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Is it possible to update 2017 iMac 27" 5k with NMVe m.2 SSD using m.2 to Apple PCIe adapter?
I used to use SM951 AHCI in Mac Pro 5.1, 6.1, all Retina and Air 2013-2015 but what about NVMe once? Have anyone tried?
Is this a good question?
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First you may want to look at this Vid: 2017 27-inch iMac with Retina 5K Display Unboxing and Teardown jump to the 10:00 time point which shows the PCIe SSD Apple is using. It's very different from the M.2 SSD's.
Apple's PCIe NVMe SSD's use a custom device driver so while you might be able to get the adapter and NVMe SSD to physically fit it won't be recognized by the OS.
While I haven't tried anything in this new iMac I can tell you I've tried the newer MacBook Pro retina series which has a 2 lane NVMe SSD and it didn't work.
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Which MacBook you tried? AHCI m.2 SSDs with adapter works fine with all late 2013-2015 MacBooks Pro/Air. Confirmed many times.
Don't get confused here! AHCI is not the same as NVMe! What worked in the older systems does not work in the newer systems.
Review this: SATA Express (SATAe) Your older system uses the Red path with the AHCI (SATA) the newer systems use the Yellow path with Apples PCIe (NVMe) drive.
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Upgrading an 2017 iMac 27" with an off the shelf NMVe m.2 SSD + M.2 Apple PCIe adapter is definitely possible.
I am amazed how much confusion information is on the internet about this topic. Even from OWC, which only wants to sell a SATA upgrade kit for the 2017 iMac.
So I thought, try and find it out.
I did my 2017 iMac with a EVO 970 NVMe SSD + Sintech M.2 NVMe to Apple PCEe adapter.
I only recommend the Sintech adapters, others are known to have issues.
I used:
https://www.amazon.com/Sintech-M-2-PCIe-...
I have some images on instagram where I did my upgrade.:
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bs0loRDga6c/
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bs06bPLAz1p/
I am happy I did it and got rid of the FusionDrive setup.
As a note, if you plan to replace the SATA drive with an SSD, which I also did then "No" you do not need the overpriced and useless thermal Sensor from OWC either.
I recommend the regular EVO not the EVO Plus or EVO Pro.
If you still insist on using the non standard EVO then Samsung released an firmware update for the EVO Plus that fixes issues on Mac, you need to upgrade it first using a PC before putting the drive in your Mac.
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@xarbit - Theres a couple of issues here that you glossed over.
First the newer 'Thin Series' iMac's are harder to open up without damaging the display and taking the logic board out adds to it (and a bit of a shock risk). Many people are just not skilled enough which is why OWC (and Transcend) decided not to get into supporting exchanging out the blade SSD as it was just so much harder.
As for using these M.2 adapters I'm not a fan. Maybe they are getting better I haven't tried one in the last year. The systems I get in with these adapters tend to have bad SSD's as the CRC error's finely catch up killing the SSD, SSD's that die in a couple of years is not good economics! Putting one into a iMac is risky in my option as its already so hard to get to. Don't forget some of these SSD & adapter combo's won't allow the drive to be the boot drive which is a strong reason too.
As far as the SATA drive replacement true the newer '17 and newer iMac's no longer require the inline thermal sensors ... But! If you run diagnostics you'll get a few errors which can confuse. I just install them as its just easier and the cost factor is not that much.
With the issues with booting under this config with some setups and hibernation gets messed up which can cause OS crashes. Is also not worth the time to debug or trying to always work around.
Thanks for your reply, while you are right it is harder to do yes, but truth is, it is not really that hard. I understand OWC and Co. not wanting to support endusers in opening thier sealed macs.
It is more the misleading and false information about this which also prevents pro's from doing it.
I believe People have fun doing things on thier own and are pretty much capable in deciding if they trust thier self in doing it on thier own.
As for the thermal sensor for the SATA drive, believe me.. I ran diagnostics and have zero errors and even have a screenshot somewhere that I posted to a user on instagram that asked me that.
