iMac Intel (2012 and Later) Upgrades

Replacing the Aluminium iMac. The Late 2012 iMac brought in a new, much thinner, case design, tapering to a "razor-edge" 5mm thickness at the edges.

The new models brought faster processors, memory and graphics cards. FireWire was dropped and the USB 2.0 ports upgraded to USB 3.0. All models can be configured from new with a PCIe attached blade SSD, along with a SATA 600 2.5" drive bay (21.5" display models) or a 3.5" bay (27") models, which could typically be set up to make a Fusion drive. Some models however, when sold without an SSD (or Fusion Drive) do not have the connector needed to add a blade SSD at a later date (the SATA 600 bay can always be used for an SSD).

Upgrades became more difficult. The new case design is significantly harder to open up than the previous models, making drive upgrades on all models much more challenging. In addition while the 27" display models has a hatch at the back that allows RAM replacement, the 21.5" model has no easy access to the RAM sockets. Until the Late 2015 revision, with the exception of the 1.4GHz model released in 2014, the RAM is not soldered onto the board (as was sometimes reported on release), but accessing the memory sockets is as difficult as the drive bays on the 21.5" model. From the Late 2015 revision, all 21.5in display models have soldered, non-upgradeable, RAM.

The thinner, tapered (5mm thick at the edge) screen distinguishes these iMacs from the earlier model.

The Late 2012 iMac was released in a 21.5" and 27" form factor. The 21.5" had 2.7GHz and 2.9GHz quad-core i5, and 3.1GHz quad-core i7 processor options, and came with 8GB of PC12800 1600MHz memory (upgradeable to 16GB at purchase, or with difficulty afterwards). Apple specs here. The 27" had 2.9GHz and 3.2GHz quad-core i5, and 3.4GHz quad-core i7 CPU options, and came with 8GB of PC12800 1600MHz RAM, upgradeable (easily) to 32GB. Apple specs here.

The Late 2013 model was very similar, bringing upgraded graphics and drive options, and slightly faster CPU speeds on the 27" model (3.2GHz and 3.4GHz quad-core i5, and 3.5GHz quad-core i7). RAM specs and options remained the same. Apple specs for the 21.5" here, and 27" here.

In Mid 2014 Apple released a new model, aimed to provide a lower priced option to the Late 2013 models (which remained on sale). This model has a much slower CPU - 1.4GHz dual-core i5, and comes with 8GB of RAM that is actually soldered onto the motherboard, and cannot be upgraded either at purchase or subsequently. Apple specs here.

In October 2014 the iMac Retina 5K was released, in a 27in form factor only. Released in a 3.5GHz Core i5 and 4.0GHz Core i7, the machine is internally very similar to the preceeding 27in models, apart from the major upgrade to the display and the upgrade on the Thunderbolts ports to Thunderbolt 2. RAM and drive upgrade options are the same. Apple specs here.

In May 2015 a new 5K display 27in model was released with a 3.3GHz Core i5 CPU. Apple specs here.

A full new line-up was released in October 2015, with 4K 21.5in display options, and 5K standard accross the 27in display range. RAM speed was upgraded to DDR3 PC14900 DDR3 1866MHz, but importantly for upgrades, the 21.5in models moved to soldered RAM for all models, marking the end to RAM upgrades for the smaller screen size. The 27in models continued to have easilly RAM upgrades. Apple specs for the non-4K 21.5in models are here, and for the 4K 21.5in here. The 5K 27in models are here.

Memory options for the 27" models are simple, memory can be fitted simply via a hatch on the back of the machine which reveals the 4 memory sockets. Models prior to the Late 2015 can take up to 4 modules of up to 8GB DDR3 PC12800 1600MHz SODIMM memory, for a maximum of 32GB. The Late 2015 revision can take up to 4 x 16GB of DDR3 PC14900 1866MHZ memory, for a maximum of 64GB

The 21.5" models are more difficult. The 1.4GHz Mid 2014, and all 21.5in models from the Late 2015 release cannot have its RAM upgraded at all. All earlier models have 2 slots which can take up to 8GB of DDR3 PC12800 1600MHz SODIMM memory, for a maximum of 16GB. Accessing the RAM is extremely difficult however, and we strongly advise professional installation (note: this will invalidate any remaining Apple warranty). It is also the same procedure that you need to follow to upgrade the drive in the machine, so we suggest combining the two upgrades due to the cost of installation (if you have us do the work, we only charge one install fee to do both).

These Macs do not have an internal optical drive. They can use external ones via USB.

These iMacs have the potential to have 2 internal drive bays. All models have a SATA 600 drive bay, used by Apple for a standard rotational hard drive (2.5" in the 21.5", and 3.5" in the 27"). Also many models were sold with a PCIe attached blade SSD (often configured as a Fusion Drive in conjunction with the rotational hard drive). However some models when sold with only a rotational hard drive lack the connector for the PCIe attached SSD - if you use our serial number or Model ID tools, our system will warn you if yours is one of these. Please note that currently we only have options for the PCIe bay for the Late 2012 revisions, third party replacement SSDs for later models are not yet available. In all models we can fit drives in either the 2.5" or 3.5" bays (an SSD can be fitted here instead of a rotational hard drive), although the procedure is not a simple one and will invalidate any Apple warranty remaining on the machine.

The procedure for fitting a drive is the same as doing RAM on those 21.5" models where the RAM is upgradeable (the 27" has easily accessible RAM), so if you are considering a drive upgrade in a 21.5" model that can take an upgrade, we suggest combining the two upgrades to save on fitting costs.

Please note that if you have a Fusion drive setup, it is using a combination of both the PCIe SSD and a rotational drive in the hard drive bay. Replacing either will destroy all data on the Fusion drive, we recommend you use our cloning service to preserve it.

Please contact us if you want to discuss options for your machine in more detail.

If you don't want to fit a new hard drive yourself, you can take advantage of the MacUpgrades Installation Service. Add the installation service from the list below to your cart along with your chosen hard drive. We can also clone your existing hard drive onto the new one, simply add the Clone Original Hard Drive service below to your cart.

Once you have booked the service, send your machine to us, we will carry out the work and return it to you. Alternatively, we do offer a Collection Service with our courier, please see here for details.

There are no graphics card upgrade options available.

All these iMacs have Thunderbolt ports, which allows a large range of upgrades to be used via Thunderbolt-attached expansion chassis.

These are the keyboards and mice we have for this Mac.

Listed below are power supplies, batteries and related products we supply for this Mac.

Listed below are power cables, tools and related products we supply for this Mac.

This iMac can used a wide range of external hard drives via its USB 3.0 and Thunderbolt connections.

Any complete machines of this type or similar that we have for sale are listed here. Please note that these are refurbished models with a 3 month warranty, and that delivery is likely to take 3 - 5 working days. These can be purchased online with the standard website courier delivery charge for the mainland UK only. Please contact us for a quote on shipping to other areas.

Here are the various repair services we offer for this Mac. You can have us take the machine in for evaluation, or book a fixed-price repair if you already know what the fault is and the service is listed below (for services without parts, please see the relevant tab on this page for compatible parts that we sell). If you know what the fault is, but we don't have a fixed-price repair listed below, please contact us for a quote.