Was going to fork out £250 on ebay for a new imac but only spent £35 after seeing. It's like I have a new computer! I can go back to making house music without lagging issues. Massive respects bruv 🙏
Great idea if you don't want to open the computer, which is very tricky and requires patience and a steady hand. You can save some time by going into recovery mode (Option R), then perform a "restore" to the USB drive. This will "clone" the old HD to the new one, saving you the time of backing up, and then re-loading a fresh copy of the OS (which is actually unnecessary). Then you can use the option key to set the default boot device to the newly cloned external HD. I've just been through this, and it works. I went one step further: I removed the screen and properly installed the newly cloned SSD drive inside the enclosure. A word to the wise if you attempt this: don't use a metal knife to cut the glue on the monitor, I have wrecked two monitors in my experimentation. Use a plastic bladed "pizza cutter" to cut the glue strips. You can buy this tool on Amazon, and it comes with the tape to glue the monitor back on. Cheers!
Your idea is great idea also! I have a late 2012 27" running sonoma with OCLP. So, theoretically, if I'm making this restore in recovery with the disk utility, all my files and settings and apps with all the drivers installed by OCLP will be the exact clone of my internal HD, and i can boot from there? Would be awesome. Of course i will ask also the OCLP community , will it work with all the OCLP patches. Thanks the advice! Ps: one more thing: is it necessary to format the SSD to MacOs extended, or in my case to APFS, or it's unnecessary with the "restore" function?
Thank you so very, very much. My husband would have a fit every time he tried to work on our iMac...to pay a bill or check something, etc. Ugh. It was so very frustrating. You literally saved us so much time, money, and headaches! Installed the new SSD external drive and followed your directions. What a changed world it is to use that machine now! Oh, my. You are such a Godsend. Thanks, again! Cheers from across the pond! Slainte!
I have the same iMac and it’s super slow. Once you moved the os to the external ssd was the data on the fusion drone still intact? Do the apps also get transferred or they remain on the Fusion Drive? Thanks
I opened my 2015 27” i7 iMac with some ifixit stuff around 4 years ago and upgraded to an NVMe Samsung 2TB drive giving me about 3GB/s read and write. I also installed a Samsung SATA drive inside. But it’s hugely inferior to the NVMe drive. Recently I upgraded it to Sequoia with OpenCore Legazy Patcher and wow…it’s faster than ever. I highly recommend going this way even it’s much more complicated and risky.
2024 and it still works with my 2017 iMac. Used a Sandisk 2TB drive and followed the instructions. Went smooth with zero issues. The OS is Ventura and it even chose the SSD for boot automatically. My system is lighting fast now! Much thanks!!!
Thank you so much! I bought a 2019 Mac right before they updated them. It’s been super slow and super frustrating. I was getting ready to either buy a mini Mac or replace the hard drive with a ssd internally. This was so much easier. You’re the best!
September 2024: This is EXACTLY what I needed---I followed this guidance and, at a cost of $85, incredibly improved the performance of my Late 2015 iMac. It was super easy--and was able to transfer all the HDD files to the SSD in a couple of hours. THANK YOU Lee-Loi!
DEAR LORD, i did not think this would be so hard to find. Thank you so much for this video. Exactly what i was looking for, simple and to the point. YAY! NEW SSD FOR MY MAC MINI 2014!!! :-)
I just used this method to upgrade my late 2015 imac 21.5" with a 1TB fusion drive; I added an external 1TB Samsung T7 SSD, for $99 ; it took me better part of a day -- I restored from a Timce Machine backup -- but also upgraded to Monterey from Big Sur. Took some tweaking but now it runs SO fast... take a couple of minutes to boot up (it is new software on an old machine) but once it's booted it is running incredibly fast. Thank you, Lee Loi-Chang for this, you probably saved me $1000!!! Very simple and easy.
Thank you so much for this tutorial. After a visit to the Genius Bar with NO successful solution and considering trading in my 2019, iMac for a new version, I am now using my iMac. Your directions (along with others) were extremely helpful in getting it to run. It's faster than ever. And I was able download the newest operating system and transfer all my files. Thank you again. (I'm actually typing this review from my faster MAC. It would not have been impossible prior to the external drive install.) - 12/2024
Glad it helped! So so wonderful. Less e-waste and extra value for you. I feel when you upgrade a Computer it should feel it owes you nothing, and a 2019 computer still has a long way to go before it gets there!
Your video saved my iMac! My computer was purchased for me 12 years ago (in 2013), and it is amazing it has lasted for me this long. But in recent weeks my iMac kept slowing down trying to start (even taking as much as 10 minutes just to get the desktop going), not being able to shut down on its own, etc. After watching your video, I learned that the original internal hard drive was showing its age, and eventually would fail. So, thanks to your advice, I upgraded the memory, then bought a new 1 TB external SSD to create a new drive for my iMac to boot from, then followed your instructions to reformat and do a fresh install of the latest OS my iMac can support. Once all that was done, I did a test or two on it and now it takes 30 seconds for my iMac to find my new boot drive, and then another 30 to 45 seconds to get to the Welcome screen, although sometimes the whole process takes me 30 seconds total like it did for me today-amazing!-so now the whole process of starting up my iMac is faster than before, and now once again works the way it did when I first got it in 2013. This upgrade only cost me almost $76 (for the new memory and SSD), instead of spending hundreds of dollars in professional repair, labor, and the risk of cracking the screen if I repaired it myself. Your video now adds a number of years to my iMac! Thanks so much for the video!
I love to hear it. That's what it's all about. I'm sure eventually you'll upgrade the system, but by that point the hope is you feel it owes you nothing. What we don't want is you going out spending your hard earned money before the Computer is truly dead.
THANK YOU for the fantastic tutorial and explanation to understand why so many iMacs have a problem with speed. I’ve been suffering with my annoyingly slow iMac desktop for the 3 years-ever since I bought it-and even tried to get professional help. Lately it’s become so slow, with the constant spinning wheel, I couldn’t stand it anymore and turned to UA-cam for help. What a great solution-thanks again for your video. 💯
Oh man, this is huge advice and tutorial from you for us, thousands thanks for it, now my iMac 3.6 GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i3 is rapidly speeded up using LaCie 1TB mobile SSD. It is a vast difference than before, quite easy to understand what you have done step by step. Again huge thanks, bro 😎👊
Hi Again. Looks like I celebrated a little too early :P My iMac (late Dec 2013) is stuck on the globe screen showing 0:01 as the remaining time... Been a couple hours.. Is it okay to force reboot the Mac or will it damage the OS on my hard drive? Please advise :)
@@simplysarab13 Hi Sarabjit Singh! That means it's having trouble downloading macOS off the internet. If you force reboot you will be ok as this how to guide never touches your old install. If it's having trouble downloading and you have a spare USB key lying around feel free to download Mac OS Big Sur ISO to the memory stick and install offline. :)
@@simplysarab13 Dos1Dude has a patcher that allows you to install MacOS Big Sur on unsupported Macs but his tool is actually a very good way of putting Mac OS Big Sur on to a USB Thumb Drive so that's something you can try. :)
Your video definitely helped speed up my 2013 iMac . Just have to make sure that the computer is always connected to the internet when setting this up. I had to connect back to wifi about 4 times and it finally worked
wow. great video. 2017 21.5in iMac that I thought was broken bc of how slow it was. I've contacted Apple numerous times to discuss how slow start up was and they finally recommended me to a local Mac repair company to upgrade the RAM and/or SSD. Thankfully I found your video bc I was quoted over $400 USD just to replace the HDD with an SSD. I will definitely try this first to see if it works for me. Thanks!
