Intel iMac Disassembled

symphonix

Scratch & Sniff Committee
Well, the first pull-apart of the new Intel-based iMac looks to be posted. There are a few mirrors of this page, as the traffic is quite heavy:
- http://www.disgruntled-dutch.com/2006/general/imacintel-disassembled/
- http://www.kodawarisan.com/k2006/archives/2006/01/imac_core_duo_a.html
- http://www.kodawarisan.com.nyud.net:8090/imac_intel/imac_intel01.html

Two interesting things to note:
* The processor is not soldered into the board, but is on a socket. This may mean it might be possible to upgrade it.
* The insides are much, much more ugly and complex than the elegant simplicity on the inside of the iMac G5. Lets face it, when the iMac G5 was launched, Apple were really happy to show off pictures of its interior. This machine looks incredibly complex inside.
 
Not to mention it looks like they disassembled it with a chainsaw... suffice to say I don't think they were concerned with bending or destroying any of the aluminum heat shield pieces.
 
hope thats a joke! I don't plan on buying RAM from Apple (going to Crucial to get RAM), I know with the G5's it had a nice look to the inside of it.

Not getting one till 2007 if i'm lucky though, i'm sure it will get beter
 
symphonix said:
* The insides are much, much more ugly and complex than the elegant simplicity on the inside of the iMac G5. Lets face it, when the iMac G5 was launched, Apple were really happy to show off pictures of its interior. This machine looks incredibly complex inside.

On the site they put in a warning that they have gone in from the front, not the user serviceable side (ie from the back). Consequently it looks horrible - it would be interesting to see what it looks like by going in the way the user would see....

Cheers,

Joel
 
yeah i did notice that actually, the apple site used to praise how easy it was to get into the G5 imac Rev A/B, but that was always from the back.
 
Can't compare that, then. Simple as that. Also can't compare the PowerMac G5 with the iMac, since one is an open environment, the other is "things crammed behind a screen", basically.
 
I wonder what the user friendly inside looks like, anyone have a pic of that? I am curious as to wheather or not it would be possible to upgrade the processor in the new Intel mac's though.
 
Apparently, it is possible to upgrade the processor. Apparently, someone swapped the pre-installed processor in an Intel iMac for a retail, boxed Core Duo 2.0GHz processor:

http://www.macrumors.com/pages/2006/01/20060131134225.shtml

Also, from what I've heard, the iMac is no longer as user-friendly on the inside as the iMac G5 was -- I believe the amount of user-serviceable parts in the Intel iMac has gone down from the iMac G5.
 
It looks nearly identical to the iMac G5 w/ iSight setup. The second link has a comparison shot of all three iMacs.
 
I'm afraid to inform you all that going in from the front is the only way in. The service manual I took a look at shows entrance from the front. There are no user serviceable parts so the user shouldn't care what it looks like (but I know what you mean apple has always neat). The memory is accessed from the bottom of the unit which does not require disassembly. The only other parts you might want to replace in the future are the two drives which are in the first layer so to speak. As you go deeper you are hitting items that are less likely to need replacement from apples point of view.
 
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