The following guide provides step by step instructions on how you can disassemble and upgrade your Apple iMac 20" or iMac 24" (aluminum, models 2007 and 2008) to 1 TB (terabyte) hard drive and 4 GB RAM - all by yourself, and save some serious money (I've personally saved over US $1,000 upgrading my iMac 24" aluminum by myself), however you will need some background in electronics and relevant experience to make it happen...

Disclaimer

You WILL need technical knowledge to upgrade your iMac hard drive by yourself - upgrading hard drive is not user serviceable part and it might void your Apple warranty. Therefore, I cannot be responsible for any damages or losses you'll potentially incur from following this guide - proceed at your own risk!

Desire for the Top of the Line iMac 24" Aluminum (2007, 2008) for Least the Money $$

Copyright 2007-2008 Amfiteatar Portal. All rights reserved.

I wanted a brand new iMac 24" AL with the 2.8 GHz Core2Duo Extreme CPU, max. memory (4 GB) and lots of internal hard drive capacity (1 TB), however ordering a custom built model with such features through Apple's web site was costing an arm and a leg (US $3,449 to be exact), so I've decided to take a DIY approach, also taking into consideration my electronics background.

I've ended up ordering iMac 24" AL with 1 GB RAM, 320 GB HDD and 2.8 GHz Core2Duo Extreme CPU (approx. US $2,049 - the Extreme CPU was the only custom upgrade to my order). Then I've ordered 2 modules x 2 GB RAM (total 4 GB, costing me approx. US $140) and 1 TB hard drive (costing me approx US $310). My total cost for the machine and parts was ~ US $2,499 - saving approx. US $950 than ordering machine with such configuration through Apple (US $3,499 retail). In addition, after the upgrade I've sold the remaining parts - 1 GB RAM module and 320 GB hard drive through eBay, hence my saving on my new iMac reached over US $ 1,000 US. Cool, eh?

RAM upgrade was a breeze, just opened up the memory bay slot, plugged in the new modules and closed it up! However, upgrading hard drive proved to be somewhat challenging, hence I wanted to share my experience with the Mac community. Good thing is that I was taking photos as I've went along with the upgrade. The result is the following upgrade guide.

Danny, 5. November 2007. 

What You'll Need

1) Apple iMac 20" or iMac 24" AL (aluminum, models 2007 - MA876LL, MA877LL or MA878LL or 2008 models - MB323LL, MB324LL, MB325LL): If you purchase your iMac online you can save additionally on the sales tax, and most of the retailers offer some sort of rebate as well. The configuration you're looking for is with 250 GB hard drive for 20" model or 320 GB hard drive for 24" model (the lowest drive capacity available, because you'll anyhow upgrade the hard drive to 1 TB.

You might choose from one of the following iMac 20" and iMac 24" aluminum initial models you'd like to upgrade with 1 TB hard drive:

Save up to $100 on a New Mac and Printer! (Apple store special)

Also make sure to check out Apple's refurbished deals, from time to time (you just need to keep looking as offers change weekly) they'll have iMac AL 20" and 24" at bargain prices (e.g. iMac AL 20" for about US $1000 and iMac AL 24" for about US $1500 - info spring 2008):

Save big on Apple-certified refurbished Macs (Apple store special)

2) 1 TB (terabyte) SATA III, 3.5" hard drive: I've purchased a Hitachi 1 TB drive A7K1000 (data sheet from Hitachi), primarily because of 32 MB cache memory, SATA III interface having 3 Gbit/sec. throughput, and also due to its long-lasting life and reliability - Hitachi extending 5 year warranty and advertising 1.2 million hours average time before failure (choose a good drive - don't you just hate when the drive dies on you and you lose all your data!).

In reference to some concerns that Hitachi's A7K1000 1 TB hard drive might run a bit hot - in my iMac AL it runs at about 52C (125F), which is well within Hitachi's operating parameters - up to 60C (140F) of drive's ambient temperature.

Hard drives Apple installs in iMacs are Western Digital, you are also well set purchasing one of WD's 1 TB drives, although they don't advertise 1.2 million hrs average time before failure (and they are a bit cheaper than Hitachi).

