iFixit Teardown of New 21.5-Inch iMac Reveals Soldered-On CPU, Empty PCIe SSD Slot

Earlier today, iFixit conducted a tear down the new Magic Keyboard, Magic Trackpad 2 and Magic Mouse 2. They’ve now followed that up with a tear down of the brand new 21.5-inch iMac, and while the majority of the insides are the same as last year’s model, there are some notable differences.

First, the teardown found that the new iMac features empty PCIe SSD slots, allowing do-it-yourself upgraders to use the slots for their needs. Last year’s model did not include an empty slot for DIY-ers, leaving the solder spots for the SSD unpopulated.

The new iMac also features a soldered-on CPU. iFixit says the soldered CPU allows Apple to continue to streamline the insides of the iMac, this time including a “slimmed down and beautified” CPU heat sink. However, the teardown experts note that because the CPU is soldered onto the logic board it cannot be removed, upgraded or replaced, which means the iMac’s upgradeability will take a hit. This is the first iMac to feature a soldered-on CPU.

Minor revelations about the new iMac include a new display that fuses together the glass and LCD, with no more magnets holding the glass in place. The vast majority of the replaceable components, like the RAM, are hidden behind the logic board, which means users who want to upgrade parts by themselves have to take the iMac apart.

Overall, iFixit gave the new 21.5-inch iMac a repairability score of 2 out of 10, which means that the new desktop computer is extremely difficult to repair. iFixit also conducted a teardown of the bigger 27-inch iMac.