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Modding my MBP // Looking for mods for a MBP

Astroboy907

Astroboy907

macrumors 65816
Original poster
May 6, 2012
1,387
15
Spaceball One
I am hopefully in the coming months going to disassemble my '09 macbook pro and anodize it. Like I said, hopefully.

However, since I will have to disassemble the entire computer I might as well do something awesome while I have all the panels off (I'm willing to risk the panel, its a replacement anyway).

So, I was thinking maybe putting in a fingerprint reader like this user did to his macbook, just a newer version.

Just tell me something awesome you wish you had in a macbook!
 
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Years back when I was replacing the screen in my old white MacBook, I took out the light up Apple in the lid, sanded all the white backing off it and put the old Apple colours behind it (from the old rainbow logos) so that it lit up all old school. Was kinda cool. I miss Blinky :O
 
CucumberError said:
Years back when I was replacing the screen in my old white MacBook, I took out the light up Apple in the lid, sanded all the white backing off it and put the old Apple colours behind it (from the old rainbow logos) so that it lit up all old school. Was kinda cool. I miss Blinky :O
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I actually did this but put blue cellophane over the apple when I had to replace my screen. But it is getting old and I think its time to revamp. Rainbow old school sounds awesome! I heard about a guy who did that with his apple but put a LCD screen in behind... That might be out of my league :D

Another thing I was thinking about is taking off the glossy glass and putting a custom aluminum front panel on (like a MBA)
 
If it has a backlit keyboard, I'd think about switching to colored LEDs. Kinda depends on your electronics and soldering skills.
 
Mod it so it has a i7 quadcore in it. It's the older style isn't it? I love the look of them.

My dream would be that older style, with the new hardware inside it :p
 
CucumberError said:
Mod it so it has a i7 quadcore in it. It's the older style isn't it? I love the look of them.

My dream would be that older style, with the new hardware inside it :p
Click to expand...

Bit less old than you think. its the very first MBP unibody.
I do have a friend though who is probably going to cave for a rMBP when the haswell comes out. Wonder if he would sell it cheap. Its a 2006 I think so it would be fun to work that out.

That's pretty insane though, I mean, the computer would have enough space for the board, but its basically like transplanting a new brain into someone (screen, keyboard, ports have to be lined up...)

Of course it would be immensely easier if the processor layout on the pcb were the same, and the i7 just *happened* to be pin compatible. Then it would just take a lot of professional soldering work.

But it would still be a kick*** project to work out. Personally I like the unibody layout, but there is just something about the older ones.. silver keys, matte display, and a general heftiness that makes it seem like it would survive anything...
 
astroboy907 said:
Bit less old than you think. its the very first MBP unibody.
I do have a friend though who is probably going to cave for a rMBP when the haswell comes out. Wonder if he would sell it cheap. Its a 2006 I think so it would be fun to work that out.

That's pretty insane though, I mean, the computer would have enough space for the board, but its basically like transplanting a new brain into someone (screen, keyboard, ports have to be lined up...)

Of course it would be immensely easier if the processor layout on the pcb were the same, and the i7 just *happened* to be pin compatible. Then it would just take a lot of professional soldering work.

But it would still be a kick*** project to work out. Personally I like the unibody layout, but there is just something about the older ones.. silver keys, matte display, and a general heftiness that makes it seem like it would survive anything...
Click to expand...

Shame that it's not the slightly older model, they look awesome haha.

Off memory, the pre-unibody ones had the ports on both sides (power/ethernet etc on the left, full DVI/USB on the right) so there's no chance that anything really would line up. The CPU on the things are build in, and the board from a core2 one wouldn't support an i7, so you'd have to swap the whole lot over.

You could possibly get away with putting a 13" logicboard into the older 15" body, would give you more room to play with, make up some fake ports to solder into the 13" logicboard, could be doable. Then you'd just have to work out a way to drive the display/change to a newer display and the keyboard (which you'd have to keep the original one, that's part of the idea).

Also, it's possible to get the matte display on the 15" non-retina, I have it and it's awesome :)
 
jav6454 said:
Besides the Biometric reader, what other things do you have in mind? Modding the logo? Adding something else like an extra HDD?
Click to expand...

Not sure if I am going for an extra HDD or a Blu-Ray drive. Right now my DVD drive does squat (it lived a short and paltry life...) so I figure I'm due for an upgrade.

I have a 1tb internal HDD and have not run out of space yet but a SSD is on my christmas list..

