iMac Intel 27" EMC 2309 and 2374 Hard Drive Replacement

Written By: Andrew Bookholt
  • Comments: 181
iMac Intel 27" EMC 2309 and 2374 Hard Drive Replacement

Difficulty

Moderate

Steps

25

Time Required

40 minutes - 2 hours

Introduction

Upgrade your hard drive for more storage space!

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 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 -

    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 -

    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 -

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

    Kieran Hobbs -

    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 -

    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 -

    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 -

    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 -

    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 -

    Duct tape works too!

    Dani -

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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.

    • 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 -

    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 -

    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 -

    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 -

    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 -

    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 -

    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 -

    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 -

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

    matteoslataper -

    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 -

    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 -

    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 -

    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 -

    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 -

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    • 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 -

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    • 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 -

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

    andy pugh -

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

    Christoph Sold -

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    • 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 -

    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 -

    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 -

    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 -

    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 -

    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 -

    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 -

    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 -

    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 -

    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 -

    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 -

    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 -

    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 -

    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 -

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

    lee webb -

    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 -

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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.

    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 -

    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 -

    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 -

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    • 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 -

    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 -

    @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 -

    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 -

    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 -

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    • 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 -

    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 -

    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 -

    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 -

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

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    • Before disconnecting the thermal sensor cable, take note of its orientation. It is extremely important to reinstall the connector in the current orientation so the fans will not run at full speed. If you have multiple pins on your replacement hard drive, put the connector closest to the SATA connections and closest to the PCB board.

    • Disconnect the thermal sensor, SATA power, and SATA data cables by pulling their connectors away from the sockets on the hard drive.

    To avoid a crazy spinning Fan, if you replace the HD by a SSD, without the fancy kit, just shortwire the plug. I used a copper from a CAT5 ethernet cable. Warning: you override the temperature sensor! I never had any trouble with that.

    it4art -

    @it4art

    What does that mean, to shortwire the plug ? I’m planning to put a SSD into an old iMac soon.

    Novak -

    The thermal sensor cable is just two wires - it4art is suggesting plugging a tiny wire jumper between the two holes in the cable to create a short-circuit. I do not know how this impacts the system. I tend to use “Macs Fan Control” for these types of things.

    johann beda -

    The thermal sensor cable has just two wires, grey and black. Grey face top and black face bottom of my screen. Or grey is closest to SATA Connector. my new Seagate SSHD connector has 4 pins and different connector so could not connect thermal sensor cable due to size difference. However easily cut piece off cable connector to fit(with mini hacksaw holding with pliers). Instruction says if multiple pins the grey should be close to SATA connector. This did not work for me. google the correct connector cable for your new drive and you will see where the black and grey wires should connect to. Mine are the two pins furthest from SATA connector. Black bottom and grey top again. You don’t need to buy the new/correct cable! This whole procedure has worked a treat and my 2010 mac is now incredible fast. Thanks so much!

    Kieran Hobbs -

    I always find that it helps me when I reassemble all this computer electronics if I photograph the connectors as they are when I find them with my cell phone so I can see where and how they were originally installed. My memory is awful but the photos really help. I also put a little bit of blue masking tape at each port and on the part of the plug that is facing up.

    peter -

    Unfortunately the Seagate Barracuda drive has a completely different set of connections for the thermal sensor compared to the old drive, so I’ve just had to leave it disconnected for now.

    Paul Guinnessy -

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    • Remove the two T10 Torx screws securing the upper hard drive bracket to the outer case.

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    • Slightly rotate the hard drive away from the outer case.

    • Lift the hard drive off its two lower positioning pins and remove it from the outer case.

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    • Remove the two T8 Torx screws securing the upper bracket to the hard drive.

    • 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.

    • Don't forget to transfer this to your new hard drive.

    What if the EMI foam has lost its adhesiveness? What happens if it is not reapplied?

    Chris Robb -

    I am using the ifixit kit to upgrade to a solid state drive and the drive is now in a full casing. The drive is now facing up towards the LCD. I don’t think it’s needed any longer.

    Chris Robb -

    The critical part is transferring the data from the old drive to the new one, which typically involves configuring a thumb drive with the OS so that the iMac can be restarted before the data is transferred from old HD. Where can I find instructions on this part of the process?

    Gary Pope -

  16. HKQbp12ZISQhNfAv
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    • Follow the next steps if you are replacing your hard drive with an SSD kit.

    • If your SSD enclosure looks like the first image, follow this guide instead.

    • Line up the SSD connectors with the metal enclosure's sockets.

