Apple iMac G4 Teardown - The Electronics Inside

[@snoballuk]

Regarding mouse balls being thrown around in a school - I used to do IT support in a school and that happened all. the. time. My solution was to superglue the circular cover shut. No more missing/thrown balls. Kids would still stick pennies in the floppy drives though.

[@a531016]

Fortunately, shortly after TFT screens, optical mice became a viable option! I seem to remember all sorts stuck in the floppy and cd drives. And in ventilation holes for that matter!

[@Eblackadder1982]

then you couldn't clean the mouse

[@kjamison5951]

Well, Apple used PowerPC chips in the G5 iMac as well... I own several as well as some Intel iMacs which replaced the G5... around 2005/2006 IIRC. I was fortunate to be bought an intel Dual Core iMac with 2GB of RAM and a 160GB hard disk for my work. I immediately swapped out the 160GB drive for a 500GB drive... I used it from 2006 through to 2017. I did everything on it despite having access to Intel PCs running Windows. It was this iMac computer which made me choose Apple over Windows and I have now abandoned Windows altogether (except in my new job). Even my Mom uses Apple gear. She has a 2009 iMac with maxed out RAM and an SSD fitted. I fitted a PATA SSD to my iMac G4 just like the one you have.

[@a531016]

2006 - 2017! That's a good run for any piece of kit! How do you find the SSD? Was it a speed upgrade or was the interface a limiting factor?

[@jjjohniee]

Just taken one apart myself before I saw this, did exactly the same with the screen, once you undo the 3 screws the whole screen plastic surround and all actually just pushes Down out of 4 slots within the casing then lifts away from the casing, any spare Glue anyone. Once out there are 4 screws to take the plastic off with it's attached casting, (where we broke it off!). I also took apart the leg, couple of small nails and a lever between to undo the joints, the spring is strong but it doesn't travel far once apart and fairly easy to lever back together! Thanks for the Video anyway David! What can I say in our defence ...... Great minds think alike, "YeS!"

[@ingusmant]

"somebody forgot to put the screws back on!" [PERMANENTLY BREAKS THE BEZEL TABS]

[@caldeira99]

I still love my little sweet I Mac, thank you for this great information ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

[@servingphish9182]

I almost commented to replace the battery to solve the problem, but looks like you figured it out on your own😂 something similar happened to my apple product years ago where it wouldnt turn the screen on but the power button would glow white as if it were on. I replaced the battery and it worked

[@nickmiller3796]

I wanted to see you put it back together :)

[@a531016]

I did (They take up less storage space when they are together)! The only bit that was really a challenge, is working out the correct routing of wires down each of the 5 spokes. The wires some of the connectors aren't long enough to be routed any way but the correct way!

[@Sirmellowman]

dude imagine a really cool modern sleeper build in that thing, it would be so freaking cool!

[@j.lietka9406]

Recently I found a G4 (15" I believe) in an E-waste dumpster. Haven't tested it yet, so not sure if it works. I kind of wonder if an ITX board could be, with some modding for fit, safety, & performance, mounted inside! Replace the old screen with a suitable newer one!

[@BigMacBook1300]

What tool do I need to take apart the telescoping neck. Thanks 🙏🏿

[@alisonmcgregor2002]

i love this iMac. so unique. it was released in the year i was born too so i love it even more

[@new_weegeegos]

You 18 y.o.? Or 19

[@alisonmcgregor2002]

19

[@Rooftopaccessorizer]

so you really could retrofit this with modern parts. i was worried you couldnt run a cable through the center. but i bet you could rip the case off of one of those usb monitors from amazon, glue it flush to the front panel, then run the cables in through it. the only issue would be that youd need one that just turns on when theres an input, and youd also have to get one that lets you adjust monitor settings externally. I bet you could even run a single fan gpu inside of this, but thermally might be a questionable move.

[@flooooooooooooooooo]

My parents had this model sitting around in the basement so i took it apart for fun and when i was reassembling it i accidentally dropped the computer and the bottom screw that i was putting in made a hole in my desk 😅

[@acmild]

Please some one, is there an alternative replacement/fixing for the 17” vesion PSU? Mine just got blown up and I still love to use it.

[@deitodaten]

Thanks

[@juhaseppanen770]

It really hurt to watch you to rip the LCD bezel off - I was actually shouting "don't do that - you don't need to do that, just push up". Anyway, good video otherwise. Apple has actually outsourced the production and component designs to Foxconn and others for quite some time since 1990's. When you look at the Airport cards they look "custom" but they are just standard PCMCIA or PCI cards with custom firmware. Also - the motherboard design was outsourced until unibody Macbook Pro's - the difference is huge in the system layout under the cover.

