Which do you think is a better value? An M1 iMac or one of these 21.5" iMacs with some customizations? Would you put money into RAM or storage upgrades? Would you attempt a Core i9 install?
i prefer the core i9 imac due to the compatibility of software and upgradability. after this imac is unsupported you can still use it as a windows machine until it is dead.
I’ve done the upgrade on a 2019 iMac 21 half a year ago and it still works like a charm, just in case anyone is wondering about long-term stability. Disadvantage: fan noise starts very quickly as soon as a process begins eating CPU. Sometimes even during Zoom calls… but the point is not: is this faster/better than the M1. The point is that computers SHOULD be upgradable!
@@PaimonVentChannel Well - its not only DIY - but before - I could by an iMac from some reputable reseller (i.E. Gravis here in Germany) with an own workshop who could upgrade it for me - for a fraction of the cost Apple wanted and with warranty of course - all this is gone...:-(
I'm 83 and have done two 21.5" imacs, for me and a friend, piece of cake. I've done Macminis, the old CRT bubble shaped iMacs, emacs over the years. Power supply in the imac never worried me, I left the imac disconnected for a couple of days and any residual charge drains away. I didn't got to the i9, didn't know you could do it but went from i3 to i7.
In hindsight I can't imagine how frustrated Apple's engineers must've been for years when Intel couldn't deliver chips cool enough for their designs and actually receiving flack for it from the public, to the point where they just said fuck it we'll make our own cpu and reprogram our whole os to run on arm, what an apple thing to do
Tbh though intel just isn't/didn't wanna spend the time to develop a whole new processor line just for apple, apple is given Intels current gen and apple has to design around it.
@@swiftrealm as with everything time will tell... apple isnt always right and not always the best when it comes to internal designs (they just make it more eye candy then what its internals could cope with). as an it support engineer, i can tell you how much i hate apple's pre-apple chip internals. people kept praising apple designs without actually realizing how they were internally... constant cleaning/fixing/repairing due to most common issues of over heating caused by the dumbest cooling solutions apple had in mind. all the mac lines suffered thermal issues from the beginning... intel/amd are general use cpus for gazillion hardware combinations... apple's only option was to switch to its own custom cpu. ibm path was stuck, moved to intel, it got stuck... their own design give them a bit more headroom, but we ll see how long it ll take to hit the wall... but at least, now they can control many aspects of the features for their designs... but its not like intel or amd doesnt know how to design cpus, it is unwillingness to design around parts, they want parts designed around their shells/form factors... not always the smartest choice... apple maybe will learn something in the long run about these
@@thiccboi1012 They actually did for the original MacBook Air, but Intel under-delivered on their promises after Skylake and everything went downwards from there.
For me this would be worth it! The ports, the RAM, the huge amount of cheap(er) storage space you can have available. Didn't know you could so easily swap the i3 out for an i9. I've done multiple 21.5 and 27 inch upgrades and surgeries and honestly, if you like tinkering around with this kind of stuf, it's not that bad.. The power supply thing is a but iffy, but it feels like a relief when you've done it. Then the rest is relaxing and fun IMO. And I'm not an expert or a tech by any means.
You might be able to answer my question then! Once the updates that Luke did are done, is an outdated iMac now capable of receiving newer MacOS updates?
@@justinmilum2638 OS support from Apple is purely based on model. This still retains the original model number so support wouldn't change. Honestly as they move away from Intel, the support will go with it. They just ended the 27in, that leaves just the pro and mini, and the mini is probably just already manufactured stock.
They will for sure.. this autumn.. 27” Black Frane, Space gray color and the cool night green from the iphone pro.. and.. 5000$ the basic one… lol.. Just to fuck us all..
Luke why not use a snuffer stick (basically a prod with a giant resistor and capacitor) to drain the voltage from the psu? You can make your own or buy a premade one from stew mac. Much safer. Used in tube amp repair for guitars all the time.
The power supply risk cannot be overstated. While the process overall is more tenuous than standard PC work, it isn’t necessarily the worst ever. But having had the pleasure of being shocked by a power supply, I’d advise caution for other DIY’ers. My experience was fortunately quite mild and I’ve torn into a few older iMacs, but it stung me bad enough to give me grave respect for it. (I wasn’t doing this upgrade, but rather doing some work on a failed GPU on a 2011 iMac at the time.)
I wish I had the skills Luke has to just do those things myself, it's like a superpower. Plus an iMac user-upgradable, totally maxed out, it's really worth it over the M1, at least for now.
Just a hint for the next time you need to remove a power supply. Place some Kapton Tape over it to help prevent touching the traces. Then remove the tape when done.
@@SuperSport1966 they’re also useless since any of those pins poke right through them *and* the high voltage would go right through them even when intact.
Amazing project. I guess nobody would even think about trying this, so kudos for doing it for all the people out there that might want to update their 21 inch iMac and use it even more. Amazing performance as well. I must admit its nice to be able to properly run Windows if you need it to.