The cost factor of around 50 euros here where I am from is more than too much if it is useless.
I also have no isuues with hibernation on my 2017 iMac.
The Sintech is a very good adapter and the EVO pretty much the same what Apple uses for its own blade SSDs.
There are bad M.2 adapters, if you tried one in the past then give the Sintech a try.
Here is a question for you! I used that same Sintech adapter you listed and a WD Black NVME 1tb SSD in a new 27" iMac 2019 and when I'd hold option on the keyboard at startup, the computer would boot up to the boot options page but as soon as I clicked on anything, ie, A USB Mac OSX Mojave install disk, or Internet recovery, the computer would show the Stop symbol and need to be re booted.
I even tested it and bought a second adapter and tried with a Samsung 970 Pro I had but the exact same thing happened.
Do you know why that would be? As far as I can tell it should have worked.
@zackattack011
You did it on an iMac 2019, interesting .. don’t know anyone who tried it on a brand new 2019 iMac. Do you know what manufacture Apple used in the 2019 series SSD‘s and do you have pictures? Contact: http://telegram.me/scujas
Hi I have a same year iMac and going to do upgrade to m.2 ssd, would you upload a screenshot for the disk speed? either black magic or aja thx!!
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I installed a Samsung 970 EVO 2TB M.2 in my mid-2017 27” 5k iMac and it works great with 4x NMVe speeds.
You can use the adapters from the MacBook Air etc… with your 5k mid-2017 iMac … and you will get NVMe 4x speeds with a 4x lane drive . Physically the adapters are the same (different protocols ACHI vs NVMe with same pinout).
I haven’t seen this posted anywhere, but the newer sockets on this logic board have an extended shield that can easily shorts to the adapter header. I confirmed with my multimeter. This can short out the power rails and most of the PCIE bus! This would help explain why some people have issues (failure to start and crashing).
I used Kapton tape (electrical tape works also, but is not as clean). You want to cover the soldered header pins on the adapter socket on the mating side but obviously not the gold plated card edge pins. See attachment.
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Good job, you know the newer Sintech adapters have insulating tape already on them. But you’re right it needs to made be aware of.
Any sleep issues with your upgraded iMac? Thanks
Sleeps and wakes up fine.
can you do internet recovery or still need a flash drive? Thanks!
I believe that Samsung 960 EVO or PRO with the adapter like this one:
https://ru.aliexpress.com/item/M-key-M-2...
WILL work fine in the iMacs 2017.
All the opinions that are different - come from people who aim to earn money on you.
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Samsung has updated firmare for the SSD 970 Evo Plus PCIe NVMe, this is the direct link.
Now it works on Macs https://www.globalmac.cl/SSD-Samsung-970...
Best Regards! Alex
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I just recently updated my plus drive. Unfortunately, despite the claim of performance enhancement, I am getting very MEDIOCRE write speeds of 976 MB/Sec with decent read speeds of 2490 MB/Sec with multiple Mac and Windows benchmarks (when used in the Samsung X5 Thunderbolt 3 enclosure).
I bought M2 SSD SAMSUNG 970 EVO Plus M.2 .
Which adapter should I buy now for my: iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, Late 2015)
1.- Your comments appears off-topic in this thread.
2.- Samsung X5 1TB SSD (enclosure included) $399.99 ... lol! very expensive.
U can look for M.2 NVME Type-C (USB3.1 gen2) SSD enclosure ~ $36 instead of $$$.
To install upgraded M.2 NVMe PCIe 2280 SSD your iMac 5K needs the "M.2 NVMe to Mac 2013-2017 SSD Adapter" like anything of the following:
1.- https://www.globalmac.cl/Adaptador-Corto...
2.- https://www.globalmac.cl/Adaptador-SSD-M...
Hibernation must be disabled in Mac models 2013 and 2014, but your's 2015 has 0 problems and this is a 100% recommended upgrade.
Faster SSD also means faster VRAM processes.
@rxs0 Performance relies on PCIe 3gen x4 lanes. Older Macs has PCIe 3gen x2 lanes (50% bandwith) or less.
