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I have an old iMac that I want to recycle at the Apple Store. When it stopped working and completely died, I bought a new iMac. Because the old one no longer turns on, I’m not able to wipe clean. So I’m hesitant to turn it in. Do you recommend that I remove the hard drive?
As Rudegar said, it's really up to you and how sensitive the data on the drive might be. If you had FileVault set up, then there is no need to remove or otherwise worry about the drive. If not and there's sensitive data on it, such as plain-text copies of your account passwords, then erasing the drive becomes more important. You can see if perhaps you can get that old Mac into Target Disk Mode:
Transfer files between two Mac computers using target disk mode - Apple Support
If so, then you may be able to mount that drive on your new Mac and erase the volume. If not and the information is truly sensitive, you can disassemble the Mac and remove the drive and then either find an adapter to connect it so it can be erased or just smash the drive with a hammer.
But before you do all that, you might just ask the Apple Store what their process is for recycling a Mac. I'm sure they've dealt with the issue of remaining data on a Mac when the Mac won't boot, so they may be able to ease your mind.
Regards.
it's up to you, think it would be a concern if you recycle it with apple and your data would in danger though
It's not easy, but there are lots of guides and videos that can help you remove the HDD.
Once the HDD is out, then it is safe to drop off the iMac at any one of your local E-Waste Recyclers.
As everyone else has said, that decision is yours to make based on your situation. My point of view is the data is pretty safe when you recycle through Apple. The reason why I think this way is Apple knows they are a HUGE financial target for lawsuits because they have so much money. Because of that I think they take more than adequate caution with others data because they know if something bad happens with that data and the transgression is traced back to Apple then who are you going to sue, Apple of course. Knowing Apple I wouldn't be surprised if part of their staff (and third party partners) training for those that handle "trade-ins" take is data security and destruction.
That's just my opinion though.
Recycling my iMac
