Replacing Internal Hard Drive iMac 27" Quad Core

I am just about ready to place an order for an iMac.

I am still wrestling with the idea of whether to get a 1TB or 2TB internal hard drive. I guess there is no way to replace it on my own without doing some serious damage and voiding the warranty.

Since backing up and data loss are always an issue with larger drives, I was wondering if most users play it safe and just order/use a 1TB internal drive for the iMac?

If I decide to upgrade to a 2TB drive later on, can I take the iMac to an Apple store and have them swap it in even though I purchased the 2TB from a third party?

And if so, how much would it general cost?

Why not purchase a high quality external drive instead? OWC carries some very nice external hard drives - FW 800 capable. See this LINK.

Regards.

I concurred . If you're considering a 2TB HD , external brands are much more reliable and consistence than Mac's. For such large capacity , I'd recommend LaCie or Iomega with raid format and Firewire interface.

Even though iTunes and iPhoto application will be on the startup drive.

Would iTunes and iPhoto be confused if the respective libraries are stored on an external drive?

Is there a performance difference whether the libraries are stored on the startup or external?

You can store Itunes and iPhoto libraries on an external drive

Let us know when you decide on an external or internal drive and we can tell you how to store those libraries on an external drive

Thanks that would be a big help.

Even though I will probably go the route of using an external drive set-up, I "may" still have the iMac pre-configured with a 2TB.

I figure that since upgrading the drive is not a DIY and I would have pay an Apple Tech to do it and I hoping to have the iMac for a long time. It might make better sense, no?

Is there a performance difference (read/write) or reliability issue between a 1 and 2TB drive? nowadays I figure there should not be, other than the obvious things like zeroing out a drive and disk repairs.

PixelMage said:

Thanks that would be a big help.

Even though I will probably go the route of using an external drive set-up, I "may" still have the iMac pre-configured with a 2TB.

I figure that since upgrading the drive is not a DIY and I would have pay an Apple Tech to do it and I hoping to have the iMac for a long time. It might make better sense, no?

Is there a performance difference (read/write) or reliability issue between a 1 and 2TB drive? nowadays I figure there should not be, other than the obvious things like zeroing out a drive and disk repairs.

Click to expand...

My understanding is there is no HD upgrade or any other internal upgrade available on the new iMacs

Sorry, I was referring to before I place the order and not afterwards.

My work is paying for it but I am just wondering in the scope of things is it smarter to order it with a 2TB internal versus a 1TB. I will still place most of my data/backup on an external drive.

If you are going to tear open the iMac at any stage, then these guys have a step by step guide

iMac Intel 27" Teardown - iFixit

PixelMage said:

Sorry, I was referring to before I place the order and not afterwards.

My work is paying for it but I am just wondering in the scope of things is it smarter to order it with a 2TB internal versus a 1TB. I will still place most of my data/backup on an external drive.

Click to expand...

By all means, order the 2 TB if your work is footing the bill. As far as using an external, my initial recommendation to purchase one from OWC still stands.

Regards.

If I can make the switch to a 2TB...is there much of a read/write/speed/performance difference between the 1 and 2TB internal drives inside the iMac?

I am having a difficult time locating a comparison chart of some kind. Does such a thing exist?

You would have to go to the manufacturer's web site and look for a spec sheet on the drives. You could then compare the 1 TB with the 2 TB, however, the specs given are generic. They generally do not specify the OS. Usually that kind of testing is left to magazines like MacWorld.

Regards.

Does anyone know what type of drives this iMac is using these days? Western Digital? Seagate?

After finally deciding to switch the 2TB internal drive, It turns out that the IT person has already placed order. Sigh...

I can either just leave it be with the 1TB internal or.... if I decide take it to the Apple store later on to swap in a 2TB drive is it really worth opening up the iMac?

I heard there could be potential problems opening up the iMac with such things as tearing of the adhesive foil and dust between the display panel and glass(?) panel. How careful are the technician in the Apple store?

Well if you do see any problems after Apple has replaced the drive, take it back to them and they'll fix it.

-Ben

First of all, I would like to thank everyone again for the input and patience.

Well as fate would have it. The machine had already arrived. By the time the IT person notify me that the iMac was here, the 14 day Apple return/exchange period was over. So I ended up with a 1TB internal. Just my luck. I feel like kicking myself for not be more proactive about the ordering/research process. Hopefully the 1TB internal drive will work out fine in the long run.

It's really annoying that Apple designed the iMacs to use special OEM drives. Their firmware is designed to send temperature information over the jumper pins. Third party drives cannot be modify to perform in the same manner. Which means the fans could run out of control since they are unable to get accurate temperature readings from third party drives.

But what happens when the internal drive dies after Apple Care expires? I either shell out the big bucks for an Apple supported drive (which runs about $700 for a 2TB BTW) or buy a third party drive with the potential for fan problems. I don't if I was looking in the wrong places when I was researching but Apple should really spell this bit of information out about the drives.

So I guess my next thought is. There might be sufficient funds for a 2TB external. Is the best strategy to use the external drive for cloning or a Time Machine? I might be able to get a RAID 0/1 setup later one. This might help me decide if I should keep large libraries (e.g. iPhoto images and iTunes songs) on the boot or the external.