Hello everyone! Does it worth it to install 1 TB nvme ssd on iMack 2019 , or better to use it as an external startup ssd without installing it inside of machine? I work with music, using a lot of plugins and virtual instruments. Will install inside of iMac make a serious speedup for a working process ? Thanks for advise!
iMac (Retina 4K, 21.5-inch, 2019) - Technical Specifications - Apple Support
iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, 2019) - Technical Specifications - Apple Support
The fastest way of hooking up an external PCIe NVMe SSD would be using Thunderbolt 3. You could be looking at speeds in the same ballpark as some internal drives.
Other World Computing carries several Thunderbolt 3 SSDs and enclosures, including this one.
Other World Computing – OWC Envoy Express
You can find other Thunderbolt 3 enclosures on Amazon.
https://www.amazon.com/s?k=thunderbolt+ssd+enclosure
You could also hook up a PCIe NVMe SSD via USB-C (USB 3.1 Gen 2). USB 3.1 Gen 2 enclosures are less expensive than Thunderbolt ones, but cut maximum transfer speed about in half.
https://www.amazon.com/s?k=usb-c+ssd+enclosure
Your USB-A ports only support USB at 3.0 speed. That would waste most of the speed advantage that NVMe SSDs have over SATA ones.
GiorgiApkhazava wrote:
So, no reason to built it in if i have my NVMe in Thunderbolt 3 (type C jack) enclosure ?
Not much.
One advantage of an external SSD is that you could take it with you to a new Mac (when the time comes). If the SSD was your startup disk, you could point Migration Assistant at it, and migrate from it.
What are you using now? A hard drive, Fusion Drive, or smaller SSD? If you're coming from a hard drive (or 1 TB Fusion Drive with only 32 GB of SSD storage), just about any SSD is going to seem blazingly fast.
Boy I sure wouldn’t unless I was interested for fun. If you intend to work with it in the future invest in Apple Silicon . Considered a new Mac Mini?
The reason I say this is I’m guessing after Sequoia (due for release this Fall) future releases of Mac OS will not support Intel based Macs.
if that is a 2 TB or 3 TB Fusion Drive, it has 128 GB of SSD space, and should be reasonably fast. Though not, perhaps, as fast overall as a pure Thunderbolt 3 SSD.
if it is a 1 TB Fusion Drive, it only has 32 GB of SSD space (too skimpy), and if it is in a 21.5” iMac, the 1 TB hard drive part of the Fusion Drive will also be a slow notebook-type hard drive.
So, no reason to built it in if i have my NVMe in Thunderbolt 3 (type C jack) enclosure ?
fusion drive
NVME SSD on iMac 2019