Power supply is not a main concern here. The problem is that 21,5 logicboard does have enough VRM phases to handle i9. This would cause extreme temps on VRM section which has no cooling on this logicboard. Using it with i9 CPU in a long run will most likely cause VRM short circuit
I recently upgraded my late 2012 21.5inch iMac from the base model to the top spec (yes including gpu) i7, 16GB RAM and 1TB SSD and it works like a charm... planning to use it for a lot longer now.
Fantastic job. I'm in the same boat as you... 2012 imac i5 model. After doing the upgrade, does it let you upgrade the mac os (currently maxed out at Catalina 10.15)? thanks
I’ve thought about doing this but then I reconsidered for this reason: The m1 will be supported for longer with Apple software. I tend to keep my machines for a very long time.
I doubt many will be keeping their M1 products for as long as they could with earlier Macs. The soldered in non replaceable/upgradeable SSDs have a limited lifespan and when the SSD is dead the Apple joy ends. Non upgradeable/replaceable RAM is also a problem. I still have 2009 Mac Pros which have been upgraded to 12-Core 3.46GHz machines with up to 128GB of RAM, modern graphics cards and modern NVMe SSDs. Pre T2 security chip iMacs had upgradeable/replaceable RAM, CPUs and storage which will allow those Macs to potentially last many years longer than current models but that means less money for Apple so....
Great mod Luke. IMO, most consumers won’t be needing this but would definitely appreciate running the casual iOS and iPadOS games on a big screen like the M1 iMac. This mod would certainly give hope for fellas who have their daily workflow apps which aren’t optimized for M1 and they don’t wanna spend on iMac Pro.
Yours are the videos I always look forward to seeing. Apart from being a very talented and intelligent human being, you're also a great entertainer. Awesome video with very interesting content. Kudos to you.
I have done a processors that were different than listed on both 27 and 21.5 inch. Honestly i prefer it because you can still have an obscene amount storage, ram and two hard drives without spending like 10000 dollars. My next goal is to find a 27 inch 2019 with the highest graphics and put a better i9 and more storage/ram in there
Apple would never build something like this or if they did, they would charge an arm and a leg for it. Makes sense only way around it is to upgrade it yourself.
@@NormanF62 Apple would build one of these if they thought the economics were viable and the long term testing didn't throw up any technical issues. I doubt that the numbers stacked up, bearing in mind the impending move to Apple Silicon and the number of units they would expect to sell.
Having a powerful Core i9 in a small 21-inch iMac is perfect! I prefer it over the 24-inch M1 iMac because it only has 2 or 4 USB-C ports. The M1 is also an ARM CPU, so it’s more efficient but not as compatible. When it comes to choosing a CPU, I want it to be fast enough and compatible.
I like what you put together here! Although I would have loved to have seen some real world tests in Logic and FCPX to see how Mac applications perform when pushed to their limit.
Yeah same I was a little disappointed we didn't see much in the way of native M1 to native x86 benchmarks - not that we haven't seen it before, but I don't think necessarily in this situation with the thermals of the 21.5 etc.
Is there some reason why you don’t drain the capacitors on the power supply while removing? I work a lot with tube audio equipment which also store huge charges in their filter caps in the power supply sections and generally use a 10k resistor with a length of 14 gauge insulated hookup wire and alligator clips to ground out and thus drain the charge from these caps. You might also use electrical tape to cover the open traces on the ps board while handling it. Just saying.
You can actually upgrade a lot of things on non M1 iMacs. It’s just harder then on a standard pc. You often hear people saying there is no upgradability but that’s just straight up false. You can upgrade CPU, Ram, Storage and GPU via Thunderbolt 3. on iMacs before 2012 you could even upgrade the GPU internally all though it was some kind of a weird standard
As a Mac technician, I can tell you that getting shocked by the power supply is something you never forget after the first time. I lost feeling to my arm for a solid 3 hours, and needed a new set of underwear.
Did you touch it immediately after unplugging it or something? Aren't they supposed to be safe to handle after like 10 minutes of being unplugged according to apple's documentation? I've been working on these for a couple years and have yet to be shocked because I don't go digging in immediately after prepping them for surgery.
@@christianmccollough5005 my hand brushed against it while removing the display. It was unplugged for about a half hour before I started work on it, since that’s my precaution since I know those leads are exposed.
@@TheGloriousLeader I must be exceptionally lucky then. I can't even get out of my car in the mornings without the door static shocking me as I close it, so I await my inevitable end at the hands of an iMac when the collective souls of hundreds of dead machines finally reach from the grave and touch me.
iMacs are built with desktop parts so its easy to service and upgrade them. I think in the new M1 line, Apple purposely switched to laptop parts to make that impossible. Why would any one want an M1 iMac? That’s a very good question, indeed.
