Fusion Drive dying, repair options?

The 3TB Fusion Drive in my late 2015 iMac appears to be dying (or may already be dead). It originally refused boot without Recovery Mode and First Aid in Disk Utility failed upon Checking catalog file. It let me erase it and I am currently restoring a 3TB Time Machine backup (~20 hours remaining) and will see what happens once it's done (if it even completes).

Assuming the drive is failing, I'd like to understand my repair options. This machine is out of warranty and Apple won't give me a repair cost estimate without bringing it into a store, which is difficult for me since I live in a city, don't have a car nor a box to transport it in.

Questions for the group:

1. How much does Apple typically charge for this repair?

2. I assume it's just the 3TB HDD that's failing, not the SSD component. How can I confirm this?

3. What HDD models are compatible/safe to use as a replacement? I assume that I need to be concerned with thermals.

4. Can I replace the 3TB drive with a larger capacity? Is the drive 5400 RPM or 7200 and can I change it?

5. Is there a benefit to replacing the 3TB drive with an SSD to use with the 128 GB SSD already in the iMac (that came with the Fusion Drive).

Thanks in advance.

Answer this question I have this problem too

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What did you end up doing? I have this same issue

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Turned out eventually the SSD portion of the Fusion Drive failed entirely, not the HDD. Took it to the Genius Bar and paid $380 to have it fixed. Should have bought AppleCare. Now it’s working again but surprisingly slow. I’d be interested in the possibility of replacing the HDD with an SSD.

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