[Macworld]

Post your comments for Difficulties abound when upgrading a 2011 iMac's hard drive here

[TowerTone]

Hey, you got the iFixit driver set!

[TowerTone]

TowerTone, on 18 May 2011 - 03:10 PM, said:

Hey, you got the iFixit driver set!

Oh, duh, now I see the link at the top.
BTW, I ordered my 2.7 GHz i5 with the 2 TB.
I wanted a warranted internal for 3 years.

This post has been edited by TowerTone: 18 May 2011 - 03:20 PM

[klahanas]

Thanks for running this story and doing these tests. You've confirmed your leadership position within the Mac community by properly informing your readership on issues that may matter to them. This way informed purchasing decisions can be made.

Kudos!

[wardoggie]

Firmware, schmirmware, just the fact that you have to dig behind the screen to get at the HD is enough for me to not want to do something like this. If the mini doesn't get a significant speed bump by the time I'm ready to upgrade, my next system might have to be a hackintosh.

[len5]

How many people with iMacs ever upgrade the HDD? And you can now get them with huge drives so there is really very little if any need to make them replaceable. I've had an iMacCore Duo 1.83 with a 160GB HDD for about 6 years now. Never once thought about upgrading the HDD. A couple years ago I got a big external drive. Works great.

[jescott418]

So I see this as the worst option. Why not order a bigger drive new or add a external drive. I mean it's a desktop so why go through the trouble when you have Thunderbolt and just get an external drive?

[joejackdad]

If I had an iMac and the hard drive failed after the warranty period I would probably pay Apple or a "certified" third party to fix it right. However, given its just magnets and not glue and I don't have to use a heat gun I might be tempted to try this repair. The heat gun thing really freaks me out but i'm cool with magnets.

[maydupp]

"When the hard drive fails, you're going to be faced with making a painful upgrade or—more likely— shelling out the money for a new Mac while junking the old one." Why junk it. It will run great on an external drive. It does ad a little clutter and possibly some fan noise, but much better than scrapping an otherwise good iMac.

[pln]

len5, on 18 May 2011 - 03:52 PM, said:

How many people with iMacs ever upgrade the HDD? And you can now get them with huge drives so there is really very little if any need to make them replaceable. I've had an iMacCore Duo 1.83 with a 160GB HDD for about 6 years now. Never once thought about upgrading the HDD. A couple years ago I got a big external drive. Works great.

I also have an original 1.83GHz CD iMac bought the week the first Intel-powered Macs were released. It has been passed on to my daughter and still works great.

It had been out of warranty for over two years when its hard drive failed last year and I had to replace it. Not an easy job. Still, $80 for a replacement HDD vs $1200 for the base iMac? I know what I prefer.

There is really no excuse for making it difficult to replace the hard drive. If Apple wants to make it so people don't break anything doing an upgrade they should make it easier to swap out the HDD, not harder. Look how easy it was to replace the HDD in the original MacBook - pop out the drive, undo two screws, attach a metal bracket and reinsert the drive.

This post has been edited by pln: 18 May 2011 - 04:14 PM

[NdnaJnz]

I don't understand about the temp reporting. iStat Pro reports the temp of the original HD in my MacBook. And, doesn't the ATA specification already support reporting of HDD temp? So, why is special firmware needed?

[yomacdaddy]

I recently had my wife's old Macbook screen crack. Coming from the days when ram upgrades through the Apple store were ridiculously high, I naturally figured that Apple would cost multiple times more than a non-Apple repair place to fix it. But, after inquiring at the Apple store, I was pleasantly surprised to find the repair cost was maybe $50 more than a very reputable repair operation in Kansas. Plus, I did not have to deal with the hassle of shipping it. I say "maybe" because it has been a few months and I can't remember the exact savings.

That said, it still worries me to think that Apple may be the only game in town if the hard drive goes out on a new iMac. Maybe my recent experience is the sign of good things to come in this arena.

[EddieLopez]

jescott418, on 18 May 2011 - 03:55 PM, said:

So I see this as the worst option. Why not order a bigger drive new or add a external drive. I mean it's a desktop so why go through the trouble when you have Thunderbolt and just get an external drive?

Because if the hard drive fails, which they tend to do, then you are screwed! You would need to buy a whole new iMac instead of a $50-$100 hard drive.

[TheShadow]

EddieLopez, on 18 May 2011 - 04:31 PM, said:

jescott418, on 18 May 2011 - 03:55 PM, said:

So I see this as the worst option. Why not order a bigger drive new or add a external drive. I mean it's a desktop so why go through the trouble when you have Thunderbolt and just get an external drive?

Because if the hard drive fails, which they tend to do, then you are screwed! You would need to buy a whole new iMac instead of a $50-$100 hard drive.

more like when the hard drive fails