@@NormanF62 People want an M1 Mac for the same reasons they want any other Mac. It's what Apple makes, and if you like Apple Macs, you buy what they sell. If not, you buy a generic Windows/Linux box. If Apple made Macs out of pasta and chewing gum, some people would still want one. 😁
I've seen some news (in Portuguese, mind you) on Facebook about "a guy that made an Intel 21,5" iMac better than an M1 24"" and I didn't open it, then I go on UA-cam to find out that the "guy" is our guy Luke. Nice!
man, you're brave! i'm scared of that power supply. i'm excellent at dis-assembly...re-assembly...not so much! there always seem to be 'extra' screws & doo-dads left over. good work, bud. 👊🏻
Luke, I watch your videos because you have a unique perspective on things as opposed to the majority of the Mac fanboys/girls. You look at possibilities with hardware that most ignore and I find interesting. Keep up the good work.
planning on this, did you go with sata or the m.2/nvme/ngff slot for your 4tb drive? not sure what would be the most cost effective for me given it's a lot cheaper to get this imac model without the nvme slot. thanks
The MAC address video showed how easy it is to add 2tb of usb3 western digital external to it as storage and most people would be great with that and if you need it to be faster thunderbolt NVME drives exist if you don’t want to pay that Apple tax I have a feeling it’s going to be like comparing the power pc Macs to the Intel ones as they aged
I know this, expected you would do. For last 2 months, people have been searching for the very specific iMac in all German used markets. Didn't understand why the rush since I'm a windows-Linux user. Now I completely get the picture.
bleurghh as soon as he unwrapped the old imac i was immediately reminded how gorgeous and uncompromised it was and now i just dislike the new one even more
Great vid. Back in January of 2020 (before the announcement of the M1 macs coming) i bought my wife a new computer to replace her 2012 Mac Mini. I ordered a 21.5” iMac Intel 6 core i5, 16g ram, 1t fusion drive, and an external Samsung T7 SSD for backup for about $2000.00 For how she uses it, it performs fine (she does office type things). I dont think it would be necessary to upgrade my machine based upon her workflow needs and what a pain it was to watch you perform this upgrade. I upgraded the memory and serviced the fan in the old Mac mini, it wasn’t difficult. I hope we can expect to keep her computer for the next five years, and then see what is available at that time…..
Ive done work on my own 27" Imac and i know the power supplies are dangerous, but as long as I have it unplugged and have pressed the power button and relax I am much less likely to get nervous and mess up and touch it, from my experience.
@@M13x13M that's like saying you hate big cakes because your small cake cutter takes too long to cut big slices of cake. Or like saying i much prefer smaller living rooms because it takes such a long time to clean floors with my toothbrush.
Mine is a late 2013, i7. It’s been a solid workhorse for 10 years now, never let me down. 2 years ago I replaced the fusion with a 6TB SSD, and it gave it a whole new boost, felt great. Last week though the screen went glitchy and I had to use target disk mode to get my data which is fine. I think either the logic board has gone or the graphics card. Not sure what to do now, get it fixed up or indulge in a new Mac. The thing is there’s no new Mac I want, nothing to really replace the old 27 inch iMac. I’d get a Mac mini M2 Pro is I could still use my old iMac as the monitor, but it seems apple don’t want you doing that.
I have already upgraded my late 2015 i5 27" iMac from 8GB to 32GB, and from 1TB fusion drive to 2TB crucial MX500 SSD. I didn't even think about upgrading the i5. I WONDER what is the fastest biggest CPU that is COMPATIBLE with my CPU socket? The upgrade did breathe new life into the 27" and it no longer makes me wait to load or do things. It's slower than my 16" i9 MBP but for day to day use it's fast!
Intel already has to licence the x64 architecture from AMD after the Itanium fiasco, and they cross licence various other technologies too. Intel is no longer master and commander of it's own architecture. Every so often, AMD gives Intel a bloody nose as a reminder. ARM slaughtered Intel in the mobile and low power markets, and now Apple makes the M1 ARM that has Intel worried at the higher end. Folks at Intel must be wondering if it can get much worse.
Money is an issues that everyone has for a better and luxurious life. life was hard for me until I started trading Bitcoin and now earning $8,435 per week.....
Passed on silicone and got the 5k intel i9, 11 core, 3.6 ghz, 128 gb ram, Radeon Pro 5500 xt, internal 2 TB ssd Optimized for music production, protools, studio one, Ableton and Logic With my Apollo x6 interface and external ssd libraries (and back ups) I have the performance at home I was only getting with the trash cans in a studio HD environment
Luke, many many thanks for this. Unfortunately I ordered the wrong memory (I didn't see the 'Show More' so I didn't have the Amazon link). However I reinstalled everything including the original 8Gb RAM (and of course the i9 CPU and all works fine. I had a small difficulty with the top screen connector but that was replaced eventually. Parts left over..... Just one. A rubber tube about 1 cm long which is capable of being slid over a metal mounting in the iMac but which one? I now have everything held together with masking tape awaiting the arrival of the 32Gb with the correct spec before I finally seal up with the adhesive strips. Many thanks for the excellent video and I am of course subscribed. Now to install Monterey!
Thanks for the tips! Just finished the install. I like OWCs trainng videos bc I don't read so good. Used the OWC RAM upgrade instructional video, then switched to this video for the CPU stuff. Great channel BTW!
