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Use this guide to replace the Apple custom blade SSD (NVMe/PCIe x4).
This guide is intended for iMac Intel 21.5" EMC 2545 models that are equipped with an SSD (Fusion Drive or blade SSD configurations).
If your system does not already have a blade SSD installed you won’t be able to install it later as the connector and the support components are not present on the logic board.
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crwdns2935267:0crwdne2935267:0iMac Intel 21.5" Cardboard Service Wedge$4.99
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Starting on the left of the display, near the power button, insert the iMac Opening Tool into the gap between the glass panel and the rear enclosure.
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Use the tool like a pizza cutter—roll it along through the gap, and it will cut the foam adhesive through the center.
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Run the tool up along the left side of the display.
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Continue running the tool up around the top left corner.
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Cut the adhesive along the top left of the display.
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Continue along the top of the display.
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You may want to run the tool back and forth through what you've already cut a few times, to ensure you get as much of the adhesive separated as possible.
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Push the tool around the top right corner of the display.
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Wheel the tool down along the right side of the display.
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Finish pushing the opening tool to the bottom of the right side of the display.
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crwdns2935267:0crwdne2935267:0Plastic Cards$2.99
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Starting from the top right corner of the iMac, wedge a plastic card between the display and frame.
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Gently twist the plastic card sideways to create a gap between the display and frame.
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Move slowly and be careful not to stress the display glass too much—you only need to make a gap of about 1/4".
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Slide the card toward the center of the display to cut any of the remaining adhesive along the top right corner of the iMac.
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Wedge the plastic card into the top right corner once again and let it stay there to keep the adhesive from resettling.
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Insert a second plastic card into the gap between the display and frame located at the top left corner of the iMac.
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Gently twist the card upward, slightly increasing the space between the display and frame.
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Slide the plastic card toward the center, again stopping just before the iSight camera.
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Wedge the plastic card back into the top left corner.
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With both plastic cards inserted as shown near the corners, gently twist the cards sideways to increase the gap between display and case.
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Begin to lift the top of the display up from the frame.
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While holding the display up with one hand, use the other hand to unplug the display power cable. Make sure that you pull the cable out from the plastic tab, and not by pulling on the color wires.
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Use the tip of a spudger to flip up the metal retaining bracket on the display data cable.
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Carefully pull the display data cable from its socket on the logic board.
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Lift the display up to a near-vertical position.
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Grasp the small tab at the end of one of the bottom edge display adhesive strips and pull the adhesive toward the top of the iMac to remove it.
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Repeat this step with the other adhesive strip and remove it.
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Lift the display up from the frame and remove it from the iMac.
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It may be necessary to slowly lift from one side, to peel against the remaining adhesive.
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Remove the following five Phillips screws holding the lower support bracket in place:
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Four 3.2 mm screws
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One 1.7 mm screw
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Remove the lower support bracket from the iMac enclosure.
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Use a spudger to loosen the right speaker cable's connector from its socket on the logic board.
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Pull the connector downwards to remove it from its socket.
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Remove the two 10.0 mm T10 screws securing the right speaker to the rear enclosure.
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Pull the top of the right speaker away from the rear enclosure, about half an inch, to expose the antenna cable running down its right side.
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Insert the tip of a spudger between the right speaker and the antenna cable that is routed into the speaker's right side.
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Run the spudger down along the right side of the speaker to pry the antenna cable from its channel in the right speaker.
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Pull the right speaker straight up about an inch, toward the top of the iMac.
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Lift the right speaker straight up and remove it from the iMac. This may take some force, both hands and rocking the speaker right and left to get it out.
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Remove the following screws securing the hard drive bracket to the rear enclosure:
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Two 21 mm T10 Torx screws from the left-hand hard drive bracket.
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One 9 mm T10 Torx screw.
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One 27 mm T10 Torx screw.
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Remove the left and right hard drive brackets from the iMac.
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Use the tip of a spudger to push each side of the power button cable connector and gently "walk" it out of its socket.
