D-NQibvg3vA/hqdefault.jpg' alt='Installing A New Sata Harddrive' title='Installing A New Sata Harddrive' />CD Contents Antivirus Tools ComboFix 2606 Designed to cleanup malware infections and restore settings modified by malware Windows Freeware. CWShredder 2. 19. Install SSD i. Mac 2. How To DIY Guide Tutorial. Last Updated May 8, 2. By Brian Tobey Email. GoogleSUMMARY. The 2. Macs provide the capability to use solid state drives SSD. Universal ATA driver for Windows NT3. NT42000XP2003Vista7ReactOS With PATASATAAHCI support Updated 2017. Download Overview Features. Although Apple offers an SSD option when purchasing an i. Mac, it comes at a huge cost. The motherboard features two SATA III connections. SATA III provides faster throughput speed allowing SSDs to excel. This guide illustrates the steps to add an SSD drive to your 2. Mac. I attempted to minimize the disassembly as much as possible to make it easier and less time. The procedure does not require the motherboard to be removed completely. However, you will need to slide it out slightly to get access to the spare SATA connector. To install an SSD on a 2. Apple i. Mac is not easy, but not hard either. And after installation, youll feel more comfortable with your i. Mac hardware. Some prior computer experience is recommended along with patience. The total time to complete is 3 hours approximately. This procedure explains how to install an SSD. This is not a replacement for the original hard drive, but instead an addition. The procedure requires some dis assembly to connect a SATA cable to the spare SATA III connector located underneath the motherboard. The i. Mac has two SATA III connectors, one is already in use by the orginal 1. TB hard drive. Once the SATA cable is installed, it is easy to install and securely mount an SSD drive under the DVD drive. Finally the i. Mac is reassembled. This procedure was performed on a 2. Mac which has slightly more room to install an SSD. Although it may be different for a 2. Mac, I know it is possible, as I read that many people have had success across the web. This procedure is intended for educational purposes. Performing the actions herin may void Apples warranty. The reader is cautioned. TOTAL COSTi. Mac 1. I purchased the i. Mac 2. 7 base model MC8. LLA, which comes with a 2. Ghz processor, 4. GB of memory, and a 1. TB hard drive. Apple will charge you 1. I purchased mine from Adorama for much less, also consider Amazon. SSD 2. 00 1. 28. GBI also purchased my SSD from Amazon. NOTE The SSD shown in this guide is the older Crucial model C3. Crucial m. 4s. Total Cost 1. REQUIRED TOOLSSUCTION CUPTORX TOOLSET T5 T1. SCREW DRIVERREQUIRED PARTS1. PIN F to 2. 2 PIN F SATA CABLEe. Bay. have these available for purchase. RECOMMENDED SOLID STATE DRIVE SSD. There are many SSDs on the market today. When chosing an SSD, be sure its SATA III to take full advantage of data throughput. I bought a Crucial m. The m. 4 has great performance and is more affordable. However, if you are looking for ultimate performance, Id go with the new Samsung 8. Series. STEP 0 REMOVE MEMORY MODULES OPTIONAL. Some people that have followed this guide recommend removing the memory RAM modules first. This helps when repositioning the motherboard. Although I did not do this, it is probably a good suggestion, as I did have trouble sliding the motherboard back into its orginal position. I will list this step as optional because it is not required, but may be helpful. See below for more information on adding memory. Also, by completing this step first, the motherboard will be more maneuverable, and you may not need to disconnect all the connectors listed in STEP 5. STEP 1 REMOVE GLASS. Use a suction cup to remove the front glass of the i. Mac. It is magnetically held in place. Be careful, the suction cup I used here left slight residue. Try using a smaller one. It does not require much effort to lift the glass. STEP 2 REMOVE LCD SCREWS. Use a T1. 