The appropriate 1 TB SATA hard drives going into your iMac are the following:

Newegg.com specials on hard drives, internal and external (also a great source for an external hard drive for your Time Machine backups)

3) Torx screwdrivers: You'll need several specialized TORX screwdrivers, size T4, T6 and T8 (these screwdrivers are the same type used to work with mobile phones).

Durston Mini Screwdriver Set, Torx, ESD, T4-T10, Ergo, 7 Pc

4) Kitchen \ bathroom hook suction cups: In order to open your iMac AL, you'll need to take the glass cover off the display. The glass cover is held in place only by several magnets -- in order to remove it you'll need a specialized suction cup handle: 

Heavy-Duty Dual Head Aluminum Suction Cup Handle - 180 LB Capacity

However if you don't own such a fancy tool, several kitchen \ bathroom hook suction cups will do the trick instead (as in my case :) Just make sure they're larger cups - at least 1 to 2 inches in diameter.

Suction Cup with Hook

Upgrade Guide - Step-by-Step Instructions with Photos

[ iMac 20", iMac 24" AL - aluminum mid 2007 models MA876LL, MA877LL, MA878LL - early 2008 models MB323LL, MB324LL, MB325LL - disassembly guide ]

Step 1 

Take a good look at your iMac AL - no screws (besides the memory upgrade slot) to be seen - how neat. :))))

In order to open your iMac, you will need to lift up the protective glass covering your display. The glass is held by several magnets only, so you just need to lift it up. Naturally you won't be doing this with a screwdriver beneath the glass as you will damage the frame for sure. You need suction cups to lift up the glass.

If you don't have specialized suction handle tools, using kitchen \ bathroom hook cups will do just fine. You will need about 4-6 of these, 1 to 2 inches in diameter.

Place the suction cups as shown on the photos. You might want to use a rubber string to tie up all suction cups (as shown on the photo) in order to have a grip at all suction cups simultaneously (otherwise you can try lifting up the suction cups with your bare hands ;).

Just LIFT UP the glass with the suction cups applying some moderate force. Make sure you do it carefully, as while pulling you might damage the glass! 

Once you lift up the glass, put it aside on a soft cloth. Finally we can see some screws in the frame! Use your Torx screwdrivers to take out all screws within the frame. Once you're done, lift up the upper side of the frame only, but carefully, as in the upper mid section (behind the integrated iSight camera), there will be a wire you need to disconnect (as shown in photos).

Step 2 

Now make sure you take off the bracket from the memory slot at the bottom of the frame. If you don't do this, you won't be able to take off the frame.

Once you've put the memory slot bracket away, you may lift up the display frame entirely and set it aside.

Step 3

At this point we've unleashed the inside of your iMac AL - I truly admire Apple's compact design :) The next thing we need to do is to detach iMac's gorgeous display. Make sure you do this with utmost patience as you don't want to be responsible for any dead pixels in the process!

The display is attached with three connectors. The first two you can find on the left and the right hand side of the bottom of the motherboard. Let's start with the right-hand side connector first -- this connector is locked in with a screw - thus you need to take it off and pull out the connector. Now we move to the left-hand side connector - just unplug it carefully. You might want to use a precision screwdriver to help you out in the process. 

Step 4

The third connector attaching the display is located underneath the display, in the upper left corner of it. The next step is to lift up the display VERY carefully from its right hand side and up (as shown in the picture), and you need to detach the third cable - which is a power connector connecting it to the power board (smaller blue board shown in photos).

In my case, I had to take off the screw holding the power board in place first in order to be able to take off the connector. You might want a second pair of hands helping you with this step (holding the display in the air while you pull out the power connector beneath it)!

Once you detach display power connector, you are ready to entirely lift off the display and place it aside. Make sure you put the display on a soft and safe place, away from the tools and work area (you don't want to damage it)!

Step 5

Finally, we can see the hard drive placed in the middle upper section of iMac's aluminum back frame. In order to take out the hard drive, you must first take off the temperature sensor from the drive (as shown in photos). The temperature sensor looks like an ordinary transistor component. Make sure not to bend its pins as it may damage it! Finding a temperature sensor on your hard drive just tells you that your iMac AL is a well engineered machine and that Apple's engineers were thinking of every little detail (you won't find a hard drive temperature sensors in an ordinary PC).

