Apple :: Macbook Pro - Upgrading Hdd And Ram
Jul 16, 2009
I have decided to order a 13 inch macbook pro 2.26 ghz
here are the specs
# 2.26GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
# 2GB 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 2x1GB
# 160GB Serial ATA Drive @ 5400 rpm
# SuperDrive 8x (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
# None
# Backlit Keyboard (English) / User's Guide
# iWork '09 preinstalled
Now I was originally going to upgrade RAM and my hdd on the apple site but it is overpriced so I'm now asking you guys what brands of RAM are good in terms of speed/price ratio
I want 4gb of RAM total (does this mean I have to buy 2x 2gb sticks of RAM?)
And I want a good brand of SSD that will work well (also I heard that there was some bottleneck limiting something to 1.5 instead of 3? can somebody expain this to me?)
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Apr 15, 2009
Like, really? I'm not doing any film editing or anything... YET.
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Aug 22, 2009
I just have a brief question regarding upgrading RAM on my Macbook. I have an Aluminum Macbook which I purchased at the beginning of the year. It has a 2.4 GHz processor, 2 GB DDR3 memory, 250GB HDD, and the 9400M graphics.
My question is:
1) Does upgrading from 2 to 4 make any significant difference in terms of photoshop and basic gaming? Would these differences also apply to regular use?
2) The memory speed is DDR3 1066 MHz. Does upgrading to a faster memory, for example, DDR3 1333 MHz make any difference? Or is the speed limited to 1066MHz, no matter how much faster the upgraded memory is?
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Mar 1, 2009
My university had a brand new early-2008 MBP model (one left) for $1,399 so I bought it a couple of weeks ago. It has the 2.5Ghz processor, 2GB ram, 250GB HDD, 8600m GT w/ 512 vRam, and the matte display. I was trying to decide whether to buy a 2.4Ghz unibody MB, a 2.4Ghz unibody MBP, or refurbished of both. I went to talk to the people at the tech store and they showed me a brand new early-2008 model MBP (a design I happen to like more than the unibody because I am not a fan of the Sony chiclet keyboard or the new "no button" button touchpad) and I purchased it immediately.
So far I have been pretty happy with the purchase and the performance of the machine although it does get quite hot on its own. The main thing I am wondering about is upgrading the ram to 4GB and swapping out the hard drive for a 7200RPM one. The hard drive is less important to me as of right now because the higher RPM will cause more heat and drain the battery faster but what I DO want to do immediately is upgrade the ram.
The machine has 2GB PC2-5300 in it which is 667 Mhz. The bus speed on the machine is 800Mhz. I am wondering whether or not I can match the bus speed and install PC2-6400 which are 800 Mhz. If not that is fine I'll just go with PC2-5300 and pick up 4GB from Fry's today but running the faster speed would be nice.
On the hard drive front how exactly does this work? I know on a PC I can just swap out the hard drive and load a saved system image or install a new OS but does it work the same with Apple? If I swap the hard drive do I just pop in the install disks and install it?
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Feb 5, 2009
To start I should remind everyone that i'm not a mac user. I have never owned a mac or used OSX properly before today. As such, my opinions should be taken as coming from someone who has much knowledge and experience as far as PC's are concerned, but who is a total mac n00b.
First Impressions
When I first walked over to the Macbooks I was quite taken aback. The build quality is out of this world. In fact, I immediately walked over to the latest PC laptops to compare and immediately thought "manufacturing FAIL". Really, the Macbooks are italian sports cars, and PC's are 30 year old farm tractors to use the typical "car analogy".
The Macbook
I really only had any interest in the Macbook when I first went to the Apple stand, but came away with the intention of buying a MacBook Pro. Let me explain:
The MacBook's build quality is awesome. It's solid, no creaking plastic or flexable build, completely and utterly solid. Awesome.............
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Mar 7, 2009
I have been speculating over this prospect giving the direction that Apple took with the starting price of the 24" iMac (upgrade everything else and downgrade the VRAM).
I mean, this is something I would like to see, but I wonder if it is a smart move on Apple's part given how much they make off the current MBP's with the so called Apple Tax.
And, if they made this move, one has to wonder if it still would be considered a Pro.
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Jan 2, 2009
This is going to be my very first Mac. I'm really excited about it, but I don't know which one I should go for... I narrowed it down to these two models. Which one should I go for and why?
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Feb 10, 2009
I bought a black macbook this summer and every night when I'm in bed trying to do work I can barely see which keys is which. Obviously this wouldn't be a cheap fix but is there a way or is it possible to install the new light up keys of the new macbooks onto a pre-remodel macbook?
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May 9, 2009
I downloaded this updated for my unibody Macbook Pro, and I think it's pretty vital. However, it gave me this error when I tried to install it: "You cannot install Macbook, Macbook Pro software update on this volume. This update requires Mac OS X 10.5.5 or newer." Now don't tell me that I have selected the wrong partition to install the update, or that I need to update my OS to 10.5.5 because I already have 10.5.6 and I chose the Macintosh HD partition to install the update.
