5K iMac HDD Upgrade

Care to explain? I've been using a DIY fusion drive for about two years, with zero issues.

Well, my (thank goodness short lived) experience with one was: try to partition/re-partition/erase was a pain. I had to re-partition and erase because the iMac was being returned (declared DOA for other reasons) - the only way was to boot from my factory fresh clone, erase, and clone back. Nothing else worked.

Hi !

After you added the second HDD to your imac 5k, the drive appear as secondary drive/volume? or force you to combine it with your SSD as fusion drive? I am just not a fan of fusion.

Thanks

Hi Toa Irax,

Thank you for your great post. I had a previous iMac (2011) and I had 2 drives, the SSD that came with it, and I added an additional HDD to the mix. I loved it but wanted to upgrade. But I needed to have 2 internal drives and everywhere I looked said it was not possible. Well, after reading your post I took the plunge. Well I was able to get the second drive installed like on my old iMac. And just like my old iMac, once I added the second drive my fan wouldn't stop running at full speed. I knew there was a temp sensor that was needed to control the fan, so i just downloaded a fan control utility and presto, worked fine. Same thing happened with the new iMac, the fan won't stop at full speed. I installed the same fan utility but it had no effect. Did you have this problem with your iMac? If so, how did you get around it?

Thanks
Brian

Hi Toa Irax,

i've been looking and looking information on how to add additional hard drive to a 27" late 2015 imac with an SSD only setup. would you or anyone happen to have answer to this?

Does anyone know if a 27" late 2015 model with an SSD only can add a hard drive once a cable is purchased?

Thank you

D_Sound

I'd check the ifixit.com site - if anyone has any info, it would be there. You can also check OWC (macsales.com) - they have videos on anything "installable".

http://eshop.macsales.com/installvideos/

yes i checked those already but still have my question unanswered. does an imac that was purchased with an SSD only option have a SATA connector on the logic board. if yes can someone point me to the cable i would need to get to make this aftermarket upgrade work?

Thanks for all the help

I'm not sure anyone here will have an answer as iMacs really are not user upgradeable and I doubt very many people will knowingly and willingly void their warranty. Maybe you can ask your question at ifixit.

Toa Irax,

its really encouraging what you wrote on opening your 5k imac with SSD only configuration. So from the sound of it there is a SATA connector on the logic board. can you confirm this please. i've been trying and getting mixed answers about this and really need the assistance from someone who actually did it.

Thanks from advance.

D

iMacs can absolutely have the hdd's upgraded. I have added a second drive to 2 iMacs, a late 2011 and a early 2015 5K. I consider myself a highly computer literate person having been building computers for over 20 years. But I believe the Ifixit instructions are so well made, almost anyone one with any computer experience can do it. The only real nerve racking part is taking the glass off. But if you take your time, work slowly, and have a nice well lit work space, I think most anyone can do it.

I can confirm there is a sata connector located on the logic board that allows a second drive to be added to a flash drive only configured system. You would need to purchase the cable. Be aware, you will also need a set of HDD studs to be able to mount the drive into the bracket inside the iMac. I had the studs from my old iMac but I think you can get a pair from micro center. Finally you will need to buy the adhesive strips in order to reattach the glass screen. The old set gets damaged when you cut it off. I purchased the cutting tool and bludger from Ifixit and they were both very helpful with getting the glass off and working with the small connectors.

One last thing, when you add that second drive, your fan will begins to run at high speed. I just went online and down loaded a fan control utility and problem solved. This is due to the new drive not having a temp sensor.

this is helpful, just to clarify, this will also apply to the late 2015 imac with SSD only correct?

Thanks!!

Your iMac has two storage connections: 1 PCIe SSD blade drive & 1 SATA connector.

I could only say 100% if I had that exact same Mac. Since I don't i can't say that. if you are still unsure, do more research till you feel more comfortable. That's what I did. I never got 100% confirmation, but I got 90% there. Since I had already done the older one I felt comfomutable that even if I couldn't get it to work the cost was low and I could always put it back together.

I have some good news everyone. i have the late 2015 imac that was purchased ONLY with a 512 SSD WITHOUT fusion drive. i was also wondering the same thing and i can happily report that the new late 2015 iMACs DO HAVE THE BRACKETS IN PLACE. the more challenging piece was to find the custom SATA cable. i was finally able to get one used from powerbookmedic. the apple part number you need is 923-00092. another challenge was finding the hard drive mounting pins that go into the hard drive. After all however i installed a 5tb drive and i am waiting for my thermal sensor to reduce fan speeds. this is great news since i've been trying to find an answer for this myself FOR MONTHS!!

Hi all!

I have installed a second drive into my iMac late 2015

There was from beginning a 250gig flash drive and I added a WD 3TB Red.

So now I am running it with two separate disks inside.

What you need is:

HDD cable - Apple part 923-00092

HDD Cable temperature adapter - OWC part OWCDIDIMACHDD12 (maybe not needed if you use software to control fans)

HDD mounting screws 4pcs - Ebay or local radioshack (They need to be little longer because of rubber spacers)

I had Drive brackets already installed so I didnt needed to buy that

Be warned!! Warranty will disappear if opened.

Only do this operation if you have knowledge.

Watch teardown videos be4.

I also tried to upgrade CPU from i5 to an i7 without success. (maybe faulty CPU so i gave that up)

Intel i7 6700K LGA1151 4.0Ghz