Next, pull out the SATA and power connector from the hard drive (left hand side of the drive in my photos). 

Step 6

For this step you will need to apply a bit of force - you need to push down the plastic handle attached to the upper part of the hard drive - push down until it unlocks and lift up the drive. Alternatively, the handle is held up with two screws, so you might want to take these off and slide out the handle easily out of its place.

You can see at the photo that Apple has used Western Digital WD3200AAJS - 320 GB hard disk in its iMac aluminum.

Step 7

The hard drive side opposite to the plastic handle has two metal pins screwed in - holding the hard drive's bottom side within the frame. Take (unscrew) these pins from the original hard drive and put them onto the new hard drive. Also, move the plastic handle from the old hard drive onto the new one (held up by two screws only).

Step 8

Use the backward logic to put back the new hard disk in place, bottom side with pins going into the frame first, then you snap it into the place by pushing the upper side handle into the frame (as show in photos)

Step 9

Attach the hard disk temperature sensor at approximately the same place where it was on the old hard drive. Use some glue if necessary (in my case there was enough adhesive left on the sensor, so I've just pushed it onto the drive and it stuck). Make sure you put the protective sponge on the top (as it was on the original hard drive).

Plug in the SATA and power connector to the drive (left-hand side of the drive in my photos).  

Step 10

It's time to put back the display -- we'll use the reverse logic - you need to plug in the power connector first (left hand side of the display) into the blue power board). Then place back the display firmly in its place - as shown in the photo. You might want a second pair of hands helping you with this step.

Then attach the two remaining display connectors at the left and right hand side at the bottom of the system motherboard. 

Step 11

Put the aluminum frame back into its place (starting with the bottom side first), making sure you connect the integrated iSight camera wire at the top before entirely closing up the frame.

Then put all the screws you've taken out back into their places within the frame. 

Step 12

Before putting the protective glass back onto the display, you might want to wipe it off and the display itself with a soft cloth (e.g. such are cloths used to clean reading glasses) in order to get rid of the dust particles that have fallen at the display in the mean time. Please take care of what kind of cloth you use - you don't want to unnecessarily scratch your display!

You are ready to put back the protective glass on top of your display. Use suction cups to handle the glass. Make sure you put it back carefully, as magnets will snap it into the place.

Step 13

Put back the protective bracket onto the bottom memory slot (upgrading your RAM is as easy as plugging in the new memory modules into the slots).

Upgrading the RAM (optional step for those upgrading the RAM as well)

Your iMac has two memory slots available.

Please note that 1 GB configurations shipped by Apple use a single memory slot (1 GB memory module inside). Configurations shipped with 2 GB memory by Apple use both memory slots (two 1 GB modules inside).

You can also verify the amount and type of memory installed in your iMac, including the verification of memory slots used if you click on the Apple logo (upper left corner), About This Mac, then click on More Info - a system profiler window will show up - click on the Memory menu on the left hand side and you'll be able to see the amount of memory installed and memoy slots used.

Hence, if you've purchased your iMac with 1 GB memory, your options are as follows:

If you would like to move to 2 GB, then you just need to purchase an additional 1 GB memory module. If you would like to move to 3 GB, then just purchase an additional 2 GB module. If you'd like to upgrade to 4 GB RAM, you need to purchase two 2 GB memory modules (also meaning your existing 1 GB memory module goes out for sale on eBay :)

Similarly, if you've purchased your iMac with 2 GB memory, your options are as follows:

If you would like to move to 3 GB, then you just need to purchase an additional 2 GB memory module (and one of your existing 1 GB modules goes out for sale on eBay). If you'd like to upgrade to 4 GB RAM you need to purchase two 2 GB memory modules (also meaning both of your existing 1 GB memory modules go out for sale on eBay :)

Choosing appopriate modules

I've always had a great experience with Kingston (also having a lifetime warranty) - never came across a faulty module!