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Sep 12, 2009
So I'm definitely getting a 13" Macbook or Macbook Pro. Apple has some great prices on refurbs so that's probably the route I'll be going however I'm having trouble discerning the difference between the 13" Aluminum Unibody standard macbook and the 13" Unibody Macbook Pro. From what I've read they both have the upgraded screen, they're obviously both unibody, both have the large button-less trackpad, and both have the 9400m. They even have the same dimensions and the only difference I can see between the images is a slightly different case bevel (also the firewire and sd card ports, both are useless to me).
Unfortunately, none of the Apple stores or BestBuys in the area have a non-pro unibody 13" Macbook for me to actually handle and compare. So, basically, what makes the pro version with the slower cpu and smaller hard drive at the same price point worth it?
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Jul 6, 2009
If I make an image of my hdd from my white macbook with disk utility onto a hard drive I take out of a unibody macbook pro will it work and boot properly?
I will do this by taking the 250gb hdd out of the unibody macbook pro and putting it into a sata external usb hdd enclosure, then making an image of my current 120gb white macbook and writing the image onto the 250gb. After, I plan to put the 250gb hdd back into the macbook pro and boot it up normally as if everything from my white macbook was just copied onto the macbook pro.
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Sep 22, 2009
Was curious what is the difference between the short-lived aluminum macbooks and macbook pros. Only thing i could spot is the illuminated keyboard.
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Aug 12, 2009
She has a white macbook with leopard I think, and has a separate partition in which she has boot camp, she uses specialized software that can only run in windows (doesnt run in vm). She got a new macbook air but wants to keep everything intact.
Do programs like duper clone drives with all files intact, including partitions? Keep in mind that the windows side is more important, installation of this software can only be done remotely from Russia, so it's a bit of a hassle if we screw up, we have to contact IT at a specific time and get them to do it.
Would I have to take the drive of the macbook air out? Or can i just clone to an external hard drive and then move that to the mba hard drive, in target disc mode or something.
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May 3, 2009
I really love the black color of MB404, but is it good? does it crack easily?(is it plastic?)
Hows screen quality?
What do you think? which one should i buy?
I really wanted to buy Alu one before i hear about slanted keys and loose battery covers(i know %99 of them don't have that, but it's hard to risk when there's no way to fix it in here), because there's no Mac center in my country and i'm SO picky.
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Apr 16, 2010
I've been looking at basicly two models, both got almost the exact same price tag here in Norway, so I'm not sure which one to go for.
The first ones is a MacBook Pro 15" with High-resolution 1650x1080 glossy screen, featuring the top of the line Intel Core i7-620M CPU the other is a MacBook Pro 17" with even higher resolution (1920x1200) glossy screen, featuring the slightly slower Intel Core i5-540M.
I don't list the other specifications as I don't really care about them, I already got a pair of 4GB 1600MHz CL7 (2x2GB) DIM's and a Intel X25-M 80GB SSD that I'll be using anyway.
There will be lots of movies and series played on my MacBook Pro, that's why I don't really considering paying a premium for the anti-glare screen, even though I love anti-glare and tend to struggle with glossy screens I don't see the point in actually paying more for it. And when watching movies and series, in often very dark rooms the glossy screen actually have some advantages.
The hard thing to decide here is slicker and lighter, with smaller screen and lower resolution, but better CPU versus the bigger, more heavy but featuring bigger screen and Full-HD+ resolution but slower CPU.....................
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Dec 21, 2009
I've got a new iMac here fir my parents but would like to get an xtra 4 gigs of ram. Where's the best place to find this? Macmall, amazon...? And could someone direct me to the exact product page...
Also, is upgrading memory a simple task? I seem to remember reading that it is but would like your opinions on the matter. YouTube tutorials, etc.
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Nov 26, 2009
Is there a way to use the stock nVidia laptop driver upgrades on a MacbookPro? The bootcamp drivers are fairly out-of-date.
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Oct 19, 2009
i just backed up all of my data onto my external drive and ready to do a clean install of snow leopard. however, i have a windows partition on my hard drive. will i lose this if i erase the mac hd so i can install snow leopard? ive never done anything like this with macs before.
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Jun 10, 2009
I read that Snow Leopard uses about 6GB less disk space than Leopard. I already have Leopard installed so I'm wondering if I upgrade to Snow Leopard do I get about 6GB of space freed up?
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Dec 1, 2009
equipping 2 machines:
1-a 13" MacBook Pro, primary use will be Internet and e-mail and manipulating music files. Will my husband really notice a difference/benefit between the basic 2.26 and the 2.53GHZ (and is it worth about $250 more)? If he uses it for video downloading will that make a difference?
2- a 15" MacBook Pro- here I'm debating between the 2.66 and 2.8. My daughter uses it for Office apps, PhotoShop, music, Internet and e-mail. Again, would video downloading make a difference?
