Can you replace the screen on a Late 2015 iMac?

[d_gomaiste]

Hey guys,

Last night, my iMac fell face-forward on my desk and the side of the screen cracked. It's not affecting functionality at all, but it's pretty hideous and I would like to fix it.

The LCD display appears to be working fine, so I would just need the glass screen.

I know you can easily replace it with earlier models, but is this possible with my 2015 model?

Thanks so much!!

 

[SaSaSushi]

The glass is not removable from the LCD panel on the Late 2015 iMac and cannot be replaced on its own. It requires replacement of the entire LCD panel assembly.

 

[d_gomaiste]

The glass is not removable from the LCD panel on the Late 2015 iMac and cannot be replaced on its own. It requires replacement of the entire LCD panel assembly.

Ahhhh, that’s a real bummer. I was hoping that wouldn’t be the case.

I actually have a dead late 2012 iMac... do you think I’d be able to use the display from that??

 

[SaSaSushi]

That's a good question... I've never heard of anyone trying that. I believe it would probably fit the case but even if it did work it would definitely be a step-down in quality from the Retina display.

It also depends on whether Apple made changes in the location of the cables or connectors.

 

[d_gomaiste]

That's a good question... I've never heard of anyone trying that. I believe it would probably fit the case but even if it did work it would definitely be a step-down in quality from the Retina display.

It also depends on whether Apple made changes in the location of the cables or connectors.

I actually don’t have the Retina display model! They’re both the 21.5” models with LCD displays, and as far as I can tell, they look nearly identical.

But still, like you said, the connections may have changed, and I guess I’d also worry that there are other internals that are optimized for a specific display.

Ugh, I wish Apple made this stuff easy for us.

 

[SaSaSushi]

Oh, sorry, I don't know why I was thinking it was a 27-inch!

Have a look over at iFixit. They have excellent step by step guides for replacing the screens. Here is their guide for the Late 2015 21.5 inch. They also sell the tools.

By comparing the guides for the 2015 and 2012 (link here) you might get a good idea if the displays are compatible cablewise.

 

[iliasp]

I recently changed my 4K display because i broke the glass on my old one, only solution is to replace it

 

[Jusfive]

I recently changed my 4K display because i broke the glass on my old one, only solution is to replace it

I recently acquired at 21.5 inch 2015 with emc number 2833 which seems to be the same model number as the 4K but mine is standard definition LCD. I was wondering if it is possible for me since I’m going to replace it anyway to just purchase a 4K 21.5 inch display if that would work on this?

 

[TwoH]

If the 2015 is 21.5" non-retina, then yeah - the 2012 LCD is compatible with the 2015 non-retina 21.5" iMac.

 

[Zelek23]

The glass is not removable from the LCD panel on the Late 2015 iMac and cannot be replaced on its own. It requires replacement of the entire LCD panel assembly.

You are incorrect, the glass itself is removable although not an easy task for the average person.

This guide assumes you have removed the display from the machine.

The steps follow the same steps you'd take in replacing the glass on a smart phone.

An idea of the process. In my guide you replace his vacuum hot plate with a cooking hot plate.

Step 1. Buy a Hot Plate on eBay with the width that is the height of the screen.

Step 2. Place the glass on the hot plate.

Step 3. Set the heat of the hotplate to 70-75 degrees.

Step 4. Get a wire and swivel it back and forth in the space between the glass and lcd as you push the display forward off of the hotplate so it doesn't get exposed to heat for too long.

Step 5. Once the wire has made it through the entire screen you can remove the glass from the hot plate flip it over and with the help of someone have them use a blow dryer while you pass the wire through again. This time with the glass facing up. The second person can apply just a little lifting pressure to help remove the glass.

Step 6. remove the glue from the LCD screen. This is by far the longest part of the process as you don't want to use strong chemicals and you want to wipe the lcd softly to remove the glue until it shines.

Step 7. Make sure the room you're working in is not dusty and clean the new glass and lcd a final time. Apply b7000 glue to the lcd and try to keep it even throughout the display. In this step more glue is better than less glue as you don't want air bubbles to form in between the glass and lcd.

Step 8. Apply uv light to the glue so that it may cure.

Approximate repair time 2 hours for a beginner taking extreme caution.

Difficulty scale to fix it correctly the first time :

Impossible <-- if you've never repaired anything
Very hard <-- if you're a novice to diy repair
Hard <-- if you've repaired phone glass before
Moderately <-- if you've repaired several times
Easy <-- if you repair screens frequently
Very easy <-- if you own a repair business

 

[hobowankenobi]

Yes, you can. You need the right parts, the tool to cut the adhesive, and the adhesive strips to reassemble.

I have done about 40 of these, not too bad if you have the correct gear. As mentioned the ifixit guide is exactly how this is done.

You need the exact display assembly, which you can find from a vendor like this.

Be sure it is the exact part; they can vary by year with different plugs, cables, etc. If you try to use the wrong part...you will fail.

- - -

I don't know what the thing about the hot plate is...the little pizza wheel cuts 95% of the adhesive, and you gently pry up the screen. the remaining adhesive can be pulled out easily by hand with no need of wires, heating plates, chemicals, or anything else.

OK...watching it, yes, one could remove the glass, technically. Besides being a very high-risk repair, where would you get replacement glass? Oh, I see in the comments they sell the glass.

I would not risk this.

 

[Zelek23]

Ahhhh, that’s a real bummer. I was hoping that wouldn’t be the case.

I actually have a dead late 2012 iMac... do you think I’d be able to use the display from that??

Yes, you can. You need the right parts, the tool to cut the adhesive, and the adhesive strips to reassemble.

I have done about 40 of these, not too bad if you have the correct gear. As mentioned the ifixit guide is exactly how this is done.

You need the exact display assembly, which you can find from a vendor like this.

Be sure it is the exact part; they can vary by year with different plugs, cables, etc. If you try to use the wrong part...you will fail.

- - -

I don't know what the thing about the hot plate is...the little pizza wheel cuts 95% of the adhesive, and you gently pry up the screen. the remaining adhesive can be pulled out easily by hand with no need of wires, heating plates, chemicals, or anything else.

OK...watching it, yes, one could remove the glass, technically. Besides being a very high-risk repair, where would you get replacement glass? Oh, I see in the comments they sell the glass.

I would not risk this.

Well I did mention it in my post it was going to be difficult. It's not for everyone but there are people out there that are willing to risk it like me.

Cooking glass hot plate :

Link to 27 inch glass replacement 2mm thick :

Front Glass Bezel Protector Screens Panel for iMac 27 Inch all A1419 A2115 A1862 | eBay

Getting a compatible screen glass would be the best choice for you. The screen glass has 3 functions for you 1 Waterproof tin foil / Waterproof plastic film. 1 Glass Panel. This is just a single glass.

www.ebay.com

 

[Nguyen Duc Hieu]

The impossible part when replacing the glass panel of iMac A1418 and later is removing the air bubbles.
It would require a professional (and big) vacuum chamber for this job alone.
I don't know any repair shop would want to invest in this kind of equipment. The scale of this business is not big enough.
On the contrary, almost all phone repair shops I know own this kind of vacuum chamber, it's just much smaller and cheaper, though. And people break the handphone glasses a lot.