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Model A1312 / Mid 2010 / 3.2 GHz Core i3 or 2.8 & 3.6 GHz Core i5 or 2.93 GHz Core i7, ID iMac11,3

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Which Hard Drive Should I Buy?

I am replacing my hard drive. Currently I have a Seagate ST31000528AS and according to the ifix site I can change for a Seagate ST2000DM001

When I look at the picture of the new drive it looks like the power and data attachment points may be very slightly different. The new one looks on the photo like the pins have to slot into the hard drive (i.e. female on hard drive) whereas on the existing one the pins are male on the hardrive and female on the mac.

So will the newer model ST2000DM001 fit ?

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No, they are the same, both are SATA drives. Here's the spec sheets for both: ST31000528AS & ST2000DM001

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perfect thank you.

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Hi,

Can you use a Western Digital drive instead of a Seagate drive?

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You may want to consider getting a SSHD to add a little zip to your system. Here's the Seagate SSHD writeup: Desktop SSHD Info and here is the spec sheet for it: Desktop SSHD specsheet.

The one thing you do need to watch out for here is making sure you get a drive that runs at SATA II (3.0 Gb/s) as that is the limit of your system.

The Seagate ST2000DM001 drive is SATA III (6.0 Gb/s) {also known as ATA-600} Sadly its too fast for your system and does not offer a compatibility jumper to slow down the drive to work correctly in your system. The SSHD drive I've pointed to you will work as it has a SATA port auto sense system so it will automatically match your systems SATA port speed.

Heres some more info on the SATA spec: Serial ATA

The last issue you will face here is Apple used a custom cable to attach to the drives built in thermal sensor. As each company did things differently Apple needed to create a few different cables. Which is why you are sorta forced to use the same make of drive. But thats not quite true! If you have your heart set for a different drive it likely can be put in as long as you swap out the sensor cable with the correct one. Let us know what drive you would like and we'll tell you the P/N for the needed cable.

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hold on a minute.. so you are saying that I can't simply swap the old one for the newer ST2000DM001 ?? it won't work on my system ?

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I have already ordered it !

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Sadly yes! Its too fast for your system. The drive is SATA III (6.0 Gb/s) Vs where your system was designed for SATA II (3.0 Gb/s) drives. The drive you've selected is a fixed SATA speed drive, unlike the SSHD drive which is Auto. Here's a reference on your system from EveryMac: iMac 27" (Mid-2010).

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ok thanks.. i have switched the order to the SSHD drive you recommended..

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Are you certain that the drive you have recommended will work on my computer ?

I have installed it and it still isn't working. I am logging on pressing the C key. The disk fires up and then nothing. I just get stuck on the apple logo.

I really want to just know 100% that the new hard drive is ok so I can rule that out.

Thanks.

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Mike W will be eternally grateful.
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