IFixit iMac teardown reveals dual mics, difficult RAM upgrades and glued-on LCD(9to5mac.com)
9to5mac.com
IFixit iMac teardown reveals dual mics, difficult RAM upgrades and glued-on LCD
http://9to5mac.com/2012/12/01/ifixit-imac-teardown-reveals-dual-mics-difficult-ram-upgrades-glued-on-lcd/
8 comments
Ughh..this is terrible! I wanted to buy one badly, but considering how expensive it is, and considering the fact that I can't upgrade anything on the 21" models despite being expensive, I just decided to go for an Alienware X51 instead. By no means it's a fair comparison, but it fits me needs perfectly (3d Modeling and Rendering + some occasional gaming) and is completely upgradeable, including the GPU!
I'm also put off, though I'm thinking of going for maxed out Mini plus Cinema Display.
I wonder why they're doing this with desktops. Having a MBA in a upright stand [1] isn't the look to be aiming for with desktops, even all-in-ones. Ram upgrades aside chasing smaller seems to be done entirely reasonably and successfully.
What's the need for spring loaded cpu sockets? Is that to make sure you get soft contact with the bottom?
http://www.accessoryvillage.co.uk/images/products/010500_0.j...
I wonder why they're doing this with desktops. Having a MBA in a upright stand [1] isn't the look to be aiming for with desktops, even all-in-ones. Ram upgrades aside chasing smaller seems to be done entirely reasonably and successfully.
What's the need for spring loaded cpu sockets? Is that to make sure you get soft contact with the bottom?
http://www.accessoryvillage.co.uk/images/products/010500_0.j...
I've been using the mini+display option for a while. I got tired of recycling perfectly good LCDs just because the computer expired. It's more money up front but if you get two minis to the display you are ahead.
Both the current iMacs and the previous generation support functioning as a display only via the thunderbolt/miniDP port as an _input_.
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I'm sure that repairability is less of a factor than sexiness with most of their purchases.
Same here, except the Alienware X51 + Apple's Cinema Display! Cheers :)
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I'm not really sure the direction they're taking the iMacs is optimal. Yes, they look lovely but ultimately they're a desktop and not portable in the first place. With a notebook I'll sacrifice upgrades for portability, with a desktop portability is irrelevant.
I suppose they're doing it largely for the style but surely Jonathan Ive and co can make a beautiful iMac that's a couple of centimetres thicker.
I suppose they're doing it largely for the style but surely Jonathan Ive and co can make a beautiful iMac that's a couple of centimetres thicker.
The VAST majority of people look at their computers the same way they do their DVD players, microwaves, and vacuums: they are a "unit" that they buy, plug in, and use until it's time to buy a new one. I've built more computers than I can count, but, due to the flattening out of the "end-user performance experience" (eg: there are very few upgrades I could do to a PC to make it faster without needing to replace everything), I'm becoming one of them.
Apple has recognized this and is using that knowledge to throw away old assumptions and put the resultant "compromise space" into beautiful products that people are proud to display in their home.
Sounds like a smart plan to me, but I can understand why there is a small percentage of the market who still sees their PC as a conglomerate of components. I'm pretty convinced Apple is not the company for people like that.
Apple has recognized this and is using that knowledge to throw away old assumptions and put the resultant "compromise space" into beautiful products that people are proud to display in their home.
Sounds like a smart plan to me, but I can understand why there is a small percentage of the market who still sees their PC as a conglomerate of components. I'm pretty convinced Apple is not the company for people like that.
Totally agree with this, it isn't a computer to most people, its a TV. When is the last time you "upgraded" your TV without buying a completely new one?
Well... to most people it's still a computer and not a TV. That's why they buy both :). But they purchase computers like TVs (a single product with practically no user serviceable parts).
True people buy both, although most people who buy a device that you and I are calling a 'computer' those people are buying it strictly as information consumers, and to a lesser extent codified information producers (like instagram or uploading a youtube video). They will never change its configuration, or attempt to program it in any way. It is an information appliance, like a TV, except with a keyboard and a web cam.
Let's not forget there's still a model that allows storage/RAM upgrades easily, the Mac Pro. I've always seen the iMac as one of these TV-like devices, just due to the form factor alone.
The display is one of the primary elements I like to have an upgrade path for, something the iMac has never offered. The new model's sealed form factor is the logical conclusion for the product line.
