How to know if my SSD is still working in iMac fusion drive?

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Level 1

4 points

How to know if my SSD is still working in iMac fusion drive?

My iMac late 2103 has been failing recently. The HDD showed failing status. I replaced it with a new drive and was able to recover from internet to full working mac. However it is rather slow, showing disk read/write speeds of around 60MB/s which is expected for the 7200 rpm drive. But this iMAC came with fusion drive and for some reason I'm not able to see the SSD drive, although the Apple SSD Controller is visible in System Information.

Wondering if anyone could help investigate what could have happen? Is it possible the SSD failed as well?

Posted on Apr 13, 2021 5:39 AM

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Answer 1

Allan Jones

Level 9

72,674 points

Apr 13, 2021 10:13 AM in response to thenuskot

In System Information, select "Storage" from the left0hand contents pane to find the mechanical part of the Fusion drive.

This Apple article shows how to tell if a Fusion drive is "split."

How to fix a split Fusion Drive - Apple Support

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Answer 2

Jack-19

Level 8

46,038 points

Apr 13, 2021 1:36 PM in response to thenuskot

Instead of opening the Mac for the SSD, I would suggest just getting an external USB SSD and run macOS from that. It will be just as fast as a Fusion Drive, if not better. It will be around 420 MB/s read/write. If you're interested in this, please read: How to Setup and Use an External SSD as y… - Apple Community.

Cheers,

Jack

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Answer 3

Jack-19

Level 8

46,038 points

Apr 13, 2021 12:04 PM in response to thenuskot

Hi thenuskot,

I don't think the "Split" Fusion Drive issue applies to you, as it is not being identified in Disk Utility or System Information. It just has a generic "Apple SSD Controller" rather than the actual SSD.

Cheers,

Jack

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Answer 4

thenuskot Author

Level 1

4 points

Apr 13, 2021 3:03 PM in response to Jack-19

Opening the Mac and accessing the SSD is not a problem as it is already open to swap the HDD. I'm really wondering why the SSD stops showing up. I've even tried booting in recovery and SSD continues to not show up.

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