I can only recommend what I've used. I'm sure new drives came out. 400USD isn't actually that bad depending on how big the SSD is if it's like 1TB or something I'd probably pay that but yeah if it's like 240GB or something definitely go the external route. SanDisk or SanDisk Pro or Samsung are great bets. :)
@@ImLeeLoi Thank you. Will start with the external. The internal was 1TB but I'll start with the Samsung T7 to save more than half. If down the road I decide to have them do the internal SSD, then I'll format the external and give it to my kids for their PlayStation so it wont go to waste. Thanks again!
Hello there! Thank you for this great video! I have one question, in terms of speed/performance is there a difference between using an external portable SSD vs opening the computer and installing an internal SSD? I would like to avoid the latter solution for a number of reasons. Moreover, my computer (late 2015 imac 27 retina) does not support PCI type internal SSD (only SATA-at least so I have been told) so my options are either an external USB 3.0 SSD or an internal SATA connection SSD. Thank you in advance!
I think there would be minor speed increases by using it internally but you can read the other comments down below a lot of people are very happy with their external SSD. Why go through all that effort!
@@ImLeeLoi thank you for your reply! actually I was planning to give it to a third party certified repair shop, they charge 270 euros in total for the work and SSD. I would never attempt to do something like that on my own! My biggest worry is of psychological nature I would say, running the whole computer from a tiny little stick hanging outside the computer feels a bit bizarre lol. However I may consider this option and if I am not happy I might as well keep the external SSD and go for the upgrade later on. Thanks again for your time!
So I went the long PITA (pain in the ...) way of disassembling the whole machine to replace the 1TB HD with a 1TB SSD. While I was in there I upgraded the ram. This is a much much simpler upgrade and something I will keep in my mental toolkit. Great video.
Hi Lee-Loi, I recently discovered your channel searching for videos about the possible purchase of the old but very reliable Canon 600D camera, as I am finally ready to turn my curiosity about photography into something tangible. I am also considering switching from my 2013 ASUS Windows 8 laptop to a newer model and I'm interested in a Mac because people have been raving for years that it's so much more stable than Windows :-) ..... I've watched a few of your videos and what strikes me is your kind demeanor, your charisma and your knowledge of all the products you display. Just wanted to let you know and of course I immediately hit that Subscribe button. Keep up the great work.
Best vid I've seen so far regarding this method. Mainly because I want to do a fresh install and not clone the old HDD like most other vids show but well explained as well.
Thank you for this, I was having a problem installing Mac OS to an external hard drive when dowloading it from the App Store, this worked perfectly and saved a lot of headaches.
Thank you so much for this video. My late 2015 was extremely slow for few years now. We completely wiped it out and the speed only improved by a little. I followed all the steps in this video, didn’t transfer anything since I still have access to the original HD, I copied and pasted whatever files I needed to my external ssd. I am using San Disk Extreme Portable SSD 1tb.
Thanks for this video. I bought a renewed Best Buy 2019 21.5 4K . 1TB HDD. It was a good price. I thought I was going to have to open the whole computer, remove the screen panel, and all until I saw this alternative of installing an external ssd instead. . Thanks for sharing. You saved me the hassle 👍
Thank you! I used a sandisk extreme on a late 2015 Imac and runs much faster than when i got it brand new! Is like having a new computer! Thanks so much!
Excellent video, thanks a lot. I did this a year ago with a SanDisk v1 that was formatted with APFS and it was a great improvement once it loaded the O/S - loading the O/S however took ages (+10 mins!!). I now followed this manual with a SanDisk v2 device and formatted with Mac OS Extended / Journaled as suggested and it really rocks!! Far less than a minute for booting and even a bit faster whilst using the machine.
What should I do with the files on the Mac right now? Can I send that to the external hard drive and then install the Mac os on that external hard drive?
No. If anything you'd copy and paste after the install. When you install, locate the old hard drive in your mac finder, and copy and paste it over to the new drive.
Thanks for the great video. However, I have encountered an issue. When installing the latest OS onto my SSD the mac restarts. It defaulted back to the original internal drive once, so tried again. This time, I caught it mid reset by holding down the alt key to switch to the SSD however it is no showing up? Am I missing something?
So If the install isn't finishing the SSD won't show up when you hold alt. Make sure you formatted the SSD correctly as Journaled and NOT Apfs. I hand wrote the subtitles in video, turn them on and double check! :)
I did it! I think the computer gods were looking out for me because at a certain point (Install) I felt like I was jumping off of a cliff. I did call Apple Tech Support to verify I was using the SSD as my start drive. Everything is good. Enjoying the speed. If I can do it, anyone can! Thank you so much.
I’m going to be doing this to my early 2014 Mac this week. Right now it’s got a 1tb HDD but it runs so slow. I can’t wait for a performance boost a cheaper fix than having to pay extortionate prices for a Mac upgrade which isn’t affordable right now
Exellent video was thinking of buying a refurbished iMac 2015, I was unsure because of the year it was produced, but getting an external hard drive so somebody like myself who is not the most tech savvy is very easy well done 👏 thanks.
I have a late 2012 iMac and have been using this method for year. However, my iMac would hang when it goes into power save mode and then you try to wake it up. I solved this with an inexpensive externally powered USB hub so that the SSD never loses power.
That was a question i was going to pose before I do this so thank you! May I ask - about the externally powered hub? Do you plug that into the Mac then plug the ext SSD into the hub?
Pure brilliance. Who would have thought that you could use an external hard drive. I guess "Easily add an SSD to ANY iMac" is much catchier than "how to plug in a usb external hard drive to a usb port". LMAO!
Plus using an external hard drive over an external SSD would defeat the point even if it was 7200rpm, SSDs are way better and the performance cannot be compared. It has to be some form of solid state drive or high quality USB-C 3.2 flash drive
Thank you so much for your help. I was able to successfully run Mac OS on my external SSD. It is so much faster. How do I use my internal HDD for storage and time machine?
I did this with late 13 after it all of a sudden started performing extremely slowly. Only day 1 but seems to have worked great so far! Apple in store and on phone didn't even suggest me to try this. Just save over £1,500 by getting a new 2tb drive
sorry for late reply. Glad this worked for you! hopefully you can get a few more years before upgrading. Although your local second hand buy and sell will start to have great deals soon on M1 iMacs etc.
I was willing to upen up and probably completely destroy it in the process of changing the HDD to SSD. But doing it loke this is so much easier. Thanks a lot man, now my girlfriend is gonna understand the difference between Macs and Pcs when she sees the speed
A really easy, much cleaner and potentially cheaper way to get this done is to use a 256gb flash drive from Sandisk or Lexar with a 550Mb/s minimum read speed. They cost about $30 bucks on amazon. I just did this and the performance is amazing, on par with what's described here. Small footprint, less likely to lose connection/ fall out.
Flash drives aren't really built to last the same way SSDs are. It's not the Port being USB that's the deficiency, it's what the actual flash memory was designed to do.