I'm interested to see what they do with the Mac Pro.
The display is one of the primary elements I like to have an upgrade path for, something the iMac has never offered. The new model's sealed form factor is the logical conclusion for the product line.
I'm interested to see what they do with the Mac Pro.
On the other hand, Time Machine is a core feature of Macs and requires a separate hard drive, so Apple clearly doesn't believe that expansion in general is a concept only suitable for geeks. And when they charge such ridiculous markups on RAM and storage, I can't help but think that non-upgradability isn't a decision made in the interests of their customers.
> I can't help but think that non-upgradability isn't a decision made in the interests of their customers.
(triple negative yay!)
When is a decision of a for-profit corporation in a cut-throat market ever made in the interest of their customers? Sometimes, the corporate and customer interests align, but it is never made "in the interest of their customers" per se.
(triple negative yay!)
When is a decision of a for-profit corporation in a cut-throat market ever made in the interest of their customers? Sometimes, the corporate and customer interests align, but it is never made "in the interest of their customers" per se.
> surely Jonathan Ive and co can make a beautiful iMac that's a couple of centimetres thicker.
All previous models.
All previous models.
I don't get the point of upgrading a Mac. They retain value so well it's just easier to sell them on eBay and buy a new one, and the cost difference is usually minimal versus upgrading piecemeal.
Until recently, Apple RAM was so overpriced that I'd place simultaneous orders for a minimum-RAM machine and Crucial RAM at the same time. I wouldn't really upgrade an old mac.
I did this only because Apple didn't sell the 4-slot 27" iMac populaed with 4x8GB (32GB) - max BTO was 4x4GB so I got 2x2GB and threw them away and put in 32GB.
Other than that, the Apple ram is not so expensive that it's worth dicking around with making sure you have compatible speeds/pins/size imho (unless you are going Mac Pro in which case the difference on, say, 64GB or more would really add up).
Basically I just don't worry about stuff that amortizes out to under $500-1000/year. (e.g. an iMac for me has about a 36-month useful lifespan)
Other than that, the Apple ram is not so expensive that it's worth dicking around with making sure you have compatible speeds/pins/size imho (unless you are going Mac Pro in which case the difference on, say, 64GB or more would really add up).
Basically I just don't worry about stuff that amortizes out to under $500-1000/year. (e.g. an iMac for me has about a 36-month useful lifespan)
It still is. $300 from Apple to go to 16GB in a Mac mini, versus $80 from Crucial.
I blow $220 a lot more often than once every three years (the frequency with which I buy a computer), and on things a lot less important and time-consuming than swapping RAM.
I blow $220 a lot more often than once every three years
You realize that charities exist, right?
I'm willing to pay some premium for Apple RAM, particularly if I'm not the end user of the machine. I also buy AppleCare for laptops, and AppleCare+ for iPad/iPhone devices, and increasingly, just get AppleCare for desktops, Mac Mini, etc. too. (I used to just rely on Amex Platinum 2x warranty extension, but that's a more annoying process than being able to just take it to the nearest Apple Store for OS or hardware diagnosis and repair.)
The purpose is to have a single point of contact for repair. Not having to personally figure out if the RAM is defective on someone else's machine is a big plus for me. Being able to have the entire thing drop-shipped directly from Apple to the user, also. It depends on the premium -- for a personal Mac Mini, I'd probably do the RAM through Crucial for $50-100 savings or more. If Crucial didn't exist, and I had to go hunting for "good" RAM every time, I'd probably go Apple for $200+. (it is so fun getting a $200k box of RAM for servers, especially left on a porch with no signature required, though. The actual RAM/chip distributor in Fremont that had an 18 person triad armed robbery a few years ago was amusing.)
The annoying part of all of this is that there are some machines where you must pull the drives before any warranty service. The correct thing to do is to have an Apple service rating internal to your company (it costs $200-300 I think, and not much training), but I've never gotten around to it. Lack of swappable externally accessible drives is one of my only complaints about Apple hardware now.
(OTOH, my personal 2010 MBP 17 actually has Crucial RAM, a Crucial SSD 512 in an optical bay adapter, and a 750GB drive in the main bay, all aftermarket. The Crucial drive failed and required repeated disassembly and RMA and firmware loading on another machine, which consumed about 4h of my time, which kind of sucked, and makes me a lot more likely to stay 100% Apple in the future.)
