Installing iMac Intel 27" EMC 2309 and 2374 Dual Drive

Written By: Brittany McCrigler

Comments: 138

Installing iMac Intel 27" EMC 2309 and 2374 Dual Drive

Difficulty

Moderate

Steps

Time Required

1 - 2 hours

Introduction

There are many benefits to adding a second hard drive or SSD to your iMac such as improved speeds, greater storage space, and less heartache when installing new software. Use this guide to install one using our optical bay hard drive enclosure.

Tools

Parts

iMac & Mac mini Dual Drive Enclosure

Step 1

Stick a heavy-duty suction cup near each of the two top corners of the glass panel.
To attach the suction cups, first position the suction cup with the movable handle parallel to the face of the glass panel (as indicated in the second picture).
While lightly holding the suction cup against the glass, raise the movable handle until it is parallel with the other handle (as indicated by the third picture).
If your suction cups refuse to stick, try cleaning both the glass panel and the suction cup with a damp soft, lint-free cloth. (Dampen with distilled water, and if needed, an equal ratio of distilled water and white vinegar for best results.)
Do not use the suction cups to carry the display glass because if one of them fails to stick, you could drop the screen and break it.
The original iMac box makes a good place to store the glass panel. Otherwise, a padded horizontal surface, like a towel on a desk, will do nicely.

You can easily lift the glass panel off the magnets with only your fingernails (or something thin like a credit card or a guitar pick). No need to buy suction cups you will only use once.

Nick Caron -

Yes, you don't need the specific suction cups to remove the display cover - it's held on by magnets, and if you start at the center by the iSight you can work out to the edges and remove it. I had an iPhone screen suction cup around and it helped with balancing the screen when you pull it out fully, but by no ways is it required.

jtowner -

Great guide and pretty straight forward the only thing that took me ages and I didn't manage to undo were the power btn cable (step 28) and the thermal sensor (step 25) Seemed like they were glued on! Very difficult to remove and obviously conscious so I didn't break anything!

Eddie -

Thanks!!! Worked excellently.

I used a plunger (clean first ;-) to get the screen off, and http://exirion.net/ssdfanctrl/ for fan control.

Then, i did not take out the whole display and left it in the hinges on the bottom side and held it up with two small cardboard boxes. Easy enough to disconnect the hdd then.

I replaced with an ssd, put that into a ssd enclosure. Had to drill an extra hole in it to fasten the pins that hold it in place.

Used Carbon Copy Cloner to make an image from the old hdd, with the sad connected via usb. Checked it of it booted via System Preferences > Startup Disk. It worked so the took the imac apart and replaced the disk. Booted, everything was working as always, only faster!

Frank303 -

I'm replacing my optical drive too. what exactly needs to be plugged into the SSD? I don't have the kit - as I am not sure one is required if I buy something like this: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0056OB...

Can you please advise? Can I do it with this piece, or do I need to get the entire bracket kit?

Allen Borza -

My display data cable forks, with a smaller section going up near the camera board. Where it forks, it is attached to the aluminum plate that attaches around the cpu board. I haven't seen any images that look similar, and I'm stumped at how to remove this second section of the cable. 2010 i7 build to order

Awolf - 19/10/15

Agree with the other comments here. Despite buying suction cups, not sure they were necessary as the screen removed very easily. A sat nav suction cup would do the job fine.

Stuart Bloomfield - 27/02/18

I can confirm that it is possible to remove the front glass using fingernails rather than suction cups. It isn’t easy, but if you try you should be able to pry off the glass.

I did this twice: once at the beginning of the procedure and once again at the end, when I realized that a big pice of lint was trapped under the glass.

gordonhamachi - 09/03/18

Don’t use suction cups. totally unnecessary. screen pops off with fingernails.

Kieran Hobbs - 02/01/19

The reason for caution about suction cups tends to be making sure you don’t apply uneven pressure on the edges of the glass and crack it in the process of removal. I do agree however that some pretty small suction cups would do fine. These suction cups can be had at your local princess auto (Harbor freight) for a few bucks and are useful elsewhere as well. if you use your fingernails or other items just try and do it evenly :)

Abirinder Brar - 16/07/19

good duct tape or gaffer tape wrapped around your hands makes an excellent glass removal 'tool'. Even clear packing tape works a charm.

Stu Blair - 05/01/20

A great first step that minimizes that first gust of dust migration when the glass is lifted is to clean the glass, sides *and the back* before lifting the glass, and then lift SLOWLY. Most of that dust is already trapped inside and pulled up as the screen lifts, but with care you can keep it there (or gently vacuum out with a micro vac…).

John - 18/02/20

before starting any of this…there is a device that you can use that comes with the IFixit kit to format and either clone or restore your hard drive to the new drive…it will save you a lot of headaches..it is a SSD enclosure that you can plug into your existing computer …

Tomr - 09/09/20

Thanks for the instructions. Before doing this the first time, suggest to everyone, read through at least twice. This is the easiest step, as you’ll soon see. As for removing the glass, USE suction cups, either the ones the sell here, or others. DON’T skimp. Also wear gloves when handling the glass. Don’t take chances.

