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Justin098

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Sep 28, 2013
14
0
I have a MacBook late 2008 aluminium 2.0GHz model with an Intel Core 2 Duo processor. Can I upgrade it to Intel i3, i5 or i7 processors?
 
I have a MacBook late 2008 aluminium 2.0GHz model with an Intel Core 2 Duo processor. Can I upgrade it to Intel i3, i5 or i7 processors?

Ignore the previous post. The processor chip inside your macbook is soldered (not socketed) to the logic board and the intel i3, i5 and i7 processors have a different pin layout. So even if you were somehow able to remove the Core 2 Duo processor chip from the logic board, fitting either an i3, i5 or i7 would be near impossible due to the pin layout being completely different. The only thing you can do is to max out the ram (to 8gb on your late 2008 macbook), and install an SSD.
 
Yes from my side too, ignore post #2.

Also it is not possible to use a newer logicboard, let's say Macbook unibody from 2009 or later.
I also recommend to max out the RAM and get an SSD (I really like the Crucials (M4 and M500).
A SSD really can make a difference and even when the Macbook dies in the next month you can still use the SSD for something else.

Regarding your wish to upgrade your Mac I think you don't like the new non-upgradeable Macbooks.

Maybe in this case it could make sense for you to buy the last upgradable Macbook Pro? I know it's a lot of money, especially for 2012 hardware, but on the other side you will have a machine that can be useful until 2019!?
 
I can't imagine anyone in their right mind dealing with that company. They have no real address, no phone number, no e-mail.. the site screams scam.

It is a joke site. A site like that is no more possible than one that you can download milk to your fridge. :)

To the OP, processors are paired with specific logic/motherboard mounts. To stick with my metaphor motif, it would be no more possible than putting a charger car engine into a pinto to speed it up.
 
I have the same Macbook. Does anyone know what the max capacity SSD it is compatible with? I seem to recall there were some restrictions on the size of HDD for this mac. And also the specs call for SATA II when most SSD are SATA III, will it still work?
 
It is a joke site. A site like that is no more possible than one that you can download milk to your fridge. :)

To the OP, processors are paired with specific logic/motherboard mounts. To stick with my metaphor motif, it would be no more possible than putting a charger car engine into a pinto to speed it up.

I used their parent company to download a new engine for my car. But come to think of it, I must have bought a lemon because it still doesn't run very well. :)
 
I have the same Macbook. Does anyone know what the max capacity SSD it is compatible with? I seem to recall there were some restrictions on the size of HDD for this mac. And also the specs call for SATA II when most SSD are SATA III, will it still work?

I remember at some point in the past there was a limit of 750GB for a mechanical hard drive, but I have recently read reports of people putting in up to 2TB hard drives in a late 2008 aluminium MB and having no problems, so the limit may have been lifted at some point in an EFI rom update. For SSD's as far as I know, I don't think there is an upward limit on the maximum capacity for an SSD. Most Sata 3 SSD's are backward compatible with SATA 2 speeds, but check the specs of the SSD first.
 
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I wonder if the limit you are talking about is the limit 32bit OSs have in addressing sizes greater than 2TB.

As for SATA3 SSDs, aren't they all backward compatible with SATA2? I believe that to be the case.

I recently searched on newegg and found a 120GB Kingston SSD for under $100. I think the 60GB one was ~$80.
 
Jeez...I am embarrassed that I didn't realize it. One of those days I guess. Just never thought anyone would go to the trouble of setting up a joke site.

It was a simply done site that looked believable if I didn't know better. Even had the sliding progress bar as the RAM was downloaded.

Back in Win95 days they sold programs to 'double your RAM'. I think it basically compressed the RAM, which was successful, but then the extra CPU load to do the compressing/decompressing just made it even slower.
 
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