This is what makes me happy... upgrading against the grain. I hate limitations, mostly in computers.... soldered parts make me see red. Very nice work, sir. And omg what a beautiful machine... absolutely beautiful.
Could I upgrade a 2017 era 27inch iMac with the i7-7700k with this same approach ? ---> to an I9 that I just buy off the shelf in 2024? would that make any sense ... or would I have reduced ram speeds and or other differences ...
Which do you think is a better value? An M1 iMac or one of these 21.5" iMacs with some customizations? Would you put money into RAM or storage upgrades? Would you attempt a Core i9 install?
M1 mac mini
hackintosh
i prefer the core i9 imac due to the compatibility of software and upgradability. after this imac is unsupported you can still use it as a windows machine until it is dead.
21.5" is way too small.
But can it play Minecraft tho? Lol I’m just kidding my 2012 mbp can play Minecraft no problem.
I’ve done the upgrade on a 2019 iMac 21 half a year ago and it still works like a charm, just in case anyone is wondering about long-term stability. Disadvantage: fan noise starts very quickly as soon as a process begins eating CPU. Sometimes even during Zoom calls… but the point is not: is this faster/better than the M1. The point is that computers SHOULD be upgradable!
Not if you buy any Macs from Apple, Lol. Apple's new motto is IF you want DIY upgrades, go buy a PC!
@@PaimonVentChannel Well - its not only DIY - but before - I could by an iMac from some reputable reseller (i.E. Gravis here in Germany) with an own workshop who could upgrade it for me - for a fraction of the cost Apple wanted and with warranty of course - all this is gone...:-(
@@PaimonVentChannel I know it’s old but same with samsung
should have gotten a pc, or better yet build one yourself ;)
@@danielt619ost phones dont allow diy upgrades and even most laptops either despite other SSD
Imagine selling this iMac on eBay and everyone is so confused about how can a 21.5 iMac have a core i9 in it
That’s literally what I do currently and I get a crap ton of messages and confused people. It was a great idea but everyone thinks I’m scamming them
If he found a 5k one with a RX 580 or better and did these up with upgrades I would buy it. Lol!
@@envy6886 RX 580 is AMD, not NVIDIA
@@envy6886 LOL what? do you know anything about these model names
you'd be surprised about the sh-t you see on ebay...
Anybody else just loves to see getting your hands dirty on the hardware? Disassembling and putting back things together is soul soothing…
I'm 83 and have done two 21.5" imacs, for me and a friend, piece of cake. I've done Macminis, the old CRT bubble shaped iMacs, emacs over the years. Power supply in the imac never worried me, I left the imac disconnected for a couple of days and any residual charge drains away. I didn't got to the i9, didn't know you could do it but went from i3 to i7.
what i7 did you buy good sir?, i9 are to expensive right now and they are bottlenecked by the graphics card anyways so im interested in getting an i7.
Incredible! Respect from china.
taking a look at those bezels now that the new iMac has been released makes them look waaaay bigger
Both sets of bezels are bad, but much prefer the old design (though bezels should be slimmed down.)
I'd take the big black one.
That's what she said.
Black bezels are way better than white tho, especially on this glass display when it’s off.
In hindsight I can't imagine how frustrated Apple's engineers must've been for years when Intel couldn't deliver chips cool enough for their designs and actually receiving flack for it from the public, to the point where they just said fuck it we'll make our own cpu and reprogram our whole os to run on arm, what an apple thing to do
Tbh though intel just isn't/didn't wanna spend the time to develop a whole new processor line just for apple, apple is given Intels current gen and apple has to design around it.
That could have been at least mitigated by a few mm thicker chassis... but Apple is a quite stubborn company for better or worse.
And it was the best move for them and the consumer, ARM is the future.
@@swiftrealm as with everything time will tell... apple isnt always right and not always the best when it comes to internal designs (they just make it more eye candy then what its internals could cope with). as an it support engineer, i can tell you how much i hate apple's pre-apple chip internals. people kept praising apple designs without actually realizing how they were internally... constant cleaning/fixing/repairing due to most common issues of over heating caused by the dumbest cooling solutions apple had in mind.
all the mac lines suffered thermal issues from the beginning... intel/amd are general use cpus for gazillion hardware combinations... apple's only option was to switch to its own custom cpu. ibm path was stuck, moved to intel, it got stuck... their own design give them a bit more headroom, but we ll see how long it ll take to hit the wall... but at least, now they can control many aspects of the features for their designs... but its not like intel or amd doesnt know how to design cpus, it is unwillingness to design around parts, they want parts designed around their shells/form factors... not always the smartest choice... apple maybe will learn something in the long run about these
@@thiccboi1012 They actually did for the original MacBook Air, but Intel under-delivered on their promises after Skylake and everything went downwards from there.
For me this would be worth it! The ports, the RAM, the huge amount of cheap(er) storage space you can have available. Didn't know you could so easily swap the i3 out for an i9. I've done multiple 21.5 and 27 inch upgrades and surgeries and honestly, if you like tinkering around with this kind of stuf, it's not that bad.. The power supply thing is a but iffy, but it feels like a relief when you've done it. Then the rest is relaxing and fun IMO. And I'm not an expert or a tech by any means.