ECJohansen - 20/12/20

Duct tape works too!

Dani -

Step 2

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.
Pull the glass panel away from the lower edge of the iMac and carefully set it aside.
Don't use the suction cups to carry the glass panel—if either one loses its grip, the panel could fall and break.
After setting the glass panel down safely, be sure to release the suction cups, as the suction force over time can crack the glass.
During reinstallation, be sure to meticulously clean the inside of the glass panel and the face of the LCD as any dust or fingerprints trapped inside will be annoyingly visible when the machine is turned on.

you should do this mac up, because, for me, one of the suction cup failed, and the glass fall into the lcd screen. Now there is a big hole in it...

Lau -

do you still have this panel?

Alpha Dimension - 14/03/15

Reassembly: After powering on and running for a few minutes, found a large whitish patch on the screen. Persists after powerdown.

Turned out to be condensation, though it didn't look like it - more like fine white powder rubbed in. Humidity is very high this time of the year. Fix: start airconditioner in a room, leave it running a while, take iMac in, prise open the glass again. Condensation vanishes instantly. Keep it out for a ~15 minutes running infinite loops to get iMac nicely heated up and fans running. Snap glass back.

ganesh - 06/08/14

I used a Swiffer dry cloth to get all the dust off the screen while just blowing with my mouth at a steep angle. I know I didn't get every speck, but the screen looks perfect once assembled and lit again. Removing the glass from the screen is pretty easy if you need to re-clean it.

Jay Gillibrand - 18/01/15

I used a microfiber cloth instead, which worked well. The same type as yo use to clean eye glasses, but in a larger form factor.

Daniel - 12/03/17

The Swiffer idea worked great! I just brush it over the LCD and glass panel lightly, and all dust particles are gone quickly. The screen after boot up looked beautiful. Thanks!

dtsai2 - 07/04/17

I strongly recomment to detach the suction cups while working at the rest of the steps. In my case after half an our i heart a crack noise behind me on the table... The vacuum of one of the suction cups braked the glass! maybe there should be a warning in the Repair guide

shippe - 19/10/15

I didn't crack the screen, but it popped out of the shims and then popped back in, as if the glass edge is magnetic or has steel in it to connect to magnets. Be careful with this step — it is pretty nerve-wracking, but doable!

Alex Reynolds - 01/04/16

You need a big clean surface free, or at least 2 or more free surfaces because the iMac, the glass and the LCD display are quite bulky. You'll also probably need space for a tablet or a laptop to read this guide while you are working. And don't forget room to work on the optical unit and for the tools you are going to use. I covered a large table with a double layer of bubble wrap. In my opinion it's better to put the glass face down to limit powder sticking on the internal surface.

Roberto Blandino - 02/01/17

Thanks good advice! I was wondering exactly about the working space issue!

matteoslataper - 07/02/18

I am doing this repair now. After successfully lifting off the glass panel (yay!), dust blew out of the lower open edge. So I sprayed a can of air around edges. But a poof of the “air” condensated on the LCD. Does anyone know if I can clean the LCD same as how the glass is cleaned (damp cloth with equal parts white distilled vinegar/distilled water) and if not then how?

Amy C - 16/06/18

Hi Amy,

To clean the LCD panel, I would suggest using a clean microfiber cloth and rubbing alcohol. Distilled water can be used, but avoid regular water, which contains minerals. Make sure the microfiber cloth is absolutely clean and has no hard particles sticking on the surface, which will scratch your LCD when you wipe it.

Wet the surface with some alcohol and gently wipe with the microfiber cloth. Wipe in one direction.

Arthur Shi - 18/06/18

I find that the LCD is not as fragile as we all think. they are very much like any LCD on a tv or monitor. There is no extra glass on the front of a monitor. Not the 23 HP Pro Displays I have anyway. I know this because I punctured one moving my video wall. so I took it apart to know how its put together. I will say, there are several 'lens’ like sheets and a reflective (silver} sheets that are the same size as the panel. and a 1/8”piece of acrylic, all behind the LCD panel. Take care with them and clean as you would your monitor.

My suggestion is to stand the iMac up after the panel is secured back into the body of the iMac and clean while its vertical. took me 3 attempts before I realized that while laying flat the surface is large and collects dust with mind blowing speed.

Stu Blair - 06/01/20

If the LCD glass is badly cracked and broken you need to be extra careful removing as the sharp shard of broken glass can scratch/harm the underlying screen as they may “fall in or onto” the screen below.

I found that strategically putting sheets of 8x11 paper(s) under the sharpest, largest broken sections help protect the underlying screen. A vacuum was also helpful removing some of the small glass shards.

Mark Hilliard - 21/11/20

Be advised: I did a perfect replacement of the hard drive, temperature sensor to the SSD, LCD screwed in, glass cleaned. I went to put back the final glass, I set the bottom edge in place and as I slowly moved to have the magnets take hold, they pulled the screen out of my gingerly held fingers, and smacked into place……cracking the glass! Ugh! So, on this last step, hold tight as you put the glass back in slowly. It will cost you about 40-50 bucks for a new glass (mine is on it’s way).

