Apple Restricts Hard Drive Replacements on New iMacs

[MagnusVonMagnum]

ok, i'll go with you; if apple is lying, can you explain how they increased the batteries while decreasing the size of the notebooks?

There's more to a notebook than just the battery dude...

There are any number of ways to design a notebook and therefore any number of ways to change its size dimensions. You could increase the battery size but reduce a good portion of the motherboard by combining several chips into one, for example or mounting parts three dimensionally or getting rid of full sized DVI ports and putting in mini-display and one less Firewire port, etc.

And like Aidenshaw said, many put the battery pack on the OUTSIDE of the case where it's not in the way and you have a different selection to choose from (e.g. my HP Netbook running OSX is like that and there are two different sized batteries to pick from, a 4 hour battery (3-4 in actual use) and an 8 hour (more like 6-7). The larger battery actually props up the back-end so you type at a more ergonomic angle. This netbook lasts 2-3x as long as my MBP and I guarantee it's way smaller than any Apple notebook out there (not quite as thin as the Macbook Air, but it's smaller area-wise; it's like a clam-shell iPad with full OSX and full ports and twice the battery life and 2-4x the memory and 6-8x the storage).

 

[smg9779]

I'm hugging my Windows 7 PC right now. Never freezes, no BSD and I can swap out all the hardware I want. What has two thumbs and will never switch to a Mac? This Guy!

 

[tsolt]

I'm hugging my Windows 7 PC right now. Never freezes, no BSD and I can swap out all the hardware I want. What has two thumbs and will never switch to a Mac? This Guy!

I'm sorry.

 

[teloche]

Does it not seem that every company is more aggressive then ever over money, with lawsuits and legal proceedings with out evidence even the court houses are looking to take others to the cleaners, isolating the one upgrade that's a must with iMacs is also another loop to still change it anyway, maybe apple has made the parts themselves .

 

[iphonepiephone]

I come here for the laughs, and boy, do I ever get them! ^_^

 

[Aquaporin]

Maybe I am doing something wrong, but 500 GB is more than enough space for my computer habits. Probably because I was using a HUGE 20GB hard drive when I first got a computer.

 

[cawesjmu]

If you actually believe that then you are simply showing your ignorance of how a removable battery can be implemented. Why on earth would it need to take up more space to put a panel on the bottom of the unit or have pressure connectors contact with the battery when directly inserted? Have you EVER removed the back of your cell phone? I don't think you EVER have or you'd know better. The battery couldn't take up more space if it tried.

Since this thread is way off topic anyway, have a look at the video between minute 1:00 and 1:20. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w6lLdFxiZPc

 

[xxBURT0Nxx]

Since this thread is way off topic anyway, have a look at the video between minute 1:00 and 1:20. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w6lLdFxiZPc

don't even try man, if you do they will just tell you you're an apple loving fanboy drinking too much kool-aid.

 

[cawesjmu]

don't even try man, if you do they will just tell you you're an apple loving fanboy drinking too much kool-aid.

True. I remember when people came here to help each other out with issues.

 

[Gomff]

True. I remember when people came here to help each other out with issues.

And I remember when Apple seemed to be over their proprietary nonsense and made good hardware with a reasonable amount of user serviceability.....Wasn't even that long ago.

 

[rtheb]

True. I remember when people came here to help each other out with issues.

We still do but you have to go to the Hardware and Software Discussions to get some help and reasonable sanity.

 

[MagnusVonMagnum]

Since this thread is way off topic anyway, have a look at the video between minute 1:00 and 1:20. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w6lLdFxiZPc

Yes, that video shows that Apple is incapable of designing an efficient battery compartment for their computers just like I said. They should hire more people if their current designers cannot manage the job. For instance, they could move the battery to the edge of the compartment (instead of sitting it in the middle) and have it insert through the side. All you would need is a small vertical plate at the end (since nothing is opened) and a release mechanism on the case edge (my Dell Netbook puts the battery in the back on the bottom outside the case where it takes up zero room. It also gets 6-8 hours of usable battery (similar to the 'new' Mac) and yet I can change the battery inside 10 seconds to any number of spares (pull two tabs and it drops; pop in new battery and it self-locks).

Maybe if Steve weren't so obsessed with making all Macs (including desktops where it doesn't matter one bit) paper thin, he'd have room to make these things work without making them harder and harder to open (not just the design, but even using pentalobe screws so you'll have a hard time finding a tool to even try). What's next? Putting in a self-destruct mechanism with sensor tabs under the screws so that if you open it without a magnetic chip on your screwdriver (similar to some car ignitions), it melts down?

