remove stand of iMac 21.5 inch (late 2012)

I'm wondering the same thing about my late 2009 21.5" model iMac.

The height of the bottom of the monitor is so high that it's causing me significant hyperextension problems with my neck, resulting in chiropractic and physio costs I shouldn't have to deal with. I've looked for a desk that has an adjustable section so I can lower the unit to well below the standard desk height, thereby lowering the monitor to a height where I don't have to crane my neck back to see it comfortably, but no luck. It seems like either I pay a small fortune for a new set of glasses to be used exclusively when working on the Mac, or I buy a new Mac which has a removable stand, so my eyes can see it comfortably without having to strain my neck in hyperextension.

I don't want to put a wall stand on it. I just want to remove the presentstand so I can set it down directly on the desk. The iMac comes apart for servicing. Is it possible to take the thing apart and remove rthe stand, leaving it with no stand at all?

Or do I ask my husband to saw the stand off, leaving only the stub inside the computer?

It looks like this might be made to fit onto the existing Mac stand. That would help except that it looks like I still won't be able to LOWER the Mac to a more viewable level, which is what I really need. It looks like I will still have to have my husband take a hacksaw to the stand.

I know there's a way to remove the stand from the larger Macs, and even from the newer Macs, and fasten a VESA bracket it. But is there no way to actually remove the stand, and leave me with just the body of the Mac to place directly on the desk.

Here's my dilemma: The viewing area of a PC generally starts about 3 3/4" off the desk. The Mac starts at 6 3/8" off the desk. That means that, wearing my bifocals, I have to tilt my head back to be able to see the monitor without excessively straining my eyes. But tilting back like that excessively strains my neck, causing headaches, and calling for physio and chiropractic treatments. Neither of these ways of dealing with the lousy ergonomic design is very good.

At this point, I either buy expensive new glasses which I use only when using the Mac. Or I saw a slot in the desk so I can put the stand down through it, thereby lowering the monitor to the point I can read it comfortably. Or I sell my Mac and buy a new one (which is really a colossal waste of money when my Mac functions perfectly well). Or I have my husband take a hacksaw to the stand. The latter appears to be the cheapest route, though I don't much like it.

Is there NO way for Apple to remove the stand, and leave me with just the monitor?

At least the new Macs, of any size, APPEAR to have removable stands, so we who have weaker eyes can continue to use a machine we love.

A hacksaw would be quite dramatic and unfavorable of course but if that's what you have to do then so be it. Is there any real reason you can't get another desk of use a stand to put your iMac on. I use a:

Macessity SlimKey V2 Stand W/ 4 Port USB hub

Believe me a much more elegant and less expensive solution that what you're proposing. You can get them from Amazon.

The problem with your suggestion of the SlimKey (which looks like a great idea for general use, to be sure) is that it RAISES the Mac, when I need it LOWERED. Hence the need to remove the pedestal.

I've tried finding a decent desk that's LOWER than the standard height, but they are almost impossible to find. I can create a facsimile of one, by finding a box that stands 3 or 4 inches lower, set the Mac on that, and fasten a keyboard tray to it so the keyboard remains at a decent level. And then I can I can set up a couple of filing cabinet pedestals, one on each side, to make it look like a desk.

Or, I suppose can cut the centre out of my desk, lower it 3 or 4 inches, fasten it all back together, and all will be well. But I don't find any of these any more attractive than cutting the pedestal off my Mac.

I just wish there was some way to remove the pedestal from the Mac without damaging the whole thing. I'm not worried about warranty. It's well beyond that. All I want is to get rid of the pedestal, so I can lower the Mac body and view it without doing my neck in.

Esthetically beautiful though the Mac is, and wonderful to use, it's as though Apple thinks everyone who uses these things has perfect eyesight.

I'll take it in to the Apple store and see if it's even possible to have the pedestal removed. If not, it looks like I'll have to buy myself a new computer, one from which I can remove the pedestal, and see if I can sell this one. Sigh!

It's likely cheaper, over the long run, than paying the medical bills that come from using this thing.

I thought I was all alone on this. And it appears that Apple unusually hasn't thought this one through. Yesterday, though, I was passing through a PBS Doc Martin talk to the cast and crew type show, and I saw on the desk behind the show's producer the computer turned upside down, with the upside down stand presumably being used as a support. Can you make the screen go 180 degrees upside down so that when the computer is put upside down the screen is right side up? Could this be the hack everyone is trying to achieve? Please advise.

No, the new 21.5" iMac is a sealed unit and the VESA mount is only available as a configure to order option.

The only other solution that I know of is a > iMac VESA Mount Adapter Kit

No, The Stand And the Screen Are Sealed Together. There Is A VESA Mount Option When You Are Buying It.

Hope This Help:)!

rfenella,

Your machine can be retrofitted with a VESA mount, please click http://imacmount.com/

Did you get a reply as to rotate the image 180 degrees?

I would like to do this to my imac.