R R MOOS -

Yikes... that sucks. thanks for sharing this information. I took everyone's advice and removed and placed this back very very carefully.

iSeeU ChilinHomie -

Don't trust the suction cups after you remove the screen cover. Used both hands to hold this piece carefully!

iSeeU ChilinHomie -

As far as the last point of step 2 goes, I would add to the parts list a can of compressed air to get rid of all the dust on the screen frame and the interior body once the lcd is off). When the magnets clip back in dust will shower down onto the lcd and glass if you do not clean the frame well. It will not matter how much you clean the LCD and inside of the glass panel.

stillsuit -

Step 3

Remove the eight T10 Torx screws securing the LCD to the outer case.

Be careful not to lose these screws when they are unthreaded. Use tweeters to grab them before removing the Torx driver.

Gavin McMorrow -

To prevent screws close to the magnets to leave your screwdriver, use a straw to encapsulate your screws. This is especially useful when putting them back. See pictures for details: http://cjoint.com/?CLCpN1nmK4M and http://cjoint.com/?CLCpOy6aF9G

Marc66 -

That was a brilliant idea. After trying for ten minutes without luck, the straw technique helped immensely.

victorpoupet - 24/10/16

Step 4

Carefully lay the iMac stand-side down on a flat surface.
Due to tight tolerances, you will have to use a thin hooked tool to lift the display out of the outer case. As seen in the third picture, we made one out of a bent paperclip.
Use a thin hooked tool to lift one side of the top edge of the display by its steel outer frame.
After lifting the top edge of the display on one side, hold it out of the outer case while you use a hooked tool to lift the other side. A pencil or pen can be placed under the top edge of the display, parallel to the top edge and extending past the edge of the computer, to keep the first side propped up while lifting the second.
Do not lift the top edge of the display out of the outer case too far, as several short ribbon cables still connect the two components.

Be very careful not to hook the Bluetooth antenna cable while you're lifting the display out. It's hiding under the top left corner of the iMac. I managed to snag mine with the paperclip and ended up pulling the antenna cable clean out of the tiny gold connector. Some very precise reconstruction work was required to get the cable seated in the connector again and back up to full signal strength.

Ben Davies - 25/11/14

My iMac has a couple of bits of mesh tape at the top. I don'r see these mentioned?

andy pugh - 05/10/16

I used an isolated screwdriver, since paper clips were too weak.

Christoph Sold - 14/05/21

Step 5

Use a pair of tweezers to pull the vertical sync ribbon cable out of its socket on the LED driver board near the top left corner of your iMac.
On some iMacs this may not be a ribbon cable but four separate, very fine and very fragile wires. Be very careful, if the tweezers slip off the plug, you will very likely pull a wire out of the assembly.

I had a friend with me so all I did was disconnect the vertical sync ribbon cable, and I had my friend hold up the LCD for a couple of minutes as I swapped out my HDD with an SSD, thus avoiding steps 6-9 and going straight to step 10.

Gabe -

Can I purchase this cable separately?

mamedovmarat -

After removing the display, I noticed a high pitched whine coming from the machine, different loudness for different levels of display brightness. Reading up on it, it seems that the problem is with the vertical sync cable (and this is a well-known issue with Apple with new machines, too). So be careful when reinserting this cable!

Adam Hintz -

I noticed that the vertical sync cable seems to have been updated since the guide was produced. It now has a more normal plug and socket and 'regular' wires instead of the flat ribbon cable shown here. I used narrow nosed pliers instead of tweezers to unclip it as I was afraid that just pulling on the wires could have broken them.

Eoin -

WARNING: Take extreme care when removing these wires as mine were not a ribbon cable but individual tiny wires. I removed them cautiously with tweezers OK but when re-inserting, one of the wires came off. Obviously someone had been in here before.

Peter Sinclair -

Hi Peter, did you manage to get a replacement? Let me know please - Thanks Paul

Paul Randall - 30/03/17

be sure to keep this cable, because it does not come with a new display!

Julian -

I changed the HD yesterday and when I reinstalled the Display I had the same problem then Peter Sinclair. I started to panic first. But then I reinstalled the Pannel without re-insterting the cable at all and nevertheless my iMac works perfectly since 14 hours now. I'm really confused!

muggooz -

My vertical sync ribbon cable had two of the four contacts bent back, it may even have been like this originally. I straightened them out as best I could under a magnifying glass, and after reinserting, everything is working OK. Seems this cable is not particularly critical. Also, I used needle nose pliers for this and the other connectors, I can't get enough grip with tweezers.

Andrew Crabb -

Tweezers didn't work for me due to the angle and lack of grip (they kept slipping and I was concerned about squeezing any harder). I just used my fingers to grab the connector as close to the connection as possible for both removal and insertion and it worked just fine. I have big hands and meaty fingers, so this method should work fine for anyone.

David -

I have a late 2009 27" Mac and did something similar to Gabe, but being alone, after unplugging the vertical sync cable, I used two wooden chopsticks to hold the screen at about 45° and without disconnecting any more cables I could quite easily access the Superdrive to remove and replace with a 240GB SSD with help from a caddy from TheNatural2020, which required a tiny modification.