 

[xxBURT0Nxx]

deleted

 

[maclaptop]

And I remember when Apple seemed to be over their proprietary nonsense and made good hardware with a reasonable amount of user serviceability.....Wasn't even that long ago.

I do too, and those were very encouraging times. It was as though Apple had grown up, and was ready to really innovate and shake up the industry.

While they're shaking it now, it's all retail toys thanks to iOS. And don't get me wrong, I think iOS is just fine on mobile phones, but leave our Macs alone.

 

[2501]

year 2000 called

this is so 2000 Compaq like behavior.

anyone remember Compaq's sucky mainboards that would only eat "compaq tm" RAM...
This is not innovation.
This is clearly not leading to success and appreciation.

Dear Apple, big oh nooos from me for this.

*sigh*

2501

 

[Sun Baked]

I'm sure it's just a matter of time

Looks like it really didn't take that long ....

http://www.hardmac.com/news/2011/05/18/an-easy-solution-to-replace-the-hard-drive-in-a-2011-imac

for a HW-based solution to keep the sensor function intact.

 

[scottsjack]

I do too, and those were very encouraging times. It was as though Apple had grown up, and was ready to really innovate and shake up the industry.

While they're shaking it now, it's all retail toys thanks to iOS. And don't get me wrong, I think iOS is just fine on mobile phones, but leave our Macs alone.

Good point. One of the reasons that I've got three Mac, one which is running Windows 7, is that their hardware is for the most part industry standard. The more industry standard they are the more I like it.

While I have only three machines there have been eight boot drives. Only the mini has it's original memory and that's because I'm not ready to add more RAM and a 7200RPM drive yet.

 

[dergaderg]

im still gonna get one

im still gonna get one

 

[mamouneyya]

This news is simply like SH*T...

 

[Sjhonny]

God damn it, it's not true. The guys from owc just screwed up there 'testing'. (link) It's not in any way harder to replace a HDD in the new iMac then it was in the old one... (which was already not that simple)

 

[MagnusVonMagnum]

God damn it, it's not true. The guys from owc just screwed up there 'testing'. (link) It's not in any way harder to replace a HDD in the new iMac then it was in the old one... (which was already not that simple)

I see nothing in that article to suggest what you're saying.

 

[barkmonster]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8G4 Safari/6533.18.5)

They need to fill the void between the iMac and the Mac Pro. My first mac, a G3 Desktop filled that gap in their range, the Quicksilver G4 I bought next was also an entry level system. The Mac Mini and iMac are worthless for my expansion needs so a used Mac dealer or eBay seller and NOT Apple are getting my money next time because a used Mac Pro is my only option (also a good investment too). They could have built-in some kind of hot swappable sled based on the iMac and hidden it behind a panel on the lower bottom of the iMac so it doesn't interfere with the clean design of the casing. All these sensors and restrictions are a joke. I've replaced the drives in my G4 twice already. I currently have a brand new 750gb Caviar Black with the jumpers set to 1.5Gb/sec running off a SATA PCI card. All I want to do with my next mac is slide the drive into place, use Migration assistant and get on with using the thing. Come on Apple, this is getting silly now. A mini-tower, 2 hard drive bays, 1 optical bay, 4 PCI-e slots, 4 RAM slots and a core i7 for £1,099 or less would solve the issue but being fairer and making the drives in ALL Macs user upgradable is what they should be doing.

 

[MagnusVonMagnum]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8G4 Safari/6533.18.5)

They need to fill the void between the iMac and the Mac Pro. My first mac, a G3 Desktop filled that gap in their range, the Quicksilver G4 I bought next was also an entry level system. The Mac Mini and iMac are worthless for my expansion needs so a used Mac dealer or eBay seller and NOT Apple are getting my money next time because a used Mac Pro is my only option (also a good investment too). They could have built-in some kind of hot swappable sled based on the iMac and hidden it behind a panel on the lower bottom of the iMac so it doesn't interfere with the clean design of the casing. All these sensors and restrictions are a joke.

A lot of us have been requesting this mid-range tower type option for some time, but Apple feels it would cannibalize their iMac sales on the one end or their Mac Pro sales on the other. I don't understand this concept, personally seeing as I will NOT buy either computer since the former doesn't fit my needs and the latter is beyond what I need for the price (e.g. I don't need Xeon CPUs and memory protection that jack up the price by an extra $1k). I can build a Hackintosh with at least 4-cores and a high-end GPU for around $1200 the last time I checked in a case of my choice and not have to pay exorbitant prices for ram or hard drives and put in what I want from the start.

