Merom in MBP's? A possible way to upgrade.

[bbrosemer]

I have been thinking and came across the idea that one could switch out the entire logic board in the MBP's if a majority of the components stay the same, now the next notion would be has someone either tried connecting a MBP logic board to a PB parts or vica versa, if so this could be well a somewhat cheaper way of upgrading the processor rather then buying an entire computer.

[freestyleguy128]

Originally Posted by bbrosemer

I have been thinking and came across the idea that one could switch out the entire logic board in the MBP's if a majority of the components stay the same, now the next notion would be has someone either tried connecting a MBP logic board to a PB parts or vica versa, if so this could be well a somewhat cheaper way of upgrading the processor rather then buying an entire computer.

nope...the processor is soldered on to the frame...good thought though.

[Eidorian]

It'd be a logic board and CPU swap at best. At worst...let's not talk about that. Still, it's going to cost you.

[bbrosemer]

Originally Posted by freestyleguy128

nope...the processor is soldered on to the frame...good thought though.

I know its soldered to the fram that is why i am suggesting swapping the whole logic board...

[finchna]

I thought I read someplace that the case was changing--if so, might mean that the motherboard would change and not fit in the current case.

[freestyleguy128]

Originally Posted by bbrosemer

I know its soldered to the fram that is why i am suggesting swapping the whole logic board...

Also, a case change would prevent you from simply swappig the logic board and processor. From what I have heard, it would be impossible to remove the processor because it is soldered on to several of the components inside the bezel. It seems like a clever trick by apple to not allow for an upgrade, but the purchase of a brand new notebook. Hey, I might be wrong, and more power to you if you can figure out a way to do this, but remember that this is a $2,000+ systen and messing with the inner components certainley voids the warrenty and may leave you with a broken system. Good Luck!

[generik]

Why even bother doing crazy things like this, a slip of your hand and your mainboard is snapped into half.. or worse your soldering iron clean burns a hole through it.

How do you propose you are going to fund your "new logic board" upgrade component? Likewise what are you going to do with your "old" logic board?

I'd just sell the whole thing and buy a new one, saves me the trouble, plus I get the assurance of 1 extra year worth of Apple's wonderful aftersales service.

[Natsus]

what..

first, it's not that easy to break a logic board. And second, the logic board is screwed in, not soldered. We've already established that we cannot remove the chip, yes. The OP is talking about swapping the board. A pretty easy thing to do.

Now if Apple does change the casing of the new MBP, then the logic board swap might not work. But technically, it should work. I for one am interested to see whether it does or not

[generik]

Originally Posted by Natsus

what..

first, it's not that easy to break a logic board. And second, the logic board is screwed in, not soldered. We've already established that we cannot remove the chip, yes. The OP is talking about swapping the board. A pretty easy thing to do.

Now if Apple does change the casing of the new MBP, then the logic board swap might not work. But technically, it should work. I for one am interested to see whether it does or not

Some points that I'd like to raise first:

1) Obviously doing such upgrades would void all warranty. Which means any sane person won't be doing it on a computer that is 1 year old. Or even within 3 years, if user bought Applecare.

2) Upgrades from speeds like 2Ghz to 2.16Ghz when the rest of the world is blazing along on 5Ghz PDAs doesn't sound especially fascinating to me.

3) How much do you propose Macbook chop shops will sell the logic board and CPU to you for? Essentially this is the crown jewels of the whole $2000 machine. Perhaps it'd cost you $600? $1000? How about you just take the hit, and sell it on eBay?

4) I really doubt Apple will keep the exact same casing configuration throughout the lifetime of the line. Even for the Powerbook G4 ports and sockets are moved around/added through the revisions. And we are talking about the same product revision here.

[Krevnik]

Originally Posted by freestyleguy128

Also, a case change would prevent you from simply swappig the logic board and processor. From what I have heard, it would be impossible to remove the processor because it is soldered on to several of the components inside the bezel. It seems like a clever trick by apple to not allow for an upgrade, but the purchase of a brand new notebook. Hey, I might be wrong, and more power to you if you can figure out a way to do this, but remember that this is a $2,000+ systen and messing with the inner components certainley voids the warrenty and may leave you with a broken system. Good Luck!

Okay, yes a case change would prevent this from working... but so would a rather large change to the layout of the logic board too (which is also possible).

However, you are VERY mis-informed about how the processor is connected up. It is soldered to the logic board... and that is it. I am one of those crazy people who re-pasted their MBPs, and I can tell you this... to redo the thermal paste, that logic board has to come completely out of the bezel.

[generik]

Originally Posted by Krevnik

Okay, yes a case change would prevent this from working... but so would a rather large change to the layout of the logic board too (which is also possible).

However, you are VERY mis-informed about how the processor is connected up. It is soldered to the logic board... and that is it. I am one of those crazy people who re-pasted their MBPs, and I can tell you this... to redo the thermal paste, that logic board has to come completely out of the bezel.

So the processor is mounted on the bottom side of the logic board between the board and the bottom panel?

How would it work? There are no heat vents at the bottom...

[bbrosemer]

If there is no design change I think this is going to be a very easy upgrade, and seeinfg how a Merom could sell for at leas $600 then I have no problem with paying, $800-$1000 for a LB, this could be a cheap way to upgrade the machine well cheaper then buying anew, and if I dont mess up anything my warranty is not void, maybe on the LB board but the rest of the comp should be covered.

[Makosuke]

bbrosemer, I think what some of the comments here are trying to point out is that if you sell your current MBP on eBay and buy a new Merom-equpped one, the price difference is likely to be less than the cost of the new logic board even assuming that the internal layout isn't so different that the swap is feasable at all. And that method, while it involves some hassle, doesn't involve having to procure a Merom-MBP logic board, you don't have to take anything apart, it doesn't void any warranty, and you get a brand-new, under-warranty computer at the end.

Now, if you're thinking farther down the line, when the current MBPs have dropped significantly in value (though at least historically, Apple laptops have held their resale value EXTRORDINARILY well), you're out of warranty, and the Merom-equipped motherboards available are running much faster than first-gen one is likely to, then maybe it'd be worth a shot. But that requires a lot of things to line up, the most unlikely of which is Apple not significantly revising the internal layout in the process.