iMac mid 2011 drives CANNOT BE REPLACED

Recent tear down by Other World Computing has determined that the new iMacs have HD's with 7 rather than 4 pins connections and that the sensor in hardware inside the drive AND in the proprietary cable.

Only apple can replace it. Of course you can still put another drive in the second bay, or use a thunderbolt connection to an external drive. But...no replacing the primary drive YOURSELF.

Apple Further Restricts Upgrade Options on New iMacs | Other World Computing Blog

I believe quite a few people have been successful by tying the thermal sensor pins together. I haven't kept up with this lately - but did when the 'issue' was first surfaced. There are quite a few threads over at MacRumors on this matter.

Recent tear down by Other World Computing has determined that the new iMacs have HD's with 7 rather than 4 pins connections and that the sensor in hardware inside the drive AND in the proprietary cable.

Click to expand...

This is old news and has been brought up several times in our forums and in many other various blogs around the web. Also as Brian has mentioned there are several good threads over in Mac Rumors.

I've also seen work arounds posted including the one Brian mentioned. One guy had his brand new iMac 27" torn apart only hours after purchasing it from the Apple store. I can't remember where his blog is located at but he had complete documentation listed on the work arounds.

The thing to keep in mind is that the machines are warranted for one year and if Apple care is purchased - 3 years. I'm not particularly in the mood for tearing apart an iMac anyway.