iFixit

Lift the inner edge of the optical drive and maneuver its connector past the GPU frame attached to the logic board.

Carefully pull the optical drive off its mounting pins on the right side of the outer case to gain clearance for disconnecting the optical drive cable.

Allow the optical drive to hang down as you de-route the optical drive thermal sensor connector from behind the GPU heat sink.

Disconnect the optical drive cable by pulling its connector away from the optical drive.

Remove the optical drive from the iMac.

Remove the single 13 mm T10 Torx screw securing the optical drive fan to the outer case.

Pull the optical drive fan off the pins attached to the outer case.

Pull the optical drive fan connector away from its socket on the logic board.

Remove the optical drive fan from the iMac.

In the proceeding steps, you will disconnect the following cables:

• SD Board
• Left/Right Speaker and Microphone
• Audio Port
• Wi-Fi Antenna
• Right Temperature Sensor, Bluetooth/Ambient Light Sensor/Camera/Left Temperature, and Hard Drive Fan
• CPU Fan/Ambient Temperature and Power Button
• IR Sensor

Pull the SD board cable out of its socket on the logic board.

Disconnect the microphone, left speaker, and right speaker cables by pulling their connectors toward the right side of the iMac.