When I bought my 27" iMac in 2017 from Staples, they changed the stand for a VESA mount, put the iMac on my desk bracket, and gave me back the stand, which I have. I now want to use my monitor to stream TV in the family room and therefore want to put it back on the original stand. How do I do this by myself?
iMac 27″ 5K, macOS 13.7
jessica..
The screenshot of iMac base removed by service center
has label that clearly states its status; as not reattachable.
..While the label still appears to contain personal info - I was unable to further edit that here..
Those iMac models and wall mount apparatus were very specific; a later model was modified
apparently by a reseller, as such clearly on 'repair service' label. No matter original MFR date.
[Edited by Moderator]
That would be impossible as ALL 2012 to 2024 iMacs have stands that are part of the chassis, meaning they are NOT removable. The ONLY exceptions were iMacs that were sold as VESA mounted iMacs,these machines cannot have stands added!!!!
Either you don’t have a 2017 iMac or something else is going on. Please click About this Mac and see what the model year is.
Take a good look at the top of the stand. The common way to remove the stand from 2012 and newer iMacs was to saw it off. In that case, it will never go back on.
Can you post a picture of the back of the iMac showing the VESA mount they installed?
Then you should take it back to Staples for repair. As mentioned iMacs from 2012 to current have permanently attached stands. Your best bet is Staples , living with what you have or replacing the computer.
Sorry but those are the best options.
One final thing to add to the knowledge base: By accident this morning I ran across a video showing that the 2017 iMac PRO retained the old-style Apple VESA system and Apple even offered a kit for installing it. Jessica's image of the mount suggest it is the Apple verison, but her "About" screen shot shows hers as a regular iMac, not a Pro.
Maybe a shop wnet to the effort to get and install a PRO back panel. Jessica, If you remove the VESA and find a hinge the accepts the stand you were given, you may be on your way if you can find the screws that had to be removed.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3nDGX36YXjE
The cost of a technician to dismantle the back of the mac would probably be more expensive that getting a "single Vesa mount stand" from Amazon for around 30GBP or 35 USD. The one below is on my second monitor attached to my iMac and it works well.
You have a pre 2012 iMac!!!!! Please boot it and click the Apple symbol in the upper left and then click “About This Mac” in that link it will tell you the model year.
Here are some photos, showing the back of the iMac with the VESA mount they installed, as well as photos of the stand that they gave me back after the conversion. Hope this helps. Thanks for your reply.
[Edited by Moderator]
Thanks for your interest. It is definitely a 2017 iMac. I've posted a few photos below of the stand and the VESA mount, installed. Staples sent it to its "Repair Depot" to do the conversion. See what you think, and whether I can convert it back to accept the stand.
I'll phone Staples and see what they say. I'm going to buy a new computer, so I wanted to make use of this one as a spare TV on its stand for streaming. I assumed putting it back on the stand would be easy, but from what folks are saying, it doesn't appear to be so. Glad I checked, as I may just trade it in. Thanks for your help.
If you wan to stream with it, just launch the TV app on it and stream from that. For trade-in it likely has little or no value as Staples modified the chassis, however you can take it to your local Apple Store and see. Just a thought.
Provided the "Repair Depot" returned all the original parts to you I can see no reason the original stand cannot be reattached by a qualified Apple repair shop. Apple certainly won't do it, but an AASP might be interested.
That's the first time I have heard of such an aftermarket modification. It must not have been an easy job to begin with, and I expect it will be even harder to undo... if it's possible at all.
Jessicadelamontagne wrote:
Do you have any suggestions as an alternate way to stand up this model on a stand so that I could use it as a freestanding TV?
You may be able to remove the arm from the iMac and somehow attach another VESA bracket and third party stand onto it. You want to make sure the stand is able to support the screen size of the computer and its weight. It may take some engineering to make it all fit & work together. If you have a local computer shop (doesn't necessarily need to be Apple specific since this only requires working with the existing bracket on the iMac), or perhaps a local electronics/video installation shop that performs A/V installations will have some knowledge or ideas here.
👍 That's the only way I can imagine adapting that VESA mounting bracket to a non-Pro iMac. Couldn't have been easy, but it's definitely possible to undo, and in my opinion it's worth keeping that Mac in service.
Jessicadelamontagne wrote:
Very interesting! You’d make a good detective! Do you have any suggestions as an alternate way to stand up this model on a stand so that I could use it as a freestanding TV?
There are a number of companies that make VESA-compatible stands. Just do a web search and you should find several options. Here are a few to get you started:
https://www.amazon.com/Vesa-Mount-Stand/s?k=Vesa+Mount+Stand
Regards.
How do I put my 2017 27" iMac back on its stand?