The appropriate memory modules going into iMac 20" and iMac 24" AL 2007 models are the following PC2-5300 modules (1 GB or 2 GB modules, DDR2, 667 MHz, SO-DIMM 200 pin, unbuffered):

RAM for iMac 2007 models

iMac models from the early 2008 use faster 800 Mhz memory PC2-6400 (compared to 667 Mhz modules used in 2007 iMacs). Although the above suggested 667 Mhz  modules will work in your 2008 iMacs, you should really look into getting the faster 800 Mhz memory - therefore the appropriate memory modules going into iMac 20" and iMac 24" AL 2008 models are the following (1 GB or 2 GB modules, DDR2, 800 MHz, SO-DIMM 200 pin, unbuffered):

RAM for iMac 2008 models

Step 14

Finally, as you've just installed a blank hard drive, you need to install OS X operating system on your iMac. Please note that if you have Leopard upgrade DVD, you will need to install Tiger first, and then upgrade the system to Leopard.

On the other hand, if you have the full version of Leopard OS X, just go ahead and pop in the DVD, turn on your iMac and it will boot from the DVD - just follow the instructions on the screen to install the operating system.

 In order to verify the amount of memory installed, click on the Apple logo (in the upper left corner) and select About This Mac.

Mac OS X v10.5 LEOPARD: Order today and get free shipping at the Apple Store!

Comments (35)

...
written by Fernando Leiria, December 28, 2007

Obrigado e-amigo
Thanks a lot e-friend

Thank You
written by Rich, December 28, 2007

Thank you for taking the time to photograph and document your upgrade. Nicely done!

goooood !!
written by xplane93, December 28, 2007

Bigs thanks for this Doc and photos very utlils.

Very nice job!
written by Rene Larsen, December 29, 2007

As the title implies, very nice job! This is by far the best documentation available currently for changing out your hard drive in an Aluminum iMac and the photos are great. Thank you very much for taking the time to put all of this together in such a logical and professional manner. Cheers!

Beautiful!
written by popeye cahn, December 30, 2007

Now I know what I'll be doing soon. Thanks for the excellent write up and detailed photos!

Awesome
written by beosro, December 30, 2007

You're the man!

Totally Execellent Documentation
written by iMC, January 01, 2008

As with one of the user posted, this is by far the best documentation on how to upgrade your Intel iMac (Mid 2007) aluminum. I just bought one ( refurbished ) with 1GB RAM/250GB HDD, and I was wondering how am I going to upgrade the memory and the HDD. Through some searching at the Apple Discussions board, I found your documentation through one of the posts. Great job on this.

These Intel iMacs (Mid 2007) aluminum aren't as user-friendly as on the G5 iMac. Just unscrew 3 to 4 screws, pop the back cover and voila, there it is, all at your disposal. Looks like Apple doesn't want the end-user to tinker the inside.......

A good idea
written by Opa, January 04, 2008

Thats really a good and needfull help for all Apple-Users.
And many thanks for all the detailed photos.

...
written by Tom Loki, January 04, 2008

Great work - thank you!!!!

COOL
written by moreliaV, January 05, 2008

A really helpful instruction....it works !!!!

About the Leopard upgrade DVD
written by Miguel Palma, January 06, 2008

I did the replacement of my drive with a 500GB samsung HD501LJ, but I used a putty knife to remove the glass in Step 1, I also found a trick to bypass the Leopard Upgrade DVD check (on a forum...), just select the option for Time machine restore on the menu and them click on goback, the button to proceed with normal installation will them be activated

Can you upgrade the cpu as well?
written by Madmac, January 07, 2008

thanks for the post, even that i am a PC technician,look a little difficult to do the hard drive upgrade,i mean its a little too risky,including messing with the isight camera,but well done,i have 2 more questions though. it is the cpu upgradeable or it is soldered? in the 20'' mac it is possible to use a terabyte hard drive? i ask this because in the apple website in the upgrade option shows that you can only install a hard drive up to 500 GB.. maybe a bios locked option? once again thanks a lot for showing the light!

Backside of glass front?
written by DrFelix, January 07, 2008

Fiirst: Thanks for the excellent How- To, brought up another idea: I would like to exchange the whole front with an anti- reflex glass. Found a company who cuts the anti- reflex glass to fit my 24 inch iMac. Black bezel will be painted from the backside. Only problem: How to fix the new glass into the frame. I´ve yet to open up my iMac and thought someone could help me out: Are there magnets glued to the backside of the original glass? Or is the black paint of the bezel magnetized?

