Steps 1–24: iMac Intel 27" Teardown
iMac Intel 27" Teardown
Introduction
| Author: | Miroslav Djuric |
|---|
We're doing a teardown of the newest (and largest) iMac in Apple's line-up -- the 27" Intel iMac! We disassembled this iMac on October 21, 2009.
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Check out the super-fast video slideshow of the teardown! It has banjo music!
Teardown
Teardowns provide a look inside a device and should not be used as disassembly instructions.
Featured Guide
This guide has been found to be exceptionally cool by the iFixit staff.
Paginated Single Page Steps
Step 1
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iMac Intel 27" Teardown
We spared no expense to bring you the latest and greatest. We have in our studio the biggest iMac money can buy.
The new iMac dwarfs the 20" iMac we took apart earlier this year.
The most obvious feature of this new iMac is the new 27" LED backlit display. The display boasts a 2560x1440 resolution, 16x9 full HD.
Also in the box is a brand new Magic Mouse. We already tore it apart.
Most of Apple's promotional photos show the iMac both running and sans power cord. It looks a lot nicer that way, but unfortunately our unit required the power cord before it would turn on.
Step 2
Nine ports. These are identical to the previous revision, but the Mini DisplayPort has a new trick up its sleeve.
This iMac sports a cool new feature that allows you to display video from external sources on the internal display. Apparently, that's to hook up your Blu-ray player externally since the machine still doesn't include an internal Blu-ray drive.
Unfortunately, this feature requires an adapter. Where is the adapter? Not in the box. The manual says "Required cables and adapters are sold separately" Not that we're surprised, all you get in the way of cables is a power cable. Yes, Apple thinks cables are from the devil.
Step 3
Like earlier iMacs, the RAM slots are hidden beneath an access door at the bottom of the iMac. A Phillips #2 screwdriver makes quick work of the three screws.
Step 4
You can now install a whopping 16 GB of RAM in your iMac! In a very welcome move, Apple doubled the number of slots, enabling you to install four 4 GB PC3-8500 chips.
Naturally, we just had to see for ourselves. Apple's not kidding, if you have the cash, you really can have 16 GB of RAM in your iMac! 16 GB will set you back $1,400 from Apple, or $1,000 from us.
Step 5
The new iMac features an edge-to-edge glass. This is different from the 4 mm aluminum bezel that surrounded the glass on the previous iMac. Hopefully Apple's got some pretty strong magnets to keep the glass where it belongs. After upgrading the RAM in our iMac, we noticed the glass was slightly out of alignment on one side.
Two suction cups, two steady hands, and the enormous glass panel lifts up.
Hopefully you're not following along at home, as this can be a little tricky. If you do have an older iMac that needs surgery, we now have detailed repair guides for many iMac models.
Step 6
The LCD panel is held in place with eight T10 Torx screws.
After the screws are free, pivoting the LCD assembly yields the first glimpse of the treasures that lie beneath.
Before you can lift up the LCD, carefully disconnect the vertical sync cable from the logic board.
Step 7
The LG manufactured LCD panel weighs in at nearly 11 lbs! Then again, it is a massive 27" beauty.
The resolution is a very impressive 2560x1440. That's the same horizontal resolution as a 30" Apple Cinema Display!
This display uses In-plane switching (IPS) technology, providing a wider viewing angle and better color reproduction than cheaper Twisted nematic (TN) technology.
The panel is very glossy. It's great for spying on those behind you, as well as watching movies.
It appears to be model number LM270WQ1. A Google search of that model currently yields five results, and only one of those is in English.
Step 8
This isn't nearly as pretty as the front, but there's some things worth noting here.
There are four cables that connect the LCD to the iMac:
DisplayPort
Temperature sensor
LED backlight
LED backlight sync
The key thing to note is that there's no special shortcut from the LCD to the external Mini DisplayPort connector. The signal will need to go through the logic board, so you'll need to have your iMac powered on if you want to display from an external video source.
