I work on quite a few iMacs here at Small Dog and there is nothing more annoying then having a piece of hair, bug, dust, etc. in between your LCD screen and your eyes. In this article I will be discussing iMacs released between 2007 and 2012. Before and after those years a different construction technique was used which does not cause dust interference.
For those that don’t know, the iMac consists of a thin glass sheet that covers the LCD. Because of this there is a thin air pocket about half an inch or so between the glass panel and LCD display. If there is dust in-between your iMac glass and LCD you have 3 choices: learn to live with it, bring it into Small Dog for us to clean it, or try and tackle it yourself.
If you choose to do this yourself you will need a few things:
- Strong suction cups
- Microfiber cloth and glass cleaner
- A roller with sticky pads (see picture below)
If you can source these parts, then the first thing to do is stick the suction cups to the glass and slowly pull towards you (refer to the main article image). WARNING: Do not do this if you are not OK with potentially cracking the glass. Although this may be easy for me, if it is your first time I would be very careful. The glass is attached to the casing by magnets and only needs a slight pull. Now clean both the LCD and the inside of the glass really well with a microfiber cloth, and some cleaning spray. Next take the sticky sheet and peel back the top, roll the roller on it to get off any dust, and then start rolling it both on the LCD and the inside of the glass. After you are done quickly seal everything back up. Now clean the outside of the glass with a microfiber cloth and spray. Now inspect your work and note any foreign material inside. If there is, repeat the previous steps. If not your now dust free and can enjoy your iMac!