@Sing it like a Pro can I buy a 2019 27-inch iMac to send it to you to upgrade for me? I don't want to die from the power supply
You might be able to answer my question then! Once the updates that Luke did are done, is an outdated iMac now capable of receiving newer MacOS updates?
@@justinmilum2638 OS support from Apple is purely based on model. This still retains the original model number so support wouldn't change. Honestly as they move away from Intel, the support will go with it. They just ended the 27in, that leaves just the pro and mini, and the mini is probably just already manufactured stock.
Just put kapton tape over the PSU or better yet unplug the Mac the night before and you will be fine
Watching Luke Miani before bed is like listening to a bed time story
He bores you
@@gerardob7364 I don't think so.
@@gerardob7364 Nah. He's good.
then watch Anurag codes :P
@@nicholashoi3155 well, i do
You madlad you actually did it!
well it's sad that no matter how much apple takes their customers for granted they keep coming back and buying their computers
I kept and upgraded my 2019 iMac 27 inch 5k over the M1. I use it for music production. 4tb SDD and i9 with 64 gb ram is a dream
I am doing this to my 2017 iMac in July / August and going to have fun doing it.
how did it go? I have an opportunity to pick up a 2017 iMac for cheap!
I hope they release news about a new IMac Pro with a different style than the base
I agree
They will for sure.. this autumn.. 27” Black Frane, Space gray color and the cool night green from the iphone pro.. and.. 5000$ the basic one… lol.. Just to fuck us all..
@@smyr1981 nope im not sure they gonna update the imac pro maybe they willupdate it after the transition end
I do it every night.
pro tip: put some wide masking tape on the power supply before tackling the connectors, a couple of layers will reduce your anxiety considerably.
Electrical tape would be significantly better
Good on you for showing how to ensure the proper alignment of the I/O. The importance if this cannot be understated!
13:02 wow I never realized how thicc the bezel of older imacs.
This would be great on 27" model, but this is a great update
OMG, YOU'RE RIGHT! Intel i9 and a Radeon Pro 5700... Forget about the M1.
@@JerridFoiles thats what i got right before the m1 were announced, 27 inch 3.6ghz i9 radeon pro 580x 2tb ssd
Luke why not use a snuffer stick (basically a prod with a giant resistor and capacitor) to drain the voltage from the psu? You can make your own or buy a premade one from stew mac. Much safer. Used in tube amp repair for guitars all the time.
The power supply risk cannot be overstated. While the process overall is more tenuous than standard PC work, it isn’t necessarily the worst ever. But having had the pleasure of being shocked by a power supply, I’d advise caution for other DIY’ers. My experience was fortunately quite mild and I’ve torn into a few older iMacs, but it stung me bad enough to give me grave respect for it. (I wasn’t doing this upgrade, but rather doing some work on a failed GPU on a 2011 iMac at the time.)
I wish I had the skills Luke has to just do those things myself, it's like a superpower. Plus an iMac user-upgradable, totally maxed out, it's really worth it over the M1, at least for now.
Just a hint for the next time you need to remove a power supply. Place some Kapton Tape over it to help prevent touching the traces. Then remove the tape when done.
No just wear gloves!
@@mousecursor0 gloves are terrible when working with these tiny screws.
@@SuperSport1966 no its fine just unscrew the screws then put on the gloves and take out the power supply and work with no gloves simple
@@SuperSport1966 they’re also useless since any of those pins poke right through them *and* the high voltage would go right through them even when intact.
Is there not a way to discharge the power supply by holding the power button when unplugged?
Amazing project. I guess nobody would even think about trying this, so kudos for doing it for all the people out there that might want to update their 21 inch iMac and use it even more. Amazing performance as well. I must admit its nice to be able to properly run Windows if you need it to.
it's not hard but delicate.
Power supply is not a main concern here. The problem is that 21,5 logicboard does have enough VRM phases to handle i9. This would cause extreme temps on VRM section which has no cooling on this logicboard. Using it with i9 CPU in a long run will most likely cause VRM short circuit
I recently upgraded my late 2012 21.5inch iMac from the base model to the top spec (yes including gpu) i7, 16GB RAM and 1TB SSD and it works like a charm... planning to use it for a lot longer now.
That is awesome! Still running?
@@ThunderStruck94660 yes as smooth as ever :)
Fantastic job. I'm in the same boat as you... 2012 imac i5 model. After doing the upgrade, does it let you upgrade the mac os (currently maxed out at Catalina 10.15)?
thanks
I love these upgrade videos. I'd love to see the results of one with the maxed out GPU too.
Mine got at least the RX560X, thats equal/better than the M1 and it‘s not even the highest config
Luke Miani's video's just keep's on getting better.
Keep up the good work
❤
I’ve thought about doing this but then I reconsidered for this reason: The m1 will be supported for longer with Apple software. I tend to keep my machines for a very long time.
