iMac Intel 20" EMC 2266 Teardown

It's here!

We turned it on (only briefly, of course); the LCD display is beautifully clear, even though its resolution (1680x1050) is smaller than the 1920x1200 resolution found in the MacBook Pro 17" Unibody.

The speakers are also surprisingly loud and clear, given that the sound seemingly comes out of nowhere...

Feel free to comment on specific steps as we go. We'll do our best to accommodate any special requests for pictures.

The ports:

• Optical digital audio out / in
• Four USB 2.0 ports
• FireWire 800, 7 watts
• Gigabit Ethernet
• Mini DisplayPort (with support for DVI, dual-link DVI, and VGA)

Look at those lovely cords. Yay for cords. Going wireless will add an extra $50 to your iMac's pricetag -- $20 for the mouse and $30 for the keyboard.

Apple should really have an Aluminum mouse. The included white plastic Mighty Mouse looks like something thrown in as an afterthought.

Our keyboard has no number pad, but in their online store Apple offers a "keyboard with numeric keypad" as a no-cost alternative to the standard one.

Apple confirmed that nothing from the PC world was used in the creation of this iMac, as evident by the "Everything Mac" slogan.

It has begun.

Unscrewing the single exterior screw -- the RAM cover. We brainstorm on what magical wonders may lie underneath...

Behold: RAM!

We use only the best parts around here. Our suction cups come straight from Maranello, Italy (in Ferrari red, of course).

Fourteen magnets hold the front glass panel in place. Our suction cups were very handy for this operation.

The glass panel comes off with a gentle pull straight up.

The rear of the glass has a metallic bezel, as well as seven alignment posts. The magnets that help hold the glass in place are in the iMac's aluminum front bezel.

The display is less glossy now.

Twelve screws are exposed:

• Eight 12.8 mm T8 Torx screws.
• Four 24.6 mm T8 Torx screws.

The front bezel then simply rotates up. The microphone cable must be disconnected before the bezel is entirely free.

It almost looks like Tim Burton joined the iMac design team...

We wanted to see how the iMac clock battery (190 mAh) stacks up with the 17" Unibody's behemoth (12,820 mAh), so we put them next to each other:

• 17" Unibody wins.

Most components are buried beneath the LCD assembly. This isn't a new design for Intel iMacs, but is certainly not as convenient as the rear-accessible iMac G5.

Unscrewing the two T6 screws securing the display data cable.

After removing the two screws, we pulled the connector straight up, wiggling back and forth as necessary.

The LCD panel is held in place with eight 11.8mm T8 Torx screws.

There are five cables (four inverter cables and one temperature sensor) to disconnect before the LCD panel can be removed from the iMac.

This display is an AU Optronics M302EW02. The manufacture date shown on the back of the LCD is 09/04, that's probably the 4th week of 2009.

Removing the desktop 320GB SATA hard drive.

After disconnecting the temperature sensor cables, we rotated the long black clip toward the drive to unlock it, then swung it to the side.

We then unplugged the SATA cables and pulled out the hard drive without removing any additional screws.

Each speaker is attached by one screw and one connector cable.

The Bluetooth board is the blue board in the top center.

The 802.11n card is on the right with two antenna wires running to it from below the logic board.

Removing the logic board.

First off, let's disconnect 13 connectors.

Next, we remove 10 T10 Torx screws... (Second image)

...and 2 T8 Torx screws.

Apple's flat-panel iMacs have always been an interesting cross between a laptop and a desktop. This iMac features a laptop-style optical drive and RAM, but a desktop hard drive.

This is a 12.7mm SATA 8x double-layer SuperDrive.

As we mentioned earlier, this iMac still uses an LCD with a CCFL backlight. This particular display features four backlights, each of which require their own high-voltage AC power.

All four are powered by a single large inverter.

This iMac isn't very colorful, internally or externally. However, the power supply (once removed) is surprisingly vibrant.

The large and awkward logic board.

The ports are all soldered directly to the logic board, and connect at a slight angle to fit the curvature of the iMac's rear housing.

The heat sink directly above the 2.66 GHz Core 2 Duo processor.

The processor appears to be socketed, but unfortunately there's a "Warranty void if removed" sticker that must be removed to access it.

On the 20" iMac the stand is very integrated into the computer. Removing the stand requires you to first remove almost all internal components.

The stand is fastened to the housing with 7 T10 Torx screws.

It was a lot prettier when we started.

There you have it! Be sure to check back often for more teardowns, guides, and quality parts and tools.