All in all it took me about 45 minutes and was much easier than expected. It is working at a negotiated SATA speed of 3 Gbps Some report a speed of only 1.5 Gbps, but from what I had read before purchasing the Crucial M500, going for a 6 Gbps SSD is worse on a late 2009 Mac as it has to default to the basic SATA 1 speed of 1.5 Gbps, while the slower 3 Gbps SATA II drive works at 3 Gbps. The time from the Apple logo till the sign-in screen on startup has gone from 33.5 seconds to 8.5 secs, and my internal hard drive is a 7200rpm

I am VERY satisfied and it was much easier than expected.

Adam Griggs - 02/05/14

Thanks for this suggestion! I didn't have chopsticks, but was able to use some pens instead. The pens are shorter, but still provided sufficient room for my tools to get to the screws holding the HD. I noticed there are two large, thumb size, indentations in the frame under the LCD that the pens fit into nicely. Since I did the repair by myself, this really sped up the process and I was able to complete the HD swap and memory addition in about 25 minutes. (I had planned 2 hours. Happy, happy, happy!)

barry - 30/08/16

I also did this step and then went straight to step 10. I installed a SSD so I didn't do step 15 either. You can use this to control the fans: http://exirion.net/ssdfanctrl/

Overall, great guide! Thank you.

Sam Im - 08/05/14

Adam's technique with the chopsticks works great. I didn't even have to disconnect the V-sync cable. Mine wasn't plugged in for some reason. I guess the LCD works without it.

Ashok - 21/05/14

This was for me the hardest step when reassembling the iMac.

I had to open and close the iMac several times as each time some of the cables was not properly connected: The vertical sync, the display data cable connector, even the Bluetooth antenna was off at some point and I had to re-open every time! Finally I left the vertical sync cable disconnected as with each operation it was in very bad condition and impossible to plug in. I'm amazed at how bad designed is this cable and how easy is to break it! It's nice to know that they improved it, poor technicians.

I'd like to replace it in the future but I really don't know how or if it is available in its more up-to-date version… I didn't feel like dissasembling everything again to see how is it connected.

carolaclavo - 09/10/14

The portion of this little cable that plugs into the receptor is stiffer than the rest of the cable, but it is very slippery. For me, it was also very tight. Tweezers and fingers just slipped right off of it. Fortunately, I didn't tear the cable. I ended up using needle-nose pliers wrapped with cellophane to get traction. It was also very difficult to reinsert. By raising the display to the maximum level with all the other cables connected, I was able to push it in with my fingers.

Also: if you get any smudges on the display, a lens pen works great to remove them. I used a swiffer to pick up dust.

Michael Morris - 13/01/15

I opened the case as far as I could without stretching this cable and used my fingers to get it. The end of the ribbon where it connects is stiff, so you can grab it there. There's not connector; the stiff part just slides in and out. Getting it back in is a pain, but if you get the perfect angle it slides back in without much force.

Jay Gillibrand - 17/01/15

That's what I ran into with my friends iMac as well. it was just (very carefully slid into place. a piece of celotape held it in as we put the pieces together.

Wizbang FL - 30/06/16

Pull the cable AWAY from the connector. Some cables have a plastic connector cap attached to the end. This one does not. The cable just slips out as if pulling a stick of gum out of a package. I used my index finger and thumb, no tweezers needed.

Cameron Moll - 12/10/15

I also plugged it out with my fingers, got more feeling in them. Put it in the same way. There is no barb or something on the cable, so this should be quite safe when not using too much force. And I also used chopsticks to keep the display up, just like an engine hood.

Oliver Hahn - 21/12/15

This ribbon had me flumoxed for a while. I had expected to have to remove the terminal from the circuit board. All you need to do it gently pull on the ribbon directly and it will come out of the terminal.

Stuart Bloomfield - 27/02/18

I followed the above tips and used chop sticks as struts to support the internal screen at an angle, whilst I worked on the hard drive. Allowed me to skip the remaining cable removal steps and go straight to step 10. And I didn’t need an extra set of hands to hold the screen whilst I worked.

Stuart Bloomfield - 27/02/18

So far so good. Had trouble with this first ribbon wire and not even sure I got it back in all the way. Computer is working just fine right now with Windows 10. The chopstick idea was absolute genius and saved me so much time!

Matthew Muratore - 08/01/19

Does this repair require a Hard Drive of the same brand like some of the later iMacs do?

lee webb - 23/05/19

The brand doesn’t matter per se, but it’s helpful to have a disk with the same temperature sensor connector. In some cases, it’s stuck to the disk. In other cases, it’s a long, thin connector with 4 pins. Or, it’s a thick, square-ish connector with two pins. I usually take the old disk to the store and ask “do you have a disk that has a temperature sensor that looks like this?” And….if you can’t find such a disk or you want to stick an SSD in there (they’re getting cheaper by the day!), then make sure you get Macs Fan Control software to help you manage the fans that will possibly run at full blast.

David - 23/05/19

Step 6

Rotate the display out of the outer case enough to disconnect the LED backlight power cable from the LED driver board.

Step 7 MAY be better done prior to Step 6. 7's cord comes tight before there is enough lift room to get to Step 6's plug in my opinion.