Years later and i just tried this with a WD Green 1tb NVme , my read and write speeds are around 500mb is this normal? It is faster when all loads in the profile everything opens faster than the slow drive it came with but I thought I’ll get like 1000mb read and write. Regardless how u got it to boot up in 40 seconds? It takes like 1:50 to load all the way into the profile. Anyone else can share their experiences? I am running a clean copy of Monterey.
If you are using Monterey or an unsupported OS for an older iMac, it will likely be bottlenecked not by the SSD, but just the system loading in the Operating System. What limits your reading and write speeds is the Speed of the USB Port. USB 3.0 ports are 5GBs which works out around 400-500. If you do a google you can read about USB speeds in real performance, but the results you are getting for read and write sound to be expected.
Makes sense. That’s exactly what I thought it was so I was looking for ways to use the thunderbolt ports but they are mainly to connect screens I think. Do u know if installing a SSD inside its a better option to be even faster? Or it will just be a slightly improvement?.
Hi Lee, Absolutely amazing transformation for 5 days until I bumped the usb while fiddling with my headphone jack & crashed the Mac. Have restarted several times & checked it's still running from the SSD, but it's running much slower again. any fixes?
Oh wow. Ok, I'd say don't have anything plugged into the USB port beside the iMac. Try to keep the port beside the USB that has the SSD plugged in empty or only use it for a low data device like a wired mouse. I'd say, plug everything out for a few minutes. Retry. If it's still banjaxed, consider re-installing.
To people seing this, a got a hack if ur Mac has an intel processor, download windows from the pre-installed app bootcamp, then switch back to Mac, and that Windows somehow acts like an external storage and fastens the Mac. Worked on my 2017 super slow Mac and 1min45 to open safari, now it's as fast as ever
Well your start up time is super fast in my books. LOL. I have a 2019 iMac and it currently takes 12 minutes to start up and another 3 minutes to become properly usable. I have run disk repair many times and still cannot get it faster. My guess is the RAM I got installed years ago is causing the problem, but I don’t know. Thanks for your video!
Great video. Just wondering if you put the Time Machine back up onto the new drive as well? Otherwise, with all the apps and docs still on the old HDD, I would expect them to open much more slowly.
Fantastic!!! I've been battling with my late 2015 iMac 27" since Covid hit - I love the machine but it was starting to lag in every way! In fact I couldn't even upgrade to Big Sur due to the disk configuration that's in my Mac. Grabbed the 500 gB SSD from SanDisk & it's as you say - a new Mac that will buy me a couple more years for $70! Thank you!!! Waiting for 27" iMac w/ the M1 - fingers crossed if they go bigger than 24"
@@ImLeeLoi Start up isn't screaming fast, approx 1.1/2 - 2 mins but once I'm up the response time of the machine is excellent. I had Photoshop, Bridge, Premier MacMail all running at the same time - no issues.
@@RogerZacharias Glad that's improved. Strange your boot time didn't get much faster, did you restore from backup or start fresh? If you restored from backup expect longer boot times as you carried over the system's past baggage which I've observed from some others who did this. If you did a fresh install, I'm genuinely confused why your boot time is long, I think some people who use the AFPS file format might be slower as that's for more internal drives than this method. In the video I kept it as "Mac OS Extended Journaled" Anyway I'm glad the main thing is when your using the Computer it's much faster!!
@@ImLeeLoi I did restore from backup...so that makes total sense! I may do a clean install if things get 'clunky'. I did use 'Mac OS Extended Journaled' I selected restore from back up for no other reason than routine so that's my misstep.
When I download on my 2013 with 1tb SSD it gives me a failed to upload while waiting there for 40 minutes then its gave me the message This video is so relevant even now in 2024 but I am still trying and will have to see how someone else does it. Thanks so much
Hey Lee-Loi, thank God I found this video! Been searching for a solution since last year. I just bought the Sandisk Extreme Pro 1TB and followed your tutorial - my iMac feels like a new M1 Mac computer. lol. Since I totally erased my hard drive prior to the installation of OS in SSD, I'm wondering what's the use of my 1TB HDD? I can see it using disk utility but not in finder. Thank you so much!
This is a good video and proves that a simple start up drive really increases performance. I have a 2011 iMac and removed the internal optical drive which was knackered and replaced it with a 2TB SSD which I then partitioned, then cloned my system HDD onto. This has made a huge positive difference in start up and processing times. Also the inside of the Mac badly needed vacuuming, especially the fans.
Great video. I purchased a Samsung T5 500Gb external SSD. I used carbon copy to clone the HDD. It worked great for about 2 months and then started restarting without warning. I had to go back to the slow internal HDD again. So I’m thinking to just take the plunge and open her up.
Great Advice . ! thank you. Is that external kinston only will work as a system booting disc ? WHat is the size recomeended. Is it going to work as files disc as well ? Meaning, if i want to have one extra external SSD for files and for system, should I do partitions on it ?
You can put files on the one extra SSD. In fact I'd only recommend you plug-in one extra SSD (the one for this and everything!) I'm always nervous about recommending products I've never used but Samsung T5 / T7 have a brilliant reputation. Big name brands always have better warranty etc.
Wow I just did this to my old 2015 iMac with a 2TB Samsung T7 touch and it worked great! If I want to see my photos on my old HDD how do I get back there??
Thank you so much for your detailed video. I was successful this process and increased my speed tremendously. The boot drive is awesome. I have only 1 question, it appears I cannot use the rest of the drive for storage? Or is there a way. It is saying I don't have the permissions even though I'm the administrator. Thanks for your advice.
I figured it out how to partition the remaining part of the 1TB drive to get my storage. I am one happy camper with my 2015 Imac now running super fast...Thank you soooooooo much Lee.
About to do this for my Valkrie's Imac. I bought a M.2 2280 128g drive with a external 3.0 usb enclosure. I will follow your steps and let you know how it goes !!
@@ImLeeLoi i did and it would not update. going to try again. It gets to 70% updating then says it fails to update, this went on for 3 times, so I will erase and retry again tomorrow.
@@drewdegeer4432 Make sure the hard drive is formatted correctly as Mac OS Extended Journaled and nothing else is plugged into the USB Ports and retry. The SSD could potentially be damaged. ALTERNATIVELY: In Disk utility you can click on your new SSD, press the restore tab and then restore from your original Macintosh HD and that will copy the entire old hard drive to your new SSD. I don’t like this method because your transferring over old baggage which will slow boot times and performance but it could be a good way to troubleshoot to double check your new SSD works correctly.
Your video is so interesting to me. I have an iMac 27" that I love. Your step by step video on adding an external SSD as StartUp Disk was very encouraging! Is there any new information you can offer since your August 2020 video. Should the SSD be formatted as APFS versus Extended? Many thanks.
No, please only use Mac OS EXTENDED JOURNALED. APFS is better for SSD's if their inside the iMac - there's something about that doesn't play nice with external USB.
I have a question, I installed my own drive but now I am unable to download adobe software apps like illustrator and photoshop because it says that its case sensitive?
Right so unfortunately you do need to restart this process and make sure when you format the drive you do not choose CASE SENSITIVE. Certain apps and particularly games cannot work on a Case sensitive formatted drive.
Quick question, If i do this, will i lose my current files that are stored on my macs internal hard drive? I have alot of audio plugins installed on this computer and dont want to have to reinstall them
Great video Lee! I am thinking of installing an SSD internally and removing the old hard drive in my late 2012 iMac. After the installation do I need to hold the command, alt, r keys as you did in this video? The original hard drive will not even boot anymore.
