iMac Intel 21.5" Retina 4K Display (2017) RAM and SATA Hard Drive Upgrade

The wedge is an extremely tight fit for this model. I was worried that the amount of force needed to use it as shown might damage the stand, so I used it with the long side down instead. It worked fine that way and didn’t need anywhere near as much force to insert.

Here’s a good YouTube vid on upgrading the RAM: Can a Normal Person Upgrade the RAM in the 2017 21.5" iMac?

Here are a couple tips from me:

1) Expose the adhesive to extreme temperatures. I did this by transporting my iMac in my car, screen-down on a piece of cardboard on a cold February morning (in Chicago). When I went to pick up the iMac, the screen practically fell off the chassis. I would have been distraught by this if I hadn’t already planned this replacement. So it was a happy accident.

2) Remember to expell the residual power from the power supply by pushing the power button while the iMac is unplugged. This does NOT guarantee it’s safe to touch, but when I accidentally brushed the solder and exposed capacitors, I didn’t get shocked.

Instead of using the wedge, I placed the iMac faced up with the top side (web cam) facing me while I ran the pizza roller around. It worked out great!

“All iMacs also come with a traditional hard drive” mine doesn’t!! it’s HDD bay is completely empty, no SATA cable or anything. I guess I’ll have to upgrade the PCIe SSD instead.

Don’t get too worried about starting exactly where the picture says. The glue is stronger in some parts so just start wherever is easier and then work slowly and patiently around in the direction shown.

As this guide doesn’t cover replacing the adhesive strips, I found referring to the following was useful (noting that it’s not for the same model of iMac, so the modification they mention wasn’t necessary): iMac Intel 21.5" EMC 2544 Adhesive Strips Replacement

It is very easy to crack the glass in front of the LCD during this step. I used the guitar pick, maybe it was too thick… crack is just on the frame but anyway it is disappointing :(

Erreur de traduction: "de bas en haut" et non de" haut en bas" sur le côté gauche de l'écran

In this step can I cut along the display without make any damage to the front camera?

Hi! Actually - there is no need to cut the tape around the camera area - there is no tape to cut at all! And so, the way go is easy - just pass 10 mm to the left and to the right from camera and start cutting!

P.S. Just did the whole procedure to replace a RAM and to add SSD on PSIe an hour ago! Seems to be different reading the instructions... you know - 2/10 and so on. But it's really not that hard, trust me. I'll give it 5/10.

P.P.S. By the way there is one trick to pass the difficult steps. Any action which requires pulling smth (motherboard, speaker, power supply unit) from the narrow crack (or should i say - slit?) at the bottom of your Imac is really not so easy.

And the trick is to first remove a thin metal stripe with some kind of insulation on it which held by 5 small (very small!!) screws at the bottom of your Imac. After you done it - it's easy to pull everything! Pay attention to the fact that one of this 5 screws at the center are more shortly than others.

After doing the replacement the adhesive still sticks quite good enough to hold the screen in place. Maybe this isn't rock-solid, but enough for me.

You can add a SATA SSD if you already have a PCIe SSD Factory?

Yes, do it many times to loosen the adhesive.

this step is extremely important NOT to stick in the cards too far….. doing so, you risk a 600 euro replacement as I experienced………

This part must be done very carefully or you can damage the flat cable from display, despite it was under a iron cover.

You don't need to do it like this, simply open the iMac bendidng the LCD completely and use the pizza cutter to remove the adhesive.

It was difficult to remove this connection. I ended up having to gently pull-up vertically a little on the wire side to unsnap it about 1mm and then horizontally wiggle it out.

I had a difficult time removing this connection. I had to lift the wire-side about 1mm before it unsnapped and then carefully wiggle it out horizontally.

Can this cable be replaced? I am worried mine is damaged. I have no display after the screen fell and stressed the display flex cables following an SSD upgrade.

Cannot seem to find a replacement cable for this, as I suspect mine is damaged. Can’t even find a part number. Anyone know what it might be?

I also need that cable.

The best way to remove the chin adhesive is to use the tabs at either end (there are two strips that run from each outside corner to near the centre). Carefully pull the tabs up and the strips should peel off.

At step 21-22, releasing the adhesive strips from the bottom of the display, I noticed a tab on the outer end of each strip. Pull the tab to remove the whole strip, no need to mess around with the plastic cards!

I would recommend that those trying this have the project tray to contain all of the screws.