    • Press the drive against the enclosure sockets until the SSD is firmly seated.

    • The SSD connects with the enclosure in only one direction. If the connectors don't line up, rotate the SSD and try again.

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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.

    • The cable is keyed to connect in only one orientation. If you can't connect the cable, rotate it 180° and try again.

    Can anyone point me to purchasable parts for steps 19 +20: The “sensor-enabled SATA power cable” and “temperature sensor board”? It’s essentially the parts found below listed as “SSD Temperature Sensor compatible with iMac Intel 21.5" and 27" Late 2009-Mid 2010”, but I don’t want to spend $230…

    iMac Intel 21.5" and 27" (Late 2009-Mid 2010) SSD Upgrade Kit

    Jason Gamm -

    Check Amazon. $30 as of 11-1-2023.

    Clark Novak -

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    • Peel the white liner off the back of the small temperature sensor board in order to expose the adhesive.

    • Adhere the temperature sensor board to an exposed, metal surface of the SSD, close to the SATA connector.

    • Fold the excess temperature sensor wires so that they are out of the way while you install the enclosure.

    Somewhere along the way, someone else replaced the HD with an SSD on my iMac, but they did not bother to install the temp sensor and just left the temp connector cable dangling, which causes the HD fan to spin full speed. Can the sensors be bought separately?

    Clark Novak -

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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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    • The images used in this step come from a 2017 iMac. Your cables may look slightly different, but the procedure remains the same.

    • Slide the SSD enclosure into the space previously occupied by the hard drive.

    • Route the SATA cables so that they will not interfere with any other components.

    • Try to keep the cables free from any sharp bends, and route them such that they are not pinched.

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    • If your motherboard has a socket for a hard drive temperature sensor, follow this step to plug the sensor wires in.

    • Find the connector on the motherboard labeled HD TMP or HDD TEMP.

    • If you have trouble locating it, trace the two-wire temperature cable you disconnected from the old hard drive.

    • If the previous temperature cable is still connected to the board here, disconnect and remove it. You will no longer need it.

    • Connect the temperature sensor's two-wire red-black cable to the motherboard plug labeled HD TMP or HDD TEMP.

    • The connector is keyed to fit in only one orientation. If it doesn't fit one way, rotate it 180° and try again.

    • Route the excess wire so it does not interfere with any other components.

Conclusion

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

Author

Andrew Bookholt

585795 Reputation

87 comments

While putting the system back together, I recommend untaping and removing the vertical sync cable from the back of the led screen. Plug it back into the LED Driver board and then into the back of the screen. Reapply the tape and continue reassembling as normal. It is far easier to plug it back into the screen than into the driver board through such a small gap.

Evan -

Wow! That's a great tip... I looked at doing this and thought it would be a hassle but if you said it is easier than doing it taped than it must be easier. I'm going to do this time. Thaanx

Ronald Joseph -

My hd failed and i used this guide to replace it with the same model. The problem i'm stuck with now is installing os x again. The installation starts and goes on for a while, while the hard drive makes a weird clicking noise. Then randomly the installation fails and asks to try again. I've done this ten times now.

I'm not here to rant though, i've some useful tips as well.

Instead of buying suction cups, i used a vacuum cleaner inserted into the back of a plastic container to create more pressure per inch. Also used duct tape on edges of the container to create more friction and not damage the glass. Although later i noticed you could wedge the sharp edge of a knife between the glass and the case and widen the gap with a fingernail, then pull the glass out completely.

A note when you're buying screw drivers... The ones with the interchangeable bits won't reach the screws on the lcd, so be prepared to fiddle with strips of paper and screws falling into the sides!

nav -

Were you able to finally install the osx ?

Kul -

I'm supposing my SSD will go before my HDD, but either way this doesn't look like the inside of my 27" iMac. Help?

Thomas Donaghey -

A partir de l'étape 5, mettre un baton qui sert de cale pour soutenir l'ecran, pas la peine d'enlever les autres connecteurs. Moins de 8 minutes pour le deuxieme Imac que j'ai fait. Apple compte 4 heures de main d'oeuvre...Je n'ai fait que le changement du Disque dur interne sur 2 imac 27 mid 2010. Vraiment à la porté de tous. Une ventouse en haut au centre de la vitre suffit. Rajouter un aimant sur le tournevis torx pour faciliter la remise en place des vis.

docteurfrankenstine -

I wanted to add a quick note to this after completing my HDD replacement.