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Here is my experience with this upgrade. Hope it helps.
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I recently upgraded my iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, 2017) from a 2TB internal to a Corsair MP400 NVMe PCIe Gen 3 x4 M.2 SSD. I got a tech guy to do it (they supplied the adaptor) and, well, it took way longer than expected, he named the new SSD HD some weird-ass name, and reinstalling and restoring from TimeMachine has been a nightmare, but that’s not why I am here.
Is there any way I can use the now removed 2TB SSD as an external? Are there any caddies available that could connect utilising hi-speed throughputs (I have no idea what I am saying here)? Basically, I have no idea what sort of connections are hi-speed anymore (USB 3, C, Lightning, Thunder, etc, etc) and was just wondering what the correct terminology is to search for something to connect this incredibly small SSD into my Mac.
Yeah, it’s pretty stupid replacing it and then asking to connect it back expecting PCMie speeds. Like, why didn’t I just try and connect the 4TB SSD via this method? I know right?
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I am not aware of any adapters or enclosures for Apple's 2017 and later PCIe NVMe SSD blades. OWC makes some Envoy USB enclosures for 2013 to 2015 Apple SSD blades, but when I asked them (just two days ago in fact) if they had models for the more recent blades, the answer was "no".
@lazy_atom & @pppappas - OWC offers cases for the custom Apple blade SSD's OWC Envoy Pro
OWC does not make Envoy Pro enclosures that work with Apple's 2017 and later SSD blades. I just had this conversation with them last week.
I have put a Gen. 5 Apple 512GB SSPOLARIS SSD from a 2017 iMac (https://beetstech.com/product/solid-stat...) into the OWC Envoy Pro (https://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/MAU3...). This is only a USB 3.0 solution, so only 5Gbps, but at least you can read and write to your drive. I don't think the OWC Envoy can boot a Mac, but I could be wrong. So OWC are wrong that none of their enclosures work, but right that they are not designed for them and certainly don't run at anywhere near the speed the SSDs are capable of.
Hi.
Look for MacBook Air 2017 SSD Enclosure.
That is the same Apple proprietary’s PCIe SSD found in all A1466 2013-2017 models, among others Retina Late-2013 to Mid-2015 and even FusionDrive iMac’s 2013-2019 (or so), and Mac Pro 2013 (black).
https://a.aliexpress.com/_mNg0CH0
this one for all those Apple SSD drives.
the heatsink of Mac Pro SSD must be removed (with heat gun) to fit into that enclosure.
this one to reuse the Apple SSD blade into any PC with M.2 PCIe slot.
High Speed enclosure for Apple SSDs?
Look for the port and transmission protocol, and for your own ports specs too:
• USB-3 is 5Gbps (around 500MB/s max)
• USB-3.1 is 10Gbps (around 1.000MB/s max)
• USB-C akas USB-3.2 is 20Gbps (around 2.000 MB/s max)
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Spanish: Hola! Yo compre un Samsung 980 pro lo instale con el adaptador corto verde y el disco no fue reconocido, en un iMac 27” de 2014 (late) recién leí todo y estimo que fue o por el adaptador o por no darle formato o clonar el disco anterior y copiar el sistema al nuevo. Me podrán ayudar?
English: Hello! I bought a Samsung 980 pro and installed it with the short green adapter and the disk was not recognized, in an iMac 27” from 2014 (late) I just read everything and I estimate that it was either because of the adapter or because I did not format or clone the disk old and copy the system to the new one. can you help me?
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Spanish: Lo primero es Apple > Acerca de este Mac > Mas Información > Hardware > NVMEexpress.
Si no aparece habilitado, es porque no has completado el Firmware Update que añade soporte NVMe de Apple. Viene con macOS High Sierra en adelante: deberás instalarlo desde 0 en una partición limpia del SSD original (o en disco externo). Sólo después de completar ese Firmware Update tu Mac sabrá reconocer SSD M.2 NVMe
Por otro lado, el adaptador casi nunca es la causa: no es un chip controlador, sólo es un reorganizador de pines del zócalo propietario Apple al zócalo M.2 estándar de la industria.