2 notes for reassembly, carful with screws not to strip the heads as they are really really small, make note to cut a gap in the the adhesive over the whole for the microphone.

I managed to strip the head of one of the screws when putting it back in. So be carful with them when putting in / taking out. If you strip it on the way out you will need to take a fine drill and rill it out. Going back in, well as long as you never need to strip it down again not a problem.

The second problem is a real pain, you need to make sure to cut a gap in the adhesive just to the right of Center at the button to allow for the microphone opening. If you don’t, the adhesive tape will stop any real pick up on the Mic, so you just need to cut a small gap in it before putting on the screen. Unfortunately I didn’t find this out (or do my checked before sticking it all back down, so have to pull screen back off and reapply new adhesive with a cut out in it at an other time.

Refer her for more info on the mic / adhesive work around —> Muffled Microphone - iMac 21.5" (mid 2017) - Following Adhesive Strips

At step 26, when reassembling, it's super easy to over-tighten the 9mm screw and strip the brass ferrule out of its hole in the plastic bracket (%#*@).

ej P: remove the fan assembly first. Then remove the connector that runs from the iSight camera to the logic board on the left.

the RAM is located right near that cable. It’s tricky to remove but you can pop open the connectors with a black nylon stick and the RAM chip will pop up at 45 degrees. Make a mental note on which way you will need to install the new ram as it’s tough to see. For the Crucial memory I got it was label side facing away you (facing towards rear metal enclosure).

the second chip has a plastic adhesive piece on it that you should probably attach to the new ram.

remove both chips then install the new ram in sequence from the board out.

In the photo for Step 28, the power button cable connector is placed around the power board screw hole on the top left of the power board.

However, on the iMac I upgraded, the power button cable connector was “fed” through the power power screw hole on the top left of the power board. The cable was too short to run around and below the hole.

Hence, I had to ensure the cable was “fed” through the hole during re-assembly and the screw carefully screwed back through the hole.

I guess every iMac is assembly just a bit differently, just to make repairs that much more fun.

Just replaced the hard drive and RAM with SSD and 16GB respectively and did NOT remove the power supply or logic board. Tricky is a word to describe putting the RAM in without removing the logic board. You work in the dark with little room to get your fingers in between the logic board and the back of the case. I put the first RAM chip in without a problem (the one next to the logic board), but the second to four tries and dropped it behind the logic board three times before finally getting it to position correctly. Just impossible to see and must work but feel. Still it was faster than removing all the components… though did remove the fan (needed cleaning anyway). All in all I can’t say enough about the help the guide was through the upgrade ! Thanks !

I found this connector to be very tight and was afraid of breaking it off. I just kept slowly working on it—it did eventually come out.

I did try to sneak the RAM in without removing the logic board but my fingers were too big. I found it too difficult and just continued on with this guide.

In my case, the left side corner of the PS was caught against the Lower Support Bracket, and I had to remove the LSB in order to get the PS freed and out.

I think the author Walter Galan should put this in the main section of his instructions. I have TWO identical iMac 14,1 / i5 2.7GHz / 21 Inch Late 2013 / Order ME086LL/A. They both required removing the LSB. Thank you very much Walter Galan & others for your contributions.

When replacing the PSU (on the re-build) take care not to trap the power button cable behind it - I did...

In my case, the left side corner of the PS was caught against the Lower Support Bracket, and I had to remove the LSB in order to get the PS freed and out.

I think the author Walter Galan should put this in the main section of his instructions. I have TWO identical iMac 14,1 / i5 2.7GHz / 21 Inch Late 2013 / Order ME086LL/A. They both required removing the LSB. Thank you very much Walter Galan & others for your contributions.

when pulled the cable, even slightly, the actual female piece that connects to the logic board came off. am i screwed?

Repairing sockets that come off the logic board is possible, but very specialised work. Unless you have a magnifying lamp and the necessary desoldering and soldering skills, it will be difficult but not impossible.

The tab is at the far end of the connector, so you’ll need to reach farther than you might think.

When I pulled the disconnect, I pushed down on the disconnect, instead of pushing down on the tab on the disconnect and bent those pins… tried to straighten the bent pins and two of the pins broke off the logic board. Will I need a new logic board or can I purchase the pins…?

I didn't disconnect the input cable to the power supply. Because I had the machine lying on its back throughout, I placed it on to the metal bit at the bottom of the machine instead (with a cloth to stop the metal getting scratched). The AC inlet cable was pretty tricky to get un-locked, and the PSU sat on the case fine. It didn't hinder anything else throughout the guide.