[@kjm-ch7jc]

Lets see you put it back together , LOL

[@TheGodOfAllThatWas]

OMG I didn't realize the 3060 pre-dated the monorail.... For years I've been thinking the 3060 in my collection is just a substitute for a monorail pc.... I was thinking of seeing if you wanted to buy my 3060 or trade a monorail for it, but now i'm not sure.... Anyway maybe hit me up if you want to make a serious offer.... I feel like shipping is going to be a nightmare for it though.

[@f1explained542]

The sticker over the hard drive is ABSOLUTELY for cosmetics so you wouldn't see the hard drive if you looked down the fan.

[@ethangilbertmedia]

5:47 how did you remove that last display connector?

[@fernandogomez3891]

is the same arm for all model 15 17 and 20"?

[@jspencer89yt]

Normal Apple design. Barely repairable screens lol

[@a531016]

With the benifit of hindsight, assuming you could get a replacement, it wouldn't be too hard. Labourious, but not hard. The fact a ripped the bezel off, we'll just not talk about...

[@00Klingon]

Apple repair guides for technicians detail how to replace major components, not actually repair what's gone wrong. This is partially why out of warranty repair costs so much through Apple.

[@ptmaysgmail]

the screen is glued to the front bezel but will flop right out of the back housing

[@104d_3rr0r_vince]

This in not a standard RAM module. If it went in Apple, automatically becomes a divine artifact that you should praise and pay triple the amount. RESPECT!

[@a531016]

Very good point, I hadn't thought of that!

[@unbekannternutzer8506]

It uses high-voltage CCF instead of LED Backlighting for the display.

[@a531016]

I was refering to the power LED embedded into the bezel, the "heartbeat" I believe it is know?

[@Nymunariya]

the Apple webcam (iSight) was fireware, because macs at that time still has USB1.1.

[@a531016]

Oh, I probably should have realised, thank you for the clarificaiton!

[@marcoraap733]

veryone and Foxconn worked since the 80s together.

[@a531016]

Well, at least it's a good relationship?

[@leenevin8451]

The bezel gone yellow

[@sugargliderdude]

i got one for £45, in the box with everything, in pretty much mint condition on max specs...

[@Sreekar617]

whoa

[@turbomustang84]

G5 was the final power PC versions

[@tigertailz4444]

i have 2 imac g4s

[@00Klingon]

This is just begging to have the guts replaced by a tiny intel NUC and configure it to be a hackintosh.

[@a531016]

I am very tempted!

[@einstein.1869]

But, did you get it WORKING????

[@a531016]

I, unfortunately, did not! I tried it after reassembly, and it was doing exactly the same. At least I didn't make it worse! I suspect if it ever powers on again, it'll be heavily modded, so repairing the 15 year old hardware isn't too necesarry? That said, I am open to suggestions if you might know what it is?

[@einstein.1869]

@@a531016 well, I find most problems start with PSU. As it's a switch mode, it will probably needs a load of some kind to test. Start with the filter caps and test the output. If it partially powers up, replace the thermal past and clean the ram connectors. Next look for swollen caps on the motherboard and replace them. Not sure what else to suggest

[@suhaslamkhade5265]

@@a531016 You get constant beeps after pushing power button... That means RAM is bad. Replace old RAM modules with equivalent new one... See if it works.

[@itsmesb4399]

The beeps are bdue to a memory issue.

[@a531016]

Thank you!

[@CulturedThugPoster]

Parallel and perpendicular are not the same thing !

[@a531016]

+ || ! Of course they are not, but since it stays in the same oreientation, regardless of the frame of reference, I guess neither is technically correct for where I used it?

[@pixelflow]

Tiny formfactor.. 90% taken up by full size cdrom drive??

[@a531016]

Probably about 50% CD Drive, 20% Hard drive, 20% power supply. Imagine what we could manage with no optical drive, an M.2 SSD and external power brick!

[@pixelflow]

@@a531016 I'm just curious if it was a pricing or a reliability issue with using a laptop form factor drive.

[@a531016]

@@pixelflow good question! Certainly by the next generation of iMac they had moved to laptop components. I would think it was a spec issue, 2.5 inch hard drives were much smaller and slower at the time. I don't think Apple would be worried about asking for more cost!

[@megatronskneecap]

The iMac G5 was a horrible machine for a dozen or so reasons. It was also however the last PowerPC iMac.

[@PX125E]

butchered

[@morganohagan5352]

First commentttt

[@a531016]

Well done!

[@NazD10]

Congratulations! Want a medal?