Mod list:
Anodize or Powder coat casing
Mod logo, either LCD or colors
Fingerprint reader (heck, just for kicks)
Optibay or Blu-Ray
Laser etch?
Glossy screen death (MBA like custom bezel)
Sleep light color change
Battery indicator color change
Keyboard (RGB?) color change.

Thats all I am up to now, thus this thread.
I actually have access to a local machine shop with CNC and a laser cutter... I wonder what I could do....
Bring back the silver pre unibody keys? Take a heck of a lot of work but it'd be schweet.
 
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I would recommend not using fingerprint reader. Why? Drivers. Unless you can find drivers for your sensor, it'll be a pretty nice looking sensor.

Opti-Bay, yes, do use the space for an HDD or SSD. Either one will serve better than a unused DVD reader. Forget Blu-Ray, no driver support for OS X.

Laser etching sounds awesome.
 
CucumberError said:
Shame that it's not the slightly older model, they look awesome haha.

Off memory, the pre-unibody ones had the ports on both sides (power/ethernet etc on the left, full DVI/USB on the right) so there's no chance that anything really would line up. The CPU on the things are build in, and the board from a core2 one wouldn't support an i7, so you'd have to swap the whole lot over.

You could possibly get away with putting a 13" logicboard into the older 15" body, would give you more room to play with, make up some fake ports to solder into the 13" logicboard, could be doable. Then you'd just have to work out a way to drive the display/change to a newer display and the keyboard (which you'd have to keep the original one, that's part of the idea).

Also, it's possible to get the matte display on the 15" non-retina, I have it and it's awesome :)
Click to expand...


It would certainly be a project. Though I shamelessly spend a few hundred more on a unibody, partly because I liked the look and partly to get away from the Nvidia 8600 issues.
I see some 17" ones going on ebay for decent prices, thats a heck of a lot of room...
Actually the 17" was my favorite macbook... I was saving up for one until they canceled it. Shame.

As for the glossy screen, on a model as old as mine the best I can get is taking off the glass... :(

----------
jav6454 said:
I would recommend not using fingerprint reader. Why? Drivers. Unless you can find drivers for your sensor, it'll be a pretty nice looking sensor.

Opti-Bay, yes, do use the space for an HDD or SSD. Either one will serve better than a unused DVD reader. Forget Blu-Ray, no driver support for OS X.

Laser etching sounds awesome.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I looked and found some stuff from a few years back about using one, it seems not to be implemented much. But if I do find a driver I would certainly think about using it! But then again, I love pretty, useless sensors :D

Actually, I got a mac Blu-Ray player for OS X (It's called "Blu-Ray player- original, huh?) in a deal with some other apps. It retails for like $39.95 but I've been dying to try it. Most people say it works just fine (not sure my C2D can handle all the data, but what the hey!)

Cue external blu-ray superdrive!

Edit: I just gave you a feeling of unease and tension all day with my lack of a closing quote on "Blu-Ray player". I will leave it just to unnerve you and give a sense of unease to any future reader. Mwahahaha!
 
Adding a couple new things to the list

1. Sleep light color mod (I already have this but only have some blue plastic over it. I will probably change the LED out)
2. Battery indicator lights color mod.

Thing is, it would totally be awesome to be able to change Eg. the keyboard backlight if I changed the LED's to RGB. Which means I would have to mount some sort of microcontroller *in* the computer. Tiny arduino to the rescue?
 
astroboy907 said:
Thing is, it would totally be awesome to be able to change Eg. the keyboard backlight if I changed the LED's to RGB. Which means I would have to mount some sort of microcontroller *in* the computer. Tiny arduino to the rescue?
Click to expand...

You'll need some kind of software, either an app or a driver, to control the color.
 
chown33 said:
You'll need some kind of software, either an app or a driver, to control the color.
Click to expand...

Ive worked with arduino before, its not hard to control. If I hooked it up to an internal USB splitter (I *should* have enough space if I do optibay), I could control it over a serial output (Terminal?), or the Arduino app itself.
 
astroboy907 said:
Adding a couple new things to the list

1. Sleep light color mod (I already have this but only have some blue plastic over it. I will probably change the LED out)
2. Battery indicator lights color mod.

Thing is, it would totally be awesome to be able to change Eg. the keyboard backlight if I changed the LED's to RGB. Which means I would have to mount some sort of microcontroller *in* the computer. Tiny arduino to the rescue?
Click to expand...

Do you actually ever look at the battery lights?
 
A real great mod would be...

