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Use this guide to replace or upgrade your hard drive.
This guide also includes steps to upgrade your iMac's hard drive with a SSD. It describes how to install the SSD's temperature sensor so that the Mac's fans will operate at the correct speed.
Before beginning any work on your iMac: Unplug the computer and press and hold the power button for ten seconds to discharge the power supply's capacitors.
Be very careful not to touch the capacitor leads or any exposed solder joints on the back of the power supply.
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Stick a suction cup near each of the two top corners of the glass panel.
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If your suction cups refuse to stick, try cleaning both the glass panel and the suction cup with a mild solvent.
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Gently lift the glass panel perpendicular to the face of the LCD enough to clear the steel mounting pins attached along the underside of the top edge of the glass panel.
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Pull the glass panel away from the lower edge of the iMac and carefully set it aside.
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Remove the eight 8 mm T10 Torx screws securing the display to the outer case.
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Slightly lift the top edge of the display out of the outer case.
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Pull the vertical sync cable connector out of its socket on the LED driver board near the top left corner of your iMac.
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Rotate the display out of the outer case enough to disconnect the LED backlight power cable from the LED driver board.
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Pull the display data cable straight out of its socket on the logic board.
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Disconnect the LCD thermal sensor cable connector from its socket on the logic board.
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Carefully pull the display toward the top edge of your iMac and lift it out of the outer case, minding any cables that may get caught.
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Pull the hard drive temperature sensor connector toward the top edge of the iMac to disconnect it from its socket on the logic board.
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Remove the two 9 mm T10 Torx screws securing the upper hard drive bracket to the outer case.
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Slightly rotate the hard drive out of the outer case and lift it up off its mounting pins toward the top edge of the iMac.
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Disconnect the SATA data cable and SATA power connector from their respective sockets by pulling each connector away from the hard drive.
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Disconnect the hard drive thermal sensor cable from the hard drive.
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Remove the two T8 Torx screws securing the upper bracket to the hard drive.
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Remove the upper bracket from the hard drive.
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Remove the two T8 Torx pins from the other side of the hard drive.
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Carefully peel off the piece of EMI foam attached to the front of the hard drive.
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Line up the SSD connectors with the metal enclosure's sockets.
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Press the drive against the enclosure sockets until the SSD is firmly seated.
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Use a Phillips screwdriver to install the four silver screws (two on each side) along the edges of the SSD to secure it to the enclosure.
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Plug the included sensor-enabled SATA power cable into the enclosure's port.
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Peel the white liner off the back of the small temperature sensor board in order to expose the adhesive.
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Adhere the temperature sensor board to an exposed, metal surface of the SSD, close to the SATA connector.
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Fold the excess temperature sensor wires so that they are out of the way while you install the enclosure.
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Use a T8 driver to install the mounting pins from the old hard drive onto the sides of the enclosure.
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Attach any mounting brackets removed from the old hard drive onto the enclosure.
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Connect the iMac's SATA power cable to the other end of the new sensor-enabled SATA cable.
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Connect the iMac's SATA data cable to the enclosure's socket.
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Slide the SSD enclosure into the space previously occupied by the hard drive.
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Route the SATA cables so that they will not interfere with any other components.
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Find the connector on the motherboard labeled HD TMP or HDD TEMP.
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If the previous temperature cable is still connected to the board here, disconnect and remove it. You will no longer need it.
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Connect the temperature sensor's two-wire red-black cable to the motherboard plug labeled HD TMP or HDD TEMP.
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Route the excess wire so it does not interfere with any other components.
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To reassemble your device, follow these instructions in reverse order.
To reassemble your device, follow these instructions in reverse order.
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I went through all the steps and now when I attempt to boot, I hear the apple chime, but I get nothing on screen.
I thought this might have to do with a loose cord, but when I reattached the suspect cord (the display data cable) it did not resolve the problem.
Anyone have any ideas as to what could be causing the display to malfunction?
I had this problem as well, caused by a small cable coming from the display. It is a Sync Cable with a small 2 Pin Molex connector, and it popped up and got hidden when I removed the display, which caused me to forget to re-attach it during reassembly.
capone99 -
Question for capone99: where did this cable come from? Was it one of the five specified for unplugging in this guide? Or are you saying it came loose by itself during installation?
Did anyone ever solve this? Having the same issue.
In step 14, the Apple connector for the hard drive has a locking mechanise that doesn't fit most replacement hard drives. I got an identical hard drive that doesn't have a provision for the connector. A little bit of shaving or filing of the plastic connector did the trick.