Cannot wait for the mac mini server teardown.
I cannot wait for the 21.5" iMac teardown comparison to this regarding the mDP video-in capabilities. Great job!!! Very nice and impressive work :)
iFixit Staff
We're not planning on doing a teardown of the Mac mini server (we're already done three teardowns this week), but our friends over at macminicolo.net did a teardown of the new mini.
Awesome pics... I'm craving one of these iMacs, big time.
It wasn't mentioned: what's the brand of the internal HD?
hi
i wnat to know if i can't remove the foot of the new imac 27 to travel with this
I'm missing unboxing step what is inside etc.
Thanks for nice work !
Brilliant teardown. Couple of points;
1. Is there a "spare" SATA connector, and what would it take to add an external port ? From your earlier posting I think there's room on the back panel.
2. Cable management - and this has always been a bugbear on the whole iMac range - why not cut a slot in the stand to feed all cables through for neatness ?
3. Have you tested the HDMI input, and what does it look like ? Would you watch TV on this with the addition of a USB tuner ?
4. Let's see it go back together...:-)
Seriously, fantastic teardown. I showed the Mrs and she hit me, yelling NO, NO... go figure...
Hi brothers,
On your pictures, is it a 24" faicng the 27.1" ?
I too am wondering if an eSATA port can somehow be added. To me, that's the biggest thing that's missing from the latest Macs. I've heard about the forthcoming Apple/Intel Light Peak optical interface but nothing is going to beat native SATA for an external storage interface (no bridge/translat
Yep! There it is! Bigger, wider and brighter!
iFixit Staff
The comparison shots show a 20" Early 2009 iMac next to the new 27" iMac.
Thanks ! So, as an owner of a 24" I think a 27" won't be that great change I was expecting...
Why is the 21.5" iMac does not have video-in capabilities? What is the difference in those two MotherBoards?
What is the stock configuration of DIMMS? 4x1GB? 2x2GB?
iFixit Staff
This iMac came with 2x2GB chips.
Is this the complete step for accessing the RAM space to add more RAM? (I plan to add 2x2GB more.) That is, just open the access door and there it is?
iFixit Staff
Yup, just remove the access door and pull the black plastic strip attached to each RAM tray away from the bottom edge of the iMac to eject the chips.
Could we replace the original edge-to-edge glass for a Multi-Touch model?!?! Would it be a possible mockup?!?! It would be very nice in Business Shows to present de digital leaflet and keynotes. And at home to be just set it as enormous "tablet". the point is how to make it for a low price?
hi!
how is the glas mounted on the enclosure? only by magnets? is it real glas or perspex? thanks for your answer!
Robert
Hi can you describe better how the glass attaches to the frame. Is the black border on the glass metallic so it can be supported by the magnets. Thanks.
Im pretty sure its real glass and yes it is only held in place by magnets
I own a 27" iMac that has this edge-to-edge glass broken at left side.
Monitor is still intact. I cant exactly understand how to remove this surrounding glass.
Do i need to use the suction cups on the surrounding glass so to remove it from the magnets? Cause on the photo the cups are placed on the Monitor..
Thanks
There have been a number of reports on the Apple forums of the glass being broken on the bottom left side. If you have an Apple store nearby, you can ask them to replace the glass (they will have to get the replacement glass shipped to the store), otherwise call Apple support to obtain a replacement machine.
iFixit Staff
Actually, in both photos the suction cups are attached to the glass. The display is recessed about .125" below the glass panel, and the two components are not connected. To remove the glass, lay your iMac stand-side down on a table. Stick two suction cups along the top edge of the glass and pull it away from the rear case of the iMac. Rotate the top edge of the glass panel slightly away from the rear case of the iMac to clear the mounting pins, then slide the glass toward the top edge of the iMac to free the flat tabs along its lower edge.
