First Apple iMac teardown reveals Apple’s mastery of component shrinkage

Now that Apple’s (AAPL) redesigned iMac is available for purchase, the only logical thing to do is to pull out the suction cups and take the svelte computer apart. Japanese site Kodawarisan took the first shot at opening the new iMacs up and as expected, found the 21.5-inch model to be very light and very thin. One of the reasons why the new iMacs are so thin is because they don’t have optical drives anymore. Another reason discovered by Kodawarisan appears to be the simplified internal design of the iMac’s components. As can be seen in the teardown photos, the new iMacs have fewer serviceable parts thanks to more components such as the RAM being soldered in now. Even with a bulge on the back that tapers to a 5-millimeter thickness at the edges, the new iMac still has room to get even thinner if the teardown images are any indication. A few more teardown images follow below.