Introduction
Like brain surgery? Use this guide to replace your logic board.
What you need
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Lay the iMac display-side down on a flat surface.
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Loosen the three Phillips screws securing the rear panel to the iMac.
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Lift the rear panel slightly near the bottom of the iMac.
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Pull the rear panel toward yourself and remove it from the iMac.
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Rotate the center Phillips screw on the bottom of the iMac clockwise until the rear panel clamp contacts the edge of the case.
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While depressing the connector lock, use a heavy duty spudger to pry the power supply connector away from its socket on the logic board.
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Lift the power supply slightly from its left edge, then grab each side and rotate the power supply toward yourself.
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Rotate each of the two RAM retaining arms away from the RAM chip.
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Pull the RAM chip straight away from its socket.
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Disconnect both the left and right fan connectors by pulling them straight up off the logic board.
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Disconnect the SATA power cable by depressing the lock mechanism and pulling the connector straight away from its socket (parallel to the face of the logic board).
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Pull the optical drive up by its white pull tab to disconnect it from the logic board.
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Lift the free end of the optical drive slightly, then pull it away from the edge of the rear case to clear the two plastic positioning pins.
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Lift the optical drive out of your iMac.
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Use the tip of a spudger to lift the speaker cable slightly.
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Disconnect the speaker cable by pulling its connector straight up from the logic board.
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Use the tip of a spudger to slightly lift the lower fan cable and microphone cable.
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Disconnect the fan and microphone cables by pulling their connectors straight up from the logic board.
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Lift the AirPort card slightly by its plastic tab and pull it straight away from its socket.
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Insert the flat end of a spudger between the body of the AirPort card and its antenna connector.
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Push the spudger away from the AirPort card to disconnect the AirPort antenna.
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Use a spudger to push the AirPort antenna through the gap in the AirPort bracket.
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Pull the AirPort antenna out from underneath the AirPort bracket.
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Use your finger to lift the Bluetooth board from the right edge up off its socket on the logic board.
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Use a spudger to pry the antenna connector off the Bluetooth board.
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Insert the flat end of a spudger into the gap between the SATA data connector and the hard drive.
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Twist the spudger to separate the SATA data connector from the hard drive, then disconnect it from the hard drive.
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Disconnect the black inverter cable from its socket on the logic board by pulling the cable straight away from its socket toward the side of the iMac.
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Remove the following 9 screws securing the logic board to the midplane:
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Eight 7 mm T10 Torx.
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One 26 mm Phillips.
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Gently lift the logic board from its left side to clear the two pins mounted to the midplane.
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Lift the logic board out of the midplane. Careful, there is a light guide on the lower left that can tear if you are not careful. This guides the light to the power-on light at the front of the iMac.
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To reassemble your device, follow these instructions in reverse order.
To reassemble your device, follow these instructions in reverse order.