Introduction
Use this guide to install or replace RAM.
Tools
Parts
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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 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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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Lift the hard drive from the edge nearest the logic board and pull it slightly out of its recess.
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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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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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Release the tabs on each side of the RAM module by simultaneously pushing each tab away.
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Grab the top left and right corners of the RAM module and carefully pull it straight out of its socket.
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To reassemble your device, follow these instructions in reverse and use our Adhesive Strips Guide to reattach the display glass.
18 comments
I used the iMac Opening Tool just as shown starting in step 2 to separate the tape. DISASTER! The screen cracked! I used the tool slowly and carefully and despite this, the screen cracked. I should have simply used a guitar pick. That said, I decided to see if I could upgrade the 8GB RAM to 16GB RAM WITHOUT removing the logic board all performing all of these steps. I found I could simply remove the FAN assembly as shown in step 43. This makes enough room to reach behind the logic board and unclip the 2 memory modules. I installed 2 8GB modules (1600MHz DDR3L SO-DIMM PC12800 204 Pin) without much trouble. I used a plastic stick to reach behind the logic board and unclip the existing memory modules, then carefully inserted the new ones and clipped them into place. This is much easier than performing all of these steps.
gcortesi -
Hi There, I am interested in going in and upgrading my RAM to 16. Did you do all the steps ups to 43? Remove the power supply? Did you remove the hard Drive? I take it you had to do step 53 as well and remove the iSight camera cable first? I may try it your way, I hate to have to unplug 98% of everything to do this. Thanks for the tip.
I added extra RAM by following step 1-23, then skipping to do just 41-43 and then reach the RAM from the back of the logic board. It was difficult to reach but possible.
Mikael -
Wow, thanks. That was much easier. I unscrewed the corner Torx screw holding the mobo down for just a touch of flex.
Used a couple of screw drivers to pull the tabs out
It helps if you have done a bunch of memory upgrades so you have a feel for how to get the chips in.
cyadmark -
Thanks for the tips here.I used a guitar pick and some credit cards as suggested, and to worked fine. I also followed Mikael’s suggestion :
“I added extra RAM by following step 1-23, then skipping to do just 41-43 and then reach the RAM from the back of the logic board. It was difficult to reach but possible.”
which worked fine for me too. Thanks for the suggestion. Have ordered tools & adhesive from ifixit anyway cos the site & its community showed me how to do it all anyway
The step by step instruction worked pretty good! Thank you very much for this help!
One interesting issue I had was that the battery on the logic board was empty.. the result of this was that the iMac hadn´t booted any more. An alarm signal with 1 beep every 5 seconds came. At the beginning I thought that the RAM wasn´t installed correctly, but the cause was a low PR2032 battery.. all in all I am really happy that it works now with a new battery. I wish you also much success!
Tom88457 -
Straightforward! Thanks a lot! I have upgraded 2 iMacs without any problem, following this guide.
oliver -
I have (21.5 inch, mid 2017, 2.3 ghz) base model same as this but not 4k. How much max ram can I install in my iMac??
Narendra Verma -