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Recycled Computing

Taking Apart a Tray-Loading iMac

- 2008.09.29

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You've always wanted to look inside the first iMac, right? I mean, this was the first computer to come out that was designed after the all glorious, all powerful Steve Jobs returned to Apple.

the original Bondi blue iMac The Bondi blue iMac launched the small "i" revolution, and we all know what that led to.

At any rate, we're tossing out our Revision A iMacs at school - about 10 of them - because of they don't have FireWire. That means that restoring a hard drive is not as easy as it in on a Mac with FireWire.

They also lack the power that we need to run Tiger. Face it, they're old and tired.

But waste not, want not - so I'm strippin' and rippin' the Rev. A iMacs to mine them for useful stuff. (The Rev. B through D iMacs are put together the same way.)

The first thing you do after you pulled the power cord and any other cables (remember, safety first!) is to turn the Rev. A upside down. Then you unscrew this single screw on the back under the small handle.

removing the first screw

Now, take that handle and pull the plastic shroud off. It's not that easy. You may have to run a small straight blade screw driver around the seam.

It will come off; it just requires some time.

shaking it loose

Now you're going to have to remove the two screws that lurk under the handle of the (for lack of a better word) sled that has all the electronic goodies on it.

more screws to remove

Don't get crazy. There are a whole bunch of cables that you are going to need to remove before you can remove the sled.

cables to disconnect

All four of these cables need to be detached to remove the "guts " of the Rev. A.

cables disconnected

Now you can grab the handle and pull out the sled with all the guts.

pulling out the guts

Now you have the good stuff to look over. It's all here: the hard drive, the CD-ROM drive, the system, and the RAM chips- all in one weird looking package.

the insides of the iMac

The memory is easy to snap out. You are going to have to remove a metal cage to get at one of the memory cards.

removing the RAM

There are two screws on either side of the housing that hold the CD-ROM drive. These screws also hold the hard drive in. Remove the screws.

removing the CD-ROM

Now push the CD drive back about a half an inch and then pull it up and out. You need to push the hard drive back as well, to free up the drive. Make sure the that the two tabs on the hard drive sled will clear the housing.

there are two of these

The hard drive and sled can now come out.

hard drive removal

You need to take out the hard drive and pile it with the other spoils.

the spoils

I'm not saying that the iMac - the computer that started up the second Mac revolution - needs to be stripped and thrown out. The Rev. A can be networked, and you can upgrade the hard drive and memory. I think that OS 9.2 might be the operating system to go with, but there are folks who do run OS X on the old girl. It might be a good email machine for those who need a minimum computer platform.

Either way, it's an easy computer to take apart.

Recent Recycled Computing Columns

Replacing the Hard Drive in a Clamshell iBook, 11.19. Yes, it is one of the most difficult Apple notebooks to disassemble and reassemble, but a 10 GB hard drive just will not do.
Macintosh Remote Control with Chicken of the VNC, 10.06. Sometimes you want to or need to control another Mac remotely. The free Chicken of the VNC program is a great tool for doing exactly that.
Upgrading a Pismo PowerBook with a Slot-load Drive Salvaged from an iBook, 10.01. Starting with a spare DVD-ROM module and the SuperDrive from a G4 iBook, the author ended up with a SuperDrive in his Pismo PowerBook.
Why the 20" iMac Is Perfect for Home or School, 09.29. The aluminum iMac has plenty of power and screen space, yet it's small enough and light enough to tote from place to place.
More in the Recycled Computing index.

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