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: Online orders and mail-in repairs/upgrades are happening as normal. Collection and drop-off are operating by appointment - please call us on 01223 833 412 to book a slot.
PowerBook G4 Aluminium 12" Upgrades
This
page covers all the upgrades we sell for the PowerBook G4 12". Choose
the type of upgrade you are looking for from the tabs below.(Not the
right Mac? See here for
more PowerBook G4s, 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 covers the versions of the PowerBook G4 with a 12" display.
In January 2003 Apple revamped the PowerBook
range and brought in the ultra portable 12" PowerBook G4. Drawing on the
iBook Dual USB's design, Apple crammed PowerBook performance into an even
smaller case than its iBook counterpart.
There have been a number of different models in this range, with increasing clock speeds. All the units use
DDR RAM and have USB, FireWire 400, Ethernet, Airport Extreme slot. They sport a side mounted,
slot loading, Combo or Superdrive optical drive. The later models have an Airport Extreme card included and USB 2.0.
The first PowerBook G4 12" was released in January 2003 with an 867MHz processor using DDR PC2100 memory. Apple specs here.
The refresh in September 2003 brought in a 1GHz processor, an upgraded graphics card and replaced the standard USB ports with USB 2.0. Apple specs here.
In April 2004 a new version of the PowerBook G4 12" brought the processor speed up to 1.33GHz, moved from DDR PC2100 or DDR PC2700 memory and included Airport Extreme as standard. Apple specs here.
In January 2005 another refresh brought this PowerBook up to 1.5GHz. Apple specs here.
The last model was released in October 2005 with a 1.5GHz processor and SuperDrive as standard. Unlike the 15" and 17" models, this revision did not move to DDR2 RAM. Apple specs here.
How to Identify these Machines
The G4 Aluminum 12" has a silver keyboard and a 12" display.
There were also 15" and 17" models made - to tell them apart (without measuring), look at the edges of
keyboard. If there is no gap then the machine is 12", if there is a 1" gap between
the keyboard and the edge then its a 15", if its more like 1.5" then you have a 17" PowerBook. Also, unlike all other PowerBooks, the 12" model does not have a PCMCIA slot.
Apple System Profiler (Apple Menu>About this Mac; click on "More Info") can be used to tell what processor speed you have.
If you are still unsure you can contact us on 01223 833 412 or by email for
confirmation. If you want to upgrade but aren't happy to install your upgrades
then we can help. Simply ask our engineers for further details.
Memory Upgrades
The PowerBook G4 12" has one memory socket.
It also has some RAM soldered onto the main board. The 867MHz model has 128MB non-removable, all faster machines have 256MB built in.
The 867MHz model can take up to an extra 512MB of PC2100. Later models can take up to an extra 1GB of PC2700.
There are none available.
Difficulty 2 / 5 - Reasonably easy
Turn off the machine and remove the power cable and battery.
The socket is underneath the
machine. Turn the machine over on a soft cloth, and find the rectangular port held in place with 4 screws. Remove these to reveal
the RAM socket.
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)
The optical drive on the PowerBook G4 12" is not classified by Apple as a user installed part - it is difficult to fit, and requires the logic board to be removed. Mac Upgrades can install drives for you, please contact us for details.
You can purchase the drive for installation yourself, but Mac Upgrades cannot provide instructions or support for the install process.
Internal Hard Drive & SSD Upgrades
This range of drives will work in your PowerBook G4 12", 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
The PowerBook 12inch's internal hard drive is very difficult to get to. It is not classified by Apple as
a user installable part. Installing a replacement drive during warranty will void any remaining warranty.
Mac Upgrades does sell drives for user installation, but we cannot offer instructions or support for the install.
We do offer a drive fitting service, but this is for out of warranty machines only. To preserve warranty, a drive must be fitted by an Apple Centre.
Graphics Cards and Displays
The graphics card in your G4 12" PowerBook is part of the main logic board. Unfortunately therefore it is
not possible to increase or change the graphics card.
There are no graphics card upgrades available for these Macs
Expansion Card Upgrades
Your PowerBook G4 Aluminum has no available PCMCIA sockets for connectivity expansion. It does have a socket that will take 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 2/5 - Reasonably Easy
The Airport socket is accessed through the battery bay. Unplug the
PowerBook, remove the battery, and open the revealed flap to fit
the card. Apple's guide 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.
This Mac can use any of the following external hard drives.
3.5" USB Enclosures
2.5" USB Enclosures
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.
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.
