Just wanted to share this video of a procedure I discovered during diagnosing a 2012 iMac with a bad logic board. I always wanted to try to replace the RAM without removing the logic board, which requires quite a bit of disassembly. I figured this would be a good time to try. The procedure is fairly easy if you can handle removing the display. The tools to remove and re-attach the display are available online.
The video isn't the greatest because it was difficult to film because I had to stay out of the way of the camera, which involved doing part of it blind, but it's VERY easy. When I did it off camera it was a lot less fidgeting around. All you have to remove is the display, remove three screws to remove the fan and unplug the camera. The trick is to remove the bottom stick using black sticks. Pop the clip at the top and once the top side is free, use the first black stick to keep the module leaned forward as you pop the second clip. Once you remove both modules, you want to install the bottom module (closest to the casing) first but not lock it in place, else you won't have room to install the top module. Once the top module is locked, lock the bottom.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dyRqi00zWtc
If you have any questions, let me know. I plan on making a better video at some point with a full guide, but this one was actually just created to show other techs in my company.
The video isn't the greatest because it was difficult to film because I had to stay out of the way of the camera, which involved doing part of it blind, but it's VERY easy. When I did it off camera it was a lot less fidgeting around. All you have to remove is the display, remove three screws to remove the fan and unplug the camera. The trick is to remove the bottom stick using black sticks. Pop the clip at the top and once the top side is free, use the first black stick to keep the module leaned forward as you pop the second clip. Once you remove both modules, you want to install the bottom module (closest to the casing) first but not lock it in place, else you won't have room to install the top module. Once the top module is locked, lock the bottom.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dyRqi00zWtc
If you have any questions, let me know. I plan on making a better video at some point with a full guide, but this one was actually just created to show other techs in my company.