As I was going though my reinstall of the OS I got an hardware error because of the disconnected special cable that apparently is used for the fan controls as mentioned in other posts here. Everything works fine though because I took the advice upfront to install HDD Fan Control. Until I installed HDD Fan Control the fans did rev up faster than normal. But it wasn't nearly as bad as I was expecting or had heard/read. Once installed it took over the fans perfectly. I tweaked the defaults speeds a bit and off I went to restore my data.

I can't thank you all enough for sharing your wealth of information. The breakdown of the iMac and replacement went perfectly due to all the information and additional notes of experience. Thanks. I look forward to doing more repairs now, instead of dreading them.

James Brynildsen -

I MADE IT!!! thank you very much for this! You saved me a lot of money!! 400 euros actually for just replacing the hard drive. Thank you!!!

Stavros Chatzidakis -

I had a spudger - which was of great help getting the display off, and also in guiding the scews in when reassembling - the magneic clips on the display were annoyingly grabbing the screws, and the spudger made all the difference in keeping them from adhering to the nearest magnet.

Also - when levering out the display, instead of the corners, I found one of the steel tabs holding the magnets at the top was easier to lever out a little and then get ahold of.

Another tip - if you can, when you lay this flat, do so such that the base of the mac is facing away from you, and get some good directional lighting - a desk lamp, right into where you will be disconnecting/reconnecting the fiddly display wires. The HDD is a doddle once the display is off.

dannystaple -

See this explanation for thermal sensor issues: http://www.hddfancontrol.com/imac-hard-d...

Apple uses proprietary thermal sensing firmware included on drives they ship - if you install a stock drive you'll need to install this software - or something else - to use the standard heat sensing system on most drives.

I followed this guide with a 2011 iMac and ended up with my fan pegged at 4000rpm - I installed the HDD Fan Control software and it instantly went back to normal.

Sam Mateosian -

Why does my iMac look nothing like he one in the pictures? It's a late 2009 27 in, but the screen does not go all the way to edge.. there's metal in the way..

ashkaan -

You can use a free alternative to the insanely expensive HDD Fan Control :

http://exirion.net/ssdfanctrl/

It works out of the box. No tweaks or strange things. And it costs nothing (it's donationware).

teresa -

I downloaded Macs Fan from www.Cnet.com

Ronald Joseph -

So glad I didn't need to open that case again. Thanks for the exirion link!

Thom DeCarlo -

Fantastic - thanks for the exirion tip - still good in 2019 running a Crutial MX500 https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B078...

and a super light weight caddy:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00U...

Chad -

Switching from 1TB HD to 500GB SSD like a charm - warning : SSD desktop kit required. I highly recommend using softwares as SSD Fan Control and TRIM Enabler in order to get your iMac SSD capable.

Simon DESVERGEZ -

This guide was a perfect step-by-step and if you follow it you will have a successful repair. I replaced the internal hard drive and my mac is up and running again perfect! Thank you Ifixit!

Frank Gorora -

In this guide, the first step should be to identify which make of drive is currently installed. If it's Seagate, install a Seagate drive. Ditto WD or Hitachi. I have one that's got the Seagate cable and I am putting in a 2TB SSHD and will report back on if I have the fan issue.

jtowner -

After upgrading RAM, I recently added a new harddrive to replace the original rumbling 1Gb Seagate. I installed one of the new hybrid drives from Seagate (in this case 2TB) and it is not only very fast but almost silent. I can certainly recommend it. No Fan issues if you install the cables carefully.

Graham Callaway -

I used this guide to the letter, and everything worked perfectly for me. I bought all my supplies from iFixit- the suction cups, the hard drive, even the 54 bit Driver kit. The long narrow screw driver in the kit made it easy to remove the screws. I guess the only thing I had to supply was the paper clip and the screen cleaner. I was really glad this guide was here to help me fix my $2000 anchor when my hard drive crashed.

elementkim -

This is a great guide; I have a comment for the lazy/fearful. What I did is installed Mac OS on an external drive (LaCie Firewire), plugged it in the back, and that has become my hard drive. I'm sure it's slower than it should be, but works just fine for my needs (telecommuting, streaming media, internet, etc.). The old, dead hard drive is still stuck inside the iMac, and there it will remain...

E Law -

How did you get OS on your external drive? My iMac is the only Mac computer I have and it's completely dead. I don't have another computer to hook up to my LaCie to download the OS to....any suggestions?

suzann4 -

Does anyone have any techniques or recommendations for how to make sure you get ALL the dust off the screen before putting the glass back on?

The only aspect of this entire installation process that I'm worried about is that I'll somehow damage the bare panel while the glass is off, or I'll get contaminants in there.