0 Torx driver to remove 8 screws along the side of the LCD. STEP 3 REMOVE LCD. Carefully use a screwdriver to help lift the LCD up enough to use your fingers. Now DO NOT LIFT MORE THAN 2 INCHES On the side is a small connector. Disconnect it and raise the LCD another few inches. On the same side, there is another connector further in. Disconnect it. Lastly, on the other side, further in, there are two additional connectors. One is easy to disconnect. The other requires lifting the black label to release the ribbon cable connector. Now disconnect it. Now you should be able to remove the LCD screen and place it aside. STEP 4 UNSCREW COMPONENTS AND MOTHERBOARD. Unscrew all the screws marked here. The 8 screws marked in yellow are for the motherboard. The 4 screws marked in red are for the DVD drive. The screws marked in blue are for the hard drive. The one marked in green is for the wireless. Click to enlarge photo. STEP 5 DISCONNECT CONNECTORS. Disconnect a total of 1. The upper left ribbon cable positioned above the fan in the photo below is optional, as I did not have to remove it to slide the motherboard out. Just remember that if you do not remove it, not to yank it out In the photo below, I marked a yellow arrow. This indicates the IR sensor cable. The IR sensor can be slid out once this cable is disconnected. Remove this wifi device marked in pink from the motherboard. First use a T6 to unscrew the one screw marked in the pink box. Then unplug it from the motherboard. Be careful Wires are still attached to the back chassis so just move it over for now so it is free from the motherboard. The blue bullseye represents where the SATA connectors are just underneath the motherboard. You cant see them from this picture, but they are just underneath. Now disconnect the 1. TB hard drive and remove it. Then disconnect the DVD drive ODD and set it aside as well. STEP 6 describes how to slide out the motherboard. STEP 6 INSTALL SATA CABLE. Now if you havent done so already, remove the IR sensor under the Apple logo. It slides out easily. Put is aside for now. Once the IR sensor is out of the way, slide the motherboard out carefully and lift it up slightly to gain access to the connectors underneath. Now underneath the top side of the motherboard is the hard drive SATA connector and a SPARE SATA connector. Plug in your 1. 3 pin female SATA plug into the SPARE and route it towards the DVD drive. Now that the cable is installed, carefully slide the motherboard back into its original place. This is the trickiest part. Try to align the rear connectors first. This took me 1. 0 minutes of frustration and I had to stand the i. How To Install Electric Door Striker. Mac back up to do it and see what I was doing. Use a bright light. Once installed you can put the connectors back in place and start screwing some screws to keep it in place. STEP 7 INSTALL SSD. Route the SATA cable through the pressure wall. There is a small break which is flexible an easy to slide the cable through. Once the SATA cable is installed, mounting the SSD drive is easy. I mounted it under the DVD drive ODD using some double sided tape. There is plenty of cooling there as well. Now connect the SSD, mount it, and re install the DVD drive. In case the drive fails in the future, or I decide to upgrade to a faster and higher capacity SSD, I can easily replace it at this location. STEP 8 RE ASSEMBLE. Finally, reconnect all the connectors and tighten all screws that were removed prior. Install the LCD and tighten the 8 screws. Use a dust canister to remove any dust that may be on the glass or LCD screen. Although I left this section short. It is not as difficult as it seems. Connecting all the connectors was straight forward. Should you get confused, look at the pictures above to verify the correct placement. STEP 9 INSTALL OS X OR RESTORE BACKUP TO SSD. I restored my previous installation onto the new SSD harddrive using Time Machine. To do this, insert your OS X installation CD that came with the i. Mac. Hold down C during bootup. Click Utilities and click restore from Time Machine. If you prefer, you can install from scratch using the installation CD. STEP 1. 0 ENABLE TRIM. Trim is required for most SSDs to operate efficiently during data writes. Apple only enables TRIM on their own specific SSDs. I recommend enabling TRIM to achieve optimum data rates, unless you are sure your SSD has sufficient garbage collection. DO NOT USE TRIM ENABLE APP I have seen issues with this and it is too generic.