Great mods guys thanks for sharing - this is entertaining.
My dream mod for the 17"MBP is to make it look even more sleek and minimalistic.

I'd like to mode the "MacBook Pro" in the bottom of the screen bezel so that it is no longer there, I'd like to mod the the front side of the bottom case so that all the slits are covered in silver flush to match the rest of the pan and to cover the optical drive. Also to hide the power button. I guess sticker skins would be my option. I really don't like advertising for the crisp fruit company, so I'd also mod or sticker skin mod the cover so you totally can't see the fruit.

In the end make it look all like the retina macbook design without the small screen and without the raised screen hinge, the hinge reminds me of the balance beam when I watch gymnastics ! I just want to sit a little tiny figure on it or something, or miniature flower pots!

What do you all think of those?
 
vpro said:
Great mods guys thanks for sharing - this is entertaining.
My dream mod for the 17"MBP is to make it look even more sleek and minimalistic.

I'd like to mode the "MacBook Pro" in the bottom of the screen bezel so that it is no longer there, I'd like to mod the the front side of the bottom case so that all the slits are covered in silver flush to match the rest of the pan and to cover the optical drive. Also to hide the power button. I guess sticker skins would be my option. I really don't like advertising for the crisp fruit company, so I'd also mod or sticker skin mod the cover so you totally can't see the fruit.

In the end make it look all like the retina macbook design without the small screen and without the raised screen hinge, the hinge reminds me of the balance beam when I watch gymnastics ! I just want to sit a little tiny figure on it or something, or miniature flower pots!

What do you all think of those?
Click to expand...

Personally, I'm fine flaunting the apple logo and stuff. I'm not a fanboy, well, not seriously (I owned a droid for a while and used windows most of my early years). But I'd leave the MacBook Pro thing on the bezel and the apple logo. But that is just personal preference. People pretty much are always going to know its a MacBook simply because of the design alone.

I did read about one guy who actually machined an entire new back cover for his Macbook though, sans logo. Or maybe I just made it up in my head. Though Colorware does a mod along the lines of that for $250 something.

Personally, when I first thought about modding the computer I thought about pulling apart a Wacom tablet and converting the MacBook Pro into a tablet computer. But then I decided I probably couldn't take it apart and pull that off... Plus I type too much..

Anyone else have mods for a MacBook Pro? I might soon be modding mine!
 
Added to list: Internal USB drive for OS backup/secured files

List of Mods I am planning/wanting to do on my Macbook Pro is now:

Anodize or Powder coat casing
Mod logo, either LCD or colors
Fingerprint reader (heck, just for kicks)
Optibay or Blu-Ray drive
Laser etch casing?
Glossy screen death (MBA like custom bezel, replace with 15" Matte Bezel)
Sleep light color change
Battery indicator color change
Keyboard (RGB?) color change
Internal USB drive for OS backup/secure files?
 
falcn said:
You can put 3g/4g modem inside.

P.S. Once I did hardware volt mod to my Acer laptop by putting pieces of thin copper wire into the CPU slot.
Picture http://forum.ixbt.com/post.cgi?id=attach:17:19848:0:1.jpg
description (russian) http://forum.ixbt.com/topic.cgi?id=17:19848

It was the coldest laptop I ever had.
Click to expand...

Thats a freakin crazy mod. I would attempt a lot of things to my macbook... but... not.. that. Thats just crazy! Maybe one day, but not to my precious :D

As for the 3g/4g modem its entirely possible. It would be a pretty cool mod but generally I am within Wifi. It would be fun, but for me not necessary. I'm sure one day people will look at this forum and get ideas though!
 
astroboy907 said:
Thats a freakin crazy mod. I would attempt a lot of things to my macbook... but... not.. that. Thats just crazy! Maybe one day, but not to my precious :D
Click to expand...

I was young and curious :)
The only "hardware" mod I use now is a piece of black insulating tape on the "night" side of a Magsafe connector. It absorbs 90% of the LED light, making it visible in the darkness, but not blinding.
 

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astroboy907 said:
Yeah, I looked and found some stuff from a few years back about using one, it seems not to be implemented much. But if I do find a driver I would certainly think about using it! But then again, I love pretty, useless sensors :D

[...]

Edit: I just gave you a feeling of unease and tension all day with my lack of a closing quote on "Blu-Ray player". I will leave it just to unnerve you and give a sense of unease to any future reader. Mwahahaha!
Click to expand...

You have an evil mind. I also like pretty, useless sensors, but from time to time I like to see them work.
 
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