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Upgrading which Macs WON'T void warranty?

G

Gary King

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jun 14, 2004
495
1
Which Macs are okay to upgrade and won't void your warranty?

I have Mac Mini right now, but it seems to not leave much space for upgrading.

Also, if I compared the HD speed of a Mini and the HD speed of an iMac, how much more better would the iMac HD perform? I think it's 7200 RPM vs. 5200 RPM.
 
S

sakasune

macrumors member
Mar 12, 2004
70
0
I believe opening the case of the Mini might void the warranty.
I think that might go for the portables, and maybe the iMac too.
 
mikemodena

mikemodena

macrumors 6502a
May 30, 2005
552
0
Connecticut
For iBooks it voids the warranty to open the case. To install ram you lift up the keyboard, remove airport card, unscrew the little tray, and slap in the ram.
 
S

sakasune

macrumors member
Mar 12, 2004
70
0
stridey said:
Note though, that you don't need to crack the case on the portables or iMac to upgrade RAM.
Click to expand...
That's true, you just have to be very careful.
The AluBooks are easier to upgrade the RAM since Apple left a little door for that. The 15" TiBook's RAM was under the keyboard, IIRC. I also changed the HD in my TiBook when I still had it, that was a delicate procedure.
 
mklos

mklos

macrumors 68000
Dec 4, 2002
1,896
0
My house!
Gary King said:
Which Macs are okay to upgrade and won't void your warranty?

I have Mac Mini right now, but it seems to not leave much space for upgrading.

Also, if I compared the HD speed of a Mini and the HD speed of an iMac, how much more better would the iMac HD perform? I think it's 7200 RPM vs. 5200 RPM.
Click to expand...

Well you can upgrade any MacMini as long as you don't break anything. That actually applies to any Mac. For example, if you're adding RAM to an iBook and somehow pull the AirPort cable off, Apple won't fix that under warranty. If you're adding a HD to a PowerMac and break the SATA port on the logicboard, Apple won't fix that under warranty even though its a user servicable part.

So if you can get into the MacMini without breaking it, which isn't that hard, you can upgrade the RAM, and HD without any problems.
 
mklos

mklos

macrumors 68000
Dec 4, 2002
1,896
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My house!
stridey said:
Note though, that you don't need to crack the case on the portables or iMac to upgrade RAM.
Click to expand...

Well for upgrading the RAM on an iMac G5, you have to take the back off, which is basically cracking the case....
 
G

Gary King

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jun 14, 2004
495
1
Where can I find a video of how to open these Macs? I remember seeing one for the Mac Mini, and it was extremely detailed. It was found at a website where they sell Mac products.

If anyone can give me a link, I'd be extremely grateful :)
 
stridey

stridey

macrumors 65816
Jan 21, 2005
1,136
0
Massachusetts, Connecticut
Gary King said:
Where can I find a video of how to open these Macs? I remember seeing one for the Mac Mini, and it was extremely detailed. It was found at a website where they sell Mac products.

If anyone can give me a link, I'd be extremely grateful :)
Click to expand...

Which computer do you want it for?
 
J

Jo-Kun

macrumors 6502a
Dec 20, 2003
677
0
Antwerp-Belgium
Gary King said:
Also, if I compared the HD speed of a Mini and the HD speed of an iMac, how much more better would the iMac HD perform? I think it's 7200 RPM vs. 5200 RPM.
Click to expand...


in this case (if you mean the iMac G5) there is not only the difference in RPM but allso what interface is been used...

Mac mini uses PATA equal to the type in i&Powerbooks wich is if I recall correctly allready a slower type than the PATA used in desktopcomputers like the iMac G4 & PowerMac G4

the iMac G5 uses SATA wich is allso found in the PowerMac G5, and that has a broader bandwith added to the faster RPM of the drives...

you can add a 10k rpm drive in the iMac... or go for one with 16MB buffer... that allso will speed it up...

just compare the fastest iMac to the fastest Mac mini

1,42Ghz G4 vs 2Ghz G5
busspeeds I would have to check but G5 will have a faster bus
1GB ram max vs 2GB ram max
PATA laptop HDD vs SATA desktop HDD
...

as long as you don't break things the warranty will not be void on both computers... but I don't have the fineprint for all the details concerning warranty...
 
mklos

mklos

macrumors 68000
Dec 4, 2002
1,896
0
My house!
Jo-Kun said:
in this case (if you mean the iMac G5) there is not only the difference in RPM but allso what interface is been used...

Mac mini uses PATA equal to the type in i&Powerbooks wich is if I recall correctly allready a slower type than the PATA used in desktopcomputers like the iMac G4 & PowerMac G4

the iMac G5 uses SATA wich is allso found in the PowerMac G5, and that has a broader bandwith added to the faster RPM of the drives...

you can add a 10k rpm drive in the iMac... or go for one with 16MB buffer... that allso will speed it up...

just compare the fastest iMac to the fastest Mac mini

1,42Ghz G4 vs 2Ghz G5
busspeeds I would have to check but G5 will have a faster bus
1GB ram max vs 2GB ram max
PATA laptop HDD vs SATA desktop HDD
...

as long as you don't break things the warranty will not be void on both computers... but I don't have the fineprint for all the details concerning warranty...
Click to expand...



FSB on a 2GHz iMac G5 is 667MHz (1/3 CPU Speed) and the MacMini has a 167MHZ FSB (the max for a G4 CPU).
 
cleanup

cleanup

macrumors 68030
Jun 26, 2005
2,643
10
Toronto
Erm, why would opening the iMac G5 void the warranty? There are articles in the Knowledge Base about how to install extra RAM. They never mention anything about it voiding the warranty. I set up Tiger, and 20 minutes later I slapped in an extra gig of RAM. That's not voiding the warranty...
 
G

Gary King

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jun 14, 2004
495
1
Dr. Dastardly said:
ROFLMAO are you serious?!

So the warrantee is no good if the computer breaks while trying to fix it?! LOL
Click to expand...

Of course he is serious.

But on a side note, if you open the Mac Mini at all, your warranty is automatically void (AppleCare is voided, that is. Certain other suppliers have different policies for their own warranties.)

I've called them before, read many threads, and that is my conclusion.
 
B

barneygumble

macrumors 6502a
Apr 18, 2005
726
0
Dr. Dastardly said:
ROFLMAO are you serious?!

So the warrantee is no good if the computer breaks while trying to fix it?! LOL
Click to expand...

What the hell does ROFLMAO mean anyway i do not get it :mad:
 
rickvanr

rickvanr

macrumors 68040
Apr 10, 2002
3,259
12
Brockville
sakasune said:
I believe opening the case of the Mini might void the warranty.
I think that might go for the portables, and maybe the iMac too.
Click to expand...

WRONG- Opening the case of a mini will void your warranty as much as opening up a PM case, of course if you break something, it wouldn't be covered.
 
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