I want to upgrade my iMac’s factory equipped 256gb SSD with an OWC HDD to SSD kit. My factory SSD is naked and has a serious cooler attached that is mounted in the upper right corner. It appears the SSD is attached to the backside of the logic board so it’s gonna be a pain to remove.
am I missing something or can I remove the SSD and cooler and replace with the OWC kit?
The customer service representative at OWC didn’t even know that Apple supplied 2011 iMacs with SSD’s. He supposed the installation would be the same as replacing a Mac with a HDD.
i have since found a little more information on how to replace a SSD equipped Mac:
http://www.benjacobsenphoto.com/2015/gear/how-to-replace-the-ssd-on-a-2011-imac/
Its going to be a journey!
Chip6565 wrote:
i have since found a little more information on how to replace a SSD equipped Mac:
That picture is very helpful. In fact it looks just like my non-SSD equipped iMacs.
As ignorant as OWC appears to have been about your query, I believe they are correct: you can install their SSD in the same place and in the same manner as the original SSD. It goes behind the optical drive, which is replaced after installing the SSD. There is plenty of space for it.
You might need to purchase a cable / connector assembly from them. I did (it's cheap), but remember that my iMacs didn't have an SSD at all. For all I know you might be able to reuse that same connector.
You don't need to touch the hard disk drive at all. I left mine installed; I just don't use them.
From your description, it sounds like someone replaced the optical drive with a data double kit and an SSD.
If you remove that SSD, you will want to leave the fan and temp. sensor in place in order to properly cool and control that part of the iMac.
To replace the stock HDD with an SSD, you will need to get the OWC kit with a 3.5” to 2.5” sled and SATA cable with an in-line temp sensor. see > https://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/KITIM11HE1TB/
I am the original owner of the machine. It came with a single 256GB SSD period.
i did find a post of how to replace a SSD with a SSD:
http://www.benjacobsenphoto.com/2015/gear/how-to-replace-the-ssd-on-a-2011-imac/
now I need to find a suitable 2TB drive. OWC help?
I thought the same thing as OWC and from that image it looks like someone replaced the optical drive with an SSD.
(in that second image, the DVD/CD slot on the side is a clue and the red SATA cable is after market)
Did you buy that iMac directly from Apple or from a third party seller?
If there is an SSD already installed in that location, then all you need to do is replace the smaller SSD with a larger SSD.
You were exactly on target. The SSD was mounted behind the optical drive. It was plug and play. No special cables, and I reused the existing mounts upgrading the 256GB drive to 2TB. It was a lot easier to replace the hardware than I had anticipated. I made a bootable flash drive of High Sierra (which can be challenging to get a 5.2GB copy) ahead of time and once booted to the new internal drive (holding command Option keys) I formatted the new drive in disk utilities and once everything was up and running again I used migration assistant to do a back up of time machine which was set up on an external drive..
OWC rocks! Their videos are very helpful. And while they didn't have a video specific to my machine which is equipped with only a SSD their staff is knowledgeable and the new drive worked without any issue. I may in the future install a second internal drive following their video of replacing a HDD with a SSD.
What does OWC have to say?
I have one of those Macs and upgraded it, but it had a hard disk. Installation was straightforward.
iMac 27” mid 2011 with rare SSD to SSD upgrade
