Reg Hardware

Original URL: http://www.reghardware.com/2009/03/05/imac_teardown/

Nude Apple iMac pics leaked to web

Suction cup fantasy

By Rik Myslewski

5th March 2009 00:35 GMT

Photos Yes, you can open an iMac.

Yesterday, Apple announced a new iMac family, and by this morning the good folks at iFixit [1] had already got their hands on a 20-incher, gutted it [2], and learned some interesting facts about the all-in-one desktop.

For one, although the processor "appears to be socketed," there's a warning printed on its heat sink that will discourage you from removing it to find out.

Inside the 20-inch iMac: processor heat-sink

There's a 2.66GHz Core 2 Duo beneath that warning

Also, although it only requires the removal of one Phillips-head screw [3] to access its two SO-DIMM slots, which can accept up to 8GB of 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM, it takes one hell of a lot more work - and tools - to upgrade your hard drive.

Inside the 20-inch iMac: removing the faceplate

You'll need to suck the faceplate free from its 14 magnets

First you need a pair of dent-puller suction cups [4] to remove the iMac's glass faceplate, which is held in place by 14 magnets. Then you'll need a T9 Torx driver [5] to remove the 12 screws that secure the front bezel and the eight that hold the LCD panel, and a T6 [6] to remove the display cable.

Inside the 20-inch iMac: front bezel removed

Without its front bezel, the iMac is less Apple-slick

Which all must be done before you get to the SATA hard drive - which is clipped rather than screwed in place, making swapping it out a snap. Literally.

Inside the 20-inch iMac: removing the hard drive

The 20-incher comes with 320GB 7,200rpm SATA drive

If you want to remove the logic board - perhaps to ignore the aforementioned warranty warning - you'll also need a T10 [7] (10 screws) and a T8 [8] (two screws).

Inside the 20-inch iMac: the motherboard

The logic board bears a passing resemblance to New Guinea

All this screwing around reveals that the iMac's display is an AU Optronics M201EW02 [9] with a 1000:1 contrast ratio, that the 8x double-layer DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW drive - which Apple calls a SuperDrive - is for the first time a SATA and not a PATA model, and that the backlighting, as we already knew, uses cold cathode fluorescent lamps (CCFLs), and not the LED backlighting used in Apple's MacBooks and its LED Cinema Display [10].

Inside the 20-inch iMac: from the outside

If you'd prefer a numeric keypad on your keyboard, Apple will oblige for free

Finally, after looking at these and more photos on the IFixit [11] website, we gotta say that we agree with their conclusion that Apple's white-plastic Mighty Mouse looks mighty cheesy next to the aluminum iMac and Apple Keyboard. ®

Photos produced with permission from iFixit.