Obviously canned air is at the ready.

Great guide!

dreamstateseven -

I used a clean dry 3" wide watercolor wash brush, which I have utilized for other instances such as getting dust off color transparencies. You just need to go very lightly all the way across until you see no more dust, which can sometimes take a dozen or so swipes. I was thinking of using canned air but the brush works fine. They cost about 3 bucks at an art supply store.

cbird1057 -

Thank you, iFixit. Without the guide I wouldn't have a nice new SSD in my late 2009 iMac. One suggestion. It would help a LOT if each step in all the guides that involves a connector showed or described how the connector is to be disconnected. For those of us not familiar with all the different kinds, it's sometimes NOT obvious whether to pull UP or OUT, whether or not there is a lock release of some sort, etc. The LCD thermal sensor cable connector (Step 10) was particularly tough, because it is small and the wires are thin and it would be easy to break them (it pulls toward the end where the wires exit the connector, but use something to grab the connector, rather than pulling on the wires!)

Brian -

Thanks ? Helpful!

Haifa Sekkouah -

Great guide. I followed it but found after removing the logic board there was no secondary sata port!!! Either way I hooked up the original hard drive to power and temp sensor to stop the fan spin up and used the sata for the SSD so works great. One problem! My sound is now greyed out? Any physical reason for this? When the imac powers on it makes a sound but no sounds in Mac OS. I feel it must be physical not software related.

Damian Wright -

the optical replacement caddy is required in order to fit an SSD as the SATA connector which plugs into the optical drive is smaller and will not naturally fit your SSD!! I couldn't see this mentioned in this guide.

Also to confirm I ended up replacing the main hard drive with a SanDisk 256GB Extreme II drive and to prevent the constant fan noise problem if you fit a spare 2pin thermal sensor by unplugging the original hard drive sensor it does actually work! I managed to salvage a spare thermal sensor from an old iMac from the optical drive and plugged it in and it works a treat!!

j74656 -

If you are looking to replace the existing factory fitted hard drive with an SSD and you have a 2 pin thermal sensor - like one out of an old iMac's optical drive unit (or a spare ordered online) you can easily use this and replace the factory fitted hard drive thermal sensor. Be very careful as this connector can be fragile but place the replacement thermal sensor on top of your SSD and secure down with sticky tape. Works a treat! The iMac's fan's do not spin at full speed and you don't need any software to control the fan speed. The iMac is truly fooled :-)

j74656 -

Many thanks for this service. I did not use any special tools, it was very easy to manage. Every step is explained perfectly.

Hasnspeter -

Another awesome guide! Kudos to Andrew Bookholt! It was very well illustrated and the photos were very well taken. Rock-on iFixit!

MacTwidget -

Thank you so much! I didn't have to actually change the HDD, I could connect it on my other laptop to repair and format. After that it worked and my restore went easy as pie. :)

Ayda -

I would like to mention that I was terrified of having to open my 27" iMac. I mean really, suction cups? Fragile tiny wires that you have to remove when the display is open about an inch? Yikes! As it turns out, if you ever had to work inside a Mac SE30 you can definitely do repairs on an iMac. Same cramped spaces but better design.

cbird1057 -

Thank YOU all so much for this guide and comments. Took me two weeks to get up the courage to open my iMac. Watched videos read and reread everything. My iMac now has a beautiful 2TB Seagate Barracuda Hybrid (ST2000DX001) drive in it. I replaced a Seagate 1TB that died. So when considering replacement drives this one seems to be working just fine. It's been on for 24 hours no fan problems. Woohoo!

Cyndee La Matry -

Hi Cyndee, do you have an EMC 2309 or 2374 and did you needed some extra thermal sensor (like one from OWC)? I have an iMac Late 2009, i5 2.66 GHz and bought the same ST2000DX001 as you for this. I am worried about the fan.

Creg -

Hi Cyndee, Creg,

Get the OWC thermal sensor. I didn't initially, and all the fans were working overtime the whole time. I tried software fixes, but they didn't work well enough. I eventually (months later) bought the OWC thermal sensor, re-opened my mac and installed. it. I'm back to having a pleasant, quiet mac.

Do yourself a favour and get the thermal sensor upfront.

Mark.

mark -

Great guide, but I think I screwed it up - I installed a new hard drive, no problem there, and I gently pulled out The Vertical sync ribbon. When I tried to put it back in, the 4 small metal connector folded up like tape! I I very gently straightened them out and reattached it, (and I reattached everything else by the instructions) but when I tuned the power on, the Screen lit up for a brief moment then turned off. I could hear whirring inside, but cannot get it to boot up. I wondered if I need a boot disk or something but I am pretty sure I did something wrong reassembling... Can anyone help???

