iMac Intel 20" EMC 2105 and 2118 Camera Lens Replacement

Schritt 1

Loosen the two Phillips screws securing the access door to your iMac.
Both screws remain captive within the access door.
Remove the access door.
Before beginning the repair, unplug the computer and press and hold the power switch for 20-30 seconds, to discharge internal capacitors.

Swapping in a new CPU and an SSD took me about 10 hours. I did take a dinner break and spent another hour rooting around in my garage to find my thermal paste. Still, this procedure can take a long time.

gordonhamachi - 16/01/15

Only a french translation proposal. We use to say “démontage” instead of “installation'“ in that specific case. ;-) (Dismantling)

francis barbier - 15/05/18

Schritt 2

Remove the following screws along the lower edge of your iMac:
Three 6 mm T8 Torx screws
One 8 mm T8 Torx screw (Right side of the RAM slot on 2105)

Schritt 3

Re-orient your iMac so it sits upright on the stand.
Insert a plastic card up into the corner of the air vent slot near the top of the rear case.
Push the card toward the top of the iMac to release the front bezel latch.
Pull the front bezel away from the rear case.
Repeat this process for the other side of the front bezel.
It may be necessary to apply several layers of duct tape to the top of the access card to aid in releasing the latches. Or use two cards for the additional thickness.
If the bezel refuses to release, try lifting the lower edge of the front bezel slightly away from the rear case (detailed in the next few steps) and repeat the latch release process.

I have never seen a pict of the bezel latch, I hope this picture link helps you to figure out what is inside that you need the cc to hit to release, I had a tough time making it work but managed just before I gave up! http://i209.photobucket.com/albums/bb35/...

ReneBruce -

the photo of latch is no longer there at Photobucket

rmshreffler -

When you put this back together, make sure you place the bevel latches UNDER/INSIDE the case frame.

robino -

Zitat von ReneBruce:

I have never seen a pict of the bezel latch, I hope this picture link helps you to figure out what is inside that you need the cc to hit to release, I had a tough time making it work but managed just before I gave up! http://i209.photobucket.com/albums/bb35/...

Thanks, your picture helped me.

robino -

Rather than through the vent at the back. Ease the bottom of the front bezel away from the screen and then in the gap created between the screen and the front bezel, insert your card here and push up to release the latch. This is especially the method to use, if you have already tried everything else above, as you may have bent the latches, and you'll never get them to relase the conventional way.

Charlie -

Good tip. I sort of did this out of desperation before reading this. Seem to work to get it apart. I'll have to see about getting it back together.

David Sutherland - 30/05/16

On the 24 inch model, there are no latches. Instead the front bezel has four tabs which slot into the rear case. It's very easy to remove.

manfred -

Wow, I really got stuck on the bezel. I tried a credit card, even a flexible metal scraper, nope nothing budged. I finally got going with help from this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QzuBW3mu7... which the guy has the machine lying on its back, then you can carefully bend the front bezel up until you see the latches, and I got the scraper in front of the screen and un-did the latches that way. Onto the next step!

sleestack -

Replaced one of the redundant images of the card going into the slot, with the previously linked image of the latch itself. I was struggling to figure out how to get the thing open, thinking it was a latch that pushed *up* to the top of the system, but it actually pushes *forward* towards the screen. That accounts for the bending of the card, and the excess length required to insert it. After figuring that out, the case came off nicely.

Matt Falcon -

Apple uses a powerful magnet to release these latches, but the official tool is not available. If you have access to a few failed hard drives, you can take out the magnets from those, and stack them up to have a magnet strong enough to easily open these latches.

Simply place the magnet on an upper corner of the machine, and when you hear a click, gently pull the corner of the front case forward. Repeat the process for the other upper corner. Use care not to pull on the iSight cables.

Note: Use care when handling the hard drive magnets, they are powerful, and you don't want them to snap together on your fingers. OUCH!

Zaphod -

This was perfect! I wish the original instructions mentioned the magnets.

I used magnets I pilfered from an old hard drive.

veganmo - 16/07/14

This is definitely the hardest part of this repair. I ended up doing what Charlie did and got it off after a lot of frustration.

aseisman -

The iMacs I've taken apart open simply with a magnet. I made a video to show exactly how the latch works inside. You do need a strong magnet like the hard drive internal magnet suggestion however they can be found in many places, just look for 'rare earth' or 'neodymium' and you'll find one. probably .3" cube would be big enough.

http://youtu.be/yvq035edr-I

there is the video that shows how the latch works. of course you may need TWO magnets to do both latches at the same time.

awr -

Save yourself some headache and get a magnet for this. I used these: www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004PWMVSI/ref=wms_ohs_product?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Sometimes just one will do the job, other times I've had to use all 4 together.