Apple used to do it right. My PowerMac case is just a lovely piece of design in both looks and functionality. It's so easy to get into the case (no tools needed and the motherboard rotates down on a hinge from the side). They could have had quick-release sleds for the drives and what not, but it's still pretty darn easy to work on. I bought it used in '05 for $200 and upgraded the ram to 1.5GB ($80?), put in a cheap USB2 card ($25) and a flashed PC Radeon9800 Pro ($89) and a Sata card ($40) and finally a 1.8GHz 7448 G4 for $350. Oh yea and a DVD-RW 20x drive for $60. I threw in some 500GB drives I had lying around from another computer (I eventually replaced them with two 1.5TB Barracudas some time later). I could have had a Mac-Mini at the time instead, but all drive expansion to that level would have had to be external and I don't think the 2006 Mini was very good at all (32-bit Intel CPU, slow DVD drive, no FW 800, Intel graphics that was probably at least as slow as the 9800 Pro if not more so, etc. and in 2005, they were still selling the MacMini G4).

I'm STILL using that PowerMac today as a whole house audio/video server (for multiple ATVs and Airport Express units) and 24/7 Internet terminal and quick'n'easy label maker, document reader, etc. (since it's on 24/7, it's very convenient to just turn on the monitor), although now I use external 3TB USB3 storage that will be easily moved to another computer in the future. I doubt I would still be using a 2005 or 2006 Mac Mini and the '06 model will not have Lion support either.

I've easily upgraded the monitor to a 22" LCD and have since added a 20" HDTV/Monitor so I can watch the news while reading e-mail and yet easily have a two monitor setup if I want at the push of a button (9800 Pro makes that possible; the 2005/06 Mac Mini only had one output). I can also play older PPC games on it and even OS9 ones with a reboot. I've actually played everything from Halo to No One Lives Forever 2, Jedi Academy, ProPinball (in OS9) to Diablo II to old Lucasfilm games and Roller Coaster Tycoon 3 on it (not bad for an ancient machine made in 2001).

And before someone complains about 'speed', I'll say that it feels just as fast as my 2008 MBP for most daily operations (typical browsing sites, e-mail, etc. and '04 Office feels the same on the PowerMac as it does under Rosetta on the MBP. Photoshop CS3 feels fine, etc. XBench measurements show that the 2001 PowerMac in question runs significantly FASTER in nearly all areas than the Dell Mini10V Netbook I bought in 2010. Yes, it's a Netbook, but it's still made to be used in 2010 so the PowerMac still holds its own. Yes, the PowerMac had upgrades done to it, but that's my whole point about an expandable computer over a disposable one. Sadly, even the Mac Pro is becoming disposable with newer GPU cards often not being compatible with older models, etc.

Show me a Mac made today that will have a 10+ year shelf life like that....

And the only thing that is going to force me to upgrade is the lack of software support for PPC (from browsers to utilities, they're all dumping it now and that is a direct result of Apple dumping PPC from XCode4 and little else). Otherwise, I'm sure I'd get at least another 2 years out of it. As long as I can get updates to iTunes and at least one major browser, it may still go another two years.

Oh yeah, it was also Made In the USA (power supply has been running 24/7 since about 2006 save vacations, etc. and it's holding up like a champ).

 

[barkmonster]

A lot of us have been requesting this mid-range tower type option for some time, but Apple feels it would cannibalize their iMac sales on the one end or their Mac Pro sales on the other. I don't understand this concept, personally seeing as I will NOT buy either computer since the former doesn't fit my needs and the latter is beyond what I need for the price (e.g. I don't need Xeon CPUs and memory protection that jack up the price by an extra $1k). I can build a Hackintosh with at least 4-cores and a high-end GPU for around $1200 the last time I checked in a case of my choice and not have to pay exorbitant prices for ram or hard drives and put in what I want from the start.

