MacUpgrades.co.uk offers a wide range of fixed price upgrades and repairs for your Apple computers. You can drop in to our offices in Sawston, Cambridge or if you are not local you can either have us collect or send in your computer yourself. Sameday fitting is available for most items, contact us for details. We also offer on site installation services and training on your premises.
Macupgrades offers a wide range of on-site services for your Apple equipment. We offer all of our upgrade services, and most of our repair services too.
All our engineers have at least 15 years of experience with Apple hardware and software
Enter your serial number into the box below for specific upgrades for your machine. Each upgrade has been tested in the machine we list it for. Compatability is 100% guaranteed or your money back.
How to find your serial number in software
You can find your Mac's serial number in Apple System Profiler: Select the Apple Menu > About This Mac, then (depending on the version of OSX you are running) click the System Report button or the More Info button. This brings up System Profiler, and on the Hardware Overview that is displayed by default you should see your serial number, and be able to copy/paste it. The procedure does vary slightly between different versions of OSX.
If you can't boot your Mac
If your Mac is not working, the serial number is printed on the computer casing but the location varies. Here are the main locations of serial numbers on Apple computers.
Unibody MacBook Pro - Laser etched onto the base.
MacBook, Early MacBook Pro, PowerBook G4 - Inside the main battery bay. Remove battery to locate.
iBook (White) - Under the keyboard. To lift keyboard, pull back on the release tabs between the F-keys.
Intel iMac, iMac G5 - Underside of the foot/stand.
iMac G4, iMac G3 - Underside of the iMac.
Mac mini - On the underside of the Mac mini.
Mac Pro 2006-2012 - On rear of machine near graphics card ports.
PowerMac G5 - On lower chassis under side panel. To remove side panel, lift lever on rear of Mac.
PowerMac G3, PowerMac G4 - Label on the back of the Mac.
Your Mac's Model Identifier can be found in System Profiler. You can use the drop-down menus above to be taken to a page that displays upgrades specifically for your exact model.
This tool is also available on its own page, with a list of all Model IDs here.
iBook Clamshell Original Upgrades
This page covers all the upgrades we sell for this range of Macs. Choose the type of upgrade you are looking for from the tabs below.
If you want specific upgrades for your exact model, choose it from the Model ID links below, or enter your serial number here:
The iBook G3 was introduced in September 1999, and brought Steve Jobs'
vision for consumer and professional level Macs a step closer. The iBook G3
was designed for the American college market, with its robust perspex case
and carrying handle. The machine joined the iMac in Apple's "i" line up, and
came in colourful "Blueberry" and "Tangerine" shades. The iBook was about
$1000 less expensive than the nearest PowerBook - making it a cheap portable
Mac for the masses. The units are still sought after today, and have become another
Apple icon.
As with all of Apples consumer level "i" series machines they are not very
upgradeable. Only the RAM and the hard drive may be
upgraded. They shipped with Mac OS 8.6 and can run anything up to 10.3.9 (they will not take 10.4 or higher).
How to Identify these Machines
The G3 iBook Clamshell has a distinctively styled case, and can be distinguished easily from Apple's other portables.
There were two ranges of Clamshells made - this page deals with the first generation of machines, which came in blueberry and tangerine, are translucent, and do not have a FireWire port.
The second generation came in indigo, lime green and graphite, and have a FireWire port.
If you are still unsure you can contact us on 01223 833 412 or by email for assistance. If you want to upgrade but aren't happy to install your upgrades yourself, then we can help. Simply ask our engineers for further details.
Memory Upgrades
The iBook G3 has 1 memory socket available for upgrade. The machine will support up to 288MB or 320MB of RAM
- it has one socket available which will accept up to a 256MB chip, and either 32MB or 64MB soldered onto the logic board.
There are none available.
Difficulty 3 / 5 - Reasonably easy.
Turn off the machine and remove the power cable and battery.
The hard drive and RAM are
housed below the keyboard. To remove the keyboard release the catches at the top of the keyboard. (between ESC & F1 and
F8 & F9). This reveals the internal parts.
There is a metal protective plate secured with 2 screws. Remove the plate to reveal
the RAM socket. The top socket is easily reached and replaced.
Reassemble your machine and the upgrade is done.
CD/DVD/Blu-ray Drive Upgrades
The iBook G3 original came equipped with a CD-ROM drive, loaded by a tray, on the left hand side of the unit.
At present we don't stock internal CD or DVD writers which fit internally to the machine.
It is possible to use an external device
via USB (the iBook G3 original has no FireWire connectivity). Please bear in mind that the slow speed of the USB port means that you will only be able to burn at around 4x speed, whatever the rating of the CD-RW you buy. DVD-RWs will not work with these iBooks.
There are no optical drive upgrades available for these Macs
Difficulty 1 / 5 - Easy (external)
Install any supplied software, connect the drive, and away you go.
Internal Hard Drive & SSD Upgrades
This range of drives will work in your iBook G3 Original - Although user installation is advised against
(see below).
If you don't want to fit a new hard drive yourself, you can take advantage of the MacUpgrades Installation Service. Add the installation service from the list below to your cart along with your chosen hard drive. We can also clone your existing hard drive onto the new one, simply add the Clone Original Hard Drive service below to your cart.
Once you have booked the service, send your machine to us, we will carry out the work and return it to you. Alternatively, we do offer a Collection Service with our courier, please see here for details.
Any fitting information below is intended as a guide before purchase ONLY, when fitting these products you should refer to the original manual for your computer, and any instructions that come with the item. Please see this page for more information, or here for information on our fitting service.
Difficulty 5 / 5 - Very Difficult (internal)
The iBook Original's internal hard drive is very difficult to get to, and is not classified by Apple as
a user installable part.
Mac Upgrades can install drives for you, please contact us for details.
You can purchase a drive from us to install yourself.
However Mac Upgrades cannot provide instructions, or support your install.
Graphics Cards and Displays
The graphics card in your iBook G3 Original is part of the main logic board. Unfortunately therefore it is
not possible to increase or change the graphics card. It may be worth expanding your memory to its maximum
to try and compensate, although this will have a limited effect at best on the iBooks's 3D capabilities.
There are no graphics card upgrades available for these Macs
Expansion Card Upgrades
Your iBook Original has no available PCMCIA sockets for connectivity expansion.
There are no expansion cards available for these Macs
Keyboards & Mice
The following keyboards and mice are compatible with this Mac.
Any fitting information below is intended as a guide before purchase ONLY, when fitting these products you should refer to the original manual for your computer, and any instructions that come with the item. Please see this page for more information, or here for information on our fitting service.
Cables & Tools
Listed below are power cables, tools and related products
we supply for this Mac.
Due to the old connectivity, and lack of expandability of these Macs, no external hard drives are available for them.
There are no external hard drive upgrades available for these Macs.
Complete Machines - Refurbished
Any complete machines of this type or similar that we have for sale are listed here. Please note that these are refurbished models with a 3 month warranty, and that delivery is likely to take 3 - 5 working days. These can be purchased online with the standard website courier delivery charge for the mainland UK only. Please contact us for a quote on shipping to other areas.
Repair Services for this Mac
Here are the various repair services we offer for this Mac. You can have us take the machine in for evaluation, or book a fixed-price repair if you already know what the fault is and the service is listed below (for services without parts, please see the relevant tab on this page for compatible parts that we sell). If you know what the fault is, but we don't have a fixed-price repair listed below, please contact
us for a quote.
