iMac users - switching Fusion HD to SSD ?

[justa1972]

Hi all

Hopefully, someone will have experience of this !

I have a 2019 27" iMac with 48gb RAM and a 1TB fusion drive. The Fusion drive is perhaps not surprisingly, slowing it down when using Lightroom/Photoshop. It's not awful, but slow enough to annoy me.

I am trying to decide whether to upgrade the internal hard drive to a 1TB SSD (i have been quoted £254 for this and £10 for every 50 gb of data to be transferred) or to buy a Mac Mini M4.

The iMac has been great and it's a bit galling to virtually give it away to Apple or other trade in place........ but maybe it's time to bite the bullet and upgrade ?

thanks

 

[Pound Coin]

An M4 machine will be astonishingly fast compared to the Intel one you have.

However, the monitor on that iMac is to die for. But you cannot use it in Target Display Mode, which would allow you to use it as a monitor. There are ways of making it do that, but they aren't for the faint-hearted.

An SSD inside will be faster than a Fusion Drive. But you will be limited by the processor. Is it possible to boot that machine from an External Thunderbolt 3 (USB C) SSD? If so, try adding an external drive and set it up to be the Boot drive. At least, if that doesn't work out, you'll have a usable external SSD drive...

 

[justa1972]

An M4 machine will be astonishingly fast compared to the Intel one you have.

However, the monitor on that iMac is to die for. But you cannot use it in Target Display Mode, which would allow you to use it as a monitor. There are ways of making it do that, but they aren't for the faint-hearted.

An SSD inside will be faster than a Fusion Drive. But you will be limited by the processor. Is it possible to boot that machine from an External Thunderbolt 3 (USB C) SSD? If so, try adding an external drive and set it up to be the Boot drive. At least, if that doesn't work out, you'll have a usable external SSD drive...

Thanks that's interesting...

I presume i would have to spend a lot to get a 27" monitor as good as my iMac ?

I had thought about booting it from an external hard drive but the advantage of an iMac is its portability and lack of clutter !

Not an easy decision !

 

[GeeJay57]

An M4 machine will be astonishingly fast compared to the Intel one you have.

However, the monitor on that iMac is to die for. But you cannot use it in Target Display Mode, which would allow you to use it as a monitor. There are ways of making it do that, but they aren't for the faint-hearted.

An SSD inside will be faster than a Fusion Drive. But you will be limited by the processor. Is it possible to boot that machine from an External Thunderbolt 3 (USB C) SSD? If so, try adding an external drive and set it up to be the Boot drive. At least, if that doesn't work out, you'll have a usable external SSD drive...

It is possible to boot an Intel iMac27 from an external SSD via USB3. Did it on my late-2012 version after which it cold booted in about 30-seconds or maybe a bit less. Worked really well for five or six years and I only retired the machine a couple of months ago when I got a 27” Benq monitor to use with my MacBook Air M2.

I’d been kicking around the idea of swapping the internal hard drive for an SSD, but didn’t want to run the risk of damaging the screen doing it myself. I got a quote from a local firm to do the swap-out, but didn’t go there in the end and went external drive instead (Samsung T5 Blue-Tac to the stand).

From what I’ve read/seen, getting to the internal SSD used in a Fusion Drive is even more involved than just changing the hard drive.

I’m very pleased with the M2 MacBook + Benq combination.

 

[gramps]

It's a fun project replacing the internal drive, I did two a while back. It takes a bit of time but there are plenty of helpful videos etc out there.
As PC says, it is also very possible to boot from an external SSD, I did that too on another, the boot time is a little longer but speed difference in use is quite noticeable.

 

[justa1972]

It is possible to boot an Intel iMac27 from an external SSD via USB3. Did it on my late-2012 version after which it cold booted in about 30-seconds or maybe a bit less. Worked really well for five or six years and I only retired the machine a couple of months ago when I got a 27” Benq monitor to use with my MacBook Air M2.

I’d been kicking around the idea of swapping the internal hard drive for an SSD, but didn’t want to run the risk of damaging the screen doing it myself. I got a quote from a local firm to do the swap-out, but didn’t go there in the end and went external drive instead (Samsung T5 Blue-Tac to the stand).

From what I’ve read/seen, getting to the internal SSD used in a Fusion Drive is even more involved than just changing the hard drive.

I’m very pleased with the M2 MacBook + Benq combination.

I really don't fancy doing it myself!

I think the quote for £254 is reasonable but they did state there is a small risk the glass might break for which they would not accept liability...

 

[f/1.2]

Thanks that's interesting...

I presume i would have to spend a lot to get a 27" monitor as good as my iMac ?

I had thought about booting it from an external hard drive but the advantage of an iMac is its portability and lack of clutter !

Not an easy decision !

Asus do a 27” 5k for about £650. It’s a bit better spec than the old iMac monitor.

I recently bought the 32” 6k version it costs £1299.

So you could for example get a Mac Mini and the Asus 27” 5k for £1250 which isn’t too bad and would be a huge upgrade.

 

[Malfis]

Hi all

Hopefully, someone will have experience of this !

I have a 2019 27" iMac with 48gb RAM and a 1TB fusion drive. The Fusion drive is perhaps not surprisingly, slowing it down when using Lightroom/Photoshop. It's not awful, but slow enough to annoy me.

I am trying to decide whether to upgrade the internal hard drive to a 1TB SSD (i have been quoted £254 for this and £10 for every 50 gb of data to be transferred) or to buy a Mac Mini M4.

The iMac has been great and it's a bit galling to virtually give it away to Apple or other trade in place........ but maybe it's time to bite the bullet and upgrade ?

thanks

I'm going through the same dilemma myself - I have a 2019 imac with 72gb RAM with a 2 TB Fusion drive.
I've just changed to DXO Photolab 9 from LRC/Photoshop etc. monthly plan. The computer generally is slowing down, and the delay in rendering the images is now noticeable when I change the sliders in Photolab.
I have decided to bite the bullet and go the Mac Mini route. The recommendations on the Web seem to be to go for the M4 Pro chip.
Having read the comments above about the speed of the M4 chip, does anyone have thoughts that the standard M4 chip will 'do the job', rather than going for the M4 Pro?

 

[justa1972]

I'm going through the same dilemma myself - I have a 2019 imac with 72gb RAM with a 2 TB Fusion drive.
I've just changed to DXO Photolab 9 from LRC/Photoshop etc. monthly plan. The computer generally is slowing down, and the delay in rendering the images is now noticeable when I change the sliders in Photolab.
I have decided to bite the bullet and go the Mac Mini route. The recommendations on the Web seem to be to go for the M4 Pro chip.
Having read the comments above about the speed of the M4 chip, does anyone have thoughts that the standard M4 chip will 'do the job', rather than going for the M4 Pro?

Strange but most of the reviews I have read say that the M4 is sufficient for the majority and its now really worth going for the M4 Pro.