Libor Kubín Article about upgraded MacBook Pro aroused a well-deserved response. However, many questions could not be answered in the review, so I devoted a separate article to them. Do you have a question that didn't appear here? Please write it in the discussion.
Q: Where is the line between when an upgrade still pays off and when it doesn't? Is it worth upgrading for example 2008 models?
A: In general, all Macs with a Unibody design are worth the upgrade. But even an aluminum MacBook Pro with a Core 2 Duo processor still has a place these days and can be significantly accelerated with an SSD drive. Personally, I can see the upgrade making sense for any Mac that supports the current version of OS X.
Q: Do you perform recovery with discs of other brands at the customer's request?
A: If the customer wants a specific model or has already purchased an SSD, we can of course also mount the supplied drive. The advantage of a complete solution from us (i.e. purchasing hardware and services from us) is the provision of a guarantee for the functionality of the entire solution. I'll give an example: if I want to install a cheap SSD of my choice in an iMac and it breaks, it will have to be removed, claimed and reinstalled. As a result, this form of upgrade can become more complicated and expensive.
Q: Do you also sell separate hardware for home assembly?
A: Yes, we sell the entire OWC range. Most solutions also come with screwdrivers and assembly instructions. And why buy OWC products from us and not directly from OWC? We will arrange shipping, customs clearance and take responsibility for the warranty for you. Plus, we keep the most popular drives and memory in stock, so you don't have to wait for US shipping.
Q: If I replace the drive and RAM memory myself at home, will I lose my Apple warranty?
A: No, the memory and drive in MacBooks and Mac minis are user-replaceable parts and you should not have a problem with it at an authorized service center. It just depends on your willingness to do something like that at your own risk. In iMacs (except for the 21″ model from 2012), the operating memory is user-changeable, and it is really easily accessible through a door from the bottom or back of the iMac. For disks (especially new iMacs), mounting is quite difficult. A lot can go wrong with it, so I wouldn't recommend doing it at home. We guarantee the functionality of the installation and also take over the warranty of the upgraded computer.
Q: Which Mac models do you upgrade and which do you not? Which ones don't even work?
A: We have an upgrade for every Mac model. However, some models have limited options. For example, with MacBook Air and Pro with Retina display, it is not possible to replace the operating memories, as they are soldered directly on the motherboard. The only changeable part is the SSD disk.
Q: Can you also upgrade a 2012 iMac model?
A: Yes, but currently only RAM. This is easily accessible through the back door on the 27″ model, whereas on the 21″ version, almost the entire iMac has to be disassembled. If you want to buy a 21″ iMac, MacBook Air or 15″ MacBook Pro with Retina Display, definitely pay extra for the maximum operating memory. It's worth it. On the contrary, it is worthwhile to buy a 27″ iMac with the basic 8GB and then upgrade it afterwards.
Q: Do you overclock the processor? Does it matter?
A: We do not overclock the processor for several reasons. First of all, unlike other modifications, it is a purely software setting that can change, for example, with a system reinstallation. However, in addition to higher performance, overclocking will also bring noticeably higher consumption and increase temperature. For today's use, a higher processor speed does not have too much impact on computer performance. Only if you're streaming video or otherwise processing a lot of data will you need a powerful processor. But not so much a higher clock rate as a newer architecture or more cores will help in this.
Q: How about the cooling of such modded builds? Do they heat more? Does it have any effect on battery power consumption? How much less will it last?
A: An SSD does not reach higher temperatures than a regular disk, so even Macs do not get hotter with it. SSD consumption is similar to modern hard drives, and in practice you won't notice much difference in MacBook endurance with it. If there are two disks in the MacBook - that means one more instead of a DVD drive - the consumption will increase. When both disks are maxed out, the endurance will drop by approximately one hour. However, if the second disk is inactive, it is automatically switched off and can therefore have a minimal impact on consumption.
Q: What is the difference in speed between a 5400 and a 7200 rpm disc? Does the faster one use more power?
A: The difference is approximately 30%, depending on the specific types of discs. The consumption is not noticeably higher. But what can be felt are greater vibrations and higher noise. It's a decision between speed and performance. The classic disk still has a lot to offer as secondary storage. Nowadays, only an SSD is suitable as a primary drive, which is by its very nature quiet and faster not by tens but by hundreds of percent.
Q: If your customer has sensitive data and wants to transfer it to an upgraded computer, can you guarantee that it won't go astray?
A: Definitely. We work with the personal and company data of our customers on a daily basis, and it is a matter of course that they do not get away from the customer's computer and are not disseminated in any way. We are willing to guarantee this by signing a non-disclosure agreement.
The continuation of the questions and answers can be found in this article.
Libor Kubín asked, Michal Pazderník from Etnetera Logicworks, the company behind it, answered nsparkle.cz.
I would like to ask. To the first question. Is it possible to replace the gr. card or processor? Specifically, it would be a 27″ iMac.
graphics must be in MXM format and supported by OSX
cpu can be replaced as well
Hello, can you please recommend a concrete graphics card with 512MB and above for iMac 27″ Late 2009? Thanks in advance :)
ATI Radeon HD 4850??? Will he go?
Can I ask if it makes sense to upgrade the SSD in 13″ retinas? 128GB is quite small, it would like at least >512GB
SSDs in retinas cannot be changed, they are wired on the board
This is not entirely true, the SSD is the only replaceable part of the retina.
yes, it's true, I meant Air again... but Apple has a different connector there, or something
The SSD in MB Retina can be changed, it's a matter of 5 minutes. I recently upgraded from a 256GB to an OWC 480GB Aura PRO G6. It definitely makes sense, the speed is incredible.
How about TRIM support for OWC's supplied SSDs?
