recycle old Imac.

[barbnor2]

I purchased an Imac in 2011. It recently crashed on me, so I bought a Mini Mac with the M1 chip. I cannot start the Imac up in order to erase the hard drive. There are no screws, so I can't open the Imac in order to take out the hard drive. Is there a way to safely recycle the Imac?

 

[MacInWin]

Take a look at ifixit.com for directions on how to remove the hard drive from that machine. If you are not planning to do anything but dispose of it, you can be fairly brutal in opening it to get to the drive.

Once you have the drive, get an external enclosure to connect to the new Mini and do the erase/recovery/whatever you want to do.

 

[chscag]

The 2011 iMacs were fairly easy to open to gain access to the hard drive. That was the last model iMac that Apple produced where the dispaly was held in place by magnets. All iMacs subsequent to the 2011 use glue strips.

As Jake pointed out, the ifixit site has good instructions.

 

[pigoo3]

Thread moved to better area (desktops).

Thanks,

Nick

 

[Randy B. Singer]

Is there a way to safely recycle the Imac?

Apple has a Reuse and Recycling Program.

Apple Trade In

The service allows anyone to send their old computers and monitors to Apple to be recycled for free -- regardless of brand.

apple News, Reviews and Information | Engadget

Get the latest apple info from our tech-obsessed editors with breaking news, in-depth reviews, hands-on videos, and our insights on future products.

www.tuaw.com

Contact them about bringing in your old computer to an Apple brick and mortar store and having them remove your hard drive for you and return it to you while they recycle the rest of your old iMac. They should be able to do it within minutes while you wait.

 

[barbnor2]

Take a look at ifixit.com for directions on how to remove the hard drive from that machine. If you are not planning to do anything but dispose of it, you can be fairly brutal in opening it to get to the drive.

Once you have the drive, get an external enclosure to connect to the new Mini and do the erase/recovery/whatever you want to do.

I looked at Ifixit.com. What should I search for? Everything I tried failed. I am an 80 year old, fairly adequate computer person, but this has me stumped

 

[chscag]

The ifixit site has gotten more complex and sometimes difficult to find what you're looking for.

Try these instructions: (check the step by step procedure)

mid 2011 iMac Hard disk Replacement

if you have experianc with replacing drives on PC's this will be easy. If not, make sure to watch the video and there are some other things you...

www.ifixit.com

 

[MacInWin]

Charlie, that is a dreadful video. Just still shots, refers to previous videos with no links.

Try this: How to Install a Hard Drive into a 27-Inch iMac (Mid 20

 

[chscag]

I was actually looking for the step by step procedure that ifixit normally has. But you're right, that video is not very good.

But if all he wants to do is recycle that 2011 iMac, then removing the display and afterward the hard drive, should be easy enough. The 2011 iMac displays were not glued to the chassis as are the later models.

 

[jpdemers]

The old iMac can be recycled profitably by selling it on eBay - even without a hard drive installed, it will bring in a few hundred dollars if it's in good condition. Better yet, if you install a cheap, small HD - just enough to get it booted up - you can use it in Target Display Mode as a 27" monitor for the Mini. (I'm using my 2011 iMac as a second display for a Mini.)

 

[pm-r]

Charlie, that is a dreadful video. Just still shots, refers to previous videos with no links.

That is just a huge understatement Nick, that so-called video is just an atrocious embarrassment.

At least OWC Macsales has a decent video and I just received one of their 1TB OWC Mercury Electra 6Ga SSD as a replacement for the original spinner HDD that died a week or so ago in my mid=2011 27" iMac.

But that project is on hold for a bit as the hard drive fan went capuy and I'm waiting for a new replacement in order to do all the replacements at the same time. Not exactly the easiest of the iMac replacement parts jobs.


- Patrick
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