Gavin McMorrow -

Maybe it's just me but I couldn't see how to unclip this. It felt like it should just be a case of squeezing both sides and then pulling, but it was so stuck I was concerned about damaging it.

If anyone has a little more detail on this step it'd be useful.

Chris -

The connector has a simple locking mechanism, essentially a ridge on the top where the thumb is placed in the picture. If you push down gently there the latch raises and you can pull the cable out.

Rob Purcell -

Thank You That was very helpful

Patrick Zelenka - 03/04/20

I found step 6 the most difficult of the whole procedure. The way I unclipped the connector was from the front, with my thumbnail. There's a little ridge over which the cable clicks tight. If you use your thumbnail to lift the connector over that ridge, you can then easily remove the cable. (Maybe iFixit should that advise to the guide, since especially step 6 is a bit too concise imho.)

Daan - 01/10/14

Agreed with previous comment :You should be very careful after step 5 - it may be necessary to do the step 7 before the step 6 because the connector on the motherboard for the LCD data is very very fragile. I broke it and found that a lot of people broke it as well .

pierre - 09/07/15

Step 7

Squeeze the two display data cable connector arms together to unlock it from its socket on the logic board.
Pull the display data cable connector away from its socket on the logic board.
Be very careful when disconnecting this cable as both the cable connector and logic board socket are extremely fragile. When reconnecting the cable later, use as little force as possible.

I just spent 100€ at the Mac shop to learn this: when reattaching the display data cable be sure you get the ends right. Even if the cable fits perfectly the other way round, the computer won't even start.

Julian -

NOTE! The internal video connector on the logic board is quite fragile - proceed with extra care when disconnecting. There are many postings of Mac users who have broken the display connector and are then left with quite a challenging proposition to replace it. Here is the link to one such thread: http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.p....

thorjurgen -

Ditto. It is very fragile. Mine pulled off the motherboard while doing the upgrade (all else went well). Problem occurred because I tried to do the drive swap without removing the display. I had someone hold it up for me. Display is heavy and you can't feel the tug of the cable. Disaster.

The repair is beyond most computer repair folks. Found these guys http://www.dttservice.com/ and they are great. For $195 they fixed it in 24hours.

Dave - 20/05/14

I ran into a big problem with step 7: my display data cable did not have any sort of plug to connect to the logic board. Instead, the cable seemed to be soldered onto the board or simply run under this small copper-colored band. There was no plastic plug to detach/attach.

I was afraid to pull on the cable and break something, so I simply had a friend hold up the LCD and I replaced the logic board without removing the display. I'm not sure what I would have done if I needed to replace the drive.

Has anyone else run into this issue where the display data cable doesn't have a plug? And are there alternative ways to detach it safely?

fronesis - 23/09/14

@fronesis - on my iMac it wasn't possible to pull out the connector at first. There was a small rectangular metal clip which locked the connector in place - this had to be pulled up first, and then the connector came out extremely easily.

johnrowell - 06/10/14

I'm having blackscreen issue and this cable is my main suspect. Here is my post regarding this issue.

Black screen after SSD install (suspect is monitor cables)

Mads - 27/09/15

you will break your computer if you follow this step during the reassemble!

it’s not possible to reconnect the display with the board because the cable is way to short to maneuver the connector in place and you have almost no sight - you’ll not see what you’re doing! the better approach is disconnect the cable on the display as well (since the connector here is more robust) and insert the connector on the board as a first step without having the display in front of your face..

mike - 25/02/18

Step 8

Lift the display for enough clearance to disconnect the LCD thermal sensor cable connector from its socket on the logic board.
If your fan is spinning full speed after completion, check this connection or the hard drive's thermal sensor cable. The thermal sensor connector socket is very fragile, so be very careful when you connect back the sensor cable.

Be very very careful when you pull out this plug as it is extremely fragile and also reattaching the LCD thermal sensor plug and very very gently ensure that the pins are actually going into the connector before you push the plug in. i damaged the top part of the plastic housing which then made it difficult to insert the plug into the connector. I can't believe how easy it was to damage this connector!! If you don't attach the LCD thermal sensor plug correctly the Mac fans will go crazy at full speed. It took a good 15 minutes to get the pins to finally go into the plug and they can bend easily.

j74656 -

This was too tight to get with my hands. I used needle nose pliers to grab the plastic connector and it popped right out. I need pliers to get it to snap back in too. The wire itself if very thin so be sure to only grab the connector.

Jay Gillibrand - 17/01/15

The connection of this cable is moot (and to the main drive too) if you purchase HDD Fan Control Monitor software that uses the SMART tech inside the drives to set the fan speeds. It was rather expensive but worth the $35

Gary Kimes - 24/04/18

This plug pulls out straight up towards the top of the screen. That is, standing above the top edge of the screen, straight towards yourself. DO NOT pull it ‘up’ 90 degrees from the board it is mounted on! You will deflect it away from the board—like I did, after reading this vaguely written instruction for this part of the procedure….

You can easily remove it by using two fingernails on either side of the plug to gently and slowly lever it out of the socket. BEFORE YOU DO, paint one side of it white or yellow, so you can re-install it properly….

