New iMac teardown shows lack of repairability

So you didn't read any of the other threads in the iMac section saying that it wasn't too difficult to remove the adhesive?

And where on earth does the report mention ANYTHING about lack of high quality construction?

"Repairability" and "Quality" really aren't the same thing at all. Very misleading thread title.

I thought I'd read on another thread that the 27" imac uses magnets, but I can't find anything to corroborate that.. so don't quote me on it. Guess we'll never know until a proper teardown is done. I'm personally not interested in self-repairing my iMac and will probably opt for AppleCare.. but bummer to those who like to tinker.

Choctaw said:

ITPROPORTAL takes new iMac apart, gives bad repairabllity score for the product. Apple is gluiing parts together, the display glass is glued to the frame, replacing parts is very difficult. Read the report at

http://www.itproportal.com/2012/12/03/apples-215-inch-imac-gets-ifixit-teardown-treatment/

Saving a buck might cause loss of sales with this new method.

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Honestly, the only gripe I have about recent iMac design is the lack of ability to get to the hard drive to replace/upgrade it and the 21.5" iMac's lack of access to the RAM slot(s).

These two items people usually would want to replace or upgrade. Paying Apple big bucks for an HD replacement sucks - will they even replace the HD with a larger model?

Lack of access doesn't dissuade me too much. It didn't stop me from getting a Retina Macbook Pro. I just find it annoying there's no way to upgrade the RAM because some product designer didn't want to see a seam on the bottom of the case.

I do not understand the "lack of high quality construction" bit. These latest products show lots of attention to detail, fit, and finish.

It's naïve to take things at face value. iFixit is a company selling kits and bits to upgrade iMacs and doesn't like the fact there's glue tape rather than magnets.

For a balanced appreciation of the situation read the posts and photos by R.OG starting at post #65 here.

There are several other threads on the subject. Nevertheless, I have to point out that probably 95% or more of iMac owners will never open their machines.

Nugget said:

"Repairability" and "Quality" really aren't the same thing at all. Very misleading thread title.

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Yea. Low repairability in any newer designed Mac product (and this goes for iOS devices as well) is nothing new. The new lightning cable and adapters are also all glued together as well but have proven to be incredibly durable over existing computer cables. To me that stands for better build quality.

Yes, the thread title is rather misleading.

So people complain about dust particles and glare, Apple attempt to fix that and they get people's backs up. Steve Jobs was right. The consumer doesn't know what she wants.

They probably had a "Made in the USA" model

Can't see 'lack of high quality construction' in the article.

You pull that out of thin air?

Choctaw said:

Sorry to mislead you…..my thought was that the new process of gluing parts rather than securing them as Apple did prier to this new way of affixing the screen to the frame looked to me to be a quality issue. Heat, ageing, vibrations, coldness, are but a few environmental issues that might cause failure of the glue along with the problem of removing the screen to fix any internal issues. If in the process of repairing something you can’t get it back together to its original condition and function, then the Quality has been compromised.

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The sole reason for this new method is to pack things as tightly as possible and achieve the thinness Apple is seeking. It doesn't say anything about the quality of the construction.

Couldn't it be argued that an aluminum+glass construction is way higher quality than 99% of the computers on the market that use plastic?

[MOD NOTE]
I updated the title to make it less of an issue and the topic can be discussed without further ado.

Obviously there is a difference in repairability and 'quality'. Friction stir welding in too many other AIOs? And what do you think holds bits of silicon onto motherboards and other bits together? Thread? Glue is everywhere inside a computer. And modern day automotive engines. And it's not pritt stick glue we are talking about...

Confuzzzed said:

And modern day automotive engines. And it's not pritt stick glue we are talking about...

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I am not sure why some people on these forums have no idea what industrial adhesives are and why they think using such products equates to low quality construction.

Here is an example of what an adhesive is

http://www.pratley.com/DIY_Adhesives.htm

theSeb said:

I am not sure why some people on these forums have no idea what industrial adhesives are and why they think using such products equates to low quality construction.

Here is an example of what an adhesive is

http://www.pratley.com/DIY_Adhesives.htm

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I have some experience of dental adhesive technology so agree with you 100%. People just looking for excuses not to buy a machine. Which is fine. Whatever works for each individual. But why feel the need to come on here and start negative threads on stuff other people are paying good money for...

theSeb said:

I am not sure why some people on these forums have no idea what industrial adhesives are and why they think using such products equates to low quality construction.

Here is an example of what an adhesive is

http://www.pratley.com/DIY_Adhesives.htm

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Because others (and apple in the past) are using more elegant ways to assemble (and disassemble in case of an upgrade or repair) the device, such as magnets (as apple used to do) and levers (hp).

Confuzzzed said:

So people complain about dust particles and glare, Apple attempt to fix that and they get people's backs up. Steve Jobs was right. The consumer doesn't know what she wants.

