I have a late 2014 27" iMac 5K with 1TB of flash storage. Because my model also came with a standard HHD is there room in my iMac to add an HHD and have two internal hard drives? If so what else do I need to buy besides the hard drive? I know the display is attached with adhesive and will need to be careful taking it off, but it seems like there should be just a loose SATA cable hanging there waiting for a HHD to be installed. Am I correct. I want to make sure before I take it apart. Thank you for your help.
Late 2014 27" iMac 5K HHD Installation
- Thread starter jaayres20
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- Your Mac's Specs
- 2017 27" iMac, 10.5" iPad Pro, iPhone 8, iPhone 11, iPhone 12 Mini, Numerous iPods, Monterey
You need to take a look inside at www.ifixit.com. Also, OWC www.macsales.com has a bracket that can be added to your iMac to hold the additional HHD. I'm not sure about the SATA connector but you can find that out at ifixit.com.
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- Your Mac's Specs
- 2017 15" MBP, 16gig ram, 1TB SSD, OS 10.15
I was curious...so I took a look at the ifixit.com procedure...and to my pleasant surprise...the Late 2014 27" iMac does have separate SSD & HD locations. If this 27" iMac only has an SSD installed...then it should have an empty hard drive bay/area.
https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/iMac+Intel+27-Inch+Retina+5K+Display+Hard+Drive+Replacement/30522
But...with many iMac's there is a temperature reporting issue that needs to be considered...otherwise when a hard drive is installed...higher fan rpm's can result. To prevent this...this kit from OWC is needed:
https://eshop.macsales.com/shop/imacdiy
If you decide to do this project good luck. It's a pretty complex procedure (but not so bad once the display glass is removed). Be very glad that installing, upgrading, or replacing the original SSD isn't the project for a Late 2014 27" iMac. Installng an SSD or replacing an SSD in it's original location is about as hard as it gets. Computer basically needs to completely gutted to do it.
- Nick
https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/iMac+Intel+27-Inch+Retina+5K+Display+Hard+Drive+Replacement/30522
But...with many iMac's there is a temperature reporting issue that needs to be considered...otherwise when a hard drive is installed...higher fan rpm's can result. To prevent this...this kit from OWC is needed:
https://eshop.macsales.com/shop/imacdiy
If you decide to do this project good luck. It's a pretty complex procedure (but not so bad once the display glass is removed). Be very glad that installing, upgrading, or replacing the original SSD isn't the project for a Late 2014 27" iMac. Installng an SSD or replacing an SSD in it's original location is about as hard as it gets. Computer basically needs to completely gutted to do it.
- Nick
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