I doubt many will be keeping their M1 products for as long as they could with earlier Macs. The soldered in non replaceable/upgradeable SSDs have a limited lifespan and when the SSD is dead the Apple joy ends. Non upgradeable/replaceable RAM is also a problem. I still have 2009 Mac Pros which have been upgraded to 12-Core 3.46GHz machines with up to 128GB of RAM, modern graphics cards and modern NVMe SSDs.
Pre T2 security chip iMacs had upgradeable/replaceable RAM, CPUs and storage which will allow those Macs to potentially last many years longer than current models but that means less money for Apple so....
I knew this would work. This is why I bought one of these instead waiting for the M1.
I replaced a fusion drive with an ssd at my work and it was certainly a process.
Pro Tip: Cover the exposed Power Supply connections with wide electrical/duct tape
Great mod Luke. IMO, most consumers won’t be needing this but would definitely appreciate running the casual iOS and iPadOS games on a big screen like the M1 iMac.
This mod would certainly give hope for fellas who have their daily workflow apps which aren’t optimized for M1 and they don’t wanna spend on iMac Pro.
Good timing when a Luke Miani video comes out right when I finish school.
Yours are the videos I always look forward to seeing. Apart from being a very talented and intelligent human being, you're also a great entertainer. Awesome video with very interesting content. Kudos to you.
Man, I'd love to see a long-term usage follow-up video on the 21.5" i9 iMac.
one time I was working on a 2009 iMac and forgot to unplug it. touched the supply with my bare hand on accident and fried it. Luckily I was fine lol.
Luke, disarm the bad ass power supply by pressing the power button 15 seconds to discharge it after disconnecting the power cord.
“It is thin, it is beautiful, uh, this one’s purple” 🤣
Loved it too! :D
I swear it’s blue
i was looking for this comment 😂
Get a large resistor and use it to short and drain the power out of the power supply it’s something good to keep on hand.
Luke has great mind to select bgm which is soothing and satisfying......!
Just did this on my iMac worked like a charm!
I have done a processors that were different than listed on both 27 and 21.5 inch. Honestly i prefer it because you can still have an obscene amount storage, ram and two hard drives without spending like 10000 dollars. My next goal is to find a 27 inch 2019 with the highest graphics and put a better i9 and more storage/ram in there
in fact the 2019 is better than the 2020, because you can place 2 units, ssd sata and nvme. the 2020 is already soldered the storage
I have just bought all the parts and the iFixit kit off your list and will be attempting the upgrade. Especially as I bought this iMac new in 2019
How difficult would it have been for Apple to cut an access port in the back of that pc to make at least a RAM upgrade easy?
It’s clearly made on purpose to make it difficult and make people buy another one instead
That bezel is ENORMOUS.
Interesting video. I'm good with the M1 especially for my wife's needs as a real estate agent. Apple really did a great job with their own CPU.
i love you man this is my imac and now i know whats possible
I like these kind of things but the number of screws you have to deal with punches my head.
I love my 2019 iMac so much, planning to get i7 and 16 gigs. I have i5 and 8gigs right now.
"It's so good, Apple didn't even give it to us" - Luke Miani
I know, right?
Apple would never build something like this or if they did, they would charge an arm and a leg for it. Makes sense only way around it is to upgrade it yourself.
@@NormanF62 Apple would build one of these if they thought the economics were viable and the long term testing didn't throw up any technical issues. I doubt that the numbers stacked up, bearing in mind the impending move to Apple Silicon and the number of units they would expect to sell.
Having a powerful Core i9 in a small 21-inch iMac is perfect! I prefer it over the 24-inch M1 iMac because it only has 2 or 4 USB-C ports. The M1 is also an ARM CPU, so it’s more efficient but not as compatible. When it comes to choosing a CPU, I want it to be fast enough and compatible.
I like what you put together here! Although I would have loved to have seen some real world tests in Logic and FCPX to see how Mac applications perform when pushed to their limit.
Yeah same I was a little disappointed we didn't see much in the way of native M1 to native x86 benchmarks - not that we haven't seen it before, but I don't think necessarily in this situation with the thermals of the 21.5 etc.
Same... Max Tech did some real world vs the old iMac vs the M1 on those apps
The Fusion Drive that my 2015 iMac was SOOOOOO SLOOOOOWWWWWW but I replaced that drive with a 1tb ssd
Reminds me of my maxed-out 2012 Mini. A CPU & RAM beast, strangled by the non existing GPU. Effective but not fun.
@Nova on a 2012? Not sure that’s even *possible*, let alone working well.
Is there some reason why you don’t drain the capacitors on the power supply while removing? I work a lot with tube audio equipment which also store huge charges in their filter caps in the power supply sections and generally use a 10k resistor with a length of 14 gauge insulated hookup wire and alligator clips to ground out and thus drain the charge from these caps. You might also use electrical tape to cover the open traces on the ps board while handling it. Just saying.
Great video! Would love to see you put an M1 inside an iBook G3 clamshell and update the display.