Neo - 25/04/19

If you look at the connector, one side has two slots through which the gold connector pins are visible. This side is “up” (faces the screen) when reinstalling.

Clark Novak -

Step 9

Carefully pull the display toward the top edge of your iMac and lift it out of the outer case.

Step 10

Remove the four T10 Torx screws securing the optical drive to the outer case.

Is it possible to use the DVD drive after installing the SSD, or is there no space left?

Joel - 08/10/14

Yes, it is possible. The SSD fits below the dvd drive; it doesn't replace it

Dan - 12/10/20

Step 11

Pull the optical drive thermal sensor connector straight away from its socket on the logic board.

This step is not necessary. I have problems with the pulling out, and found that it's not necessary to out it in this case.

Steve -

Agreed. Leave it plugged in and peel the buffer tape and temp sensor off the optical drive assembly while it's still in the computer.

John Lavenia -

What problems did you have?

Toni Marmol -

Don't do that! It's not necessary to pull the sensor cable out. And it cost me an hour to find out that it was this sensor cable and not the LCD sensor cable that made the fans spin at 3000+rpm. The less sensor cables you remove, the easier to find the culprit if you stumble into fan issues.

bhager - 01/09/15

Step 12

Insert a spudger between the optical drive connector and the optical drive.
Twist the spudger to slightly separate the optical drive connector from the optical drive, then use your fingers to pull the connector away from the drive.

Hello, is the sata & power cabla from the mac can directly feet inside the SSD?

Roman Quenin -

Can the superdrive connector cable (possibly just SATA and SATA power bundled) be used for SSD? I wanted to replace the superdrive completely with an SSD, and thus having in total 2 SSDs and one HDD inside the iMac. Thanks in advance.

Krisna - 31/05/16

There is another SATA connector on the back side of the logic board for an SSD.

Neal Sofge - 27/10/17

Step 13

Lift the left edge of the optical drive slightly and pull it away from the right side of the outer case.
During reassembly, note that there are two holes in the optical drive face plate into which two stubby plastic posts must engage for proper positioning.

Step 14

Peel back the portion of aluminum tape highlighted in red, leaving the rest attached to the black plastic optical drive bracket.
It is not necessary to peel all of the EMI tape off the optical drive bracket.

Found it easier to remove the four screws in step 16, then rotate the drive out of the plastic frame so the tape acts as a hinge, making it easy to peel the tape. This also eliminates step 17 as the tabs vacate their slots as the drive is rotated.

Dave Winn -

Step 15

Remove the two T10 Torx screws from each side of the optical drive (four screws total).

Step 16

Use the tip of a spudger to press each of the optical drive bracket tabs out of their slots on the bottom of the optical drive.
Rotate the optical drive bracket slightly away from the optical drive.
Pull the optical drive bracket away from the open end of the optical drive, minding any tabs that may get caught.

Step 17

Use the tip of a spudger to peel back the piece of foam tape covering the optical drive thermal sensor.
Use the flat end of a spudger to carefully pry the thermal sensor up off the adhesive securing it to the optical drive.
If you have a disc or anything else stuck inside your optical drive, we have a guide to fix it.

Do I have to reattach the optical drive thermal sensor to the SSD?

Ignatius Lee -

Yes, just stick it onto the SSD and cover it with the buffer. Better than leaving it loose in the computer, or worse omitting it altogether.

John Lavenia -

looks like you cracked the edge of that sensor :)

Ivan Ivanov - 20/11/16

Replacing an HDD was easy as PIE compared to this, the replacement Superdrive's holes did not line up the same way the original did. The original was a Sony drive, the replacement was made by H-L. But the shape was the same. By holding the bracket in place with my hand I was able to worm two screws in sideways until the pressure lined it up, then I was able to get the rest of the bracket screws back in. I had to do that while making sure the little tabs in the front of the drive were orientated properly - And not messing up the silver tape much. After that it was all relatively easy. The instructions were spot on and for the exact iMac (11,1) I was working on. The replacement Superdrive works perfectly despite the Brand change, I installed Bootcamp to make sure- It read and installed from my Windows 7 install DVD, NO Problem. I set the monitor screen in place without screwing it all back in just in case I had to open it back up again, not needed. Thank you SO much for your easily understood instructions.

Jonny V - 05/01/17

I had it easy with replacing dead optic drive in 2011 27" with a 2010 27" optic drive so did not even have to take the optic drive out of its holder. Now I have an internal dvd super drive again. Thank you ifixit.

Michael - 11/09/17

Step 18

Remove the three 3.0 mm Phillips screws from the optical bay enclosure.

Hello, is the sata & power cabla from the mac can directly feet inside the SSD?

Roman Quenin -

plug in the back of the ssd

Roman Quenin -

I'm trying to find out as well. I read elsewhere you need something like this without the bracket: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0056OB...

However I have NOT confirmed this.

Allen Borza -

If I understand you correctly; the enclosure allows you to use the existing iMac optical cable. Also the enclosure allows for a safe fitting of the optical drive. In my newer machine I had to double side tape the SSD to the back of the iMac and buy a special cable. Note: this was not an optical drive replacement scenario or I would have done exactly as this tutorial suggests.