Apple has trim turned on only for its "apple" ssd, but it can be easily solved via the terminal, it just has to be done again after a major system update, interesting that NSsparkle is silent about it :)
What is the command in terminal to run TRIM?
It used to be here: https://digitaldj.net/2011/07/21/trim-enabler-for-lion/
It's not just one command, there are more and it varies depending on the version, whether it's 10.6 or 10.7 or 10.8. I probably have it backed up offline somewhere, so if you want, I can find it...
One of the main things that it did was that it overwrote the name of the ssd in the system from e.g. Ocz vertex has an appleSSD and it was :)
latest iMac 27″ .. has anyone tried putting more than 32GB RAM in there? it worked? thanks
More than 32GB probably won't fit there, even everymac doesn't talk about this option.
In addition, it would have to be 4x16GB modules and I doubt that they are available...
I will also add experience: I have an iMac 27″ Late 2009. As you probably know, the existing rotating HDD (1TB 7200 RPM) has a temperature sensor and modified FW. I wanted to replace the HDD with an SSD. IT told me that it is possible, but that the temperature sensor that is not connected to the SSD is faulty. The system "reaches" for it, monitors the temperature of the HDD, and since the sensor does not see that it is connected, the iMac gradually increases the speed up to 6000 RPM (the standard is about 1100 RPM), which is then a decent helicopter. Solution? Simple. It was enough to install the HDD Fan Control application, which takes information about the disk temperature from elsewhere (SMART), and everything has been OK since then. Although the application is paid, there is no other option, perhaps just to connect an external temperature sensor. The price of the program is about 730 CZK.
Otherwise, the speed is noticeably higher with the SSD. From the original start of 1 minute, the start (to the login screen) is now exactly 22 seconds. The overall running of the system (10.8.3) is absolutely perfect. I have an OCZ Vertex 3 SATA III (however, iMac 27″ only has SATA II, but still great :) ) So if anyone is afraid to replace the rotating HDD in iMac 2009 and higher, there is this solution via HDD Fan Control. You can google more :)
These things like a sensor, etc. can be turned off easily via the terminal and for free, just google it ;) I first did similar bakeries in about 2009 with a macbook pro 13″ when I installed the first SSD, it was necessary to easily tune the system via the terminal and everything was fine like butter :)
Of course, everyone according to their possibilities and abilities :)
And how do you see upgrading the Mac Mini 2012 in particular helping somehow?
If you have a standard drive in your Mac Mini now, i.e. 1TB 5400RPM I'm assuming, then swapping it out for an SSD (SATA III) will literally be a brutal speed boost, I'm sure of it :) Mno and if you raise the standard 4GB RAM to the max 16GB, even more so better :) That's why I recommend the upgrade !!! :)
I have no choice but to completely agree. Just last week I installed a 2012GB OWC SSD and 120GB 16MHz RAM in my 1600 Mac Mini and it's great. The speed is amazing, everything is much faster and smoother. Be sure to upgrade, it's worth it :-)
I'm also going to upgrade to an SSD drive, I'm curious about the performance, one more thing Mafia 2 can tell me sucks, will the SSD drive help the game run smoothly?
It will certainly help in a way, but it is also very much a question of the graphics card (primarily) and RAM. SSD rather speeds up processes: uploading, etc. The graphics engine, which I observed for example in Batman 2: DC, does not speed up much... however, it is a bit faster :)
OK, I will contact you in the next few days. But one more question, how long do you think the 2012 model will be supported from a system perspective? So how long will the latest MAC OS X run on it? With previous experience with Apple, you would probably be able to guess it
I answer for myself, from my experiences. I'm not nSparkle :) I think the 2012 models will be supported for at least 4 years from a system perspective. For example, I have an iMac Early 2008 and the 10.8.3 system runs beautifully, and it's 2013, so 5 years since the release of this iMac :)
I have an upgraded MacBook Pro 08′ from Nsparkle and I am totally satisfied… Mountain Lion runs absolutely smooth. Memory expanded to 8GB and SSD 250GB, I think I will not exaggerate when I say that the machine has comparable performance with some current models.
Otherwise, if I look for MBP Retina in the future, it will only be from Nsparkle.
I have one more question, is it possible to replace the battery in a MacBook Air 13″ (mid 2012)? Thank you.
Can i put two drives in iMac 2011? 1x SSD for the system and the other classic 3,5″? Thanks for the reply.
Hello, is this possible? What exact model do you have? I have an iMac 21,5″ Mid-2011 here and I have a classic 500GB 7200RPM drive and a 256GB SSD low profile (7mm) OCZ drive in it. This model has 3x SATA III, so the CD/DVD drive has also been preserved :)
Great! Thanks for the comprehensive answer :) I have a 27″ Mid-2011 iMac, so if it all fits in the 21″, it must fit in mine too :)
If I understand correctly, there is no way to replace the RAM in the new iMac 21,5″, 2012?
Hello, I have a question, will the 2012GB 16 MHz memory work in the mac mini 1600? Thanks
Yes, the RAM for your model is PC3-12800 DDR3, i.e. 1600 MHz. Use 2x 8GB modules :)
The maximum for your Mac Mini is 16 GB :)
I think it's clear from this article that being able to replace a component in a laptop makes sense. For me, the main reason not to buy a Retina is that, apart from the disk (and it's still not very easy to change at 15), you can't replace anything at all.
Personally, I don't really care if the MacBook is 2 cm or 2.3 cm high, so I hope that in the future Apple will not completely cut the classic Pro branch.
I have 2 questions: 1) is there something like Disk Defragmentation on Mac? 2) ipod-shuffle-2nd-gen-1fa-460.jpg is this really an iPod? or is it just some imitation?
1/ it exists, but it is not used much.
2/ we don't have a photo, we can't say.