How to add 1TB internal SSD storage to iMac for video editing and 3D modeling?

The 2020 iMac internal drive cannot be upgraded as it is soldered to the motherboard.

The only available option for expansion of storage is an external solution.

There are any number of external drive kits available and the macOS can be installed to boot and run the computer.

This is Apple’s guidance on how to Install macOS on an external storage device and use it as a startup disk - Apple Support

Also, please see this great user authored tip: Use an external SSD as your startup disk - Apple Community (Thanks, Jack-19!)

It's technically possible, but hardly feasible for most people.

The 2020 iMac does not have replaceable drive. It just has a set of solid state storage chips soldered directly to the logic board, which would require complete disassembly of the iMac and de-gluing of the screen from the frame entirely to get to them.

Which still leaves the process de-soldering and re-soldering replacements and going through a tedious and long process of re-configuring the iMac to use the new chips. It's not an easy replacement whatsoever.

Your best bet is a fast and large external drive instead. You can boot from it, or move your video edit library out to the external drive and edit from there directly. Assuming you are using iMovie or Final Cut Pro.

click here ➜ Move a Final Cut Pro library - Apple Support

Phil0124 wrote:

The 2020 iMac does not have replaceable drive. It just has a set of solid state storage chips soldered directly to the logic board, which would require complete disassembly of the iMac and de-gluing of the screen from the frame entirely to get to them.

Not only that, it is one of the Intel-based Macs that have the T2 security chip – which means that it encrypts and decrypts the contents of the internal SSD in real time.

Even if you could open the Mac, unsolder the old chips, solder in new higher-density ones, and seal up the iMac without damaging it, the Mac would still be a "brick" unless you could get the contents of the new flash chips to be cryptographically "in sync" with the keys held within the T2 security chip.

Mac computers with the Apple T2 Security Chip - Apple Support

The place to look would be some site like Ifixit.com. I don’t know when they started, but I’m pretty sure the RAM is soldered to the logic board in your Mac. They have been doing that for quite a while now.

The Apple support site also has tech specs for all their Macs. You could probably search for your year and model.

Barney-15E wrote:

The HD is darned slow and even an external SSD will be faster, hands down.

There wasn't an HD option on that model: iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, 2020) - Technical Specifications - Apple Support

Thank you, Barney. The OP wrote that he "wanted to update storage to an internal SSD", and this led me to assume he had an internal HD, and I missed that there is no HD in that model.

Nevertheless, the advice not to mess with internal storage stands.

The HD is darned slow and even an external SSD will be faster, hands down.

There wasn't an HD option on that model: iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, 2020) - Technical Specifications - Apple Support

Just don't.

Get yourself an external SSD and boot from it, if you like.

The HD is darned slow and even an external SSD will be faster, hands down.