TJ Morris -

I completed all steps easily and with no hassles using these straight-forward instructions and succeeded in replacing my iMac's old HD for a new superfast 1Tb SSD. Can't thank you enough! I was pretty insecure but all went well.

contato -

Hi cantata, do you mind sharing some of the details? Which SSD did you choose, did it fit out of the box or did you need a kit, how did you tackle the thermal sensor issue or did you use fan control software? Thanks!

Casper -

Hi Casper,

I have the exact same questions you have... or I hope had? Do you happen to have some insight for me?

Andre Kolmeijer -

Awesome guide! Worked like a charm. Thanks so much!

Vak Anderson -

Woo hoo! It worked for me. Well, that is it worked after I realized why the screen was not turning on (I had missed plugging one of the cables back in). The restore from the Time Machine worked great and now I'm up and running on a 3TB drive. Woo hoo!

AZDean -

Great guide, It worked perfect for me. Thanks a lot! I appreciated a second persons help to hold the lcd screen to a safe distance while I was unplugging the connectors so I could see what I was doing. A good but silly tip to control the magnetic force when screwing back the LCD is to reach the hole holding the torx screw with tweezers to place it in the correct position

Usue -

Maybe I should have been reading the comments or edits before I started but I was unaware of the incompatibility of the thermal sensor with most new drives :-/. Fortunately, after little research, I found SSD Fan Control (exirion.net) ! There's a few hardware hacks or workarounds but I didn't really find if they would work w/ my particular model (2309). Anyway, the app works great, check it out if you need it! Hopefully it will continue to do so.

Otherwise, great guide, as usual!!! This site, has once again, saved my Mac and saved myself TONS of money! Spent $175 in 2 HDD's and tools as opposed to $1700+ on a new 27" iMac! Cannot even describe how good that feels.

Joe List -

Excellent guide. when I turned my mac back onto after installation it showed the folder with question mark symbol..The new HDD must be formatted for mac to recognise it (mac journalled GUID partition) I couldn't get disk utility off my original installation CD as my optical drive died years ago so turned a USB into a bootable drive, downloaded yosemite installed it as an installer, when I plugged it into my mac and held down C on startup I was overjoyed to see the apple. from here I erased the seagate HDD reformatted it to mac journalled and created a GUID partition, went back to installer followed the installation process and it was easy sailing form there!! Thank you!! and instead of using suction cups to take the screen off I used high tac duct tape.

Anna Evans -

Les explications sont très claires, j'ai rencontré un problème de connection pour le câble du capteur termique. Le disque d'origine était un Western Digital et j'ai commandé un Toshiba.

Mais le probème est résolut et tout fonctionne.

Merci

Jean-Pierre Moll

jpmoll -

I have a IMAC 27" 2.66 GHz (late 2010) with Seagate 1T harddisk. The harddisk stopped working end of August 2015. I replaced it with a new Toshiba 1T purchased from IFIXIT. I formatted the hard disk and installed the OS X 10.6.8 snow/Leopard without any problem and following the guide here.

Now every 5 seconds there is a very annoying sound like dripping water sounds like its coming from the new harddisk.

Can someone advise me what the problem is?

INFO -

Thank you very much for this good guide. I did it. I have upgraded my iMac - late 2009 (i5, 2.66 GHz, 11.1, 27") - to a new SHDD Seagate ST2000DX001 with 2TB. It was necessary because my old HDD (Seagate ST31000528ASQ) has got a failure in SMART-System. That was a real problem, I wasn't able to upgrade to El Capitan. Although I worried about the fan problematic, I can't recognize any problems with it. The fan runs absolutely normal. I didn't bought/used any third party solution like one from OWC. Just switched the 3 cables in the same way as by the original HDD. Now the HDD performance is also much better (factor ~1x-1.5x).

Creg -

I installed this 5 TB, and "HDD fan control" on A "Late 2009, 27 iMac" worked very well..

Seagate Desktop HDD ST5000DM002 128MB 5TB 3.5"

SteffO -

Has anyone here had any luck switching the thermal sensor cables?

applerepairshop -

Excellent guide. I got it done in half an hour without any problem. The important thing is to read all the precautions and comments from others who are reading this. Most important, it would save you all the trouble by doing your homework: finding out which make of HD the original one is and use a matching one. Mine was a 1TB Seagate ST31000528ASQ of an 2009 iMac 11,1. The current Seagate replacement is ST1000DM003. I can confirm that it works and the thermal sensor fits without any problem. Another reader recommended a video guide which is also good but in there it is slightly confusing as they used a customised kit the company sold. But the overall opening and reassembly are very useful. I too did not open the whole thing, just disconnect the v-sync cable and used a pair of chopsticks. Works like a charm.

ywc -

a comment to Step 10:

Everything was no problem at all, thanks for that.

