new imac user hard drive upgrade

[jonnyboy]

hey all,

no idea if the information for this is about yet, but i have the standard build 24" imac with 320gb internal hd. i've been wondering how possible it will be for me to upgrade the harddrive myself in the future. i realise that this won't be easy as such, but i was wondering if this is the sort of upgrade that might be possible with care and preparation, or the kind of upgrade that i would only attempt if i was happy to be left with an expensive doorstop at the end of it:lol:

what does everyone think? i'm hoping ifixit will do a guide sometime in the future

[KingOfSomewhereHot]

In terms of the white G5 and Intel iMacs, they have gotten progressively MORE difficult to upgrade, but even the latest ones are still doable, if you're the kind of person who doesn't mind taking things apart. With a minimum of competence, there's a very limited chance of screwing it up :)
I have yet to see how a new aluminum iMac comes apart, but I'd be willing to bet it's not TOO difficult. (Though it's bound to be harder than the G5's were.)

[jonnyboy]

In terms of the white G5 and Intel iMacs, they have gotten progressively MORE difficult to upgrade, but even the latest ones are still doable, if you're the kind of person who doesn't mind taking things apart. With a minimum of competence, there's a very limited chance of screwing it up :)
I have yet to see how a new aluminum iMac comes apart, but I'd be willing to bet it's not TOO difficult. (Though it's bound to be harder than the G5's were.)

well there's already been one tear-down, but i wouldn't be keen to be the first to try it. here's hoping an upgrade website does a guide in the near future. 320gb will do me fine for now but i was keen to get a 750gb or something for inside and move the 320gb into my raid case

[jonnyboy]

http://www.kodawarisan.com/imac_2007_mid/DSC_3824.jpg

from this image, it looks like the hard-drive is right in the middle. from the previous images it looks like step one is remove the glass, and step two is remove the lcd. the only bit that looks daunting is the glass. there are more details on this page: http://www.kodawarisan.com/k2007_02/archives/2007/08/imac_aaaaaaaaaa.html and i'm concerned that the glass is held in place with glue :/ i haven't tried to read the japanese yet!

overall i'm hoping a website can do an upgrade guide sometime asap!

[RichCoder]

I've already made the ATTEMPT to upgrade the hard drive. I had to stop and put it back together without the new hard drive. Here are the steps I took...

1. The glass screen comes off easily. I used a suction cup from the GPS holder in my car and it works great. I thought that might be the trickiest issue. Nope!.

2. After removing the screen, there are about 10-12 small screws to remove (they require a small star screw driver) . These screws hold the aluminum front casing in place. WARNING! I should have made sure to unscrew the memory upgrade plate at the bottom of the iMac. This broke the delicate bracket it screws into when I removed the casing. It took some time, but I was able to cobble together a fix. (note: some of the screws were hard to get back into place. in fact, 2 of them wouldn't re-seat back level without the danger of stripping them)

3. Once the casing is removed, there are additional screws(same star screws) that hold down the LCD. I had to be very careful when raising the LCD panel as there are a few ribbon cables that, if damaged, would cause the LCD to stop working. I was able to pull the LCD back about 3-4 inches on one side and could see the hard drive. I had to stop there as the hard drive had what seemed to be a sensor of some sort attached to it with foam tape and there was no obvious way to disconnect it or the ribbon cables.

It is very obvious that the hard drive is not intended to be upgraded. i may try again if someone comes up with a proven step-by-step upgrade method. For now, I'll have to suffer with the 1TB drive working on the outside.

-rich

[jonnyboy]

I've already made the ATTEMPT to upgrade the hard drive. I had to stop and put it back together without the new hard drive. Here are the steps I took...

1. The glass screen comes off easily. I used a suction cup from the GPS holder in my car and it works great. I thought that might be the trickiest issue. Nope!.

2. After removing the screen, there are about 10-12 small screws to remove (they require a small star screw driver) . These screws hold the aluminum front casing in place. WARNING! I should have made sure to unscrew the memory upgrade plate at the bottom of the iMac. This broke the delicate bracket it screws into when I removed the casing. It took some time, but I was able to cobble together a fix. (note: some of the screws were hard to get back into place. in fact, 2 of them wouldn't re-seat back level without the danger of stripping them)

3. Once the casing is removed, there are additional screws(same star screws) that hold down the LCD. I had to be very careful when raising the LCD panel as there are a few ribbon cables that, if damaged, would cause the LCD to stop working. I was able to pull the LCD back about 3-4 inches on one side and saw the hard drive. I had to stop there as the hard drive had what seemed to be a sensor of some sort attached to it with foam tape and there was no obvious way to disconnect it or the ribbon cables.

It is very obvious that the hard drive is not intended to be upgraded. i may try again if someone comes up with a proven step-by-step upgrade method. For now, I'll have to suffer with the 1TB drive working on the outside.

-rich

hmmmm... what a pity... but thanks very much for the info anyway. i'll definitely wait for info from one of the upgrade websites on this one :\

[KennyWRX]

WOW... this is exactly the reason why I don't like the AIO formfactor. I bet all those custom circuit boards end up being unnecessarily expensive.

Thanks for the reminder!

[acepernich@dlm.com]

Has anyone seen a teardown of a 24" iMac? The only one I've seen is of a 20"

[jonnyboy]

*crosses fingers that the 24" is like a walk in the park* :/