Upgrade the SSD in your iMac 21.5” A2166 with Feather SSD by Fledging
The beautiful A2116 iMac 21.5” (EMC 3195) splashed back onto the scene in 2019 after a brief hiatus at this screen size.  Bringing a fusion drive HDD with SSD to the scene for deep storage and quick processing, this hybrid iMac leaves a lot of SSD upgrade room with M13 Turbo’s max performance.
The beautiful A2116 iMac 21.5” (EMC 3195) splashed back onto the scene in 2019 after a brief hiatus at this screen size.  Bringing a fusion drive HDD with SSD to the scene for deep storage and quick processing, this hybrid iMac leaves a lot of SSD upgrade room with M13 Turbo’s max performance.

 

Important note on upgrading an iMac: This is a hard, technical project. It can take 8 hours or more. There is a chance you can break your very expensive screen. Please do a lot of research before attempting this. If you get into this and decide it’s not worth it, just tell us you were working on an iMac and we’ll happily refund your purchase. If you manage the repair successfully, let us know so we can put you in our iMac Hall of Fame! Here is a handy guide from iFixit that we like.

 

Fledging took flight in 2018 on a mission to bring premium electronics to everyone, starting with SSD storage. In 2018, our founder was in the middle of a PhD program when his Mac started dying. His only choices were to sacrifice his Apple experience or spend a ton of money on a newer device. Instead, he invented a premium Mac SSD upgrade, and Feather SSD was born. 

 

The iMac 21.5” A2116 series offers the best of Apple in a single desktop unit, with a gorgeous retina display. But the iMac is limited by a 1TB native HDD and 256GB SSD from Apple. Not bad, but nowhere near how great your iMac could run with a 2TB M13 Turbo SSD in your SSD slot. In this article, we’ll explain the three main benefits of upgrading your iMac A2116’s SSD slot with Feather M13 Turbo and how you can buy Feather for your iMac.

 

First, Feather M13 Turbo is a true SSD upgrade for your iMac 21.5”. Like Apple, we've maxed the sequential speeds of the NVMe form factor. Our M13 Turbo series runs up to 3000 MB/s Read and 2500 MB/s Write, depending on your device. Even without the maxed sequential speeds, your daily processing, running multiple apps, and prolonged use will all feel more responsive than ever. Our M13 Turbo series doesn’t slow down at all once 50% full, unlike other NVMe SSDs. We built Turbo with up to 2TB capacity, or 8 times what Apple shipped in the SSD slot for the iMac 21.5” A2116. Eight times the storage. Faster performance. Turn your iMac into a superstar.

 

 

Second, Feather M13 Turbo is built to be affordable. By building our own SSD adapter from scratch and partnering with the best-performing and most stable SSD manufacturers, we’re able to sell this SSD upgrade for less than our competition, while giving you better results. Why? That’s Fledging’s mission - “premium electronics for everyone” means “everyone should be able to afford our products”. Feather is typically 10-20% less expensive than other SSDs that perform about as well, while notably outperforming SSDs that are less expensive.

 

Third, it’s DIY with (almost) everything you need to upgrade your iMac

  • Note that replacing an iMac drive requires a special toolkit for removing the screen without damaging the seal. Do your research first (here’s a handy guide from iFixit) 
  • We pre-load macOS High Sierra, though you can upgrade to a new OS once installed
  • You can contact us online, at our FAQ, or by emailing [email protected] to connect with Laura, our Customer Success Manager (and real, live human).
  • Upgrading your Apple iMac’s solid state drive SSD involves a lot of moving parts. We're worked hard to simplify all that for you

 

You came here looking for an SSD upgrade for your iMac 21.5” A2116. It’s a beautiful, integrated desktop Mac with a lot of power but some frustrating limits. We hope it’s clear that Feather M13 Turbo is the best SSD upgrade for your SSD slot. Still not sure? Check out the reviews on our Amazon listing.

 

What’s M13-S? Some people want to max out their iMac. That’s what Turbo is for. Others need a rock-solid SSD upgrade that matches Apple OEM performance while saving a little more cash. That’s what M13-S is for. We recommend M13 Turbo as the better SSD, but if you need to save a few dollars, M13-S is here for you at 1500MB/s Read and 1100 MB/s Write, with less snappy performance and the unfortunate SSD slowdown once 50% full. M13 Turbo and M13-S are compatible with all the same devices

 

Want top end speed, multi-tasking, and up to 3000/2500 MB/s Read/Write? Choose M13 Turbo.

Want solid speeds, up to 1500/1100 MB/s Read/Write, and to save 10-15% from Turbo? Choose M13-S.

 

What's next for you?

Double check your device’s compatibility here using your EMC number.

Buy Feather M13 Turbo for iMac 21.5" A2116 now at www.fledging.net! 

Still not sure how to proceed? Check out this detailed guide from iFixit and take a peek at our comprehensive support documents. 

 

Need to upgrade another Mac? Feather by Fledging offers upgrades for MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, iMac, Mac Pro, and Mac Mini for storage capacities ranging from 128GB to 2TB.

 

Thanks for joining the tens of thousands who have taken flight with Fledging!