How to upgrade iMac 2019 from fusion HDD to SSD (4k)

The Apple Fusion SSD cannot be simply replaced by your standard M.2 NVMe drive - Apple uses proprietary connectors and the drives are also longer. Each generation is also slightly different in number of pins and width and so on. You can get adapters but I haven't found one that I like. Yet. Upgrading to SATA SSD makes a massive difference though NVMe would absolutely be faster. Good luck upgrading!

Great video. Only suggestion I can add is , prior to gluing the front back to place, I would recommend a mock boot up just to make sure that all connections and the new hard drive actually works. It's nothing more frustrating then gluing all back together and realize that one connection was not ansambled well and it's not working at all. Then you will need a new set of stipes and do it all over again. Cheers.

Before sealing up the iMac, I recommend booting it up to make sure everything works. When I replaced my drive and sealed it up, the screen would not come. I had to reopen the iMac to re-attach the cables. I'm glad I ordered a second set of the adhesive tape.

If you remove the motherboard you can remove the little ssd finger drive that apple uses as a fusion drive and replaced it with an M2-NVME drive, formatted it as a normal drive and still replaced the rotational drive with an SSD. You can keep the os and apps on the M2 drive and your data on the regular SSD. The speed increase is impressive. Also not a criticism just a tip - don't tape the screen up until you've checked everything is working.

This is the best video I've seen regarding iMac SSD upgrade . Odlicno!!

Excellent. I’m going to need to watch this and follow slowly step by step if I ever attempt it.

I have a 2015 27in iMac with the 2tb fusion drive. It started acting up recently n I did everything to try n fix it without opening it up. I figured it was the Fusion drive. I went n bought a Samsung T5 500gb external ssd. I formatted it n then installed a bootable version of Catalina into it. It’s hooked up using just usb n it’s actually driving it at the same exact speeds as the one u installed. So basically I did what u did without opening it up n now just need to look at a external drive hooked to it. It’s not as pretty but it works great n now my machine is back operational again which I thought 2 days ago that I’d be spending another $2500 on a new one. So $86 and it’s fixed. I should be able to do without buying a new one for another year. I’m impressed tho that it’s running still so well for a 5yr old machine. Never had an issue until that fusion drive started slowing to a crawl. It wasn’t even filled up either. The 2tb fusion comes with 128gb of flash n I was only using About 90gb total n the drive just slowed until everything started making me see the spinning beach ball of death.

Removing the screen from anything these days is a heart pounding moment...taking one off an iMac takes balls....kudos to you my friend. The hard drive swap is nothin really...even with one screw. It's all about that screen, they are soooo easy to crack/damage. Master this, and you can do anything with your iMac....please, please don't anyone get clever about soldered components, that's another issue altogether, but not insurmountable.....peace.

Is it work on imac late 2015?

Did the same thing on 2010 macbook, but to keep the same system and files, used Acronis to clone the HDD to an SSD before installing it, runs like butter for 2 years already :)

2 tips : No 1 the SSD is so light -you dont need to put it in the framework - a little bit of velcro attaches it just fine No 2) put it all back together with out the adhesive seal and put a small amount of sellotape across the top corners of the screen diagonally - this enable you to take the screen off if there is a problem and to also change the drive again if you wish, put the adhesive back in place if you sell it

just did the upgrade with your tutorial; i didnt have the patience to "hack" the disk bracket, but i followed you to the letter and evrything gone smooth and well. Thank you Juraj!

Great guide !! I wanted to ask you if this update guide also applies to iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, 2017).

I swapped out the internal PCI SSD by a 1TB Transcend SSD PCI one and put in a HDD for additional storage. And everything worked just fine wir insane read and write speeds 👌🏼

It is actually pretty easy to generate a fusion drive using an nvme and ssd. I just did it. Be careful this destroys all information on both disks you use to make the fusion drive. In Terminal start with determining the disk names (they both have to be GUID formatted). Then use this command - "diskutil cs create fusion disk 1 disk 2" (disk1 and disk2 are the names you go using diskutil list This will generate a new fusion volume group. Write down or copy the logical volume group name. Next you need to generate the volume - this this command: "diskutil cs createVolume (logical group volume number) jhfs+ Fusion 100%" Bingo - a new fusion drive Of course you have to boot from another drive because this process destroys all information on both the disks you are using to make the fusion drive.

Hi, Do I have to buy an adapter for the thermal sensor?

Do you know if the one with a m.2 still has the sata connector for an additional drive?

I put more ram and a new hard drive into my MacBook Pro mid 2012. Definitely easier due to only taking out some screws on the underside. This is a bit lengthier task. I ordered an iMac 21.5 2019 retina 4k with a base of 8 gb. Mind you it was refurbished. I want to put in an ssd hard drive and upgrade the ram from 8 gb to 64 gb. Safe to do so?

thanks for making this video. I wonder what is the best way to backup and restore the old disk? I have a bootcamp (Windows 10) on the iMac

I have a question and I hope I get and answer. What is the difference between replacing the fusion drive and running external SSD ?