New 21.5″ iMac (2012) Gets The iFixit Teardown Treatment

Yesterday, we saw the very first unboxing and teardown video of the 21.5? iMac (2012), followed by performance benchmark scores for the device by Primate Labs. Today, teardown experts at iFixit have opened up the new iMac, unveiling the super slim 21.5″ iMac’s internals.

Er4LuKPeTNtuPIIt medium

The 2012 iMac (EMC 2455) features a super thin chassis and a quad-core Intel i5 or i7 processor. The device’s display is held in place with iPad-like adhesive, as opposed to the previous iMac which featured only magnets. The front glass and LCD are fused to save space, something the source believes “will be a major pain for repairers”. Hence the device gets a Repairability Score of 3 out of 10 (10 is easiest to repair).

EgKEWCaRuJZHwCbI medium

Here are some highlights from the teardown:

Talk about a facelift—nothing about the inside of this iMac resembles last year’s model.

By switching from a traditional 3.5″ desktop hard drive to a 2.5″ laptop drive, Apple designers were able to clear a lot of real estate inside the iMac. A rubbery housing is lightly adhered to the edges of the hard drive beneath the upper and lower hard plastic bezels.

The speakers may look simple, but removing them is nerve-wracking. 

Good news: The iMac’s RAM is “user-replaceable.” Bad news: You have to unglue your screen and remove the logic board in order to do so.

New from last year’s model, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi are integrated into the same card, with the addition of a BCM20702 single-chip Bluetooth 4.0 processor.

You’ll have to masterfully peel off the old double-sided sticky tape and apply new tape in order to reseal this iMac into original condition.

Looks like the new iMac loses to the last year’s model in terms of repairability, which received a Repairability Score of 7.

LnCmOXyWCNXpPhBY medium

P.S. - Like our news? Support the site with a coffee/beer. Or shop with our Amazon link. We use affiliate links when possible--thank you for supporting independent media.