Lee, this is awesome and you have given me the confidence to do this to my ever slower late 2015 iMac with Fusion Drive 1TB. Question: should I upgrade internal drive to latest OS so it is the same as what the new SSD drive will have on it? Have been hesitant because I'm terrifed of the slowness getting worse... thanks!!!
Hey Ed - answered your newest message earlier, i've been slow to reply with work commitments so apologies for not answering before you upgraded but I wouldn't recommend upgrading past what your iMac can handle. If your iMac automatically upgraded to the latest OS, that's great and will extend the software support but I wouldn't be running DosDude1's patcher on your home computer that you use every day!
Hey… I followed all the steps on my late 2015 and it didn’t work. I am running macOS Monterrey. Weirdly I don’t get the option to choose the HD where it will be installed =X
Hi great info, could you help, I am trying to add the Samsung ssd T7 as my drive but when it comes to the choice when downloading Catalina between Mac hd and the Samsung t7 , the t7 is shaded out and it says.This disk doesn't use the GUID partition table scheme. use disk utility to change partition scheme.select the device containing the disk, click the erase button, select volume scheme and then erase, but there is no option for that. thank you
Click on the Samsung T7 in disk utility. You might have to click on the drive itself, above the partition table then go to partition tab and change current to 1 partition and erase and make. MAC OS EXTENDED JOURNALED.
Just plug it out and turn on the iMac, hold the ALT key down and select the original hard drive. Please watch video carefully, turn on the subtitles their hand written and take it step by step.
Hi lee I’m a little confused I an going to get a brand new iMac tomorrow will that be a 2021 iMac ? If so this process you just showed us will work on it too ? I don’t want to spend in the 2TB SSD storage in Apple. I would prefer to buy an external 2 TB for around $300. Can you also recommend me a 2TB SSD. I’m new with Mac. Thanks in advance. Awesome video.
@@ImLeeLoi , yes I can. I have a 6TB external drive for my photographs, I just don’t know how much storage the operating system needs. I’m not used to working on computers !! Thanks for your help. I appreciate it.
@@joetagg1961 Hope you got those photos backed up. Make sure the external drive is NOT plugged into the USB port right beside the new external SSD. They should be plugged in on opposite ends. So if your iMac has 4 USB's make sure the 6TB is on the very left and the external SSD is on the very right or vice versa.
Hey, great video. I am going to do this. However, please could you let me know if the sata ssd drive with an enclosure has any benefits over just an ssd external hardrive? For example, speed,. performance etc? Thanks
Nailed it, homie. Couple years after you post this, and it's still relevant. Thanks!
Yay! Delighted to hear.
Very much so!!!
Was going to fork out £250 on ebay for a new imac but only spent £35 after seeing. It's like I have a new computer!
I can go back to making house music without lagging issues.
Massive respects bruv 🙏
Great idea if you don't want to open the computer, which is very tricky and requires patience and a steady hand. You can save some time by going into recovery mode (Option R), then perform a "restore" to the USB drive. This will "clone" the old HD to the new one, saving you the time of backing up, and then re-loading a fresh copy of the OS (which is actually unnecessary). Then you can use the option key to set the default boot device to the newly cloned external HD. I've just been through this, and it works. I went one step further: I removed the screen and properly installed the newly cloned SSD drive inside the enclosure. A word to the wise if you attempt this: don't use a metal knife to cut the glue on the monitor, I have wrecked two monitors in my experimentation. Use a plastic bladed "pizza cutter" to cut the glue strips. You can buy this tool on Amazon, and it comes with the tape to glue the monitor back on. Cheers!
I believe the keyboard sequence is COMMAND R for recovery.
@@petelc559 I stand corrected!
@@timallix4407 I tried both and the working one is COMMAND+R
My external glass is broken is it possible to remove the glass and just stick some tempered glass? Or the screen and glass are glued together?
Your idea is great idea also! I have a late 2012 27" running sonoma with OCLP. So, theoretically, if I'm making this restore in recovery with the disk utility, all my files and settings and apps with all the drivers installed by OCLP will be the exact clone of my internal HD, and i can boot from there? Would be awesome. Of course i will ask also the OCLP community , will it work with all the OCLP patches. Thanks the advice!
Ps: one more thing: is it necessary to format the SSD to MacOs extended, or in my case to APFS, or it's unnecessary with the "restore" function?
Thank you so very, very much. My husband would have a fit every time he tried to work on our iMac...to pay a bill or check something, etc. Ugh. It was so very frustrating. You literally saved us so much time, money, and headaches! Installed the new SSD external drive and followed your directions. What a changed world it is to use that machine now! Oh, my. You are such a Godsend. Thanks, again! Cheers from across the pond! Slainte!
Yay! So happy this helped and made your computing experience much easier!
Thanks for this video. In agreement with everyone else, my 2017 iMac 5k feels like a brand new machine now after adding a 1Tb SSD.
Great to hear! Glad this worked for you and your getting those performance boosts.
I have the same iMac and it’s super slow. Once you moved the os to the external ssd was the data on the fusion drone still intact? Do the apps also get transferred or they remain on the Fusion Drive? Thanks
I opened my 2015 27” i7 iMac with some ifixit stuff around 4 years ago and upgraded to an NVMe Samsung 2TB drive giving me about 3GB/s read and write. I also installed a Samsung SATA drive inside. But it’s hugely inferior to the NVMe drive. Recently I upgraded it to Sequoia with OpenCore Legazy Patcher and wow…it’s faster than ever. I highly recommend going this way even it’s much more complicated and risky.
2024 and it still works with my 2017 iMac. Used a Sandisk 2TB drive and followed the instructions. Went smooth with zero issues. The OS is Ventura and it even chose the SSD for boot automatically. My system is lighting fast now! Much thanks!!!
Thank you so much! I bought a 2019 Mac right before they updated them. It’s been super slow and super frustrating. I was getting ready to either buy a mini Mac or replace the hard drive with a ssd internally. This was so much easier. You’re the best!
Congratulations Becca! I'm so glad this helped you. Main thing is your iMac is fast now. :)
September 2024: This is EXACTLY what I needed---I followed this guidance and, at a cost of $85, incredibly improved the performance of my Late 2015 iMac. It was super easy--and was able to transfer all the HDD files to the SSD in a couple of hours. THANK YOU Lee-Loi!
Yay!
Your the best!!!! I was going to open heart surgery on my iMac 2012 to upgrade the ram. You save my life!!!
This doesn't help ram but you are very welcome!
Less than $200 and everything is so quick, glad I stumbled on your video. Easy to follow, no long explanation between steps. Thank you very much.
Liz! I'm delighted to hear this. Have a lovely new year.
DEAR LORD, i did not think this would be so hard to find. Thank you so much for this video. Exactly what i was looking for, simple and to the point. YAY! NEW SSD FOR MY MAC MINI 2014!!! :-)
Glad I could help!
I just used this method to upgrade my late 2015 imac 21.5" with a 1TB fusion drive; I added an external 1TB Samsung T7 SSD, for $99 ; it took me better part of a day -- I restored from a Timce Machine backup -- but also upgraded to Monterey from Big Sur. Took some tweaking but now it runs SO fast... take a couple of minutes to boot up (it is new software on an old machine) but once it's booted it is running incredibly fast. Thank you, Lee Loi-Chang for this, you probably saved me $1000!!! Very simple and easy.