@TOH MIN HAO it doesn’t
THIS IS THE BEST COMMENT ! ~klb~
I have the late 2015 of this exactly the same one and so far there is no fail
i never knew that you could actually upgrade the 21.5" imac, i'll have to finally upgrade my 2017 with an i5 to an i7
You can actually upgrade a lot of things on non M1 iMacs. It’s just harder then on a standard pc. You often hear people saying there is no upgradability but that’s just straight up false. You can upgrade CPU, Ram, Storage and GPU via Thunderbolt 3. on iMacs before 2012 you could even upgrade the GPU internally all though it was some kind of a weird standard
Changing topic slightly. I bought my first imac after watching your videos and did an upgrade. Now I have a great bargain computer. Thanks Luke.
I like the project. I'd much rather have the upgraded older model simply because of the look and the IO/ports situation.
I am in love with this project! 21,5 is so cool and design? Better than new one for me any day!
As a Mac technician, I can tell you that getting shocked by the power supply is something you never forget after the first time. I lost feeling to my arm for a solid 3 hours, and needed a new set of underwear.
Can't you ground the PSU to avoid getting any shocks? There must be a way to discharge them.
Did you touch it immediately after unplugging it or something? Aren't they supposed to be safe to handle after like 10 minutes of being unplugged according to apple's documentation? I've been working on these for a couple years and have yet to be shocked because I don't go digging in immediately after prepping them for surgery.
@@christianmccollough5005 my hand brushed against it while removing the display. It was unplugged for about a half hour before I started work on it, since that’s my precaution since I know those leads are exposed.
@@TheGloriousLeader I must be exceptionally lucky then. I can't even get out of my car in the mornings without the door static shocking me as I close it, so I await my inevitable end at the hands of an iMac when the collective souls of hundreds of dead machines finally reach from the grave and touch me.
Does it still dangerous to remove the power supply if the power cable is unplugged for days?
I’m actually shocked that Apple didn’t solder the RAM, SSD, and CPU into that 2019 iMac so you can’t upgrade it..
Oh Hi Windows Vista how is it goin´?
@@Xbrox_Official lol
iMacs are built with desktop parts so its easy to service and upgrade them. I think in the new M1 line, Apple purposely switched to laptop parts to make that impossible. Why would any one want an M1 iMac? That’s a very good question, indeed.
Beautiful 24 in. display.
@@NormanF62 People want an M1 Mac for the same reasons they want any other Mac. It's what Apple makes, and if you like Apple Macs, you buy what they sell. If not, you buy a generic Windows/Linux box. If Apple made Macs out of pasta and chewing gum, some people would still want one. 😁
I've seen some news (in Portuguese, mind you) on Facebook about "a guy that made an Intel 21,5" iMac better than an M1 24"" and I didn't open it, then I go on UA-cam to find out that the "guy" is our guy Luke. Nice!
man, you're brave! i'm scared of that power supply. i'm excellent at dis-assembly...re-assembly...not so much! there always seem to be 'extra' screws & doo-dads left over. good work, bud. 👊🏻
Luke, I watch your videos because you have a unique perspective on things as opposed to the majority of the Mac fanboys/girls. You look at possibilities with hardware that most ignore and I find interesting. Keep up the good work.
“This is the most powerful imac that this model can be”
Me: proceeding to take apart a 1000w PSU to cram into an iMac so I can use a 9900k
/s
How did that go?
I'm suprised the 1 dinky heatpipe is able to cool that chip, let alone anything
@@richeyrich2203 I’m guessing not well, as they would have no luck getting machine code from Apple to upgrade the BIOS to run the K version.
Ive done this. its works. its great.
Neat! I'm sure it's whisper quiet too, yes?
I successfully did this, installing a i9-9900, 4TB SSD, and 64GB Ram. Thanks
planning on this, did you go with sata or the m.2/nvme/ngff slot for your 4tb drive? not sure what would be the most cost effective for me given it's a lot cheaper to get this imac model without the nvme slot. thanks
@@novafaded6006 I already had a 2019 iMac without the name slot. So mine is a 4tb SSD data connection.
The MAC address video showed how easy it is to add 2tb of usb3 western digital external to it as storage and most people would be great with that and if you need it to be faster thunderbolt NVME drives exist if you don’t want to pay that Apple tax
I have a feeling it’s going to be like comparing the power pc Macs to the Intel ones as they aged
I know this, expected you would do. For last 2 months, people have been searching for the very specific iMac in all German used markets. Didn't understand why the rush since I'm a windows-Linux user. Now I completely get the picture.
bleurghh as soon as he unwrapped the old imac i was immediately reminded how gorgeous and uncompromised it was and now i just dislike the new one even more
Is there not any way to safely discharge the power supply? Like what is usually done when servicing CRTs.
how about stuffing an M1 logic board in a 21.5" mac?
He already did that one. Check his videos.
The IO wouldn’t really line up
I like these iFixit collab videos - keep em coming
Are you able to upgrade the video card too?
Great vid. Back in January of 2020 (before the announcement of the M1 macs coming) i bought my wife a new computer to replace her 2012 Mac Mini.
