Hi Joebire,
I recently installed a 256 Gb Samsung EVO 750 replacing the 500 GB HDD in my late 2009 iMac 21.5", running latest OS and with 12 Mb of RAM.
Had some early issues which have now been sorted (mainly fan speed and migration issues).
I am very happy now that install has settled down from the minor issues mentioned above.
Super fast speed now, well worth the expense to have install and migration done by a local service agent.
Anyone know a good Mac repair/installer in Melbourne? Iām thinking of upgrading the slow internal HDD with an SSD to speed up boot and general performance on my old iMac. Itās taking forever to load up at the moment after I upgraded to newer OS. Also any ideas of costs? I would try to do it myself but not sure if I trust myself with taking off the glass front and putting all back on properly.
Hi Limply, I upgraded my late 2009 iMac by replacing the spinning 500 Gb HDD with a Samsung EVO 750 of 250 Gb. The cost was just on $400 including cost of SSD and migration, but was done in Hobart by an Apple service place. Can thoroughly recommend the Samsung SSD as it really speeds up the iMac. Donāt know about Melbourne, but I reckon you should get the job done for about $300 there.
That sounds very reasonable. You didnāt experience any problems with fans or Trim support on the new SSD? Just reading early articles but maybe these problems have been fixed now and your installer knew how to mitigate them. I probably would want to go for larger 1TB SSD or maybe opt for custom fusion drive set-up. My internal optical drive died a long time ago and could give up that space for a smaller SSD just for the boot drive? Though I guess that will increase complexity?
Hi Limpboy, yes I had some issues with fan speed but I downloaded an app at suggestion of service company but that only reduced the problem. I found another app (SSD Fan Control) that sorted the speed entirely. Yes had minor issues as the boot drive was not pointed to correct place. Now that finder has had some time it seems to find everything ok. I used the 250 Gb SSD as I am only a small user of HDD now I am retired. I have found that size ok, but can see that a bigger SSD would assist larger users.
Thatās good news. I still havenāt touched mine. A local store said they would do the ssd upgrade for $80. I would do the migration myself. Maybe in July when I will have some time.
A note for anyone that also comes across this thread, itās possible to correct the iMac 2009-2011 fan speed issue with replacement drives in hardware as well. Iāve been installing a few of the OWC In-Line Temperature Sensor kits as of late and it does correctly report the temperature back to the SMC without needing a software fix.
OWC Digital Thermal Sensor for 2009-2010 iMac HD Upgrade (2009-2010)
OWC In-line Digital Thermal Sensor for Apple iMac 2011 (2011)
It costs more of course, sometimes between $80 to $90 with shipping included from local suppliers, but it does resolve the issue permanently, including between OS reinstalls and upgrades that could potentially break a software fix.
An advance warning to AppleTalk iMac (2010) owners - the iMac (21.5-inch Mid 2010) and iMac (27-inch Mid 2010) will also be classified as vintage products effective Tuesday, 14th June.
The MacBook (13-inch Late 2009) and MacBook Pro (13-inch Mid 2010) will also be classified vintage at this time, along with the AirPort Extreme 802.11n (4th Generation) and Time Capsule 802.11n (3rd Generation).
If you have one of these models and wish to schedule a repair with an Apple Store or Apple Authorised Service Provider, I would advise doing it before this date. Some components like batteries may still be available after this date, and of course components like hard drives and memory will continue to be available in the wider market as these are typically standard off-the-shelf parts.