Has anyone ever upgraded their imac on their own?

[MikeT125]

I was wondering if it is even possible to upgrade an imac on your own. I know it will void the warranty and all but to what extent if any can they be upgraded? I figure some of you may have upped the RAM in yours but can the internal Hard Drive be replaced if necessary (if it failed) without having to take it back to the Apple Store? Can the video card be upgraded?

I know you can have this done at the Apple store (I guess) but I wantes to know if any of you have done this on your own and what your experience was.

 

[roland.g]

There are a couple people here at least, and I would have to look to find it but a guy here and one over at Insanely Mac have updated their harddrives on 20" and 24" Intel iMacs. From the look of it, it is not too hard to open, remove the screen and change out the drive. RAM is extremely easy, as there is a user accessible door on the bottom. As of yet, I don't believe there are any available video cards that interface with the special mfx? or something connector that the iMac uses.

 

[4JNA]

yes, i have done work on the intel iMac, and yes it can be upgraded. the cpu is socket M just like the mini and can go as high as the T7600 as of now, which is still expensive, but coming down. the hard drive is standard sata, so anything should work, i used a 500gb seagate. the video card in the 20" is on the board so can't be upgraded. the 24" video card is in a socket, so if they release newer cards, it would be an easy upgrade.

all of this is 'easy' if you are comfortable working on laptops. lots of little screws, lots of thin/fine wires and connectors. best of luck.

 

[macenforcer]

Upgraded my imac 17" hard drive and ram. Also Degraded the superdrive. Took it out and put it in my mini and gave the imac the combo drive. The drive was very tough to get out I must say.

The problem is not taking the drives out, the problem is the sensors. The hard drive and superdrive have some sensors glued to them. You must peel that off and stick it on the new one. That is the hardest part. Also there is alot of balancing of the screen. You can't just disconnect it, you must move it aside. If a mistake is made in any of these actions like the screen falls and the cable snaps you could be out of a computer.

Not for the faint of heart I assure you.