Ed! I am SOO happy to hear this. That is SOO much money right - have a holiday for that!
This was just what I was looking for. Solved my problem and saved me a £200 repair. You sir are a legend.
Glad it helped you Gareth! :)
see Mint Above
Thank you so much for this tutorial. After a visit to the Genius Bar with NO successful solution and considering trading in my 2019, iMac for a new version, I am now using my iMac. Your directions (along with others) were extremely helpful in getting it to run. It's faster than ever. And I was able download the newest operating system and transfer all my files. Thank you again. (I'm actually typing this review from my faster MAC. It would not have been impossible prior to the external drive install.) - 12/2024
Glad it helped! So so wonderful. Less e-waste and extra value for you. I feel when you upgrade a Computer it should feel it owes you nothing, and a 2019 computer still has a long way to go before it gets there!
Wow what a difference!!!!! Thank you so much I had a spare SSD and now my 8 year old MAC works again like new.
I'm so glad it worked for you. For best compatibility make sure you format the SSD as Mac OS Extended Journaled and not AFPS
Your video saved my iMac! My computer was purchased for me 12 years ago (in 2013), and it is amazing it has lasted for me this long. But in recent weeks my iMac kept slowing down trying to start (even taking as much as 10 minutes just to get the desktop going), not being able to shut down on its own, etc. After watching your video, I learned that the original internal hard drive was showing its age, and eventually would fail. So, thanks to your advice, I upgraded the memory, then bought a new 1 TB external SSD to create a new drive for my iMac to boot from, then followed your instructions to reformat and do a fresh install of the latest OS my iMac can support. Once all that was done, I did a test or two on it and now it takes 30 seconds for my iMac to find my new boot drive, and then another 30 to 45 seconds to get to the Welcome screen, although sometimes the whole process takes me 30 seconds total like it did for me today-amazing!-so now the whole process of starting up my iMac is faster than before, and now once again works the way it did when I first got it in 2013. This upgrade only cost me almost $76 (for the new memory and SSD), instead of spending hundreds of dollars in professional repair, labor, and the risk of cracking the screen if I repaired it myself. Your video now adds a number of years to my iMac! Thanks so much for the video!
I love to hear it. That's what it's all about. I'm sure eventually you'll upgrade the system, but by that point the hope is you feel it owes you nothing. What we don't want is you going out spending your hard earned money before the Computer is truly dead.
THANK YOU for the fantastic tutorial and explanation to understand why so many iMacs have a problem with speed. I’ve been suffering with my annoyingly slow iMac desktop for the 3 years-ever since I bought it-and even tried to get professional help. Lately it’s become so slow, with the constant spinning wheel, I couldn’t stand it anymore and turned to UA-cam for help. What a great solution-thanks again for your video. 💯
K! I'm so happy this has helped you!
Oh man, this is huge advice and tutorial from you for us, thousands thanks for it, now my iMac 3.6 GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i3 is rapidly speeded up using LaCie 1TB mobile SSD. It is a vast difference than before, quite easy to understand what you have done step by step. Again huge thanks, bro 😎👊
Glad to hear it helped!
I can’t thank you enough for this. I thought my iMac was dying until I tried this, feels like a brand new computer. THANKS!!!!
Juan! I am so so happy this works for you!
This is what I’ve been looking for! I have a late 2013 iMac that is ultra slow so I’m gonna try this.
Thanks so much!
Awesome. Saved me a lot of money and the torture my iMac would have undergone to install an internal SSD. And you explained it very nicely buddy 👍🏻❤️
Yeah I’m glad it worked for you! :) Thanks for supporting the channel.
Hi Again. Looks like I celebrated a little too early :P
My iMac (late Dec 2013) is stuck on the globe screen showing 0:01 as the remaining time... Been a couple hours.. Is it okay to force reboot the Mac or will it damage the OS on my hard drive?
Please advise :)
@@simplysarab13 Hi Sarabjit Singh! That means it's having trouble downloading macOS off the internet. If you force reboot you will be ok as this how to guide never touches your old install.
If it's having trouble downloading and you have a spare USB key lying around feel free to download Mac OS Big Sur ISO to the memory stick and install offline. :)
@@ImLeeLoi Thank you. Was able to reboot. Will try it again tomorrow. Thanks again :)
@@simplysarab13 Dos1Dude has a patcher that allows you to install MacOS Big Sur on unsupported Macs but his tool is actually a very good way of putting Mac OS Big Sur on to a USB Thumb Drive so that's something you can try. :)
Nice Thanks a lot, This is going to save me like $600 on my two 2013 imacs!
Incredible savings! I’m glad you found this useful! 💸💸💸
Your video definitely helped speed up my 2013 iMac . Just have to make sure that the computer is always connected to the internet when setting this up. I had to connect back to wifi about 4 times and it finally worked
Thanks for the tutorial video.
Very easy, right to the point and well explained.
Cheers.
I'm glad this helped you Isabela! :)
wow. great video. 2017 21.5in iMac that I thought was broken bc of how slow it was. I've contacted Apple numerous times to discuss how slow start up was and they finally recommended me to a local Mac repair company to upgrade the RAM and/or SSD. Thankfully I found your video bc I was quoted over $400 USD just to replace the HDD with an SSD. I will definitely try this first to see if it works for me. Thanks!
I can only recommend what I've used. I'm sure new drives came out. 400USD isn't actually that bad depending on how big the SSD is if it's like 1TB or something I'd probably pay that but yeah if it's like 240GB or something definitely go the external route.
SanDisk or SanDisk Pro or Samsung are great bets. :)
@@ImLeeLoi Thank you. Will start with the external. The internal was 1TB but I'll start with the Samsung T7 to save more than half. If down the road I decide to have them do the internal SSD, then I'll format the external and give it to my kids for their PlayStation so it wont go to waste. Thanks again!
@@RMatSLU79 Oh brilliant idea! Yeah the T7 is the new one right? I think the T5 or T7 would be perfect. Glad I can help. :)
Hello there! Thank you for this great video! I have one question, in terms of speed/performance is there a difference between using an external portable SSD vs opening the computer and installing an internal SSD? I would like to avoid the latter solution for a number of reasons. Moreover, my computer (late 2015 imac 27 retina) does not support PCI type internal SSD (only SATA-at least so I have been told) so my options are either an external USB 3.0 SSD or an internal SATA connection SSD. Thank you in advance!
I think there would be minor speed increases by using it internally but you can read the other comments down below a lot of people are very happy with their external SSD. Why go through all that effort!
@@ImLeeLoi thank you for your reply! actually I was planning to give it to a third party certified repair shop, they charge 270 euros in total for the work and SSD. I would never attempt to do something like that on my own! My biggest worry is of psychological nature I would say, running the whole computer from a tiny little stick hanging outside the computer feels a bit bizarre lol. However I may consider this option and if I am not happy I might as well keep the external SSD and go for the upgrade later on. Thanks again for your time!
@@garyfalosparisis9039 as I said: VELCRO!!
So I went the long PITA (pain in the ...) way of disassembling the whole machine to replace the 1TB HD with a 1TB SSD. While I was in there I upgraded the ram.
This is a much much simpler upgrade and something I will keep in my mental toolkit. Great video.