EkDor - 19/06/14

I bought another caddy, not the one from the description. i had to extract the plastic adaptor from the optical drive and put in on the new caddy 12,7mm

Cristian Pizarro - 25/05/17

The SDD caddy I purchased was 22 pin SATA both inside and outside so that the optical drive cable (13 pin) would not fit. Does anyone know where I can find a SDD caddy with 13 pin SATA outside for the optical cable and 22 pin SATA inside for the SDD?

benja.mcg - 04/07/17

Step 19

Starting from the left edge, gently pull open the optical bay enclosure.
Continue to pull open the two halves of the enclosure until they separate.

This is the 12.7mm caddy.. but, the caddy 9.5 mm fit fine as well? or it doesn't fit on imac mid 2010

Cristian Pizarro - 20/02/17

My caddy (ordered 5/2019) had two additional screws that needed to be removed from the sides for it to open.

mr.kaufman7 - 18/05/19

Step 20

Remove the two 3.0 mm Phillips screws securing the faceplate to the optical bay enclosure.

Step 21

Lift the black plastic faceplate out of the optical bay enclosure.
You will no longer need the faceplate or the two Phillips screws that held it in place. Set those parts aside if you ever wish to put the faceplate back into the enclosure.
Reassemble the optical bay enclosure without the faceplate, reusing the original three 3.0 mm Phillips screws to keep it intact.

Just curious, why is it necessary to remove this black plastic faceplate from the enclosure? It doesn't appear to serve any function in or out of the enclosure.

Nic Johnson -

Maybe because it would interfere with the bracket you have to put back on in step 21?

Jeff Dickson -

So I'm confused about the Optical Drive Bracket, the one that originally held the DVD-CD drive. I had an awful time remounting the kit into that bracket as the screws didn't line up correctly. I finally got everything to fit, less one of the four holding screws. Did anyone else experience this problem? I would have expected a much better alignment for this assembly considering the quality of the iFixIt site.

For the record, the upgrade went fine with a SanDisk Extreme II 480GB SSD, but that one step was next to impossible, and not covered in any detail by the instructions.

Ron Lockhart -

Yep, I had exactly the same problem. The alignment was way off.

olafgoy - 22/04/14

My kit also did not line up correctly. I had to put all four screws in at an angle cross-threaded to mount the unit.

Kevo - 21/11/14

Same here. managed to get two screws in at a decent angle on one side and couldn't get the others in. Felt solid enough once I'd screwed the original ODD casing back onto the iMac.

Monkeyrebirth - 27/12/14

I had the same alignment problem, too. I ended up removing the rubber grommets from the plastic enclosure, widening the holes with a small file, then replacing the grommets. All four screws went in, but not in perfect alignment. Should be ok, though.

nickmalmquist - 26/04/15

Another possibility is the part has been designed to be used with different types of iMac and some utilise this component. In this case it apparently doesn't.

EkDor - 19/06/14

I bought a different enclosure than the one recommended ($18 instead of $39) and it came with new screws because the old screws were too big to fit in the holes for the new enclosure.

Keith Mewis - 24/12/14

Hi. Which enclosure did you buy? link please.

Alex - 29/12/14

Where did you get the alternative enclosure from?

Walter Poole - 29/01/15

I completed this guide last night on my iMac and it all worked great until I got to step 26 and none of the holes on the 12.7 mm PATA Optical Bay SATA Hard Drive Enclosure lined up with the black plastic faceplate. Just like what is being commented on by previous fixers, I could only get 2 screws on one side of the enclosure in, but they were crooked and unable to screw in all the way. It was crude, but it worked.

The rest of this guide works flawlessly. This is a great site!

Marc - 10/04/15

Step 22

Remove the plastic positioner from the optical bay hard drive enclosure by pressing in on one of the clips on either side and lifting it up and out of the enclosure.

What’s the switch for on the inside of the caddy? What position should it be in? Mine came switched to the right (towards SATA connector that disk inserts into).

Robert Lord - 28/12/20

Step 23

Make sure that the hard drive connectors are facing down before placing it into the enclosure.
Gently place the hard drive into the enclosure's hard drive slot.
While firmly holding the enclosure in place with one hand, use your other hand to press the hard drive into the enclosure connectors.

Step 24

Once the hard drive is snug, reinsert the plastic positioner while holding the hard drive against the bottom of the enclosure.
Reconnect any cables you have removed from the original optical drive onto the optical bay enclosure.

Why no mention of attaching the new hard drive to the Optical Drive Enclosure using the enclosed phillips screws?

Once you have securely inserted the new hard drive into the Optical Drive Enclosure and replaced the plastic positioner you should attach the drive to the enclosure using two of the provided phillips screws. Two holes on the underside of the enclosure should align with two attachment holes on the underside of the drive.

nickmalmquist - 26/04/15

I suspect that the plastic positioner will secure the drive well enough (for this style of adapter). As I mentioned in earlier comment, this should mean you can replace / upgrade the SATA drive later without needing to remove the adapter, skipping many steps.

