Can 2025 iMac storage be expanded?

kain32 wrote:

Looking to purchase a new iMac to replace our 2012 27” iMac, but need more then 2tb storage which is the largest Apple offer now. Can this be expanded aftermarket?

Not internally. You can always add external drives (preferably SSDs) to whatever extent you need.

In the current Mac lineup, here are the internal storage capacities available today, depending on model & config:

24" iMac - 512GB, 1TB, 2TB

mac Mini - 512GB, 1TB, 2TB, 4TB, 8TB

mac Studio - 512GB, 1TB, 2TB, 4TB, 8TB

mac Pro - 1TB, 2TB, 4TB, 8TB

Those are the choices.

In my opinion 1TB is the sweet spot between cost & capacity. For additional storage I have external USB 3.2 Gen2x1 (10Gbps) SSD drives connected to my iMac, one each for Photos & Audio and two for Video. Their performance is fantastic and it's hard to tell any difference from the internal SSD. With a new (current) Mac you could use Thunderbolt 4 or 5, depending on the model, for even more speed.

D.I. Johnson wrote:

Internal storage cannot be expanded, but you can use external storage to your heart’s content.

The architecture of the M series Macs precludes changing the internal storage and the RAM.

Mac Studios and M2 Ultra Mac Pros also have storage on separate flash modules. In all three cases,

• These aren't standard M.2 PCIe NVMe SSDs, but raw flash modules of an Apple-specific design. (Possibly a different design for each of the three machines in question.)
• The Apple Silicon chip contains part of the SSD controller.
• The Apple Silicon chip does real-time encryption and decryption of most or all of the contents of the SSD.

For the M2 Ultra Mac Pro, you can buy retail parts, e.g.,

Apple 8TB SSD Upgrade Kit for Mac Pro - Apple

"Note: Software reinstallation requires a second Mac running Apple Configurator 2 and a USB-C cable. Compatible with Mac Pro (2023)."

If you could buy raw flash modules for the Mac minis and Mac Studios through the Self Service Repair program (I haven't checked), I'm sure the need to use a second Mac to recover would apply there, as well.

Internal storage cannot be expanded, but you can use external storage to your heart’s content.

The architecture of the M series Macs precludes changing the internal storage and the RAM. The only exception appears to be the Mac mini which has storage on a small module attached to the logic board. That’s has very limited options, however.

As you've already been told not internally. But you an add external SSDs to any Mac for additional storage.

If budget is a concern and you don't need extremely fast read and write to the EHDs consider bare SSDs in a Drive Dock or connected by a SATA to USB adaptor like these:

Just some food for thought.

kain32 wrote:

Yeah I was aware of the Studio, but at $5100 for the base model with the 4tb ssd and then having to purchase a screen the cost becomes quite large.

Indeed. So it would make more sense to get an iMac with a 1 TB SSD and a couple of inexpensive large capacity external SSDs.

It has nothing to do with iCloud storage. For one thing iCloud is meant to be used to sync files to different Apple devices. It has never meant to be used as storage per se. You can of course use more than one external drive. One for Time Machine and others for storage. Or, one for storage and more than one Time Machine drive, etc.

kain32 wrote:

Thanks for the reply. Doesn’t really make sense that even initial build cannot be spec for larger local storage. [...]

The initial build can be customized to an extent. But once the Mac is built, the storage cannot be modified and expanded, as others have pointed out. I'm sorry I wasn't clear on that in my initial reply.

Just to add, you can opt for a Mac Studio with up to an 8TB SSD.

well not really, or fully

local storage and icloud storage is not the same

What's the difference between device storage and iCloud storage? - Apple Support

like you can't install apps in the icloud storage so it would not help all users out to rent more icloud storage

kain32 wrote:

Thanks for the reply. Doesn’t really make sense that even initial build cannot be spec for larger local storage. Seems to be like we

are being pushed to pay for more cloud storage. I want to have everything on the drive and then external for back up

via Time Machine. Might have to look at other options than Apple unfortunately.

You do have or did have the opportunity at the time of Purchase to make a Custom Configuration

This sounds more like a Buyer Regret for not having availed themselves of the various available Options

If that is so, you do have a 14 Day Full Refund Policy, No Questions Asked

iMac - iMac Technical Specifications

I guess I can mention, I have an M3 iMac with a 1TB drive, I have multiple third-party apps installed and 25,000+ images/wallpapers. I still have 768GBs free.

…also, 70GBs of music.