Glad it worked!
Hi Lee-Loi, I recently discovered your channel searching for videos about the possible purchase of the old but very reliable Canon 600D camera, as I am finally ready to turn my curiosity about photography into something tangible. I am also considering switching from my 2013 ASUS Windows 8 laptop to a newer model and I'm interested in a Mac because people have been raving for years that it's so much more stable than Windows :-) ..... I've watched a few of your videos and what strikes me is your kind demeanor, your charisma and your knowledge of all the products you display. Just wanted to let you know and of course I immediately hit that Subscribe button. Keep up the great work.
Wow, Harry! Sorry I'm late responding but that is such a sweet comment! Thank you very much. :)
@@ImLeeLoi you're very welcome ☺
Best vid I've seen so far regarding this method. Mainly because I want to do a fresh install and not clone the old HDD like most other vids show but well explained as well.
Hope this helps! :)
This little manoeuvre just saved me 750 bux, I can't believe it. It costs 900 to upgrade to an internal SSD. Thanks for this
LOL!!!!! Buy a new computer at that point haha
Thank you for this, I was having a problem installing Mac OS to an external hard drive when dowloading it from the App Store, this worked perfectly and saved a lot of headaches.
I'm glad this helped you! :)
Thank you so much for this video. My late 2015 was extremely slow for few years now. We completely wiped it out and the speed only improved by a little. I followed all the steps in this video, didn’t transfer anything since I still have access to the original HD, I copied and pasted whatever files I needed to my external ssd.
I am using San Disk Extreme Portable SSD 1tb.
That's exactly what I recommend. Copy stuff over as needed and keep your new fast drive fresh. :)
Thanks for this video. I bought a renewed Best Buy 2019 21.5 4K . 1TB HDD. It was a good price. I thought I was going to have to open the whole computer, remove the screen panel, and all until I saw this alternative of installing an external ssd instead. . Thanks for sharing. You saved me the hassle 👍
Glad this worked for you Freddy, enjoy the new iMac!
Wow, your name rhymes with mine. Thanks for the tutorial. I did NOT expect it to perform better via USB 3 ports!
Hey!!! Matching names. I love it!
Thank you! I used a sandisk extreme on a late 2015 Imac and runs much faster than when i got it brand new! Is like having a new computer! Thanks so much!
Glad I could help! Glad it brought some life back to your iMac!!
This is a great solution for an older iMac I have at the office that I'm not willing to crack open and go through the internal SSD upgrade. Thank you!
Glad it helped ! :)
You quite an adept and knowledgable Apple and Tech individual. Great job!
Thank you!
Excellent video, thanks a lot. I did this a year ago with a SanDisk v1 that was formatted with APFS and it was a great improvement once it loaded the O/S - loading the O/S however took ages (+10 mins!!). I now followed this manual with a SanDisk v2 device and formatted with Mac OS Extended / Journaled as suggested and it really rocks!! Far less than a minute for booting and even a bit faster whilst using the machine.
Delighted to hear it's working much better than APFS. :)
Thanks so much for this I Just scored a 2017 iMac for $150 this video is soooooo helpful.
What should I do with the files on the Mac right now? Can I send that to the external hard drive and then install the Mac os on that external hard drive?
No. If anything you'd copy and paste after the install. When you install, locate the old hard drive in your mac finder, and copy and paste it over to the new drive.
@ImLeeLoi thanks so much bro I'll give that a try
@ImLeeLoi will this work for my 2020all in one mac??
Man you should get a you tube silver plaque for this alone. Straightforward money saving video. This is a big deal, thank you so much..
Haha thank you! :)
Thank you! I was able 2 take a computer I hated since purchased in 2017 and turned it into a very usable machine in 2 hours!
Oh fantastic! I love to hear it.
Thanks for the great video. However, I have encountered an issue. When installing the latest OS onto my SSD the mac restarts. It defaulted back to the original internal drive once, so tried again. This time, I caught it mid reset by holding down the alt key to switch to the SSD however it is no showing up? Am I missing something?
So If the install isn't finishing the SSD won't show up when you hold alt. Make sure you formatted the SSD correctly as Journaled and NOT Apfs. I hand wrote the subtitles in video, turn them on and double check! :)
Thank you!!! I’m going to be trying this method. I’ve been scrolling for a video for hours and yours was by far the best and most clear. Cheers mate 🙏
I did it! I think the computer gods were looking out for me because at a certain point (Install) I felt like I was jumping off of a cliff. I did call Apple Tech Support to verify I was using the SSD as my start drive. Everything is good. Enjoying the speed. If I can do it, anyone can! Thank you so much.
I’m going to be doing this to my early 2014 Mac this week. Right now it’s got a 1tb HDD but it runs so slow. I can’t wait for a performance boost a cheaper fix than having to pay extortionate prices for a Mac upgrade which isn’t affordable right now
Good luck with the upgrade. Again make sure the new drive is Mac OS Extended Journaled and NOT AFPS.
Just set up a Samsung T7 on my late 2012 iMac and Whoa!! What a difference. Night and day!
Delighted to have helped!
Exellent video was thinking of buying a refurbished iMac 2015, I was unsure because of the year it was produced, but getting an external hard drive so somebody like myself who is not the most tech savvy is very easy well done 👏 thanks.
Late replying but I hope it worked out for you.
Please make a video on How To Use The 21.5 as a dual monitor.
I followed this tutorial year's ago and it was extremely help, Thank You!
I would LOVE to do this, but it's not really possible. If you search on UA-cam Luke Miani, he has a video on doing it with a 5k imac. Not cheap.
Thanks a bunch! I followed the instructions and this old IMac feels like completely different computer now.
I am so glad this helped you Miller! Quite the difference right
Thanks for the video, the hard drive in our 2012 iMac failed and the repair company tried to charge us $600 to replace it with an SSD!
The price of a weekend holiday!
I have a late 2012 iMac and have been using this method for year. However, my iMac would hang when it goes into power save mode and then you try to wake it up. I solved this with an inexpensive externally powered USB hub so that the SSD never loses power.
great tip! I didn't see that being an issue!
That was a question i was going to pose before I do this so thank you! May I ask - about the externally powered hub? Do you plug that into the Mac then plug the ext SSD into the hub?
Pure brilliance. Who would have thought that you could use an external hard drive. I guess "Easily add an SSD to ANY iMac" is much catchier than "how to plug in a usb external hard drive to a usb port". LMAO!
A win is a win!
Plus using an external hard drive over an external SSD would defeat the point even if it was 7200rpm, SSDs are way better and the performance cannot be compared. It has to be some form of solid state drive or high quality USB-C 3.2 flash drive
This video just saved my iMac from a Vertical Suplex. It’s unrecognizably fast now. Thank you so much! ^_^
Glad to hear it! :)
Thank you so much for your help. I was able to successfully run Mac OS on my external SSD. It is so much faster. How do I use my internal HDD for storage and time machine?
Just go into finder preferences and enable the browsing of Hard Drives and you can click in to your old HDD.
I did this with late 13 after it all of a sudden started performing extremely slowly. Only day 1 but seems to have worked great so far!
Apple in store and on phone didn't even suggest me to try this. Just save over £1,500 by getting a new 2tb drive
sorry for late reply. Glad this worked for you! hopefully you can get a few more years before upgrading. Although your local second hand buy and sell will start to have great deals soon on M1 iMacs etc.