Les Kitchen - 09/11/19

Do you need a sata cable to connect the new drive to the board or does it connect via the optical drive cable that we disconnected earlier?

Erik Sawaya - 03/04/17

It does connect to the optical drive cable but if you don't use the optical bay enclosure you'll need a 13 pins to 22 pins sata adaptor (and some tape!)

The sata cable for the optical drive has 6 + 7 pins while ssd and hhd have 15 + 7 pins

Graziano Nora - 21/08/17

Can someone please explain why you need to remove the black plastic faceplate from the optical bay enclosure. It is designed to receive the standard SSD. What is gained from removing a part of it?

Peter Bull - 07/12/17

Thank you! This guy has made upgrading the mid 2010 iMac I inherited from my mom MUCH easier and saved me a lot of time, trial, and error.

Rob Anthony Dire - 22/03/21

My Penrynn Super Drive has PATA connector, and now is a fossil grade rarity :-(

IMI Comp -

I'm a little confused. Do I need the enclosure from ifixit or am I removing the optical drive and installing an ssd in the preexisting op drive enclosure? If using the already existing enclosure what type of ssd do I need as for Sata connectors?

danielpainter65 -

Conclusion

To reassemble your device, follow these instructions in reverse order.

Author

Brittany McCrigler

Member since: 05/03/12

88913 Reputation

12 comments

Not terribly difficult, though I did install an SSD in my son's 20" iMac. Used the OWC data doubler bracket, which, of course, isn't designed for the iMac. I had to bend some metal in order to make it work at a very basic level, but otherwise didn't run into any real roadblocks.

Joseph Bonito -

I used OWC Data Doubler. Fit no prob.

John Lavenia -

Success, and not as difficult as I thought. Getting the glass out (27") was a bit nervous but it's strong and the suction cups work well. The display itself has a heavy frame around it so also is strong. I used a large soft artist's brush to dust the display and inner glass. I carefully used needle nose pliers on the cables and connectors, couldn't get enough grip with tweezers.

Andrew Crabb -

I have iMac late 2009 (EMC 2374) and the optical bay fits well into it. I installed Samsung SSD 850 PRO 256 Gb with a documented speed 520/550 (write/read). But unfortunately it seems because of ODD (optical disk drive) link I've got only 250/270. Anyway I'm pretty happy, because I merged SSD with my hybrid HDD 2 Tb (150/150) and now have 2.25 Tb Fusion drive with about x2 speed. My advise - don't buy expensive SSD with high speed if you want to link it through optical bay - the speed will be cut anyway.

evgeniyfedoseev - 01/03/15

The real matter is the interface that is an old 3GB/s instead of a recent 6GB/s that limit the performance of SSD drive

Simone Richelmy - 25/09/15

Question: would it be faster/better to mount the SSD on the original HD bay? Is that a faster/better SATA interface?

macmai - 01/09/16

I completed this in less than 30 minutes, but I too had problems securing the optical bay enclosure to the SSD caddy. I had to squeeze them together about 1/16th of an inch to get the screws to line up. Other than that, it was easy squeezy lemon peasy.

aegrant - 20/09/15

Really easy. I would suggest not to disconnect the sensor for the optical drive from the motherboard. Really fiddly to try and reconnect.....and difficult to find where it went! Rather just peel the sensor carefully off the optical drive and then replace it on the solid state drive case with some insulating tape. It has to be connected on my Mac late 2009 otherwise the cooling fan runs all the time.

With the solid state drive in this iMac now flies! Wonderful

Peter Shahinian - 09/10/15

Yesterday I changed the SuperDrive for a SSD following this guide without any problems. All perfect. Thanks from Spain.

Sweet Moon - 14/07/16

I just did this successfully, however I had two minor issues and one major issue:

The minor - I put the temperature sensor on the wrong side of the SSD enclosure - no big deal, just check ahead of time which side of the enclosure will be facing you when you put the enclosure back into the mac.

The major - I cracked the display data cable connector on the logic board :| I have a lot of experience with computer DIY, so it's not my first rodeo, and I barely managed to do this successfully. The connector on the logic board for the 30-pin ribbon cable is soldered on poorly, you must NOT apply a lot of pressure! The ribbon cable sits flush with the logic board so there is not much space for work, which will frustrate you, but please be super careful with this. Make sure that you depress the side-tabs of the ribbon cable so that you don't apply excess pressure unnecessarily. Just do it slowly and patiently. If a mate can help you hold the screen you'll have the benefit of using both hands on the cable.

mils - 11/06/17

What SSD do you recommend to insert in there?

Eliott Hauteclair - 24/04/18

I bought https://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/KITI... kit for my iMac 11,1 (Late 2009 27’’, alluminum).

Mine original Seagate 1TB has more and more bad sectors and I decided to replace it. But the optical drive doesn’t work anymore and I am using external one and I think to change the optical drive but I am not sure if is the kitwhich I bought okay for my iMac. And for my case is also better because I using OS X (Mountail Lion) 1% and the 99% is my favorite FreeBSD. I have installed also rEFIt which I thing it will saw the new drive and I will install FreeBSD on the new one.

I know that thread is old but I hope that someone answer me.

Thank you.

Marco Polo - 02/12/18