Thursday, May 12, 2011

iMac Hard Drive Replacement

Other World Computing:

For the main 3.5″ SATA hard drive bay in the new 2011 machines, Apple has altered the SATA power connector itself from a standard 4-pin power configuration to a 7-pin configuration. Hard drive temperature control is regulated by a combination of this cable and Apple proprietary firmware on the hard drive itself. From our testing, we’ve found that removing this drive from the system, or even from that bay itself, causes the machine’s hard drive fans to spin at maximum speed and replacing the drive with any non-Apple original drive will result in the iMac failing the Apple Hardware Test (AHT).

Hard drives fail and are also prime candidates for upgrading your Mac. It’s too bad that the Intel iMacs have made it increasingly difficult to replace drives, whereas it’s become much easier for MacBooks and MacBook Pros.

5 Comments RSS · Twitter



@Laura Thanks for the links.


I'll experience some cognitive dissonance if those links prove to be correct. OWC is usually a reliable source of information, as well as hardware.

I trust them, and I'd hate to lose trust in them.


@Chucky Agreed. I’m a longtime OWC customer and have long considered them to be trustworthy.


OWC responds to folks like Laura and shows their work...

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