Yet I have a problem / or question: I wanted to replace my original HDD (1 TB, 3.5" mechanic) with a 2.5" SSD which doesn't have any connector for the thermal sensor cable .... :( what can I do here? .... don't know if I need to connect it at all or is there another solution for this?

Thanks in advance :) Eik

eluxx -

Great Guide! Replaced Seagate 1T SATA2 for a Seagate 1T SATA3 .

Guy Wenger -

it is an awesome guide

CdnCwby09 -

This Guide was so easy to follow and made it so seamless in taking out the Hard Drive of the Imac 2374 that i was working on. I will definately be using the Ifixit guides again especially if they have a guide for something that I am working on. So Thank you to who ever made this guide you made my life so much easier

CdnCwby09 -

Just did on a 2009 27" imac. Went great, except that the fan ran @ max speed -- even after buying the same model drive (in a bigger size) and replacing the temp cable according to a photo I took during disassembly. $35 for HD an control solved the problem in 10 secs, so well worth it. Thanks so much for this guide!

micahdonahue -

I'm going to replace the HD of a 27" iMac with a SSD that doesn't have the connector for the thermal sensor.

I wonder if its possible to use the surface mounted HDD sensor that older iMacs used. I have one of those from a 2007 20" aluminum iMac. The connector is the same, but is the sensor compatible?

Is it worth a try? Or should I just install the utility and be done with it?

Rodrigo Cesconeto -

I want to install an SSD too. Did the sensor trick work? And do I need any special mount or kit to install the SSD?

Andre Kolmeijer -

So I've installed a new hybrid HD, triumphed over the WD/Seagate sensor cable issue, and got the thing together and powered up. But I can't, you know, get the thing working. I have a Snow Leopard CD and thumb drive, and I can get to the gray screen with an apple on it using both, but after that, nothing: the thumb drive went to a blue screen and then a screen of digital garbage, while the CD is just sitting on the gray screen, 15 minutes and counting. Thoughts?

The old drive was pretty much trash, so cloning it was a non-option. But should I put it in an external USB enclosure and try a recovery boot from that?

rothbamberg -

OK, I'm not sure what was wrong with the Snow Leopard drive and disk, but making a bootable USB drive for El Capitan as explained in the link below appears to have worked beautifully. The drive is currently restoring from backup, so maybe I shouldn't count chickens, but it sure looks like everything is going well.

http://www.macworld.com/article/2981585/...

rothbamberg -

Oh, and: the guide was great, but Step 5 was difficult/scary, because I wasn't clear what was going to happen (unless I did it wrong, what happened was that the ribbon cable came out with no sort of plug at all; when I reinstalled, I just slid the ribbon back in and it seems to be working.

rothbamberg -

Very easy guide and excellent shipping/customer service. I held the top open with a tissue box to pull out the HDD cables and drive because I didn't need to remove the whole screen.

Definitely be careful as the quality of those cables seem very very weak. I'm a bit disappointing in Apple making such low quality cabling.

Thanks!

Roy Phillips -

Excellent guide

Replaced faulty 1TB drive with a 500GB Samsung SSD

Make sure you have 3.5" to 2.5" adapter and even more importantly have a USB Bootable version of the OS.

DOH...!!

I had to reopen - put old hard drive in - create bootable version of OS - then reopen (Again!) and put in new SSD ...!!

As new SSD has no thermal sensor cable - I installed SSD fan control - dropped fan speed from over 5000RPM to around 1000RPM...

iMac now like a new machine...!

Jas -

Amazing instructions. Changed out the HDD for a 500GB SSD and switched the optical drive for a 1TB HDD while it was open. It's so much quicker now I can finally use lightroom again.

It was also quite easy to do and I would have finished it all in under an hour had my cat not chewed off the screen heat sensor cable. Had to do some fiddly patching up.

Richard Wilson -

Instructions were excellent, thanks. I wanted to add that I did just a simple HD swap from the factory installed Seagate 1TB drive to a new Seagate 2TB "Firecuda" hybrid solid-state/hard drive. What was interesting was that I had read horror stories that my fans would spin up unless I installed software to control them, installed a hardware adapter to control them, or put in an Apple ROM factory drive. I did not do any of these (figuring I could install software later) and the new FireCuda was plug-and-play. The little jumper-bus that the Apple thermal sensor wire plugs into on the old drive is on the new Firecuda, and it seems to work fine (no high speed fans) without any additional effort on my part. Excellent.