I thought from Dave’s comment that I could leave the power supply completely in place, but I was mistaken. In order to remove the hard drive assembly after you remove the center screw in it, you’ll need to at least unscrew it and the HD assembly will slip out. Like Dave said, you don’t need to unplug the AC or PSU, which I left hanging.

Getting power supply to the logic board unplugged is also tricky without unscrewing the two bottom screws. They didn’t make this part easy.

Kleiner Rechtschreibfehler - statt „denac“ muss es wohl „den iMac“ heißen

Au ja. Du kannst so was selbst ausbessern. Einfach auf “Übersetzen" gehen und loslegen.

I would like to thanks Dave Hallett for his tip of not removing the AC inlet connector of the power supply. I simply wrapped the board in bubble wrap and taped to the iMac case, out of the way, thus giving access to the remaining disconnection procedures and preventing the board from scratching to the iMac case. It also made reassembly much simpler.

erreur: retirer "la carte d'alimentation" et non" le disque dur" !!!!!

In this photo the hard drive brackets and tray are fully assembled. But, you’ve just dismantled about half of it already in early steps. This photo is apt to confuse you a bit when you’re doing everything in reverse order.

I’ve found that loosening the T10 screws on the enclosure to the left helps give some room to remove and reinstall the drive. Otherwise reattaching the SATA cable can be a hassle.

reconnecting the new drive can be a little tricky as the sata connector in the Mac is hard to align. I found that it helps to move the end of the bumpers out of the way, then push them back into position once the drive is connected.

thats what it did as well, thx for the hint. also i used a plastic spudger to reconnect the plug unto the new drive and leveled it against the speaker casing thats so close to the drive bay

where is the guide for the follow up ?

installing a new hard disk and closing the screen back up.

The SSD was a HUGE performance boost over the 5400rpm drive my iMac came with. If you’re pulling your hair out because Lightroom has become excruciatingly slow, upgrade your hard drive to SSD. You will not be disappointed.

The kit has everything you need. Follow these instructions carefully and you’ll be fine.

Huge improvement! It’s like a new machine. Highly recommended upgrade.

Take care with the adhesive strips, and don’t forget to set new SSD as the boot disk (System Preferences, Startup Disk) after you’ve tested its bootable.

It is also possible install the bumpers after getting the drive cable attached. This gives you more room to work with the cable and drive.

The hardest part was to plug the connector into the new SSD. I loose the two screws of the adjacent (left) speaker and move it just enough to have sufficient space to introduce my fingers to push the conector into the SSD. Left the replace of the rubber bumpers after reconnect the SSD, is easy to handle without it.

I bought Samsung QVO 1TB SSD and now the fan is blasting fast and loud. So if these don’t use the thermal cables then what seems to be triggering the high temp? Obviously it’s the hard drive but could it be that the drive was cloned? I’m kinda stumped, I know I can control with software but some of you are saying it should run normal after install. Thanks for the info.

it`s a t10 screw..! ;)

At least in the 2017 iMac both of the red screws are missing – removing the orange ones was enough.

UGH! you have to have a torx screw driver long enough to hit the screw on the bottom right corner where it goes through the motherboard. Just good luck that I had a coworker that had one!!!

My microphone stopped working after I put everything back together very very carefully. I am unsure whether or not I inserted the cable back incorrectly or damaged the cable. I did not find out the mic stopped working until I put everything back together and installed the operating system, so BE EXTRA CAREFUL with the cable! Hope this helps someone!!!

On the iMac I’m upgrading right now, the bottom left screw in this picture had a black adhesive sticker over the screw. It was round and the size of the screw head, but it blocked you from getting a driver into it. I had to peel it off.

As the motherboard is left on the first picture, shouldn't it be at the second place ?

At step 60, when reinstalling the logic board, check to make sure the I/O ports are flush with the back of the case. It’s easy to end up with a small gap, and if you do, you won’t be able to fully insert USB-C connectors.

I’d like to second this. Screw in the four logic board screws very loosley. Then make sure all the cables are where they should be. Then push the bottom of the board back until you feel it snap into place. Then tighten the four screws. At this point, before going any further, test out all the ports with some plugs to make sure everything goes in nice and easy.

What is the left bottom m.2 terminal?

Wird das Display beim späteren Zusammenbau nicht frisch verklebt? Beispielsweise mit Klebestreifen?