Apple Launching Pilot Program Allowing Repairs of Soon-to-Be Vintage Mid 2011 iMac in United States

[TallManNY]

Better with a thunderbolt drive like a LaCie rugged. Get full speed on the SATA connection. The only faults of these machines are the lack of USB3 and the bad, cracking solder on the GPUs.
I’ve had the GPU replaced once in the recall, and subsequently twice had to extract the GPU and bake in the oven for ten minutes to remelt the solder together.

Whoops, I meant to say Thunderbolt drive instead of Firewire. Yes, the external SSD solution works well. Though for me I did it so late in the machine's life that I went with a cheap small SSD. My GPU is working fine since I got it replaced in the recall. But I'm ready to move on and not risk it. Plan is to retire the machine once the new iMacs come out. It will be seven years old and I've gotten enough value out of it. I also "deserve" to use something current. I figure going 7 years is frugal enough.

 

[Guy Clark]

I may replace my old iMac just cause I need to edit 4k more quickly but in general this computer has been such a bang for the buck that is really difficult to translate in words. I laugh my ass every time I hear someone complain about mac or Apple products been so "expensive" specially when I live abroad and I have to work 3 times harder to afford my macs than typical US or big countries residents. It has served me as music platform, video editing and as a GAMING platform for so many years. Killed probably hundred of thousands of players in Ghost Recon, Call of Duty 4-5, Insurgency, Red Orchestra, Arma 2 and for the last couple of years Arma 3.
My iMac has paid itself several times and probably will work for 3 or 4 years if I change the main HD for an ssd. I run windows on a second SSD
View attachment 752766 View attachment 752767

Longevity comes with High quality which in turn comes at a hefty price. Macs up to the 2011 period generally tend to have a longer lifespan with the advantage of being completely user serviceable/repairable.

I agree the 4k iMac is a tempting option but take in to consideration they are a beast to work on internally given the slimline chassis which was introduced in 2012 and the RAM is soldered to the Logic Board. To fit a Blade SSD the Logic Board needs to be removed.
https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/iMac+Intel+21.5-Inch+Retina+4K+Display+Blade+SSD+Replacement/64109

If you were to go with the 4k iMac I recommend ordering one with a Fusion Drive for additional performance and decide how much RAM you need as it is not upgradeable afterwards being soldered to the Logic Board.

But that is a more than capable machine you have there although the storage does need upgrading to give you more space. Take a look at the 2TB Seagate SSHD (Solid State Hybrid Drive) or the 2TB WD Black which is a High Performance 7200rpm HDD which comes with a 5 year warranty and is available up to 6TB.
https://www.seagate.com/gb/en/internal-hard-drives/hdd/firecuda/
https://www.wdc.com/products/internal-storage/wd-black-desktop.html

Although Apple state a maximum of 16GB RAM can be installed it will take 32GB RAM
https://everymac.com/systems/apple/...inch-aluminum-mid-2011-thunderbolt-specs.html

 

[urbanman2004]

Might be worth considering upgrading to El Capitan as Yosemite is now unsupported.

El Capitan is the latest version of macOS that can be run on the Early 2009 iMac.
[doublepost=1519765489][/doublepost]
I would be very interested to know the Hardware you used if you don't mind sharing.

http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/to...-sierra-on-evga-z97-with-clover-in-uefi-mode/

 

[RedKite]

I use one of these as my home server now. The display broke some time ago and I simply hooked up an old Dell monitor. Very capable machine still

I upgraded mine with a Blu-ray drive.... a new wireless unit so I can perform Apple Watch unlocks.... SSD.... 4tb HDD. Connected to that are numerous USB drives that host my Plex content, run backups.... it’s kind of prepared to drop dead but I hope it never does.

 

[MSosa]

Logic Boards can be obtained from eBay pulled from working machines for a reasonable price
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Main-Log...045865?hash=item33e3416529:g:-HsAAOSwEEBZ9MTy

You will need to transplant the CPU and GPU to the replacement Logic Board using the iFixit guide
https://www.ifixit.com/Device/iMac_Intel_21.5"_EMC_2428

You can run macOS externally from a Thunderbolt 2 SSD
https://eshop.macsales.com/shop/Thunderbolt/

Thanks. I had been looking at the logic boards on Ebay and wondering why some did not list CPU they carried.

The only risk is, what if I damaged the CPU or GPU instead of the logic board? I took it to a "repair" shop the the tech there said he could not identify why the computer was not working either. I guess I'll find out when I put in the work in a replacement logic board.

Oh and I have to say the 2011 iMac for me was a great machine, used for work and family for a good 6 years before my effort to replace the HDD with an SDD broke something!

 

[nielsll]

Thanks. I had been looking at the logic boards on Ebay and wondering why some did not list CPU they carried.

The only risk is, what if I damaged the CPU or GPU instead of the logic board? I took it to a "repair" shop the the tech there said he could not identify why the computer was not working either. I guess I'll find out when I put in the work in a replacement logic board.

Oh and I have to say the 2011 iMac for me was a great machine, used for work and family for a good 6 years before my effort to replace the HDD with an SDD broke something!

[doublepost=1520180984][/doublepost]Apple has not yet announced the extended repair program. Is this really going to be offered?

 

[MSosa]

Apple prices though are high. I was quote $400-$500 to repair the 2011 iMac.

 

[punith]

Apple today internally announced it is launching a new pilot program that will permit Apple Stores and Apple Authorized Service Providers to continue offering repair service for 21.5-inch and 27-inch iMac models released in mid 2011, despite the fact they will be classified as vintage starting next month.

The pilot program will be available in the United States only between March 1, 2018 and August 31, 2018, subject to parts availability from Apple, according to the company's internal memo obtained by MacRumors. After the pilot ends, repairs will only be available in California and Turkey, as required by law.

Apple and Authorized Service Providers can usually repair an iMac's display and hinge, logic board, graphics card, hard drive or SSD, power supply, and other components, although the exact availability of replacement parts remains to be seen. It's unclear if RAM and storage upgrades will continue to be offered.

Apple typically offers repairs and replacement parts for a Mac until five years after it is no longer manufactured. Mid 2011 iMac models are now approaching this cutoff, as the last education-only configuration was discontinued in March 2013, but these machines will now remain eligible for service for an additional six months.

Apple didn't specify if the pilot program will eventually expand to other vintage products, or whether it will be available outside of the United States.

Article Link: Apple Launching Pilot Program Allowing Repairs of Soon-to-Be Vintage Mid 2011 iMac in United States

 

[MSosa]

I’ve got a 2011 iMac I’m trying to repair. I need to get on it before those 6 months expire! Great machines.