C R Wright -

Hi I installed an ssd instead of the original hdd but there's no connection for the fan control on the ssd... I was wondering could I take the circuit board off the old hard drive I took out and tape it to the new ssd drive I installed an d hook up the fan control cable back up to to old board if that would work in getting my Fan to shut off as it just runs all the time without that connector being hooked up.

MarcAnthony -

Great guide. Easy to follow.

I want to upgrade the HDD on my iMac from a 1TB to a 3TB.

The old drive is a WD Caviar Black 1TB and the new one is a WD Caviar Blue.

I figured out the temp sensor issue.

I installed the new drive but when I go to load Sierra back on I can't format the drive in disk utility.

It says, "The disk is too large to be supported by the given partition scheme.

Operation failed…"

Is there a way around this by a possible firmware upgrade or other method.

I was able to access the disc by plugging it into an external interface, but it won't work internally.

Any help please

Andy Gannon -

I have a late 2009 iMac 27". The 1TB HD was replaced by Apple a few years ago as a part of the replacement program. Lucky me ... it failed again. I just have a tick, tick, tick. I have another iMac so I made a bootable SD card and the 27" iMac booted fine. I plan to replace the drive but I want to get the correct one. In reading a bit it seems that I need to know what's brand I currently have but I can't determine that becuase of the failure.

Can I order one of the seagate 2TB SSD 3.5" hybrid drives and will it work? Any help would be great ... (I'd prefer not to open the machine just to determine HD make before ordering)

Thanks!

Dan

Dan -

I replaced mine with a ssd in place of the optical drive as the boot drive, and a 4TB spinning drive for a bit of storage space.

I also needed to buy a thermal sensor from OWC to cause the fans to run at normal speeds.

- I bought Samsung 850 EVO 1TB 2.5-Inch SATA III Internal SSD (MZ-75E1T0B/AM) for the SSD.

- This is the spinning drive I bought: Western Digital WD4003FZEX WD 4TB Black SATAIII 64MB 7200RPM Desktop OEM-WD WD4003FZEX Black 4TB 7200RPM 64MB SATA 6Gbps Internal HDD OEM

- This is the thermal sensor I bought: OWC HD TCM Fan Control iMac 09-10

This combo worked for me. I suspect with the thermal sensor you can use whatever drive you want?

mark -

Has anybody tried to install a 8TB og 10TB Seagate HDD?

Snowman92 -

Hello! I successfully replaced the drive, thank you for that. But being that I can't see as well as I used to I kind of messed up the: "vertical sync ribbon cable out of its socket on the LED driver", I attempted to re-build it with scotch tape and all seemed to be fine... now it would seem that my graphics card is damaged... can I get that ribbon anywhere? there seems to be 5 sets of vertical lines when the machine first boots, and then some Digital boxes all over the screen.

Erich Hentschel -

I finished installing the new HD and now im not sure how to reinstall osx. when i start up it turns on normal until a folder with a question mark appears. already tried holding the command and r button during boot up but still get the folder with the question mark.

Marcelo Calderon -

Hi Marcelo, I am assuming that you already solved this issue, right?

jimmymorales -

If you are alone this is very good.  But get another person and a mini ratchet set that will hold the torque bits etc. you can have one person tilt the screen forward from the top, and not have to remove any cables etc., while the other uses the ratchet to undo the  two screws that hold the HD in place and you can swap in the new one in 15 minutes.

thefinalmot -

I was able to relate the hard drive just doing steps 1-5, & 10-15 and propped the monitor up with two pieces of wood dowels about 8 inches long. The dowels fit into the two metal indents on the back side of the display and on the aluminum housing. I didn’t have to remove all the connectors and was able to remove and replace the hard drive quicker… This is the second time I replace a hard drive in this type of Mac. I was able to lose the screws to the hard drive and cables without affecting the other cables…

Jeffrey Whittaker -

I fitted an SSD to replace the HDD. The HDD had a thermal sensor cable attached and there was no place to connect this to the SSD.

As a result, the fan ran fast. I downloaded some free software, ‘SSD Fan Control’, which did a great job in taming the fan speed. The surplus thermal sensor cable I just taped neatly to the SSD to stop it from moving around.

