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.
COVID Update: We are still processing and shipping orders placed online, and operating our mail-in repair and upgrade service. But our premises are closed. Phone, email, and chat answered 9am - 5pm, Monday - Friday.
iMac Intel (White) Upgrades
This page covers all the upgrades we sell for the earlier (white rather than Aluminium) iMacs with Intel CPUs. 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:
This page covers all the white coloured iMacs with an Intel CPU. These machines replaced the previous iMac G5, and were later replaced by the Aluminium Intel iMacs.
Announced in January 2006 alongside the MacBook Pro, the Intel iMac was the first Apple desktop to use the new Intel Core Duo processor. This first range of iMacs could take up to 2GB of RAM. Apple specs for the original model can be found here.
In September 2006 Apple refreshed this line, moving from the Core Duo to the Core 2 Duo processor (claiming a 50% increase in performance for some tasks) and introducing a new 24" display model. These white Core 2 Duo iMacs could take up to 3GB of RAM. Apple specs here.
In August 2007, Apple redesigned the iMac with a new Aluminium case type, upgrades for those later machines can be found on the iMac Aluminium page.
How to Identify these Machines
The white Intel iMac looks very similar to the previous iMac G5 - the later versions of that model have the same iSight camera built into the top of the screen, and look very similar. To tell the difference between the G5 and Intel iMacs, open System Profiler and check the CPU type. These newer iMacs also have a mini-DVI video output, rather than the mini-VGA on earlier models.
You can identify between the first and second generation white Intel iMacs by looking at the processor type in the System Profiler utility - the first generation (Apple specs here) had Core Duo CPUs, the second generation (Apple specs here) had Core 2 Duo CPUs.
The later Aluminium Intel iMacs are easily distinguished by their different case design and colour.
Memory Upgrades
You can identify between the first and second generation white Intel iMacs by looking at the processor type in the System Profiler utility - the first generation (Apple specs here) had Core Duo CPUs, the second generation (Apple specs here) had Core 2 Duo CPUs.
All white Intel iMacs use DDR2-PC2-5300 SODIMM RAM (667MHz), and have 2 memory slots. The original Core Duo model could take maximum of 2GB, the later Core 2 Duo model could take up to 3GB using 1 x 1GB module and 1 x 2GB.
There is no need to install RAM in matched pairs in these iMacs.
Only for the second (Late 2006) revision, which can take up to 3GB in 1 x 2GB + 1 x 1GB modules.
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 2 / 5 - Easy
Turn off machine and lie it face down on a soft
cloth to prevent scratching. There is an access panel on the bottom of the screen which allows you to access the RAM slots.
Apple's instructions for fitting memory can be found here.
If you are unsure on how to carry out this procedure our engineers can help. Call on 01223 833412 or email.
CD/DVD/Blu-ray Drive Upgrades
All the white Intel iMacs came with a slot-loading internal SuperDrive (a DVD-RW drive). These can be replaced if they have failed, and it is also possible to use an external USB 2.0 device.
Blu-Ray is not fully supported in OSX. Disks can be mounted and read, but movie playback requires third party software.
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 Hard (internal replacement)
Professional installation recommended.
Internal Hard Drive & SSD Upgrades
The internal hard drive can be upgrade on any white Intel iMac, with a larger drive. A Solid State Drive can also be fitted, but due to the slow speed of the SATA controller (SATA 150), it is not going to give the same performance as in a modern Mac, although it will perform noticably better than a hard drive. The optical (DVD) drive can also be replaced with a 2.5in (laptop type) SATA drive, but since this is done by adapting the IDE type controller in that bay, performance will be impacted.
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.
This allows you to fit a 2.5in drive - a laptop drive rather than the ones listed on this page.
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 Hard
We recommend professional installation for replacing the hard drive in the Intel iMac. We can sell you a drive to install yourself, but we cannot provide help for the installation process.
Some white Intel iMacs can technically have their graphics card replaced, but there are no third party upgrades available. If you have a machine with a failed graphics card we may be able to source a part for repair, but this will be a refurbished part of the same type as the failed one, so these will not be an upgrade. Please contact us for more details.
There are none available.
Expansion Card Upgrades
Your iMac has no slots for expansion cards, apart for a slot for an Airport Extreme wireless networking card - all models of this machine were sold with a card fitted as standard, so this would only be useful to replace a failed card.
There are none available.
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.
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.
There are none available.
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.