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May 7, 2009
I am currently returning a dell studio xps 16" as its so sooo much hassle to deal with dell and the fact that i got 3 messsed up replacements in a row. i am looking to get a macbook or macbook pro. i would prefer a macbook pro (lowest model) although the cheapest method i can find is £1163 from the higher education store. is there any other way or place that sells it for less? apple seem to charge crazy prices for a low spec. een £100 would be expensive but maybe afordable. only discounts i found for the macbook/macbook pro are 14% higher education (the one i am looking to use) and 6% EPP and school discount. iv looked at the macbook but im going to use the laptop for movies, work and internet. movies on a 13.3" arnt exactly enjoyable to watch so thats why im looking for a macbook pro.
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Apr 27, 2009
I finally decided that i am going to take my desktop HTPC from home to grad school for movies/TV and playing demanding games.
So now I cannot decide upon which notebook to get -
the base Macbook Pro 2.4 or the base Macbook Air 1.6
I am going to be mainly doing work: taking notes, photo editing, and also some light gaming (2d games and old 3d games (red orchestra, combat mission) when away from apartment) on the notebook.
So I was wondering which is a better choice for me.
The macbook pro has a faster core 2 duo cpu, but the FSB and RAM are all the same speed. Obviously the 9600mGT is 2.5x faster than the 9400M, but I am not going to need it for intensive gaming.
Also the macbook pro has a larger screen.
But the Air is so much lighter and thinner, and would be a good thing to take to libraries. And it is 200 cheaper....................
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Mar 9, 2010
A friend of mine is debating which model. I noticed some small differences, but for 200 bucks it almost seems worth getting the pro model. It seems as if it's a higher quality build, firewire, backlit keyboard, is the screen the same? What do you guys think? Can the Macbooks without the dedicated video card run a game like Sims 3?
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Apr 8, 2009
I want to buy the Macbook Pro 15 inc Unibody, there are 2 models
Model 1 Model 2
Intel Core 2 Duo 2.4GHZ
2GB Memory
250GB hard drive1
NVIDIA GeForce 9400M+
9600M GT with 256MB
Model 2
Intel Core 2 Duo 2.66GHZ
4GB Memory
320GB hard drive
GeForce 9400M +
9600M GT with 512MB
A difference of £343. My reason for Macbook Pro over any Windows laptop is simpy becuase OSX and that the laptop fits my needs, its not too big like the 17 inch and not too small like the 13 inch, also it has an express card slot 34 which I can then add a memory card reader. I will be editing/converting a lot of photos and videos and looking forward to buying Final Cut Studio 2.0................
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Feb 20, 2010
I'm buying one or the other. My next computer will run OSX, that is the only thing I have set in stone.
13" MBP over 13" MB:
SD Card reader
(This would be nice, but I can do without. I only use the reader on my current laptop like once every 2 months)
FireWire 800
(Absolutely no need for this)
Backlit Keyboard
(Absolutely no need for this, people look at their keyboard while typing?)
Screen Color Gamut
(60% more than that of MB I heard ... I know this applies to the older MB but not sure about the late 2009 MB. Can anyone comment on the difference?)...................
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May 31, 2009
I have finally switched and should get my first ever mac the new macbook white in next couple of days
I have two questions, I had ordered SODIM DDR2, 800Mhz 4GB RAM and a 500GB, 7200RPM SATA Drive with a thought of upgrading my latitude E6400.
Can I use them (RAM and HDD) and upgrade apple macbook? and will that impact apple warantee?
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May 14, 2010
I think I decided on getting a mac; however, I am not sure whether to get the pro or normal. I am positive that I won't notice a difference in speed/performance for what I'll be using it for (browsing, word, pdf, email, research) so specs don't matter to me too much. I was mostly concerned about the frame. While the MacBook is made of polycarbonate, the MBP is aluminum. Are there significant differences in durability or structure that might make me want to buy the MBP?
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Jan 8, 2010
what model of SSD 128 Gb they install in MacBookPro (the manufacture, read/write speed, TRIM support). By chance is there a TRIM support in OS Leopard? I am realy hesitating between MacBookPro and new Latitude Z600. I'm not very familiar with Mac but hope it is fast and reliable enough with SSD. It's mostly for office use and travelling. I think about 15in with 2.53 CPU and 128 SSD.
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May 27, 2010
Im after a SSD for my MacBook Pro 13. I hav ethe 2.66GHz version which I purchased recently - I think its a 2010 model.
Whats the best SSD drives for this system? Which ones do Apple recommend?
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Oct 26, 2009
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I bit the bullet and got a mac for the gf. She wanted one and I figure it's only a matter of time before she gets it, and we probably won't see another price like this for a while (it also comes w/ $100 rebate on printer).
The cpu is nice, and I want to swap it out with the one in my dell. Gotta know the model number before I do it though. Can anybody tell me what the model # on this Core2Duo is?
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