5k iMac display in a Thunderbolt Display Enclosure?

[kimjongbill]

Ok, I know what you’re thinking… what the hell is this guy on about? You may have a point!

I was converting a 5k iMac to a monitor and I was on literally the last step of putting the display on the enclosure and buttoning it up when my wife dropped the display on the table aaaaaaand it cracked.

In the hours since this happened and after increasing the dose of my antidepressant and looking at divorce attorneys (kidding!) I was wondering… what the hell do I do now? I bought another iMac on eBay to use as a donor (so now I have another 2017 iMac logic board in a drawer!), but I was thinking: can I repurpose this panel?

I know the display is laminated and it can’t be feasibly replaced, but this video shows that you can successfully separate the glass and use the panel on its own, obviously with the display board (video below at relevant time stamp). With that in mind, could you put the panel inside of the thunderbolt display’s enclosure? The glass on top of it is not attached to the panel and you aren’t relying on adhesive to hold the panel/display to the enclosure because it holds on with screws. It seems like if I were to successfully delaminate the screen and I were to, say, 3D print a ring enclosing the display that matches up with the screw holes of the panel and then just essentially do the same thing I did in the iMac to the display (enclosure, PSU, etc.), I could have even more 5k goodness by repurposing this bastard display.

Is this reasonable, or am I completely out of my mind? It seems like I can pick up a Thunderbolt Display for the price of a half-eaten Big Mac at this point and I don’t care about the guts of the Thunderbolt Display ~at all~ and if I cock up the 5k panel while delaminating it, well, at least I tried.

 

[kimjongbill]

On second thought, I think maybe using the Ultrafine 5K may be a better option. Delaminate the LCD like I mention earlier and then just slap it in the housing which has the PSU, logic, and driver board in a mostly nice looking case, and they use the same panels as the iMac (although I have the QQ1 in my iMac and the panel according to the iFixit teardown seems to be QQ2). But my point still stands! Anyone have experience with either the Cinema Display or the Ultrafine?

 

[PaulD-UK]

@kimjongbill
Yes, fitting a LM270QQ2 panel from a LG 5K Ultrafine monitor in an old Thunderbolt Display case is a thing - either with the original LG monitor driver board, or with a replacement driver board available to convert an iMac 5K.

Ultrafine 5k Thunderbolt Display Build

So, I came across an LG ultra fine 5k display for rather cheap. It's (ultra)fine, and it works well with my M1 iMac, but the stand is flimsy. When the cat rubs up against it the display wobbles around like crazy. I want the sturdiness of an Apple display, but had issues with the Studio...

forums.macrumors.com

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/5k-apple-thunderbolt-display-build.2283725/post-29584683

One point to consider:
The firmware of your 5K conversion board will be (only) for a QQ1 screen panel.
This post shows the problem:

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/diy-5k-monitor-success.2253100/post-34684169

If you connect it to a LG Ultrafine QQ2 panel, you would need different firmware - which needs a Windows PC with DP or USB-C Alt-mode DP to flash the new firmware.

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/diy-5k-monitor-success.2253100/post-34684760

The alternative to all the above is to source another, unbroken, iMac 5K panel... 😉

 

[kimjongbill]

@kimjongbill
Yes, fitting a LM270QQ2 panel from a LG 5K Ultrafine monitor in an old Thunderbolt Display case is a thing - either with the original LG monitor driver board, or with a replacement driver board available to convert an iMac 5K.

Ultrafine 5k Thunderbolt Display Build

So, I came across an LG ultra fine 5k display for rather cheap. It's (ultra)fine, and it works well with my M1 iMac, but the stand is flimsy. When the cat rubs up against it the display wobbles around like crazy. I want the sturdiness of an Apple display, but had issues with the Studio...

forums.macrumors.com

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/5k-apple-thunderbolt-display-build.2283725/post-29584683

One point to consider:
The firmware of your 5K conversion board will be (only) for a QQ1 screen panel.
This post shows the problem:

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/diy-5k-monitor-success.2253100/post-34684169

If you connect it to a LG Ultrafine QQ2 panel, you would need different firmware - which needs a Windows PC with DP or USB-C Alt-mode DP to flash the new firmware.

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/diy-5k-monitor-success.2253100/post-34684760

The alternative to all the above is to source another, unbroken, iMac 5K panel... 😉

Wow, thank you so much!!! I was kinda thinking about getting the prior generation iMac (2009 - 2013) and using that as the body after I take the glass off, but I think this might be the way to go. I’m so glad I asked!

 

[benholt]

Second the Ultrafine path — it's the right move once you've had one panel go on you. One thing worth flagging that isn't obvious until you're mid-project: the "delaminate the glass off the LCD" step is where most of these builds actually die, not the driver board. The cover glass on both the iMac 5K and the Ultrafine is stuck to the polarizer with 3M double-sided adhesive around the perimeter, and if you try to slice it with dental floss or a piano wire cold, the polarizer film underneath tears in strips. Warm the perimeter to ~40-45°C with a hairdryer on low first and go slow — the difference between clean separation and killing a second panel is really just temperature. Also the T-CON flex ribbon at the top edge is short and easy to pinch if you flex the panel; put a book under the middle of the LCD when it's face-down so nothing's loaded on those ribbons.

For your PSU sourcing: the iMac 5K driver board expects clean 12V + 5V dual rail. A cheap bench PSU that "outputs 12V" often has enough ripple to make the panel flicker at low brightness or refuse to sync at 5K. Meanwell RS-50-12 + separate 5V regulator is the boring reliable answer.

 

[uller6]

@kimjongbill I see you want to follow me down the rabbit hole...good luck! The conversion is not that difficult but does take some patience. If you have a 3D printer to make your own brackets that would make the internals cleaner than either of my builds. FYI both of my ultrafine 5k screens crammed inside Thunderbolt Display housings are still in daily use in 2026, and they still look great!

Delaminate the LCD like I mention earlier and then just slap it in the housing which has the PSU, logic, and driver board in a mostly nice looking case, and they use the same panels as the iMac (although I have the QQ1 in my iMac and the panel according to the iFixit teardown seems to be QQ2). But my point still stands! Anyone have experience with either the Cinema Display or the Ultrafine?

No need to delaminate the Ultrafine 5k screen! You just have to strip the display down to its metal housing and then transplant. I used two popsicle sticks glued on each side of the 5k panel as shims to center it in the Thunderbolt Display housing.