iFixit Tears Down New iMacs, Finds Soldered CPU on 21.5" Model

[840quadra]

CPU being soldered likely won't be a concern for many average customers / users .

Did that quite a few times, even on a few laptops.
PowerBook 500 and Pismo series CPU on daughter card, easy to update.

Nobody knows what you are talking about. Powerbook PowerPC, Pismo !? Foreign language here.

 

[RHutch]

iFixit is still relevant?

Apparently, to you they are not. But, yes, to some of us, they are still relevant.

 

[applemotor]

If iFixit thinks Mac users want to tinker with the computer's inners then why not enable them? Why dont they make a replacement back panel out of silver plastic that you can swap the 'apple light' ,foot hinge, and antennae over to.

They can put in all the access panels and regular screws that they want.

 

[Ursadorable]

iFixit is still relevant?

iTossit when it dies, then buy the newer model .

 

[kingtj]

Ummm .... ok.

I don't disagree with you that a desktop system doesn't really need to be super thin or light ... but I would sure want to have the latest video chipset, since that's traditionally the weakest part of Mac performance.

The missing optical drive could be rectified with an external USB model (which could easily be swapped out if it ever breaks).

I may want to consider buying a new iMac soon. Not because I like these models but because the old ones with the optical drive might be leaving the refurb store soon as more of these nonsensically thin models are released. I don't care if I use the optical drive often, I want it there because its a desktop and I don't care if it is thin or light

 

[OneMike]

iFixit is still relevant?

what's better than ifixit?

 

[Iamthinking]

I don't remember it ever being feasible to swap or change CPUs?

Recently swapped an i3 out of my 2010 27" iMac and replaced with an i7 that I got from ebay for $100. Huge performance boost and machine runs cooler.
Total upgrade time <1hr.

Totally feasible.

-Iamthinking

 

[WoFat]

Same Thing for Toothbrushes

Precisely why I gave up brushing my teeth. Pert near impossible to upgrade the darn thing and I DEMAND UPGRADE-ABILITY no matter how little sense it makes.

Now, back to wiping off my remaining tooth.

 

[rworne]

I didn't look at the 21" as carefully as I did the 27" model, but I did spot a lithium coin cell on the logic board. I sure hope this is user-accessible. I know they last a long time, but after 4-5 years it may need replacing. (Intel says an expected life of three years)

Edit: the 21" model has one too.

Jeez.

 

[newdeal]

Beware, the "fat" models run hot as hell. Less than 2 years in, the logic board and the graphics card went out on my 2011 27 in top of the line. Cost? $1,000 (no Apple Care). Before that, I had issues with 2 of them (I replaced yearly).

I'll never buy an iMac again; I think the design is flawed.

But your mileage may vary, as always.

I have a 2010 i3 model and haven't had any issues, granted I don't push it, the most work it gets is the occasional handbrake encode. Other than that its for my wife to store photos and browse the web when she isn't using her ipad mini

 

[OldSchoolMacGuy]

Did that quite a few times, even on a few laptops.
PowerBook 500 and Pismo series CPU on daughter card, easy to update.

So you did this almost 20 years ago back in 1994. How about in the last, say 5 years?

 

[Iamthinking]

People actually upgrade the cpu in iMacs? Never heard of that one.

Wish more people did. It is (was) relatively easy and rewarding.

Lots of good older-gen i7s floating around on ebay and CL.

In my younger (tinkering) days I might have been tempted to buy up used (cheap) i3 iMACS, toss an SSD and an i7 in them, and resell them for a tidy profit!

-Iamthinking

 

[newdeal]

I don't disagree with you that a desktop system doesn't really need to be super thin or light ... but I would sure want to have the latest video chipset, since that's traditionally the weakest part of Mac performance.

The missing optical drive could be rectified with an external USB model (which could easily be swapped out if it ever breaks).

yeah I don't play games so I don't really find an impact of the video card for my uses. That said if I wanted good graphics I would build my own desktop PC

 

[Butler Trumpet]

I have probably repaired close to 2000 Apple computers - I have only had someone ask me to upgrade their processor only once and it was in a Mac Pro. This is not a big deal. Stop freaking out.

 

[POPLive]

I don't remember it ever being feasible to swap or change CPUs?

Oh yes! I had an aftermarket CPU installed in my late 2012 iMac (Intel Core i7-3920XM "Extreme") as well as two Nvidia GeForce GTX 680M graphics cards.
This computer is great for video editing and even for gaming.

 

[Battlefield Fan]

In a free country where individuality and freedom are welcomed, your question cannot be relevant. Many people like to upgrade. Your attitude suggests the application of a forced dictatorship of sorts.

If this is a free country then why are you calling my view irrelevant? Or do I not receive freedom of speech because you disagree with my view?

