most objective viewpoint to me but it is what it is...everyone has preferences.

 

[dreadlokz]

lol! All that work to change a HD! haha
I don't like Macs... to me, they are nothing but beautiful!

 

[halcyon]

[citation][nom]dreadlokz[/nom]lol! All that work to change a HD! hahaI don't like Macs... to me, they are nothing but beautiful![/citation]
Oh? I have a hexa-core Xeon Mac Pro outfitted with 24GB of RAM, dual SSDs, dual Velociprators, and dual 27" Cinema Displays that I believe is prepared to change your mind about that. Do you wish to engage?

 

[bspatial]

listen listen APPLELOIDS, you've been cursed

 

[halcyon]

[citation][nom]bspatial[/nom]listen listen APPLELOIDS, you've been cursed[/citation]
Appleloids...I like that.

 

[Guest]

I've upgraded a lot of Imac HDD's and one BIG thing to note: If yours has an ambient temperature sensor it's fine. If it's one of the 4 pin connectors on the back there are a number of different ones, and if the sensor does not match the drive you're putting in there the temp reading will be crazy(generally negative). This is because that port has not been standardized as to how it sends out data. My recommendation is getting an ambient sensor in there or a program like HDD fan Control(paid) so the HDD fan doesn't simply ramp up to >5000RPM and annoy the crap out of you.