Thanks in advance
Felix

Reply: Can you upgrade the cpu as well?
written by Danny, January 08, 2008

Madmac,

In terms of difficulty of the upgrade it’s very relative – the above guide sure makes it a lot easer. I’ll quote an editor of the specialized French Mac site Bidouille saying that this upgrade is not too difficult - http://www.hardmac.com/news/2008-01-03/.

Unfortunately you cannot upgrade the CPU.

The new iMac aluminum 20” will take 1 TB drive (the motherboard is the same) – although Apple doesn’t sell it as such.

Danny

What other drives (like 500GB) can be used...also, what about 17" iMac (white)? is it similarly opened?
written by Kevin, January 10, 2008

Thank you for this amazing guide!!! I'm excited to crack open my new iMac and upgrade the drive.

First, I'm not all that interested in the full 1TB drive upgrade so what drive type can be used for about 500GB?

Second, is this guide anywhere near how to open up the previous white iMacs (17, 20,, 24)? I have a 17" I'd like to upgrade, but I don't know how to take it apart.

Reply: Backside of glass front
written by Danny, January 11, 2008

Felix,

That sounds like an interesting modification

I’ve zoomed up one of my photos were you can see the back of the glass.

The magnets are not located on the glass – they’re embedded within the aluminum frame. The back of the glass - around its borders – is applied with a metallic stripe. Also, please note several spike-looking guides helping fix the glass within the frame.

Hope the above helps. Send us some pics. of your mod.

Danny

Reply: iMac white hard drive upgrade and 500 GB HDD recommendation
written by Danny, January 11, 2008

Kevin,

I believe a very good guide to open previous generation iMac white was written by John Wood.

In terms of what hard drive to choose for your iMac white (these could also be used in alu iMacs), I can recommend Western Digital Caviar 500 GB hard drive (SATA, 16 MB cache).

Good luck upgrading!

Danny

Sr. IT Consultant
written by Sijo, January 13, 2008

Hi,

really helpfull. Thanks a TON !!!

Temperature sensor adhesive recommendation?
written by Ken, January 17, 2008

Will ordinary Elmer's Rubber Cement work well enough or can anyone recommend a better adhesive that can be used to adhere a temperature sensor to a new hard drive? A URL to an appropriate adhesive product would be appreciated.

This is just too cool info!
written by Gary Stamey, January 24, 2008

THANKS so much!

Amazing thank you
written by artske, February 09, 2008

I have been searching for this tutorial for a while now , I plan to do this upgrade very soon and will let you know how I get on, once again thank you for such an in depth tutorial

...
written by Dave, February 16, 2008

did this. couple things of note: 1) suction cups are easy, use 4 - one at each corner. 2) make SURE you put all bezel screws in tight/flush (I missed one, cracked the glass, GRR, who knows what that will cost). 3) you can just unscrew the 2 screws holding the drive to the "handle" and then pop it out, transfer the two metal tabs, and put the new one in - much like doing one in a MacBook Pro. 4) be careful of the EMI shield (silver-ish fabric stuff) down by the RAM slots - and also, put the outer bezel back on BOTTOM FIRST - I had to take it on/off 3 times to get it right, all for the want of some silly small things. 5) If you do have that 2nd-set of hands (or good 2 yourself) you can do it without taking out the "blue board" or unplugging the LCD in the 3rd step - but don't crush wires on the left or stretch the power ones!

Temperature sensor adhesive recommendation? - 2nd try
written by Ken, February 19, 2008

Does anyone know if ordinary Elmer's Rubber Cement work well enough or can anyone recommend a better adhesive that can be used to adhere a temperature sensor to a new hard drive?

...
written by axel Pfister, February 23, 2008

Wow this is exactly the instruction i'm looking for. Is it different when i only want to put s second drive in my 24 imac.

On the glue issue I would not use elmers glue in a computer period.
written by James McDonald, February 27, 2008

On the glue issue I would not use elmers glue in a computer period.

You might try Deacon Weld it. On my cloth dryer the rubber sealer ring on the door started coming off about 5 years ago. I Glued it back on and it’s still fine. I fugue sustained high temperature might be around 150 F in the dryer. The strength in 900 LBS / IN SQ.

