The iMac 21.5" Mid 2011 shipped with "500 GB, 1, or 2 TB (7200-rpm SATA) and/or 256 GB (SSD)" Storage and its Hard Drive Interface is "6.0 Gbps Serial ATA (SATA)". So any normal 6.0 Gbps SATA SSD should work.
Ultimately, it is possible to upgrade the hard drive in the 21.5-Inch and 27-Inch Aluminum iMac models or upgrade or install a secondary SSD in the "Mid-2011" 21.5-Inch models and "Mid-2010" and "Mid-2011" 27-Inch models, but just opening the case is a challenge and it is definitely not for the faint of heart.
Best Ssd For Mac 2011
That it has become even more difficult to upgrade the hard drive in the "Mid-2011" and "Late 2011" iMac models with a layer of software complexity certainly is unfortunate. However, creative hackers no doubt will continue to find ways around whatever limitations are in place whether using software methods, hardware methods, or a combination of the two.
Not only are these 240GB+ drives the best case performance you'd see from a particular SSD, they are also very expensive. At around $2/GB you're looking at over $500 for a high end 240GB+ SSD. I've spent the past few weeks gathering modern SSDs with 128GB of NAND on-board to provide a look at a more balanced point in the price/capacity spectrum.
Andrew Cunningham is a former senior staff writer on Wirecutter's tech team. He has been writing about laptops, phones, routers, and other tech since 2011. Before that he spent five years in IT fixing computers and helping people buy the best tech for their needs. He also co-hosts the book podcast Overdue and the TV podcast Appointment Television.
Apple considers the memory in the "Late 2009," "Mid-2010" and "Mid-2011" Aluminum iMac models -- all Aluminum iMacs with 21.5-Inch and 27-Inch displays and flat sides -- to be a "customer installable part" but the hard drive is not intended to be upgraded by end users.
The "Mid-2011" iMac models all support a single 3.5" hard drive and a second 2.5" SSD. As shipped, both the hard drive bay and SSD bay provided support for the 3 Gb/s Serial ATA 2.0 standard. However, as first discovered by site sponsor Other World Computing, the iMac EFI Update 1.6, released two days later, quietly provided faster 6 Gb/s Serial ATA 3.0 support for both of these connectors (but not the optical drive connector).
The education-only iMac "Core i3" 3.1 21.5-Inch (Late 2011) supports a single 3.5" hard drive using the 6 Gb/s Serial ATA 3.0 standard. It does not support a 2.5" SSD simultaneously with an internal hard drive.
Ultimately, it is possible to upgrade the hard drive in these 21.5-Inch and 27-Inch Aluminum iMac models or upgrade or install a secondary SSD in the "Mid-2011" 21.5-Inch models and "Mid-2010" and "Mid-2011" 27-Inch models, but opening the case is a challenge and it is definitely not for those without significant upgrade experience.
I have a MBP 2011, with high sierra now. I remember not being able to use the web recovery mode so i had to re-install lion using an external bootable usb with lion on it and upgrading via the app store all the way up to yosemite and sierra. I am no expert but you could do the same with mavericks in your ssd and upgrade from there. good luck
There are different types of backup drives available for Mac. You can use external drives connected to your Mac, portable drives that you connect when needed, or network devices. You have lots of choice, but each of these devices works best for specific use cases. So how can you tell which type of hard drive is best for you?
I'll be using OWC's $230 1TB Aura Pro 6G SSD module to update my 2011 A1370 MacBook Air system; OWC also sells versions for 250GB ($100) and 500GB ($140). For about $30 less, you can get just the SSD module, use your own tools and do without the connection enclosure. Each kit comes with a five-year warranty.
The best part is that the kit comes with everything you need, including tools, the new SSD board, a connection enclosure and even a soft bag for the enclosure. The only thing you'll need is an external hard drive to back up your system, but you probably already have that.
One of the best parts of the OWC Aura kit is that it comes with an enclosure that can hold and connect the old SSD using an included USB cable. It's a little large, but there's nothing like getting a free flash drive.
I am going to share with you a list of the best SSD drives for MacBook Pro 2012, as well as step-by-step instructions on how to replace the internal HDD with a new SSD so you waste no time and make no mistakes.
Ok. This was very useful. I went to best buy and bought a SATA drive and memory upgrade and took kit. I was going to do this myself. After trying to reas all I could I chickened out because I didnt know how to put the operating system back on my mid 2012 macbook pro. Some said I could just do it from the internet. Others talked about an external drive, which I do not know anything about. I have very few pictures on here, no files, I usually just do Facebook, Ebay and email.Any help on this? Thank you so much.
You need at least an 16GB USB drive. For best results use a USB 3.0 or better. You can use an external hard drive (note: any data on the drive will be lost as it gets formatted). Go into Disk Utilities and rename the USB to "upgradeable". You can erase and rename. The MacOS creation method will reformat the drive, so it does not need to be any specific format type like Fat32 or Mac Journaled. What is important is the name of the drive, as it is used in the code below.
[ Also on InfoWorld: Microsoft Office for Mac 2011 is a huge step forward from Office 2008. See "InfoWorld review: Microsoft Office for Mac 2011 gains ground." Stay abreast of key Apple technologies in our Technology: Apple newsletter. ] 2ff7e9595c
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