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Excuse me? What's that got to do with gluing the screen to the chassis? Apple tried to fix a problem they had themselves introduced with the glass overlay so they got a subcontractor to finally laminate the glass to the screen, and finally treated the glass with some antiglare coatings that every dime a dozen crt used to have 10-15 years ago. But that has absolutely no bearing on if they are going to use magnets or adhesives to keep the screen in place.

They fixed one problem they themselves created only to introduce another by changing what they had implemented well to begin with. Way to go...

At this rate of progress by 2025 the imac might even be height adjustable and have ergonomics akin to what other manufacturers have had for more than 30 years...

Facts have shot holes through this thread. Time to close up shop...

MacFoodPoisoner said:

Because others (and apple in the past) are using more elegant ways to assemble (and disassemble in case of an upgrade or repair) the device, such as magnets (as apple used to do) and levers (hp).



Excuse me? What's that got to do with gluing the screen to the chassis? Apple tried to fix a problem they had themselves introduced with the glass overlay so they got a subcontractor to finally laminate the glass to the screen, and finally treated the glass with some antiglare coatings that every dime a dozen crt used to have 10-15 years ago. But that has absolutely no bearing on if they are going to use magnets or adhesives to keep the screen in place.

They fixed one problem they themselves created only to introduce another by changing what they had implemented well to begin with. Way to go...

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Elegance and fixability have nothing to do with what I am talking about. The OP clearly states that he believes using industrial adhesives shows lack of quality (before a mod changed the title). This is the point that I am making. I cannot see how one can come to the conclusion that using industrial adhesives equates to poor quality, unless the person coming up with this logic is the kind of person that spent their high school years trying to get high by sniffing paper glue and concluding that due to the distinct lack of a "high" and only being rewarded with a head ache, means that any adhesive = poor quality product for the job.

Don't misconstrue what I have said though. Nowhere in this thread have I postulated that not allowing the one component in a computer that is most prone to failure to be easily replaceable is a good design choice. I disagree with this direction that Apple is taking and it is bad for the consumer. I do get annoyed when I have to listen about "glue = bad quality" though.

However, I am easily able to fix the problem by ordering a Mac with a normal hard drive and then buying a rear shelf and a very fast external TB SSD to store the OS. The ergonomic issue regarding the iMac is a real one and hence why I am not planning to buy one. But again, that isn't the point of this discussion.

For example:

http://store.apple.com/uk/product/H...j2-256gb-2-x-128gb-ssd-thunderbolt-hard-drive

If people really are as experienced and adept at "self-repairing" computers as they claim to be, they'd be knowledgeable enough to know the compromises made for the iMac's form factor, and then either live with it or buy a different computer if it's a deal-breaking issue.

theSeb said:

Elegance and fixability have nothing to do with this thread. The OP clearly states that he believes using industrial adhesives shows lack of quality (before a mod changed the title). This is the point that I am making. I cannot see how one can come to the conclusion that using industrial adhesives equates to poor quality, unless the person coming up with this logic is the kind of person that spent their high school years trying to get high by sniffing paper glue and concluding that due to the distinct lack of a "high" and only being rewarded with a head ache, means that any adhesive = poor quality product for the job.

Don't misconstrue what I have said though. Nowhere in this thread have I postulated that not allowing the one component in a computer that is most prone to failure to be easily replaceable is a good design choice. I disagree with this direction that Apple is taking and it is bad for the consumer. I do get annoyed when I have to listen about "glue = bad quality" though.

However, I am easily able to fix the problem by ordering a Mac with a normal hard drive and then buying a rear shelf and a very fast external TB SSD to store the OS. The ergonomic issue regarding the iMac is a real one and hence why I am not planning to buy one. But again, that isn't the point of this discussion.

For example:

http://store.apple.com/uk/product/H...j2-256gb-2-x-128gb-ssd-thunderbolt-hard-drive

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Fair enough.

(As an aside the way apple's playing it this will be the first AIO that will actually be much more of a Not That Much In One, and the original clutter free desk purpose it 's supposed to serve will be going out the window with usb and sd card hubs for easy access, external speakers with proper bass (as opposed to speakers with bass worse than that of the kindle hd...), external boot thunderbolt drives, external odds, dangling thunderbolt to firewire adapters etc...)

MacFoodPoisoner said:

Fair enough.

(As an aside the way apple's playing it this will be the first AIO that will actually be much more of a Not That Much In One, and the original clutter free desk purpose it 's supposed to serve will be going out the window with usb and sd card hubs for easy access, external speakers with proper bass (as opposed to speakers with bass worse than that of the kindle hd...), external boot thunderbolt drives, external odds, dangling thunderbolt to firewire adapters etc...)

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Indeed. I have actually had this discussion on these forums here many times when people start to question why do people want a Mac Pro (or a Mac Pro lite) when the iMac is so awesome. To demonstrate the point I drew a diagram some time ago to show what a mess one will create if they want a couple of external drives and possibly an external Thunderbolt GPU (which haven't arrived, but the proponents of the iMac were arguing that it would make a Mac Pro obsolete, regardless of the fact that TB does not have the bandwidth that a medium to high end desktop GPU needs)