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So yes, its best to get the SSD only model or the Fusion Drive model which has both a HDD and SSD fused together as one logical volume (two drives seen as one).Īs to the PCIe SSD its self, Apple does not sell it as spare (only as an exchange of the same size) and the parts houses which buy compete systems and tear them apart for the parts charge premium prices! So get the largest PCIe SSD you can afford now.Īs I stated if you got the PCIe SSD only system you would still have a spare SATA drive bay (3.5" is what we expect here until IFIXIT does the teardown to verify) which will allow you to add in your own drive which could be a HDD or SSD. If you don't know which then just use the term 'drive'. The term 'Hard Drive' is passé, instead we use terms HDD or HD for the older traditional spinning disk drives or SSD for the solid state drives. Just keep in mind these 'Thin Series' systems are a bear to open so make sure you follow the IFIXIT guides to the letter and use the correct tools as you can easily damage the display in the process of taking the display assembly off which would be a very expensive opps! You can then add in the SATA drive later. Then if you want to add more storage (HDD or SSD). So I would recommend you get the PCIe SSD based system and I also recommend you get the largest SSD you can get as Apple is still the only source for their custom SSD. This is the case in the 21.5" model as you can see here in the IFIXIT teardown:: iMac Intel 21.5" Retina 4K Display 2017 Teardown So far we don't know if you buy a HDD mode only if the PCIe SSD slot and the sundry parts are even present as Apple has in the past has not populated the logic board. Upgrading the PCIe SSD requires almost completely tearing down the system as seen here: iMac Intel 27" Retina 5K Display SSD Replacement. The new 27" iMac's do have the same access door in the back as the last model, as seen here: iMac Intel 27" Retina 5K Display RAM Replacement.
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