April 29, 2024

iFixit Posts Teardown of the New 4K 21.5-inch iMac [Photos]

Posted October 15, 2015 at 3:29pm by iClarified · 22392 views
iFixit has posted a teardown of the new Retina 4K 21.5-inch iMac discovering soldered CPU and RAM.

We've been eager to sink our teeth into a new Mac, so we've brought home a fresh, locally-sourced refresh of the 21.5" iMac: the iMac Intel 21.5" EMC 2889. What's inside this juicy new device? Let's find out. It's teardown time!

Highlights:
● High resolution display is brought to you by LG
● The Fusion Drive in this model has a significantly smaller flash partition than the previous generation.
● The antenna cables are now fastened to the AirPort card with new screw-secured cable clamps

iMac 21.5" EMC 2889 Repairability Score: 1 out of 10 (10 is easiest to repair)
● Cutting the tape to open the iMac isn't too difficult with the right tools, but it must then replaced to complete any repair.
● The RAM is still soldered to the logic board—you're stuck with what you bought.
● The Fusion Drive connector is again missing from the logic board, killing all hope of storage hacking.
● The CPU is soldered to the logic board, and cannot be replaced or upgraded.
● The glass and LCD are fused together, increasing the cost of replacement.

Check out a few photos below or hit the link for the full teardown.

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