upgrading a macbook pro's ram and graphics card the hard way?

[Koobs123]

I have a MacBook pro retina with NVidia 650m and 4gigs ram.

I know the ram is soldered in, im not sure about the graphics card....

but I wanted to know if money was not an issue and you walked into the apple store and purchased a brand new MacBook pro retina/parts could you theoretically swap the processor and graphics card into your older retina plug and play? or is it more complicated?

what else would have to be done? what are the parts involved?

 

[thekev]

You would have to gut the entire thing. Are you really considering trying to leave them with the old parts? If you have to ask such a question you wouldn't be able to do it even if it was possible.

 

[Koobs123]

you wouldn't be able to do it even if it was possible.

why is it not possible?

I don't have 3grand to go try and scam apple like that. although I do have $1000 to give my buddy that has a MBPR top of the line that has a melted screen from it leaning on a candle on the back and a a fried hard drive apparently after we tried hooking it up to an external display.

he said if I want it I can take it for $1000. for me its worth it if I am able to swap the parts into mine.

 

[iKrivetko]

You probably could swap the whole motherboard, but that isn't and easy task either.

 

[Koobs123]

You probably could swap the whole motherboard, but that isn't and easy task either.

does the motherboard contain both the processor and graphics card? is that the only thing Id really need?

why would it be difficult? is there more to it then using microscopic screwdrivers to take out atom sized screws and plugging it in?

 

[maflynn]

does the motherboard contain both the processor and graphics card? is that the only thing Id really need?

why would it be difficult? is there more to it then using microscopic screwdrivers to take out atom sized screws and plugging it in?

Yes, tiny fragile ribbon cables and wires, a battery that is glued and removal may damage components. Check out the details over at iFixit

 

[OrangeSVTguy]

So in other words, you're trying to commit fraud and you came online to get an accomplice?

 

[snaky69]

The mother board has everything on it except the PCIe SSD. You'd need to swap the whole thing.

Assuming all mounting points and connections are in the same place, it could theoretically work.

The upgrade isn't all that worthwhile in your case though.

 

[niteflyr]

why is it not possible?

I don't have 3grand to go try and scam apple like that. although I do have $1000 to give my buddy that has a MBPR top of the line that has a melted screen from it leaning on a candle on the back and a a fried hard drive apparently after we tried hooking it up to an external display.

he said if I want it I can take it for $1000. for me its worth it if I am able to swap the parts into mine.

I don't see how hooking up an external display fried a hard drive. I think there is more issues with your buddy's machine than that.

 

[priitv8]

Check out the details over at iFixit

And here, for comparison, the teardown of a late 2013 model. Just pay attention, this is the base model, without nVidia GPU.
MacBook Pro 15" Retina Display Late 2013 Teardown

 

[thekev]

why is it not possible?

I don't have 3grand to go try and scam apple like that. although I do have $1000 to give my buddy that has a MBPR top of the line that has a melted screen from it leaning on a candle on the back and a a fried hard drive apparently after we tried hooking it up to an external display.

he said if I want it I can take it for $1000. for me its worth it if I am able to swap the parts into mine.

Others mentioned it. The motherboards are different, and at least the cpu is not compatible with the ivy board. What I don't understand is the appeal in doing so. The performance difference isn't much. The 750m is a higher clock of the 650m chip. The haswell cpu is marginally faster. I doubt you would notice the difference without timing them. My other point was that you do not seem to be very experienced with the disassembly of notebooks. If that is the case, you would not want to make this your first try due to the number of fragile parts used. Third I'm skeptical because you even got the specs incorrect on the one you already own. The 2012 rmbp only came with 8 or 16GB of ram, not 4.

 

[Swampus]

Others mentioned it. The motherboards are different, and at least the cpu is not compatible with the ivy board. What I don't understand is the appeal in doing so. The performance difference isn't much. The 750m is a higher clock of the 650m chip...

I don't understand the appeal either and I'm doubtful that the GPU would work any more than the CPU. Even with the similarities between the 650m and 750m, every other component that makes up a video card is also soldered onto either side of the logic board. Would the 750m chip work with every other component, including the lower amount of video memory? It seems the ROM would at least need to be hacked, no? Maybe SMC too?

It's not a "no harm if it doesn't work" type of thing. If it doesn't work and you have to reinstall the 650m, you will have, at that point, subjected the logic board pads to four unnecessary re-flow cycles. Even with high end equipment in the hands of a seasoned professional, this will almost certainly result in diminished life and diminished resale value.

OP, The most obvious solution here is to sell your MBP and combine that cash with the $1000 that you're willing to spend on this parts machine and simply purchase one with your desired specifications.