If installing an SSD in a late 2009–10, you can probably get away with shorting out the temp sensor wires but I don’t recommend it as an SSD will get warm enough to engage the fan-I’ve watched my 2010 do that under load although it runs much, much cooler with an internal SSD. The crapware fan utilities work but you must now control the temperature manually and the fan will roar on startup till the extension loads - no thanks. Without the sensor, you have an open circuit that causes the fan to go full speed.

External temp sensors solve that problem. There is no SSD compatible with the internal sensors. Some WD drives are but that does no good if replacing a Seagate. When replacing the drive, it requires an external sensor unless you find a WD or Seagate HDD that is compatible with the original sensor. They have internal sensors and the WD and Seagate are not interchangeable. The late 2009-on (21.5 & 27) does not have an external temp sensor. If you found one, it was added but I don’t know where one would plug it in. The 2007 did not have a temp sensor for the drive. I think that El Capitan was the last version officially supported by this system.Ĭlick to expand.Nope. If doing a clean install, do I have to format the drive before I connect it and boot up the system? I'm planning on using a USB flash drive to install the OS. If it's simple as just unsticking it from old drive and taping it to the new one, does that mean that I won't have to use third party software to control the fan(s)? I'd prefer for them not be spinning at 100% speed all the time. Will I have any issues with the hard drive temperature sensor? I've read mixed comments on this: some said that it's only stuck to the current drive with sticky tape, while others said it requires an adapter (not sure if this was for early or late 2009 model). Would one of them require anything special aside from what's included in the package? I've seen several 3.5' to 2.5' brackets on Amazon which claim to work with iMacs. I have an early 24' 2009 iMac, and thinking of replacing the old hard drive with a spare Samsung EVO 860 SSD I have laying around.

2007 imac hard drive replacement