Introduction
Upgrade your hard drive for an increase in storage space.
This guide also includes steps to upgrade your iMac's hard drive with a SSD. It describes how to install the SSD's temperature sensor so that the Mac's fans will operate at the correct speed.
Before beginning any work on your iMac: Unplug the computer and press and hold the power button for ten seconds to discharge the power supply's capacitors.
Be very careful not to touch the capacitor leads or any exposed solder joints on the back of the power supply.
What you need
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Tool used on this step:Heavy-Duty Suction Cups (Pair)$14.95
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Stick a suction cup near each of the two top corners of the glass panel.
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If your suction cups refuse to stick, try cleaning both the glass panel and the suction cup with a mild solvent.
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Gently lift the glass panel perpendicular to the face of the LCD enough to clear the steel mounting pins attached along the underside of the top edge of the glass panel.
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Pull the glass panel away from the lower edge of the iMac and carefully set it aside.
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Pull the vertical sync cable connector out of its socket on the LED driver board near the top left corner of your iMac.
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Rotate the display out of the outer case enough to disconnect the LED backlight power cable from the LED driver board.
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Grab the plastic pull tab secured to the display data cable lock and rotate it towards upwards.
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Pull the display data cable straight out of its socket on the logic board.
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Carefully pull the display toward the top edge of your iMac and lift it out of the outer case, minding any cables that may get caught.
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Remove the two 9 mm T10 Torx screws securing the upper hard drive bracket to the outer case.
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Slightly rotate the hard drive out of the outer case and lift it up off its mounting pins toward the top edge of the iMac.
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Disconnect the SATA data cable and SATA power connector from their respective sockets by pulling each connector away from the hard drive.
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Remove the two T8 Torx screws securing the upper bracket to the hard drive.
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Remove the upper bracket from the hard drive.
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Depress the enclosure's front plate latch with your finger. While holding the latch down, swing the plate out.
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Remove the front plate.
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Line up the small SATA connectors so that the narrow side of the connector on the SSD matches the narrow side on the enclosure connector.
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Slide the drive in through the front of the enclosure until the SATA connector is fully seated.
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You may optionally install two Philips #1 screws that came with the enclosure kit to secure the SSD in the enclosure.
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Plug the included sensor-enabled SATA power cable into the wide side of the enclosure's SATA connector.
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Peel the backing off of the adhesive back of the small temperature sensor board.
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Adhere the temperature sensor board to an exposed, metal area of the surface of the SSD, as close as possible to the SATA connector.
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Fold the excess temperature sensor wires so that they are out of the way while you install the enclosure.
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Connect the iMac's SATA power cable to the new temperature-capable SATA power cable.
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Route the SATA cables where they will not interfere with any other components.
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