Heads up Re: New iMacs - Non User-Serviceable Hard Drives

Meld on 14/05/2011 - 19:58

The previous range of iMacs were easy enough to replace the hard drive. You just needed suction cups to remove the LCD screen which is just held in place by magnets. Youtube tutorials made it easy to learn how to do it.

But now, in an obvious attempt to increase service centre revenue, Apple has made the SATA cable and firmware proprietary on their new iMac range, which means you will have to service your iMac at an Apple store should you want a hard drive upgrade/replacement.

http://www.engadget.com/2011/05/13/new-imac-frees-you-from-t…

Meh, soon enough there will be ebay merchants selling hard drive replacement kits for 1/4 the price Apple is charging.

General Discussion

Comments

  • scrimshaw on 14/05/2011 - 20:09
    +1

    Bah people will still find a way around, pretty soon they'll be special tool kits and non-genuine accessories popping up on Deal Extreme and other chinese etailers to solve this issue.

    Does this seem like ethical practice to you? It's like Apple selling you a car, but they lock the bonnet down so you can't change the oil or swap out parts without having to take a trip to the service center.

  • NGPriest on 14/05/2011 - 22:16

    What about windows? :p

    • scotty on 14/05/2011 - 22:44

      We are talking about 2011 refresh of iMac here (hardware), whereas Windows is software.

      Well. If Microsoft says that you can only run software approved by Microsoft on Windows, then yes I think it would be comparable. You know, just like you can only run Apple-approved apps on an iOS device :P

      I think it would be good to actually read the source article. Apple started using "smart" hard drives with proprietary firmware and sensors on iMac for a while, and people managed to beat it with things like fan-control software. I am sure there will be hacks to circumvent it, but sometimes you do wonder what's the motivation making the builders/hardware modders' lives more difficult.

  • [Deactivated] on 15/05/2011 - 10:41

    Thanks for the "heads uP" - although I am not sure why you think its a "heads up"

    If you followed the threads a bit more you would have found, like Scotty indicates.

    1. Why they do this
    2. If there is a work around

    http://www.hardmac.com/news/2011/05/14/it-is-currently-impos…

    In summary the reasons for this is that Apple has always been proud of its desk noise footprint. As drives and components get hotter, the balance between keeping the computer cooler and noise changes. By monitoring the heat and maintaining it constantly means lower overall fan noise. As they also love small footprint designs this is more critical for them. Having luggable industrial strength ammunition box cases with water cooled tubes as traditionally found at gamesfests, isn't their thing.

    As the drive manufacturers all have different systems by developing a "standard" between drives that can also simplify manufacturing.

    See the French site for a visual on how to work around this.

    Now you can go back to your PC war games in the comfort you will have no problem with "your" Mac LOL

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