Stuart Bloomfield -

These are excellent instructions, as far as they go. Two points need to be addressed before you start. First, create a bootable thumbdrive for your operating system, so that you can crank your iMac up after installing the new drive. Second, either have a viable backup (i.e. Time Capsule) or a download of your data on an external drive; if you don't have a plan, the alternative you will face is determining how you are going to get the data off of the old drive (which will be unpowered and probably inaccessible once removed) and onto the new drive. The newer operating systems have a Data Migration function that can assist in this process, if you have a data source that is accessible after the old drive is out and the new drive is in. The instructions here from iFixit would be more complete if there were links to practical tips on creating a boot drive and developing a workable plan for data migration.

Yragnetsut -

The plastic screen cover is held on by magnets, so I just used a spudger while the iMac was standing up and just pulled it straight off. Also I removed the screen while it was standing. I just held the screen in place while I removed the last screw and it just tipped forward a bit. I reached behind to disconnect the two cables and then just lifted the screen up and out.

rs_beast -

Bien pour le démontage mais rien pour l’installation du SSD avec les détails sur:

- boitier d’adaptation 3,5’’ vers 2,5’’

- gestion de capteur de température, ajout d’un kit capteur ou SSD fan control

- rien sur le Trim

En résumé tutoriel incomplet, qui ne va pas jusqu’au bout des choses , principalement l’installation du nouveau matériel SSD

Décevant, et je ne comprends pas les critiques plutôt positives, soyez objectifs un peu. Je défis quiconque d’aller jusqu’au bout avec votre tutoriel, ou il aura des problèmes par la suite. il sera obliqué de compléter avec les tutoriels sur youtube plus complets

Cordialement

Michel

MGconseil -

Pour l’installation du nouveau ssd c’est réussi mais comment installer os ?

Daniel Gagné -

Great guide. It was the third time to open up my 2009 imac for repairs and I had no problems swapping out the old 1tb seagate HDD for a 2tb seagate HDD. The thermal sensor fit into the new drive and the fans seem ok. However, I have been using Mac Fans Control software since my graphics card failed a few years ago (see threads on bad design of imacs for overheating). I bought this model st2000dm008 HDD to replace the original HDD. My recommendation for this procedure is to just work really slowly and carefully, and as somebody else mentioned, take some photos as you progress so you can remember how everything is put back together. I do steps 1 to 5 with the Mac upright and then lie the mac down for the rest of the procedures. You can use a tissue box to keep the ‘lid’ open enabling two hands for removing the other three cords before detaching the screen. It took me about an hour and a half. Restoring the hard drive from time machine took about another 10 hours though! Thanks for the guide Andrew.

Marty C -

When installing a new hard drive with a stick on thermal sensor, where does the end of the sensor cable attach to the motherboard if there is no HDD TEMP port? The EMC 2309 27” iMac I’m fixing does not have one where this video shows.

Brock Lammers -

I installed the new hard drive but didn’t create a bootable drive or anything. What is my next step? I power up and just get the folder with the question mark in it. I tried the control “R” but nothing happened. Does the iMac recognize the bluetooth keyboard that came with the computer?

Andy Sloane -

Andy - you have no OS nor Recovery Drive if you installed a clean drive, so you’ll either need to externally mount your old drive and boot into it’s Recovery Drive via a drive dock or create a bootable USB stick and boot to that. If you didn't download the version of OS you’ll need beforehand, then the old drive with a drive dock will probably be the easiest route, that is, if it’s still functioning.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06XYL599P/

Jeff Hanshaw -

Hello, Great tutorial. I'll go for it! However, I didn't quite understand step 10. Do you have to connect the thermal sensor connector and the power supply to the same socket on the SSD ?

Thank you :-) Pierre-Etienne

- - - - - - - - - - - -

Bonjour, Super tuto. Je vais me lancer ! Par contre, je n’ai pas bien compris l’étape 10. Il faut brancher le connecteur du capteur thermique et l’alimentation sur la même prise du ssd ?

Merci ! :-) Pierre-Etienne

Gazé Pierre-Etienne -

I exchanged the internal Original Apple 1TB hard disk to a SanDisk SDSSDH3-2TO0 SSD. This runs hotter than the original hard disk, causing the fans to work at full throttle almost continuously. Only when the screen ist off as well as the machine is completely idle for about an hour the fans will slow down. After a night without load, users logged off, screen off, the HDD fan still operates audibly at about 50 % speed.

Christoph Sold -

Hi, i have lost the screws of the the step 11, where i can buy them ?Hi, i have lost the screws of the the step 11, where i can buy them ?

Nicolas Courtecuisse -