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Gently push upward on each side of the power supply control cable connector with the tip of a spudger to gently "walk" it out of its socket.
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Remove the two 7.2 mm T10 screws securing the power supply to the rear enclosure.
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Pull the power supply slightly up and out from the rear enclosure.
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Rotate the power supply counterclockwise, lifting the right side up about an inch higher than the left.
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Slide the power supply to the right to clear the screw posts on the rear enclosure.
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Rock the power supply forward and remove it from its recess in the rear enclosure.
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Squeeze the DC power cable connector tab and pull it straight out of its socket on the back of the logic board.
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Use the flat end of a spudger to push the clip on the side of the AC inlet cable connector inward.
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While holding on the release clip with the spudger, grasp the AC inlet cable, and pull the connector straight out of its socket.
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Remove the power supply from the iMac.
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Gently pull the fan cable connector straight away from its socket on the logic board.
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Remove the three 12.3 mm T10 shoulder screws securing the fan to the rear enclosure.
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Lift the hard drive from the edge nearest the logic board and pull it slightly out of its recess.
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Unplug the SATA data cable from the hard drive.
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Remove the hard drive from the iMac.
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Remove the single 7.2 mm T10 screw securing the hard drive tray to the rear enclosure.
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Remove the hard drive tray from the rear enclosure.
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Push on each side of the left speaker cable connector with the tip of a spudger and gently "walk" it out of its socket.
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De-route the left speaker cable by pulling it straight up out of the retaining clip in the back of the rear enclosure.
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In a similar fashion as the previous step, de-route the SATA data and power cables up out of the retaining clip.
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Use the flat edge of a spudger to flip up the metal retaining bracket on the iSight camera cable connector.
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Pull the iSight camera cable straight out of its socket on the logic board.
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Use the flat edge of a spudger to disconnect each of the four antenna connectors from the AirPort/Bluetooth card.
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If brackets secure the four antenna cables, remove the two T5 Torx screws from the brackets.
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Use the flat edge of a spudger to pry the headphone jack cable connector from its socket on the logic board.
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Remove the following screws securing the exhaust duct to the rear enclosure:
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Two 6.3 mm T8 screws
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Two 4.7 mm T8 screws
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Remove the four 7.2 mm T10 screws securing the logic board to the rear enclosure.
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Tilt the top of the logic board away from the rear enclosure.
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Lift the logic board straight up and out of the iMac.
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Remove the single Torx screw securing the SSD to the logic board.
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Slightly lift the rightmost side of the SSD and firmly slide it straight away out of its socket on the logic board.
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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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Many thanks for the tutorial? Very detailed and helpful. Now, my question is, can I replace the existing SSD PCIe blade by ANY PCIe blade?
I mean, the 2017 4K iMacs have a PCIe v3 with 4 channels. Will it admit an older PCIe version (such as v2)?
Apple uses a different interface than the M.2 blades as such you ned to use theirs or either of the two 3rd party drive makers OWC or Transcend
- BeetsTech - The Ultimate Guide to Apple’s Proprietary SSD’s (Apples SSD’s)
Dan -
Hello Dan! Many thanks for your answer, but none of the webpages you mention has a blade PCIe SSD compatible with the iMac 4K 2017… :(
I’ve put in few of the BeetsTech blades in with no issues. Are you trying to install the SATA drive?
Dan -
Hi Dan! The initial intention was to replace the current 28GB blade PCIe SSD by a bigger one, 225 or 500GB, and keep the current sATA 1TB drive. This way, I could have a decent and fast FusionDrive, as the current configuration is pretty slow…
Finally, I’ve decided to replace the current 1TB sATA 5400rpm drive by a 1TB sATA SSD, as the total cost is arround the same as replacing the blade PCIe drive. In adittion, I am not 100% sure which blade PCIe drive will work on my iMac… the support guys from OWC say that they don’t have a compatible drive yet :(
Aleix -
