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sam8675309

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jun 22, 2010
22
0
Let's say, years from now my Macbook is considerably slower. Is it possible to change/upgrade the processor or would the price to change a processor just not be worth it?
(I also understand that I can upgrade the RAM and hard drive. Also, I understand that this post deals with the 'uncertain' future, but the idea is the same as if I wanted to change a processor on a laptop today)
 

Dr.Pants

macrumors 65816
Jan 8, 2009
1,181
2
AFAIK all Apple laptops have their processors soldiered in, so effectively no, you can't DIY swap.
 

DoFoT9

macrumors P6
Jun 11, 2007
17,586
98
London, United Kingdom
if you COULD find the CPU you would be hard pressed to be able to succesfully change them over. they are soldered on, a technician could do it im sure, but the CPUs cost $1000+ as they are not sold by Intel - 3rd party people buy the laptops, take the CPU out and then resell etc.
 

CaptainChunk

macrumors 68020
Apr 16, 2008
2,142
6
Phoenix, AZ
The only really feasible way to upgrade a CPU on an Apple laptop would be to do a complete logic board swap to a compatible one that has a faster chip soldered on. And that's not exactly cheap. Even on the used market, spare logic boards can grab $500-1000, depending on model. Additionally, doing the actual swap isn't for the feint of heart.
 

DoFoT9

macrumors P6
Jun 11, 2007
17,586
98
London, United Kingdom
The only really feasible way to upgrade a CPU on an Apple laptop would be to do a complete logic board swap to a compatible one that has a faster chip soldered on. And that's not exactly cheap. Even on the used market, spare logic boards can grab $500-1000, depending on model. Additionally, doing the actual swap isn't for the feint of heart.

not to mention the other threats such as incompatibilities with both hardware and the physical size of the thing, depending on what logic board you go for of course.
 

old-wiz

macrumors G3
Mar 26, 2008
8,331
228
West Suburban Boston Ma
And you would also have to deal with the issue of matching the bus speed and firmware and memory. It's simply not worth the effort; a new computer would have faster bus/memory and firmware to match the CPU.
 
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