 

[Swift]

Oh, nos

iFixit keeps on wanting to have all computers be like the self-built things concocted out of parts from Fry's. Fun hobby. Not to do with an iMac. I realize it seems to offend, but the market for a computer you can actually take apart and switch motherboards, small but active. To please the kit builders, you have to put everything in a big tower and insert cards, etc., that are standardized for Windows machines. To please iMac buyers, don't do any of that stuff, because they don't give a damn about changing the processor. (By the way, the original Intel Mac mini, if you bought an expensive new processor, was accessible. I switched around everything else in that thing, but never got around to the processor. A little too much money for a small speed boost.

It was fun doing those repairs. But easier and cheaper to pick up the new model. PS: it's got a fast processor, low-power, up to 32 GB of RAM, and a Fusion drive. Cool. The odds of more than 1% of iMac buyers wanting to open the front glass, crimp but not cut dozens of wires, and get to the processor are less than nil.

----------

If this is a free country then why are you calling my view irrelevant? Or do I not receive freedom of speech because you disagree with my view?

Comrade, all right-thinking people stand together with iPolitburo, who know better how to make Apple products than mere mortals do.

 

[CausticPuppy]

iFixit is still relevant?

Sure, I used their guide to install an SSD in my Mac Mini.

For systems that are easily upgradeable, it's a nice site. I even have their official "iFixit tool kit".

Obviously I'm not going to use iFixit for things that are too much of a PITA to upgrade though.

 

[fixmymac]

The problem is that today's iMac won't "just work" with the RAM consuming software of 2016, while it would perfectly work if you could swap the RAM by then.

If you want your 2013 Mac to "'just work' with the RAM consuming software of 2016" you should consider that when buying it in 2013.

With any significant investment, it is surely prudent to make sure that it meets your current AND relative future needs.

You wouldn't buy a car that just meets current emissions requirements and expect it to still meet relative future requirements.

iMac is a consumer product. I would guess that over 90% of users will seldom, if ever, make full use of the base installed RAM.

The remaining 10%? They bought the wrong Mac. Hoping to transport their family of 6 people in a car with only 5 seats.

 

[AidenShaw]

For the vast majority of consumers, by the time the cpu is a bottleneck, replacing the cpu probably wouldn't make a difference because your entire logic board would be obsolete at that point too.

In the Wintel world, yes, it is quite simple. Of course depending on your motherboard model/year and the CPU that is already in it, your upgrades might be small or might be large. Overall, you're not going to upgrade a 2008 CPU with the latest 2013 model. But typically a motherboard supports a dozen or so CPU models/speeds...

A couple of cases in point:

I've built a number of workstations for myself. My usual upgrade pattern is to:

• buy a new motherboard at the beginning of the chipset's lifecycle
• buy a CPU that's mid-range, because of the huge premium that exists for slightly faster models
• when Intel comes out with a new CPU/chipset pick up the fastest CPU that fits my mobo

We purchased quite a few Core Duo laptops from Lenovo and Dell. After the Core 2 Duo CPUs were on the market for a while and the prices stabilized, I replaced a dozen or so Core Duo CPUs with Core 2 Duo CPUs - so we had "new" 64-bit laptops on the cheap.

 

[CJM]

I'd love to see sales figures for the new iMacs. Bet they are not as high...

 

[zephonic]

Upgradeable or not, the way they fit those components in there is a marvel of design and engineering.

Even disassembled it looks like a work of art.

 

[The Deepness]

I had a 2011 27" iMac with optical drive that was unfortunately stolen on a break in. I was a little bummed about a replacement machine that I might get having no drive and needing a usb superdrive as I use remote disk on my Air. But even though I had an SSD and HDD combo, the fusion, new PCI speed increase, new ac wifi, greater VRAM, etc. make this a no brainer. I don't use an optical drive that often anyway.

My 2012 27" iMac was stolen on a break-in two weeks ago. They stole the USB SuperDrive too. I never saw removing the optical drive from the iMac as a problem because there was always the SuperDrive option if you needed it. I only got it because I import CDs (lossless) occasionally, and I do mean occasionally. Plus, the SuperDrive is only $79. As you mentioned, all the other positive features of these new iMacs far outweight their not having built-in optical drives.

 

[rmwebs]

I don't remember it ever being feasible to swap or change CPUs?

It was pretty easy on the older white plastic intel ones. You could take the whole thing apart pretty quickly without having to remove the display. The whole back came off to give you complete access to the logicboard, superdrive, hard drive, etc.

I remember taking my iMac into the Applestore to replace a faulty power board, thinking I'd have to come back in a few days. They did it on the spot. Total time was about 25 minutes.

Sadly those days are gone. I'm all for nicer looking models but with a desktop nobody gives a crap if it's 1" thick or 3" thick. Not worth it IMO if it makes it impossible to repair.

 

[CoMoMacUser]

iMac is a consumer product. I would guess that over 90% of users will seldom, if ever, make full use of the base installed RAM.

I'm not so sure. If that were the case, then there wouldn't be such a big selection of aftermarket RAM products for iMacs.