It work well with plastics and metal. Handling time is 5-6 minutes. Time to set is 1.5 to 3 hours. You might want to affix the temperature sensor to the HD with a drop of super glue if you can’t get the sensor to lie in the right spot. Two coatings is probably best. Do the second coating perhaps 70 minutes after the first.

http://www.tapplastics.com/shop/product.php?pid=282

http://tw.video.yahoo.com/video/play?vid=1293590

Thank you so very much!
written by Eric, March 17, 2008

This information is awesome. I have been searching EVERYWHERE for the answer to crack this case open. What a genious design! Thank you for leading the way. This was so helpful.
Eric

PC TECH
written by Mac Newbie, May 09, 2008

Gutsy my man, very gutsy. I have attempted this procedure myself but had to relinquish my only b/c it was way over my head. Thanks to your procedures, photos and pre-cautions as to what obstacle we may encounter, I now feel confidence I can conquer this objective. My hat is off to you....

Onsite I.T
written by Scottuk, May 13, 2008

Great instructions, worked a treat , added a 1tb Wd HDD to my Imac.
Extra pair of hands make a big difference when unplugging the last four cables under the LCD.

Only small things I noticed were ..
1) I found it easier to leave Isight camera plugged in and just put the ali lid above the main case while working on the system.
2) As "..." said , when reassembling , make sure you tuck in all cables or the LCD wont sit properly , also put the top lid back on from the bottom up (I also had to try this several times before getting it right.

Also small set of long nose pliers come in useful for various sections of this install (but not essential).

To whoever wrote this guide , THANK YOU , it saved a lot of guesswork.

YOU ARE BIG
written by MrDrap, May 22, 2008

Thanks a lot for the Photo-manual, it helps me a lot, thanks a lot

You made this a PIECE of CAKE
written by Bob, May 24, 2008

Took me all of about 30 minutes following your excellent tutorial to pop a 1TB into my iMAC 24 AL. Only thing that threw me was once the cover was removed there were 8 Torx Screws to be removed that held in the LCD frame before lifting it and detaching the 3 connectors.

I was surprised how easily the "glass" lifted. I used 2 x 2.5" suction hooks I found a Lowes. They have a hook that when turned down adds suction by puling up on the center of the suction cup. These are used for bathroom showers I think. Then the LCD come up so easy and was so light - plastic I'm pretty certain and I was expecting the weight of glass.

Anyway, hats off and Thank You.

extra screws?
written by Eric, June 15, 2008

I can't tell where the two longest screws go back in. Can someone help me out? The bezel is really loose and I'm afraid someone will be able to just pull it off one day.

Reply: extra screws
written by Danny, June 15, 2008

Eric,

All the screws holding the bazel are in front, around the frame and behind the glass - as shown in this photo. I remember those big screws, that is where they went.

Good luck,

Danny

...
written by Claudio Dalla Vecchia, July 08, 2008

Hi all,

I just replaced the HD on my iMac AL 20", and this tutorial has been very useful. Just a few remarks:

1. it's not necessary to disconnect the iSight cable - just flip the frame over;

2. to remove the monitor one has to unscrew 8 more screws;

3. it doesn't matter which power cables you plug the monitor in;

4. I have a set of TORX T6-20 and didn't need the T4 at all - I mostly used T6 and T9;

5. when one installs Tiger, the HD is not found until it is partitioned with Disk Utils - I guess some HD are already formatted though.

Thanks a lot,
Claudio

...
written by chris , July 17, 2008

i found the isight camera connection easy to remove and the bottom plug to the screen fairly easy the left and right i looked both seemed so taped up so i changed the hard with those 2 still attached. putting everything back no problem. These instructions are just what i needed perfect if i had paid apple to upgrade my hard drive would of cost the earth, its shame they cant include this in their manuel especially with what they cost.

Perfect just perfect......

imac 24" 3.06ghz, 500gb h/d, 2gb mem

upgraded to;

1TB H/D & 4GB MEM

Cheers

...
written by chris, July 17, 2008

just fantastic this is great for those that need this upgrade info if only apple could afford a few extra pages in the manuel.

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