iFixit rips apart Apple's new 5K iMac in latest teardown

[Shawn Knight]

The key feature of Apple’s new iMac is in the name: the 5K Retina display. Despite the fact that Apple’s latest went on sale just days ago, the repair specialists at iFixit couldn’t resist the urge to see if the addition of a super high-resolution display would affect its repairability.

That, of course, meant a complete teardown was in order.

It is good news from the get-go as the machine features the familiar, easily accessible RAM upgrade access panel found on other iMacs. On the opposite side, the team discovered the process of removing the display requires a steady hand but otherwise hasn’t changed much.

With the 5K panel out, iFixit found it was manufactured by LG Display while much of the hardware that controls it comes from Texas Instruments. Yet as they delved deeper into the system, they realized that the layout of supporting hardware was almost exactly the same as last year's model.

If something isn’t broken, don’t fix it, eh?

All said and done, iFixit awarded the 27-inch iMac with 5K Retina display a repairability score of five out of 10 (10 being the easiest to repair). User-replaceable RAM, hard drive and CPU were all cited as positives although the latter two components require the removal of the display.

The fact that the glass and LCD are fused together as well as having to peel off the old double-sided sticky tape and apply new tape in order to remove and replace the display, however, earned negative marks from iFixit.

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/58489-ifixit-rips-apart-apple-new-5k-imac-latest.html

 

[Quyaan]

Very neat

 

[Guest]

iFixit rips apart Apple's $2500 iMac 5k... finds only $300 in actual components and gimmicks

 

[Guest]

That's right baby. Rip that inverter right off! Make sure your hands are wet too!

 

[VitalyT]

This product is very important for the market, raising the expectations. It won't take long before we start seeing 5K monitors for much less money than what DELL is trying to rip off its 5K offer.

I was a bit surprised that the screen panel came from LG. Now I'm not sure I want to buy their 34UC95 for $1500, it seems too much for a screen with 3440x1440 when the company already got 5K up their sleeve.

 

[Guest]

Inverter?

 

[yRaz]

This product is very important for the market, raising the expectations. It won't take long before we start seeing 5K monitors for much less money than what DELL is trying to rip off its 5K offer.

I was a bit surprised that the screen panel came from LG. Now I'm not sure I want to buy their 34UC95 for $1500, it seems too much for a screen with 3440x1440 when the company already got 5K up their sleeve.

What I normally see happen is that premium brands keep the price high for awhile until some under dog comes in with a budget oriented version. I think this price trend will continue into 2016. The market is still flooded with some oddball 4k models that the uninformed continue to buy. Until that stops we wont see any competitive pricing on high end 4&5k displays

 

[Guest]

You could build this for $300? Please tell me where to buy the components!

 

[Guest]

Please tell me where to buy the components!

Maybe in China.

 

[SuperVeloce]

iFixit rips apart Apple's $2500 iMac 5k... finds only $300 in actual components and gimmicks

yeah sure... have you ever seen intel cpu prices?

You could build this for $300? Please tell me where to buy the components!

lol don't get your hopes up. There will probably never be a 5k display under $1000

 

[Guest]

lol don't get your hopes up. There will probably never be a 5k display under $1000

Never? I remember when people were saying that about 14" LCD screens 15 years ago. One day in the not so distant future 27" 5k screens will be antiquated.

 

[yukka]

Build it for $300. Lol of course

 

[yukka]

I paid $1000 (£750) for my first HD Ready tv 9 years ago. 720p LG. Still works but the blacks aren't good.

 

[VitalyT]

I was checking the prices last night, and something just upset me - huge price differences from one country to another.

I looked at the online price of iMac Retina with top configuration (32GB RAM, i7, M295X, 1TB SSD), and converted those prices into euro as per the current exchange rates. And here's what I got:

USA: €3447
UK: €4437
Ireland: €4599
Germany: €4499
Spain: €4529
Sweden: €4553
Russia: €4007
China: €4109
Japan: €3263

In all, the prices start at €3263 in Japan, ending with €4599 in Ireland, for the exact same product. That's €1366 difference between markets.

And unfortunately for me, as I live in the rip-off Ireland, we have the highest price of them all.

 

[Railman]

And unfortunately for me, as I live in the rip-off Ireland, we have the highest price of them all.

Is that because you have a high rate of VAT? Ireland is 23% whilst UK is 20%.

 

[VitalyT]

Is that because you have a high rate of VAT? Ireland is 23% whilst UK is 20%.

That may be. I'm not worried about Ireland vs UK price difference, it is small. But Russia, USA, Japan, China - those get huge discounts, especially Japan.

In fact, a flight over to the USA costs much less then the price difference, worth going there just to buy the new product and bring it back.

Apple's pricing policy is quite rotten. It is not so much based on the local taxes, it is based mostly on what they think they can get away with.

 

[Evernessince]

Is that because you have a high rate of VAT? Ireland is 23% whilst UK is 20%.

That may be. I'm not worried about Ireland vs UK price difference, it is small. But Russia, USA, Japan, China - those get huge discounts, especially Japan.

In fact, a flight over to the USA costs much less then the price difference, worth going there just to buy the new product and bring it back.

Apple's pricing policy is quite rotten. It is not so much based on the local taxes, it is based mostly on what they think they can get away with.

You would most likely have to pay duties when you brought it back so it wouldn't be worth it. It's not like the government hasn't thought of that scenario.

 

[SNGX1275]

Apple's pricing policy is quite rotten. It is not so much based on the local taxes, it is based mostly on what they think they can get away with.

If you came to the US to purchase it, especially in a major city, you are going to get hit with at least 10% sales tax, so it really isn't as drastic of a price difference as you are seeing.

 

[Raoul Duke]

FWIW in Alberta, Canada there is no sales tax, only 5% Federal Goods and Services Tax. Top configuration $4893.00 CAD, free shipping. LOL

 

[VitalyT]

Apple's pricing policy is quite rotten. It is not so much based on the local taxes, it is based mostly on what they think they can get away with.

If you came to the US to purchase it, especially in a major city, you are going to get hit with at least 10% sales tax, so it really isn't as drastic of a price difference as you are seeing.

I quoted me for one thing, and them replied with something else. Anyway, it leaves a purchase from eBay.com as a good option to save money.

 

[risc32]

As much as I don't care for apple, I doubt this is their doing. This pricing structure is normal for many good from what I've seen. It's most likely just taxes, like VAT, as pointed out already. Maybe if you don't like your gov, you should vote them out.

 

[Sectran]

lol don't get your hopes up. There will probably never be a 5k display under $1000

Never? I remember when people were saying that about 14" LCD screens 15 years ago. One day in the not so distant future 27" 5k screens will be antiquated.

so you are planning to build an iMac after 15 years? smart move, you will probably build it at 70% off the current price ))