Apple used to do it right. My PowerMac case is just a lovely piece of design in both looks and functionality. It's so easy to get into the case (no tools needed and the motherboard rotates down on a hinge from the side). They could have had quick-release sleds for the drives and what not, but it's still pretty darn easy to work on. I bought it used in '05 for $200 and upgraded the ram to 1.5GB ($80?), put in a cheap USB2 card ($25) and a flashed PC Radeon9800 Pro ($89) and a Sata card ($40) and finally a 1.8GHz 7448 G4 for $350. Oh yea and a DVD-RW 20x drive for $60. I threw in some 500GB drives I had lying around from another computer (I eventually replaced them with two 1.5TB Barracudas some time later). I could have had a Mac-Mini at the time instead, but all drive expansion to that level would have had to be external and I don't think the 2006 Mini was very good at all (32-bit Intel CPU, slow DVD drive, no FW 800, Intel graphics that was probably at least as slow as the 9800 Pro if not more so, etc. and in 2005, they were still selling the MacMini G4).

I'm STILL using that PowerMac today as a whole house audio/video server (for multiple ATVs and Airport Express units) and 24/7 Internet terminal and quick'n'easy label maker, document reader, etc. (since it's on 24/7, it's very convenient to just turn on the monitor), although now I use external 3TB USB3 storage that will be easily moved to another computer in the future. I doubt I would still be using a 2005 or 2006 Mac Mini and the '06 model will not have Lion support either.

I've easily upgraded the monitor to a 22" LCD and have since added a 20" HDTV/Monitor so I can watch the news while reading e-mail and yet easily have a two monitor setup if I want at the push of a button (9800 Pro makes that possible; the 2005/06 Mac Mini only had one output). I can also play older PPC games on it and even OS9 ones with a reboot. I've actually played everything from Halo to No One Lives Forever 2, Jedi Academy, ProPinball (in OS9) to Diablo II to old Lucasfilm games and Roller Coaster Tycoon 3 on it (not bad for an ancient machine made in 2001).

And before someone complains about 'speed', I'll say that it feels just as fast as my 2008 MBP for most daily operations (typical browsing sites, e-mail, etc. and '04 Office feels the same on the PowerMac as it does under Rosetta on the MBP. Photoshop CS3 feels fine, etc. XBench measurements show that the 2001 PowerMac in question runs significantly FASTER in nearly all areas than the Dell Mini10V Netbook I bought in 2010. Yes, it's a Netbook, but it's still made to be used in 2010 so the PowerMac still holds its own. Yes, the PowerMac had upgrades done to it, but that's my whole point about an expandable computer over a disposable one. Sadly, even the Mac Pro is becoming disposable with newer GPU cards often not being compatible with older models, etc.

Show me a Mac made today that will have a 10+ year shelf life like that....

And the only thing that is going to force me to upgrade is the lack of software support for PPC (from browsers to utilities, they're all dumping it now and that is a direct result of Apple dumping PPC from XCode4 and little else). Otherwise, I'm sure I'd get at least another 2 years out of it. As long as I can get updates to iTunes and at least one major browser, it may still go another two years.

Oh yeah, it was also Made In the USA (power supply has been running 24/7 since about 2006 save vacations, etc. and it's holding up like a champ).

I totally agree.

There's plenty of expansion room in the old G4 cases. I know they're not quite hot-swappable like the modern SATA design but there's even a spare drive bay where you could screw another sled to if need be so including the ATAPI interface under the optical bay and it's 3.5" bay there's the posibility of adding another 2 x 3.5" or 2.5" drives if you have a PCI SATA card.

When 2006 Mac Pros are on eBay for around £800, my choice has being made for me but it's a shame Apple don't just offer an entry level tower. It's not like they're acommodating the new CPU range in the Mac Pro to it's full potential. They're still using 3Gb/s SATA interfaces and it basically has either 2 too many or 4 too few RAM slots. They should offer a 4 core model with a CPU that supports all 4 RAM slots using the earlier range of Xeon chips with 4Gb RAM and a lower end GPU. Problem solved!

I run audio software so a quad core system really interests me. Just one core of a Core i5 or Xeon is going to destroy my current Mac for running software synths, the remaining 3 cores would mean low latency monitoring, more automation and a far smoother system over all. Going the used route on the Mac and adding less than £200 worth of extra RAM and an SSD to boot from would give me a killer system for under £1000

 

[kingtj]

re: Old vs. current Macs....

I have to say, the Mac Pro is well on its way to having that "10 year shelf life" referred to with those older PowerMacs.....

I've got a 2006 model that's still going strong in 2011, and I have zero interest in getting rid of it right now. (That's saying a lot, since I'm kind of a "power user" who usually rotates out a computer after 2-3 years.

If you upgrade the RAM and add an SSD drive as the boot drive, plus throw in a better video card, it still keeps pace with the latest and greatest stuff on the market for 95% of what you'd ever do with one.