Upgrade the NVMe on 2019 27" iMac

I am considering changing out the 2TB HD on my iMac to a SSD. What, if any advantage to upgrading the NVMe to say 512GB from the installed 128?

Posted on Nov 18, 2020 1:09 PM

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Posted on Nov 18, 2020 9:02 PM

If you are going to open up the iMac, then why not just get rid of the hard drive and go with a single large NVMe SSD from OWC? It will simplify the process and gives you a faster SSD since a SATA SSD is limited to 500MB/s. The OWC Aura SSDs are at least 3x+ faster. You do not want to use a Fusion Drive with two SSDs as you will end up wearing them both out since SSDs have a limited number of writes available to them.


You need to be very careful when opening the iMac since the power supply has exposed circuitry that can give you a deadly shock. The power supply can retain power for many hours after power has been removed from it. The iMac LCD Panel is very delicate especially on a 27" model plus there are several very delicate cables & connectors you must deal with that can be extremely hard to see and reach. Make sure to watch the OWC upgrade videos to get an idea of what is involved. Keep in mind it always looks easier in the videos than it is when you are actually doing the work yourself.


No mater what make sure to have frequent & regular backups since SSDs can fail at any time without any warning signs.

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Nov 18, 2020 9:02 PM in response to charlesfromholland

If you are going to open up the iMac, then why not just get rid of the hard drive and go with a single large NVMe SSD from OWC? It will simplify the process and gives you a faster SSD since a SATA SSD is limited to 500MB/s. The OWC Aura SSDs are at least 3x+ faster. You do not want to use a Fusion Drive with two SSDs as you will end up wearing them both out since SSDs have a limited number of writes available to them.


You need to be very careful when opening the iMac since the power supply has exposed circuitry that can give you a deadly shock. The power supply can retain power for many hours after power has been removed from it. The iMac LCD Panel is very delicate especially on a 27" model plus there are several very delicate cables & connectors you must deal with that can be extremely hard to see and reach. Make sure to watch the OWC upgrade videos to get an idea of what is involved. Keep in mind it always looks easier in the videos than it is when you are actually doing the work yourself.


No mater what make sure to have frequent & regular backups since SSDs can fail at any time without any warning signs.

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Upgrade the NVMe on 2019 27" iMac

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