Much easier than trying to use a card.

maccentric - 04/05/14

sleestack is right on. The youtube vid is excellent for sliding the case right off without spudges and cards, etc. The vid's still there as of today, 9/30/2014. And the guy's foil removal is right on target, too. Very simple to replace the battery. I use this old 2006 computer with an old version of the PC program for Jobclock and only for that with Parallels 6 running the PC app. Don't want to upgrade or change anything at this point, going to milk it a couple more years. Got a nice big i5 for everything else. Oh, happy day.

infoghost - 01/10/14

Apple designed the latch to be released with a Magnet. That's it. That is the tool to be used.

Avoid frustration, hassles, wasted time: simply buy a "neodimio" Magnet.

Actually yes – IMHO It would have preferred iFixtit had mentioned a MAGNET to release the front Bezel, the credit card in an awkward and misleading (and not so smart) method.

I hope iFixit will change Step 3.

Giacomo Santerini - 10/03/15

Be very careful here. One of the sides did not release using the plastic card. I tried to push it a bit but it would not give. It did work using 2 cards. What I did not realized until the very end, when I turned the imac back on, is that I broke the display. Thanks a lot ifixit. I get the hard drive back to work now but with a damaged display. And I can't even buy a replacement one from you.

patmainville - 18/10/15

Yes the screens in these machines are easy to break. I've opened these sorts of machines at least a 40 times. You do need to be very careful with the display. The won't take any pressure from a wayward thumb or finger etc. I have broken one once, trying to get a latch to give. You have to be very conscious not to out any fingers in the display at all.

BUT, how you think this is anyone's but your own fault is beyond me. iFixit has no blame to take here.

Please everyone, read through all instructions carefully and learn from others'.

And to this poster, go buy one of these machines from eBay or find in one in hard rubbish to repair yours. These white iMacs are almost 10 years old now. And are scrap in most people's minds.

Charlie Nancarrow - 18/10/15

Schritt 4

Lay your iMac stand-side down on a flat surface.
To lift the front bezel off the iMac, simultaneously:
Use your thumbs to press in the RAM arms and hold the iMac down.
Use your index fingers to pull the small bridge of material on the front bezel toward yourself.
Pull the front bezel up with your index fingers.
Once the small bridge of material has cleared the RAM arms, lift the front bezel by its lower edge just enough to clear the bottom edge of the rear case.

Schritt 5

Lift the front bezel off the rear case and rotate it away from the bottom edge of the iMac, minding the camera and microphone cables still attached to its upper edge.

Schritt 6

If necessary, remove the strip of tape covering the microphone cable connector.
The microphone connector is located near the inside of top edge of your iMac.

i posted a note on the next page about disconnecting the microphone and camera cable. may help. reed it before disconnect.

sebalancea -

Schritt 7

Disconnect the microphone cable.
Disconnect the camera cable by pulling its connector away from the socket on the camera board.
The camera cable connector and socket are delicate and easily bent. Remove with caution.

there's no need to disconnect the microphone and camera cable. you can work against a wall and carefully rest the frame and the display on the wall.

sebalancea -

Zitat von sebalancea:

there's no need to disconnect the microphone and camera cable. you can work against a wall and carefully rest the frame and the display on the wall.

I didn't even use the wall, I just carefully pivoted the frame backwards and laid it on the table without disconnecting the wires

Bob -

Be careful. My microphone and camera cables looked a little bit different from this. My camera cable connector did NOT plug directly into the camera board (and I almost tried pulling the cable out of the board), but rather there was a cable to cable connector that was stuffed behind the monitor. I had to skip this step until the monitor was out. I have an early 2006 20" iMac.

avcaruso -

My Mac had a different camera board and it didn't appear that the cables could be detached. Leaving them in place and propping up the back of the case worked for me.

gordonhamachi - 16/01/15

I agree, no need to disconnect. I used a bunch of books (heavy books), to keep the monitor frame upright.

osfanatic - 08/04/15

Schritt 8

If necessary, remove the strips of tape covering the camera board.
Don't forget to reapply tape to the face of the camera board to avoid electrical shorts.

Schritt 9

Use the tip of a spudger to flip up the camera ribbon cable retaining flap.
Flip the tab away from the front face of the front bezel.
Use the tip of a spudger to pull the camera ribbon cable away from its socket on the camera board.

Schritt 10

Rather than being held down by screws, the camera board is held down by a black plastic bracket attached to the front bezel.
In the next step, you will rotate the two black retaining clips (shown in red) away from the camera board to free it from the front bezel.

Schritt 11

Use your thumbs to simultaneously rotate both retaining tabs away from the camera board while pushing the board up from either side with your index fingers.
Remove the camera board from the front bezel.