I ordered a 21.5” iMac Intel 6 core i5, 16g ram, 1t fusion drive, and an external Samsung T7 SSD for backup for about $2000.00
For how she uses it, it performs fine (she does office type things). I dont think it would be necessary to upgrade my machine based upon her workflow needs and what a pain it was to watch you perform this upgrade. I upgraded the memory and serviced the fan in the old Mac mini, it wasn’t difficult. I hope we can expect to keep her computer for the next five years, and then see what is available at that time…..
This gives me Hugh Jeffreys vibes Good Job though!
Ive done work on my own 27" Imac and i know the power supplies are dangerous, but as long as I have it unplugged and have pressed the power button and relax I am much less likely to get nervous and mess up and touch it, from my experience.
Still salty about not getting M1X (or M2) back when they were announced...
I've taken my 2013 iMac apart a few times, and I find it easier to lay it down on it's back.
Hey have you seen the M1 iMac explosion incident in Kenya? Truly heartbreaking stuff 💔
just curious would rubber gloves resolve that whole power supply / shock issue?
The 21 inch screen is just completely unusable today. This screen size went obsolete about 15 years ago.
And then there’s me using a 15.6 inch laptop screen! 😂
Actually I find 21 inch to be a faster for CADd. Big screens take too much time to a scroll.
@@M13x13M that's like saying you hate big cakes because your small cake cutter takes too long to cut big slices of cake. Or like saying i much prefer smaller living rooms because it takes such a long time to clean floors with my toothbrush.
me with my 19" desktop monitor...
Me using 21,5 inches and being totally fine:
Mine is a late 2013, i7. It’s been a solid workhorse for 10 years now, never let me down. 2 years ago I replaced the fusion with a 6TB SSD, and it gave it a whole new boost, felt great. Last week though the screen went glitchy and I had to use target disk mode to get my data which is fine. I think either the logic board has gone or the graphics card. Not sure what to do now, get it fixed up or indulge in a new Mac. The thing is there’s no new Mac I want, nothing to really replace the old 27 inch iMac. I’d get a Mac mini M2 Pro is I could still use my old iMac as the monitor, but it seems apple don’t want you doing that.
Just wear gloves when taking out the power supply!
I have already upgraded my late 2015 i5 27" iMac from 8GB to 32GB, and from 1TB fusion drive to 2TB crucial MX500 SSD. I didn't even think about upgrading the i5. I WONDER what is the fastest biggest CPU that is COMPATIBLE with my CPU socket? The upgrade did breathe new life into the 27" and it no longer makes me wait to load or do things. It's slower than my 16" i9 MBP but for day to day use it's fast!
It's all fun & games until Intel ends up like Cyrix.
Intel already has to licence the x64 architecture from AMD after the Itanium fiasco, and they cross licence various other technologies too. Intel is no longer master and commander of it's own architecture. Every so often, AMD gives Intel a bloody nose as a reminder. ARM slaughtered Intel in the mobile and low power markets, and now Apple makes the M1 ARM that has Intel worried at the higher end. Folks at Intel must be wondering if it can get much worse.
Watching Luke reassemble an iMac is more relaxing a massage 👌🏼
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I got same year iMac 2019 27” 9900k but the ram upgrade is accessible from the back plate, way easier than here.
Dope and helpful video dude I appreciate it. Literally no video like this on UA-cam from anyone I trust. Thanks again.
Passed on silicone and got the 5k intel i9, 11 core, 3.6 ghz, 128 gb ram, Radeon Pro 5500 xt, internal 2 TB ssd
Optimized for music production, protools, studio one, Ableton and Logic
With my Apollo x6 interface and external ssd libraries (and back ups)
I have the performance at home I was only getting with the trash cans in a studio HD environment
Luke, many many thanks for this. Unfortunately I ordered the wrong memory (I didn't see the 'Show More' so I didn't have the Amazon link). However I reinstalled everything including the original 8Gb RAM (and of course the i9 CPU and all works fine. I had a small difficulty with the top screen connector but that was replaced eventually. Parts left over..... Just one. A rubber tube about 1 cm long which is capable of being slid over a metal mounting in the iMac but which one? I now have everything held together with masking tape awaiting the arrival of the 32Gb with the correct spec before I finally seal up with the adhesive strips. Many thanks for the excellent video and I am of course subscribed. Now to install Monterey!
Thanks for the tips! Just finished the install. I like OWCs trainng videos bc I don't read so good. Used the OWC RAM upgrade instructional video, then switched to this video for the CPU stuff. Great channel BTW!
you are always willing to take on a new challenge, repairs or upgrades, they are great videos, so why not more of them in the future
This is what makes me happy... upgrading against the grain. I hate limitations, mostly in computers.... soldered parts make me see red. Very nice work, sir. And omg what a beautiful machine... absolutely beautiful.
Wow i completely forogt how BIG these bezels are
Could I upgrade a 2017 era 27inch iMac with the i7-7700k with this same approach ? ---> to an I9 that I just buy off the shelf in 2024? would that make any sense ... or would I have reduced ram speeds and or other differences ...