The purpose is to have a single point of contact for repair. Not having to personally figure out if the RAM is defective on someone else's machine is a big plus for me. Being able to have the entire thing drop-shipped directly from Apple to the user, also. It depends on the premium -- for a personal Mac Mini, I'd probably do the RAM through Crucial for $50-100 savings or more. If Crucial didn't exist, and I had to go hunting for "good" RAM every time, I'd probably go Apple for $200+. (it is so fun getting a $200k box of RAM for servers, especially left on a porch with no signature required, though. The actual RAM/chip distributor in Fremont that had an 18 person triad armed robbery a few years ago was amusing.)
The annoying part of all of this is that there are some machines where you must pull the drives before any warranty service. The correct thing to do is to have an Apple service rating internal to your company (it costs $200-300 I think, and not much training), but I've never gotten around to it. Lack of swappable externally accessible drives is one of my only complaints about Apple hardware now.
(OTOH, my personal 2010 MBP 17 actually has Crucial RAM, a Crucial SSD 512 in an optical bay adapter, and a 750GB drive in the main bay, all aftermarket. The Crucial drive failed and required repeated disassembly and RMA and firmware loading on another machine, which consumed about 4h of my time, which kind of sucked, and makes me a lot more likely to stay 100% Apple in the future.)
> which consumed about 4h of my time
bingo
bingo
They're just not targeting savvy people, which of course drives all us savvy mac fans up the wall. But then what's the alternative, run Windows? I'd run linux but unfortunately I need Adobe CS and MS Office.
I guess we wont really know until we see the new Power Macs.
The line up is shifting downwards towards the Air.
iMac = desktop Air :)
The line up is shifting downwards towards the Air.
iMac = desktop Air :)
I've been waiting to buy an iMac for my house/kids but I held off until I saw a teardown and how hard it would be upgrade the RAM / HD. Glad I did, having to unglue the screen just to get to these components is a non-starter for me.
Just buy it with adequate RAM and HDD from Apple. If you need to upgrade later, buy a bigger one and dump the old one on Craigslist or eBay.
Save the screwdrivers (or heatguns) for people who enjoy spending their limited time dicking about with computer internals. Specialize!
Save the screwdrivers (or heatguns) for people who enjoy spending their limited time dicking about with computer internals. Specialize!
Installing more RAM or a new HDD is hardly an intensive or complex process on a system designed to be upgradeable. On pretty much any tower and certain laptops, it would take three minutes, tops.
On the other hand, I'm currently dealing with an easier-to-upgrade-than-this-one iMac (late 2006). I'm having an incredibly irritating time sticking plastic cards into odd places, finding multiple different sized Torx screw bits, and prying various pieces off, all to replace a failed HDD.
If only one or two components don't suit your needs, spending money on an entire new computer is just a waste.
On the other hand, I'm currently dealing with an easier-to-upgrade-than-this-one iMac (late 2006). I'm having an incredibly irritating time sticking plastic cards into odd places, finding multiple different sized Torx screw bits, and prying various pieces off, all to replace a failed HDD.
If only one or two components don't suit your needs, spending money on an entire new computer is just a waste.
The practicality of piecemeal upgrades is overstated, especially with external storage. I've never wanted to upgrade my GPU without also upgrading the CPU (so its not CPU-bottlenecked), which usually necessitates a new motherboard anyway and these days usually new RAM too (DDR-XYZ).
Upgrading RAM is something I've always done. The cost difference between getting it from Apple and getting it from New Egg or a local shop was always dramatically different.
Also, being able to upgrade the hard drive vastly improves the performance and capabilities as well. This is especially good when you can then turn around and hand off the laptop to a relative or a non-techy who will benefit from the device.
The resale value is never enough to pay for the upgrade costs, unless you are almost upgrading every time a new model comes out.
Also, being able to upgrade the hard drive vastly improves the performance and capabilities as well. This is especially good when you can then turn around and hand off the laptop to a relative or a non-techy who will benefit from the device.
The resale value is never enough to pay for the upgrade costs, unless you are almost upgrading every time a new model comes out.
Except that now with the new design it means it's cheaper to just buy the RAM from Apple once you factor in the value of your own time spent heatgunning off the front glass and removing the logic board to get to the RAM slots.
Things change.
As time passes and Apple designs more and more sealed enclosures, hopefully your skills and income are similarly increasing and you can stop caring about this stuff and just order it with the ram you want.
