14 DAY TRIAL // Apple’s iMac is often described as a device that’s nearly impossible to repair (with iFixit giving a repairability score of 5 out of 10) not to mention third-party upgrades that most people avoid doing without Cupertino’s blessing.
Luckily, it turns out that all you need to do to upgrade a 2017 27-inch iMac is a lot of research, compatible third-party hardware, and some skills, with YouTuber Snazzy Labs saying that the whole process took somewhere around 1 hour after knowing exactly what he had to do.
Snazzy Labs explains in his latest video that he purchased a mid-grade 2017 iMac to build the most powerful model that “Apple doesn’t sell,” so he bought a series of parts like an Intel i7-7700K CPU, a Crucial MX300 2TB SSD, and PC4-19200 260-pin RAM. Some other tools were also needed, such as a thermal sensor for the SSD, display adhesive kit, an SSD bracket, and an iMac opening tool.
$2,000 cheaper
Upgrading the iMac does seem to be a nightmare at first glance, as removing almost everything, including the motherboard, the display, and the speakers, is needed to replace the CPU, but once the device is disassembled, you can perform all the upgrades at once.
Of course, this involves lots of research, and the iFixit teardown is a good place to start, though you should make sure that you also check out repair guides and hardware compatibility documents.
After all these upgrades, Snazzy Labs’ iMac is the most powerful in the world, and what’s even more important, it is substantially more affordable than what Apple charges for the top hardware configuration, with his estimates pointing out that his configuration is $2,000 more affordable than Apple’s.
Furthermore, the final investment could be substantially lowered if the existing parts on the iMac are sold, with the CPU and the RAM valued at least a few hundred dollars.