I was willing to upen up and probably completely destroy it in the process of changing the HDD to SSD. But doing it loke this is so much easier. Thanks a lot man, now my girlfriend is gonna understand the difference between Macs and Pcs when she sees the speed
Hey Andre, definitely don't open it up! I hope this works well for you. Enjoy! :)
I did this to my 2015 iMac with a 1 TB Crucial SSD USB 3.0 external. It speeded it up VERY FAST!!
Delighted this worked! :)
Amazing video. Im gonna switch my 2015 iMac to a SSD this weekend.
Late to reply but hope it worked out!
A really easy, much cleaner and potentially cheaper way to get this done is to use a 256gb flash drive from Sandisk or Lexar with a 550Mb/s minimum read speed. They cost about $30 bucks on amazon. I just did this and the performance is amazing, on par with what's described here. Small footprint, less likely to lose connection/ fall out.
Flash drives aren't really built to last the same way SSDs are. It's not the Port being USB that's the deficiency, it's what the actual flash memory was designed to do.
Years later and i just tried this with a WD Green 1tb NVme , my read and write speeds are around 500mb is this normal? It is faster when all loads in the profile everything opens faster than the slow drive it came with but I thought I’ll get like 1000mb read and write. Regardless how u got it to boot up in 40 seconds? It takes like 1:50 to load all the way into the profile. Anyone else can share their experiences? I am running a clean copy of Monterey.
If you are using Monterey or an unsupported OS for an older iMac, it will likely be bottlenecked not by the SSD, but just the system loading in the Operating System. What limits your reading and write speeds is the Speed of the USB Port. USB 3.0 ports are 5GBs which works out around 400-500. If you do a google you can read about USB speeds in real performance, but the results you are getting for read and write sound to be expected.
Makes sense. That’s exactly what I thought it was so I was looking for ways to use the thunderbolt ports but they are mainly to connect screens I think. Do u know if installing a SSD inside its a better option to be even faster? Or it will just be a slightly improvement?.
Hi Lee, Absolutely amazing transformation for 5 days until I bumped the usb while fiddling with my headphone jack & crashed the Mac. Have restarted several times & checked it's still running from the SSD, but it's running much slower again. any fixes?
Oh wow. Ok, I'd say don't have anything plugged into the USB port beside the iMac. Try to keep the port beside the USB that has the SSD plugged in empty or only use it for a low data device like a wired mouse. I'd say, plug everything out for a few minutes. Retry. If it's still banjaxed, consider re-installing.
To people seing this, a got a hack if ur Mac has an intel processor, download windows from the pre-installed app bootcamp, then switch back to Mac, and that Windows somehow acts like an external storage and fastens the Mac. Worked on my 2017 super slow Mac and 1min45 to open safari, now it's as fast as ever
Well your start up time is super fast in my books. LOL. I have a 2019 iMac and it currently takes 12 minutes to start up and another 3 minutes to become properly usable. I have run disk repair many times and still cannot get it faster. My guess is the RAM I got installed years ago is causing the problem, but I don’t know. Thanks for your video!
That's terrible. Absolutely unacceptable for an expensive Computer purchased in 2019
Currently trying this on my 2015 iMac!
Great video. Just wondering if you put the Time Machine back up onto the new drive as well? Otherwise, with all the apps and docs still on the old HDD, I would expect them to open much more slowly.
I don't Time Machine to the new drive.
Fantastic!!! I've been battling with my late 2015 iMac 27" since Covid hit - I love the machine but it was starting to lag in every way! In fact I couldn't even upgrade to Big Sur due to the disk configuration that's in my Mac. Grabbed the 500 gB SSD from SanDisk & it's as you say - a new Mac that will buy me a couple more years for $70! Thank you!!! Waiting for 27" iMac w/ the M1 - fingers crossed if they go bigger than 24"
Awesome job Roger! We had questions in the comments below about if it worked for Big Sur, thanks for confirming it worked for you too!
@@ImLeeLoi Start up isn't screaming fast, approx 1.1/2 - 2 mins but once I'm up the response time of the machine is excellent. I had Photoshop, Bridge, Premier MacMail all running at the same time - no issues.
@@RogerZacharias Glad that's improved. Strange your boot time didn't get much faster, did you restore from backup or start fresh? If you restored from backup expect longer boot times as you carried over the system's past baggage which I've observed from some others who did this. If you did a fresh install, I'm genuinely confused why your boot time is long, I think some people who use the AFPS file format might be slower as that's for more internal drives than this method. In the video I kept it as "Mac OS Extended Journaled"
Anyway I'm glad the main thing is when your using the Computer it's much faster!!
@@ImLeeLoi I did restore from backup...so that makes total sense! I may do a clean install if things get 'clunky'. I did use 'Mac OS Extended Journaled' I selected restore from back up for no other reason than routine so that's my misstep.
@@ImLeeLoi have the same problem here. Boot time didn’t improve. Maybe since I used the sandisk 520mb?
When I download on my 2013 with 1tb SSD it gives me a failed to upload while waiting there for 40 minutes then its gave me the message This video is so relevant even now in 2024 but I am still trying and will have to see how someone else does it. Thanks so much
Hey Lee-Loi, thank God I found this video! Been searching for a solution since last year. I just bought the Sandisk Extreme Pro 1TB and followed your tutorial - my iMac feels like a new M1 Mac computer. lol. Since I totally erased my hard drive prior to the installation of OS in SSD, I'm wondering what's the use of my 1TB HDD? I can see it using disk utility but not in finder. Thank you so much!
It's still there! In finder preferences make sure you tick to show all hard drives on the desktop and in the side bar.
Great vid fella - neat and very cost-effective solution to add an external SSD 🙂
Hey, I just finished your install procedure..so far so good ! Everything is working. Can I still use the storage on the internal drive?
yes! :) finder preferences enable show all hard drives
absolutly fantastic. will the new drive have all my files on it ?
no. copy paste from old
Very clear, thanks. One thing after watching 3 videos on this same topic, nobody mentions the safe GB capacity minimum for the external SSD to have?
No minimum needed! 120GB I suppose is as cheap as one can get!
This is a good video and proves that a simple start up drive really increases performance. I have a 2011 iMac and removed the internal optical drive which was knackered and replaced it with a 2TB SSD which I then partitioned, then cloned my system HDD onto. This has made a huge positive difference in start up and processing times. Also the inside of the Mac badly needed vacuuming, especially the fans.
Excellent video my friend. Worked great. Question... How do i switch back to my internal HD?
Hold down the option key when computer turns on.
Great video. I purchased a Samsung T5 500Gb external SSD. I used carbon copy to clone the HDD. It worked great for about 2 months and then started restarting without warning. I had to go back to the slow internal HDD again. So I’m thinking to just take the plunge and open her up.
Oh no! Have you considered doing a fresh install on the T5 to see if that stops that. I'm not a big fan of cloning mechanical hard drives to SSDs.
Thanks bud , works a treat on my old 2014 Mac mini .
Glad this worked for you and on a Mac Mini too!!!
this was really helpfull!! I din't want to break my imac attempting to remove the screen
Yep!
are we suppose to select external ssd every time we turn on our imac?Thank you for the video.
Great Advice . ! thank you. Is that external kinston only will work as a system booting disc ? WHat is the size recomeended.