Saludos desde GlobalMac, Chile!
The first thing is Apple > About this Mac > More Information > Hardware > NVMEexpress.
English: If it doesn't appear enabled, it's because you haven't completed the Firmware Update that adds Apple's NVMe support. It comes with macOS High Sierra onwards: you'll need to install it from scratch on a clean partition of the original SSD (or external drive). Only after completing that Firmware Update will your Mac know how to recognize M.2 NVMe SSD
On the other hand, the adapter is almost never the cause: it's not a controller chip, it's just a pin rearranger from Apple's proprietary socket to the industry-standard M.2 socket.
Greetings from GlobalMac, Chile!
@a13x te estoy muy agradecido por tomarte un momento para atender mi duda. Si me permitieras, quisera aprovechar tu conocimiento para entender mejor lo que me propones.
Si entendí bien los pasos serían:
1- desarmar el iMac y extraer el ssd M2
2- darle formato APFS
3- Instalar el Sistema Operativo (Mac OS Big Sur en mi caso)
4- Instalar el Firmware del M2 (este último podrás guiarme de donde lo obtengo o como lo hago? hay alguna guía?)
5- Insertar nuevamente el ssd M2 en la ranura pci express + adaptador
6- armar el iMac
Ojalá tu respuesta y me pregunta ayuden a otros con el mismo problema. Un saludo desde Argentina :)
English: I'm very grateful to you for taking a moment to answer my question. If you allow me, I would like to take advantage of your knowledge to better understand what you propose.
If I understood correctly the steps would be:
1- disassemble the iMac and extract the ssd M2
2- give it APFS format
3- Install the Operating System (Mac OS Big Sur in my case)
4- Install the M2 Firmware (the latter can you guide me where I get it or how I do it? Is there a guide?)
5- Insert the M2 ssd back into the pci express slot + adapter
6- assemble the iMac
Hopefully your answer and question will help others with the same problem. Greetings from Argentina :)
The Ultimate Guide to Apple’s Proprietary SSDs
Buenos días, muchas gracias, lo leí pero no ha respondido mi duda. Aún no he resuelto el problema. Hasta tanto no tenga la respuesta adecuada no voy a volver abrir el iMac. Estoy trabajando desde el SSD Sata 3. En algún momento podré volver al fushion drive con el pci express.
English: Good morning, thank you very much, I read it but you have not answered my question. I haven't solved the problem yet. Until I have the proper answer, I'm not going to reopen the iMac. I am working from the Sata 3 SSD. At some point I will be able to go back to the fushion drive with the pci express.
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20 Comments
Can we leave the Fusion drive in after we install the NVMe?
by clueluzz
A Fusion Drive is physically two drives made up of the SATA drive and the PCIe Blade Drive, so you'er not adding a drive here you’re trading one drive for another.
If you need performance I don't recommend Fusion Drives, I recommend dual dedicated drives. The Blade SSD being the Boot drive with the app's and the rest of the drive left bare for V-RAM, Apps Caching and Paging. I would also set the drive as the scatch drive is the app allows it and you may need a larger drive if you do. Then use your HDD as the date drive holding your stuff.
by Dan
Yes, you can create a Fusion Drive from your new NVMe SSD and the SATA drive of your iMac. If you want a really faster upgrade then replace the 3.5˝ HDD SATA with a "big" 2.5˝ SSD as they are a lot cheaper now.
by Alex Rettig
Creating a Fusion Drive with anything larger than 128 Gb drive is a waste!
by Dan
I already bought 512 GB Samsung Pro 960 M.2 SSD. After I disassembled my iMac 2017 27". I'm shock realizing the interface is different! I feel stupid.
I'm ordering the adapter which is about 1 month to arrive. =( I'll buy the adapter to SATA for now and use it as storage. Later on I'll buy the correct SSD and install the OS on it.
by peter
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