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.
Mac Pro (2006/2008) Upgrades
This
page covers all the upgrades we sell for Apple Mac Pros in the
2006 and 2008 revisions - models made before March 2009. Choose the
type of upgrade you are looking for from the tabs below.(Not the right Mac? See here for more Mac Pros, or here for all Macs.)
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 deals with Mac Pro computers made between August 2006 and March 2009, upgrades for the Mac Pro "Nehalem" released in March 2009 are listed here.
With the release of the Mac Pro, Apple finished its move from PowerPC to Intel processors. The Mac Pro replaced the PowerMac G5 Dual Core as Apple's high-end workstation.
Although the case was virtually unchanged, the change from the PowerPC G5 to the Intel Xeon dropped the thermal output of the machine considerably, allowing some of the cooling equipment of the previous machine to be removed to make way for more hard drive bays - addressing one of the major complaints with the PowerMac G5. Apple's specifications of the original Mac Pro can be found here.
In January 2008 Apple released an improved model using Xeon 5400 series processors as opposed to the 5100 series, the bus speed improved from 1.33GHz to 1.6GHz. Apple's specifications for this revision of the Mac Pro can be found here.
How to Identify these Machines
Externally this machine looks very similar to the PowerMac G5 and the PowerMac G5 Dual Core. Internally the machine is much more spacious with room for 2 optical drives and 4 hard drives, as opposed to 1 optical drive and 2 hard drives on the G5s.
An easy identification between PowerMac G5 and Mac Pro can be made by opening the System Profiler utility (Apple Menu > About This Mac, then click the "More Info" button) and checking the CPU type since this machine uses an Intel Xeon and the older machines use a PowerPC G5.
These Mac Pros are also very similar to the later Mac Pro "Nehalem", released in March 2009. System Profiler is the best way to tell the difference - in the memory section of System Profiler, check the speed of the installed RAM modules. The Nehalem Mac Pros use DDR3 1066MHz RAM (PC3-8500), where as the earlier machines dealt with on this page use DDR2 667MHz (PC2-5300) or DDR2 800MHz (PC2-6400) memory.
There are two main revisions of Mac Pro dealt with on this page, the earlier ones use Xeon 5100 series processors, have a 1.33GHz bus speed and can take up to 32GB of 667MHz FB-DIMM RAM (see Apple specs). The later ones use Xeon 5400 series processors and can take up to 32GB of 800MHz FB-DIMM RAM (see Apple specs) - to distinguish between them use System Profiler to check the bus speed or RAM speed. For Mac Pros using a Xeon 3500 or 5500, see the Mac Pro "Nehalem" page.
If you are still unsure you can contact us on 01223 833 412 or by email for confirmation.
Memory Upgrades
This page lists memory for Mac Pro computers made between August 2006 and March 2009 only, RAM upgrades for the Mac Pro "Nehalem" released in March 2009 are listed here.
These earlier Intel Xeon based Mac Pro requires FB-DIMM (fully buffered
DIMM) memory. FB-DIMM RAM has excellent performance and reliability
compared to normal DDR2 memory - it is however more expensive.
There are 8 RAM slots in the Mac Pro, the earlier models take 667MHz FB-DIMM RAM and can take up to 32GB in 8 x 4GB modules.
Later Mac Pros (from January 2008) use 800MHZ FB-DIMM RAM and can take up to 32GB in 8 x 4GB modules.
Compatible with pre Jan 2008 models only - Mac Pros with 1.33GHz bus speed and 667MHz speed RAM chips.
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 1 / 5 - Very Easy
The RAM is installed on 2 riser boards, each one holding 4 sockets.
Simply turn off the machine, slide the risers out, insert the new RAM, and slide the risers back in.
Apple's instructions for fitting RAM into this machine are here.
CD/DVD/Blu-ray Drive Upgrades
The Mac Pro has slots for two optical drives, these are controlled
by standard IDE interfaces so any normal IDE 5.25" unit will
fit. You can also fit a Blu-ray drive, but since these are SATA devices
you need to attach it to one of the spare SATA connectors on the
logic board. We sell a kit to do this and have an installation guide here.
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.
If you do have an IDE drive to fit, refer to this
pdf document on Apple's website for detailed instructions
on installing an internal optical drive. Overview of fitting an
IDE drive is as follows:
Internal CD/DVD drives are mounted in a removable 2 bay cage.
Turn off the machine and remove the side access panel.
Lay the Mac on its side and ensure the latch on the back panel of the machine is in the up position.
Pull the optical drive mounting cage (located top left as you look at the machine on its side) away from the machine, detach the power and IDE cables to allow it to be completely removed.
The existing optical drive is secured by four screws and can be easily removed or replaced. A second drive can also be mounted in the free bay.
Reconnect power and IDE cables - note, the first (middle) IDE connector should be used for the top drive - and replace the mounting cage in the machine.
Internal Hard Drive & SSD Upgrades
In a major improvement over the PowerMac G5, the Mac Pro has mountings for up to 4 internal SATA 3.5" hard drives. Fitting is easy since all the bays are readily accessible.
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.
Mac Pro towers only have a SATA 300 drive controller, so this SATA 600 SSD will be limited to this speed.
2
Requires 10.6.8 or later. In the 2008 Mac Pro the Accelsior must be in PCIe slot 3 to boot into Windows. In all 2006 - 2008 Mac Pros, the Accelsior cannot be selected as the boot device when booting with the Alt key (it can be chosen in System Preferences > Startup Disks).
3
Requires 10.6.8 or later.
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
For detailed instructions on installing internal hard drives in the Mac Pro, see this pdf on Apple's website.
Shut down the computer and remove the side access panel.
The four hard drive bays are in a horizontal row below the power supply and optical drive bays. There is no need to mess around with cables, the drives can be just slid in and out.
Slide out a drive tray - empty if installing an additional drive, or the one containing the drive you wish to replace.
Fit the new drive(s) with the screws which are already in position.
Slide the drive bay back in until you feel it snap into position.
Restart your Mac and format the new drive with Disk Utility.
Graphics Cards and Displays
These Mac Pros use PCI-Express for their graphics cards. Listed below are the compatible products that we sell.
Compatible with 10.6.4 or later, but nothing will display before the machine has booted through (this includes things like booting with the Alt key to choose a boot drive). Once the machine boots through it will function normally.
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 1 / 5 - Very Easy.
Install software, Turn off Machine, open side door. Remove the existing
graphics card from its PCI-Express slot, and insert the new card in its
place. If you are unsure call or email our
team. Apple's installation instructions can be found here.
Expansion Card Upgrades
Like the dual-core PowerMac G5, the Mac Pro uses high-bandwidth PCI-Express for its expansion cards. PCI-Express slots are not backwards compatible with PCI/PCI-X cards, so the only expansion cards for the Mac Pro are those listed here. The Mac Pro also has a slot for an Airport Extreme Card.
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 1 / 5 - Very Easy (PCI-Express).
Install software, Turn off Machine, open side door. Locate a free
PCI-Express socket and remove holding screw. Replace card with
new Card - If you are unsure call or email our
team. Apple's installation instructions can be found here.
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.