Life is short. Do you really want to look back on your deathbed and remember that you know what DIMM pin configurations and signaling speeds were? I sure as fuck don't— I'd much rather spend the time hacking cool stuff.
Things change.
As time passes and Apple designs more and more sealed enclosures, hopefully your skills and income are similarly increasing and you can stop caring about this stuff and just order it with the ram you want.
Life is short. Do you really want to look back on your deathbed and remember that you know what DIMM pin configurations and signaling speeds were? I sure as fuck don't— I'd much rather spend the time hacking cool stuff.
> Except that now with the new design it means it's cheaper to just buy the RAM from Apple
That's an artificial price increase. It's not that the RAM has gotten cheaper, but that the ease of doing it is no longer there with this iteration.
> Things change.
You say that as if it has meaning or bearing. Things always change. Change does not mean it's better.
> As time passes and Apple designs more and more sealed enclosures
Yes, they make trade-offs. They sacrifice things in one area for things in other areas.
> hopefully your skills and income are similarly increasing and you can stop caring about this stuff and just order it with the ram you want.
An increase in income does not mean I suddenly become stupid with money and am willing to pay more for what amounts to a style change. As for caring, it's precisely because I care that not being able to easily add in RAM is an issue.
> Life is short. Do you really want to look back on your deathbed and remember that you know what DIMM pin configurations and signaling speeds were?
And do you want to look back on your deathbed and know that you spent extra money on something simply to pay for style instead of making sure that your disabled son was taken care of?
Don't starting pretending to know someone else's reasons for wanting things, or that you can offer sound financial advice (you can't). Shit, it's like your applauding their decision to remove valued features of their product for something far fewer people cared about.
That's an artificial price increase. It's not that the RAM has gotten cheaper, but that the ease of doing it is no longer there with this iteration.
> Things change.
You say that as if it has meaning or bearing. Things always change. Change does not mean it's better.
> As time passes and Apple designs more and more sealed enclosures
Yes, they make trade-offs. They sacrifice things in one area for things in other areas.
> hopefully your skills and income are similarly increasing and you can stop caring about this stuff and just order it with the ram you want.
An increase in income does not mean I suddenly become stupid with money and am willing to pay more for what amounts to a style change. As for caring, it's precisely because I care that not being able to easily add in RAM is an issue.
> Life is short. Do you really want to look back on your deathbed and remember that you know what DIMM pin configurations and signaling speeds were?
And do you want to look back on your deathbed and know that you spent extra money on something simply to pay for style instead of making sure that your disabled son was taken care of?
Don't starting pretending to know someone else's reasons for wanting things, or that you can offer sound financial advice (you can't). Shit, it's like your applauding their decision to remove valued features of their product for something far fewer people cared about.
RAM is something you definitely want to buy enough of, but hard drive space isn't a big issue on a desktop. Unlike a portable machine, there is no problem with buying an external drive and just leaving it attached all the time. There is also the option of some kind of network attached storage.
The 27" model is supposed to have a little RAM bay so it can be upgraded by the user. I have last year's 27" iMac on my desk at work and it's a great machine. The display is fantastic.
The 27" model is supposed to have a little RAM bay so it can be upgraded by the user. I have last year's 27" iMac on my desk at work and it's a great machine. The display is fantastic.
Off topic, buy I really wish that 9to5mac would just serve up the normal desktop version content, instead of the mobile version. On my first gen iPad their website is utterly unusable.
I was going to complain about not simply posting the ifixit link, but ifixit's site design is so terrible I had to go through the entire "guides > mac repair > imac > imac model" click path to find it, after having to think about what of "guides," "answers," etc. it might be under.
Ifixit seems to be trying to push their retail sales over their content, so thanks 9to5mac...I guess.
Ifixit seems to be trying to push their retail sales over their content, so thanks 9to5mac...I guess.
The only issue I take with the new iMacs, which is only on the twenty seven inch not reviewed here, is that there is ONE SSD option for 768g and it cost $1300.
Where are the 256 or 512 options?
Where are the 256 or 512 options?
There's also the 128 GB option that comes with the $250 fusion drive. If you don't want the fusion drive, you could always reformat it to be two separate drives instead.
I wouldn't mind losing the ability to upgrade myself if I could have one of these slim iMacs. You can always pay the Apple tax if you want upgrades.
Premium computers still come with spinning disks? Quaint.