Is it going to work as files disc as well ?
Meaning, if i want to have one extra external SSD for files and for system, should I do partitions on it ?
You can put files on the one extra SSD. In fact I'd only recommend you plug-in one extra SSD (the one for this and everything!) I'm always nervous about recommending products I've never used but Samsung T5 / T7 have a brilliant reputation. Big name brands always have better warranty etc.
For an operating system drive you should always use an SSD with a DRAM cache. The Kingston A400 drives have no DRAM.
Cheap and cheerful but a great note!
Wow I just did this to my old 2015 iMac with a 2TB Samsung T7 touch and it worked great! If I want to see my photos on my old HDD how do I get back there??
You need to open finder, navigate to the old hard drive and find the photos library. :)
@@ImLeeLoi thanks for the info.
Thank you so much for your detailed video. I was successful this process and increased my speed tremendously. The boot drive is awesome. I have only 1 question, it appears I cannot use the rest of the drive for storage? Or is there a way. It is saying I don't have the permissions even though I'm the administrator. Thanks for your advice.
I figured it out how to partition the remaining part of the 1TB drive to get my storage. I am one happy camper with my 2015 Imac now running super fast...Thank you soooooooo much Lee.
About to do this for my Valkrie's Imac. I bought a M.2 2280 128g drive with a external 3.0 usb enclosure. I will follow your steps and let you know how it goes !!
Great! Follow the instructions carefully, watch twice. I also write my own English subtitles for people to use as a courtesy, that may help!!
@@ImLeeLoi i did and it would not update. going to try again. It gets to 70% updating then says it fails to update, this went on for 3 times, so I will erase and retry again tomorrow.
@@drewdegeer4432 Make sure the hard drive is formatted correctly as Mac OS Extended Journaled and nothing else is plugged into the USB Ports and retry. The SSD could potentially be damaged. ALTERNATIVELY: In Disk utility you can click on your new SSD, press the restore tab and then restore from your original Macintosh HD and that will copy the entire old hard drive to your new SSD. I don’t like this method because your transferring over old baggage which will slow boot times and performance but it could be a good way to troubleshoot to double check your new SSD works correctly.
@@drewdegeer4432 If you google restoring mac hard drive to new SSD there should be a step by step guide for this method.
Your video is so interesting to me. I have an iMac 27" that I love. Your step by step video on adding an external SSD as StartUp Disk was very encouraging! Is there any new information you can offer since your August 2020 video. Should the SSD be formatted as APFS versus Extended? Many thanks.
No, please only use Mac OS EXTENDED JOURNALED. APFS is better for SSD's if their inside the iMac - there's something about that doesn't play nice with external USB.
Great clip will this work using the Monterey 12.7.6 can you recommend a ssd drive
Oh yeah. I’m going to send it for ssd replacement but now no need. Tks my friend so much.
Glad I could help
I have a question, I installed my own drive but now I am unable to download adobe software apps like illustrator and photoshop because it says that its case sensitive?
Right so unfortunately you do need to restart this process and make sure when you format the drive you do not choose CASE SENSITIVE. Certain apps and particularly games cannot work on a Case sensitive formatted drive.
Hi! Great video thanks. One question though, how do you get the data from the old hard drive? Time machine? Thanks!
You can retrieve it manually in the finder and browse through the old hard drive folders.
Quick question, If i do this, will i lose my current files that are stored on my macs internal hard drive? I have alot of audio plugins installed on this computer and dont want to have to reinstall them
They remain! You can access them from the finder after.
Great video Lee! I am thinking of installing an SSD internally and removing the old hard drive in my late 2012 iMac. After the installation do I need to hold the command, alt, r keys as you did in this video? The original hard drive will not even boot anymore.
IF the old hard drive wont even boot anymore, then it is not necessary!
Thank you, Lee-Loi! You are a life saver, and a slow AF 2013 iMac saver!
I would say it should run warm, not incredibly hot that it burns to touch. But they should be well built.
Lee, this is awesome and you have given me the confidence to do this to my ever slower late 2015 iMac with Fusion Drive 1TB. Question: should I upgrade internal drive to latest OS so it is the same as what the new SSD drive will have on it? Have been hesitant because I'm terrifed of the slowness getting worse... thanks!!!
Hey Ed - answered your newest message earlier, i've been slow to reply with work commitments so apologies for not answering before you upgraded but I wouldn't recommend upgrading past what your iMac can handle. If your iMac automatically upgraded to the latest OS, that's great and will extend the software support but I wouldn't be running DosDude1's patcher on your home computer that you use every day!
Hey… I followed all the steps on my late 2015 and it didn’t work. I am running macOS Monterrey. Weirdly I don’t get the option to choose the HD where it will be installed =X
Thanks for the video. What happens to the internal hard drive? Are you still able to save files onto it or does everything save onto the external ?
You can save files onto it if you wish.
Very informative Lee.
Thanks for sharing this helpful video.
Very welcome
Hi great info, could you help, I am trying to add the Samsung ssd T7 as my drive but when it comes to the choice when downloading Catalina between Mac hd and the Samsung t7 , the t7 is shaded out and it says.This disk doesn't use the GUID partition table scheme. use disk utility to change partition scheme.select the device containing the disk, click the erase button, select volume scheme and then erase, but there is no option for that. thank you
Click on the Samsung T7 in disk utility. You might have to click on the drive itself, above the partition table then go to partition tab and change current to 1 partition and erase and make. MAC OS EXTENDED JOURNALED.
@@ImLeeLoi Thank you your a life saver , job done
Hi Lee thanks for your help, my iMac is so much faster, how easy would it be to switch back to the hhd if needed, great Channel thank you. Jeff
Just plug it out and turn on the iMac, hold the ALT key down and select the original hard drive. Please watch video carefully, turn on the subtitles their hand written and take it step by step.
@@ImLeeLoi Thank you
Hi lee I’m a little confused I an going to get a brand new iMac tomorrow will that be a 2021 iMac ? If so this process you just showed us will work on it too ? I don’t want to spend in the 2TB SSD storage in Apple. I would prefer to buy an external 2 TB for around $300. Can you also recommend me a 2TB SSD. I’m new with Mac. Thanks in advance. Awesome video.
Hello. There is no need to follow this video if you are buying the new 24” M1 iMac as they all have SSD’s inside them.
This might be a stupid question but what size of a SSD drive do I need ??? Is 500GB large enough?? Great video. Thanks for sharing..
I mean I don’t know how much space do you need? Can you survive on 500gb?
@@ImLeeLoi , yes I can. I have a 6TB external drive for my photographs, I just don’t know how much storage the operating system needs. I’m not used to working on computers !! Thanks for your help. I appreciate it.
@@joetagg1961 Hope you got those photos backed up. Make sure the external drive is NOT plugged into the USB port right beside the new external SSD. They should be plugged in on opposite ends. So if your iMac has 4 USB's make sure the 6TB is on the very left and the external SSD is on the very right or vice versa.
@@ImLeeLoi , ok THANKS. I just saw this.Should I just unplug my 6TB drive while I’m doing this ?
@@joetagg1961 Oh absolutely. Do plug everything out. Enjoy your trip!
Hey, great video. I am going to do this. However, please could you let me know if the sata ssd drive with an enclosure has any benefits over just an ssd external hardrive? For example, speed,. performance etc?
Thanks