Is the LCD itself glossy, or just the glass? I am considering getting a 27" iMac but hate the glossy display -- would it be feasible to run it with the glass removed? Maybe sealing the edges with some carefully-placed electrical tape or something...
yes, the display is also glossy
I think I have break the sync cable... Can anyone tell me what will be the effect of it? Thanks.
Please tell me that display is matte?!!
iFixit Staff
Definitely not. It's quite shiny, in fact.
Darn it. From the pictures it looked matte.
Ah, shite.... I wanna matte display !!!
If you want a matte screen, you should add your detailed petition at http://macmatte.wordpress.com where there are 600+ detailed petitions.
haven't seen a matte mac display since... CRTs
Most of the CRT's I've had weren't matte. Thus the reason I had glare shields for most of them :)
24" iMacs had matte displays (model identifier iMac6,1) when first introduced (all white)...one of two reasons I haven't upgrade my 6 24"iMacs.
The other reason Bluetooth full size keyboards (model A1016, white) are only available today with a USB cord. I don't have the specs on the new cabinet width, but the 24" iMac: is nearly 23" wide. A 17" wide, full size keyboard is too big to put in front of a 27" iMac?
Progress?
I agree on the lack of a numerical pad--disappointing. I wonder how long until someone does an indepth review of that display? LED IPS displays are $$$ especially if this one renders color as well as some of the other high displays. That makes the price of this machine so much more reasonable.
LED Display - is it RGB LED? Is it side lit or back lit?
RGB LCD with LED backlight. It is not an OLED display, which is a common source of confusion (OLED vs LCD, LED backlight vs CCFL).
Hmmm ... my origin question was not too clear.
I meant to ask:
1. if the LED backlight uses "RGB/tri-color" LEDs or just "white" LEDs (as in the MacBooks).
2. if the LED backlight on the edge of the display or the back of the display.
LG makes a 1920x1200 17.1" LCD panel, LGD01b3, with RGB LED backlight, edge-lit. The LGD01b3 display has a wide color gamut, high contrast with vivid colors but suffers from non-even backlight color (I call it "wild gamut" because I can never get the color profiling right).
Cannot find any info on this LM270WQ1 LCD panel and was hoping that the Teardown guys can tell if the backlight uses RGB LEDs and if the panel was edge-lit.
This LCD panel is IPS and if it also uses RGB LED, then the iMac 27" is really a price break through!
But on second thought, went through the specs and never see "wide gamut" being mentioned -- so likely at this price point, it is likely just a white-LED backlight.
Can you please clarify if the actual screen underneath is also glossy? Not matte? If I take off the glass, will I basically have a matte iMac? Thank you in advance!
iFixit Staff
The glass and the LCD itself are both highly glossy.
Thank you! One last question... Is there any way that I can take off the glass on the glossy LCD without ruining the monitor? Thanks!!!
Please disregard the previous question. I just don't know enough about monitors and I dread buying a Mac with a glossy screen.
I'm also interested in an answer to wkchan's question regarding whether the imac is backlit by white or tri-color LED's. Thanks!
OK, I still don't think we have a definitive answer as to how the new displays are actually "lit". Has it been confirmed whether the screens are edge-lit or back-lit?
Also, regarding some recent display anomalies... I've been involved in a few discussions over at Ars Technica [URL=http://arstechnica.com/apple/news/2009/1...-popularityand-maybe-screen-issuescause-shipping-delay.ars]here[/URL] and [URL=http://episteme.arstechnica.com/eve/foru...]here[/URL].
Re: Mini DisplayPort, you write:
> you'll need to have your iMac powered on if you want to
> display from an external video source.
This means "powered on and running OSX", right?
So, this iMac won't become a decent second display if the logic board goes south, or after quad 2.66GHzs are no longer "fast enough" to read email on?
I'm wondering the same thing. No one has done a run through of how using the display port as input works, yet.
Isn´t it possible to make a mDP "HUB" by the DisplayPort connector shown on this picture?
"DisplayPort has Direct Drive"
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3924