03-02-2007, 01:38 AM

In May I'll be getting a new 15" MB Pro and I'm very excited. Thinking about how much money I'm about to throw down on a new computer, I realized I didn't even know how easy it is to upgrade, specifically the hardware. What parts are simple, and what parts... not so much. Most importantly I'd like to know about changing out the graphics card and hard drive. Thanks for any input!

Obviously this is going to be my first Mac... newb question I know... searched and didn't really find good answers.

03-02-2007, 01:47 AM

I changed out my ram and it was really really easy. It made a HUGE difference too.

The only other thing I know of is the hard drive, which will void your warranty and is supposed to be pretty hard to do.

03-02-2007, 10:42 AM

I don't believe you can change a graphic card on any laptops. You make the choice up front when you make your purchase. As for the upgrades it memory and the hard disk. Check with Apple on replacing the hard disk will void the warranty.

03-02-2007, 01:18 PM

rman is correct.....graphics card is basically impossible to replace, while the RAM is a cinch, and the HDD is not difficult, but will void out the warranty.....so its not a good idea.

03-07-2007, 04:17 PM

I received negative reputation for posting in this thread that replacing your HDD will void your warranty, with the note "no it doesnt...stop spreading ignorance"...just to be clear..it DOES DOES DOES unequivocally void your warranty...i could care less who left me negative rep points, but c'mon...dont chastise me for telling it like it is.

03-07-2007, 04:48 PM

Actually, I don't think Apple can legally void your warranty if you replace the hard drive. It is no different than replacing your muffler on your car. The Magnuson act protects consumers against manufacturers requiring you to use thier oem parts vs aftermarket. Apple may want you to think that but I don't see how they can get around a federal law. It would also be on thier shoulders to prove that anything the consumer installed caused the damage in question under warranty.

03-07-2007, 05:15 PM

Lol I just checked and I received the same negative rep as you. I looked in the manual and it says right in it on the warranty page that it will void it. So I guess YOU should stop spreading ignorance.

03-07-2007, 05:17 PM

Originally Posted by Rizzo

Lol I just checked and I received the same negative rep as you. I looked in the manual and it says right in it on the warranty page that it will void it. So I guess YOU should stop spreading ignorance.

Who is this YOU your speaking to? I am not the one who left the neg rep!

03-07-2007, 05:20 PM

Here is a little more info. I don't have time to look up the Apple warranty right now but I'm very interested in getting to the bottom of this:

Most of the time, tie-in sales provisions are not really allowed. These kinds of provisions would require a buyer of the warranted product to buy an item or service from a particular company to use with the warranted product if they want to be eligible to receive a solution to a problem under the warranty. The following are examples of prohibited tie-in sales provisions.

In order to keep your new Proctor Silex Coffee Maker warranty in effect, you must use genuine Proctor Filters. Failure to have scheduled maintenance performed, at your expense, by the Company, will actually voids this warranty.

While you cannot use a tie-in sales provision, your warranty also doesn’t have to cover use of replacement parts, repairs, or maintenance that is inappropriate for your product. The following is an example of a permissible provision that excludes coverage of such things.

While necessary maintenance or repairs on your Pioneer Stereo System can be performed by any company, you recommend that buyers use only authorized Pioneer dealers. Improper or incorrectly performed maintenance or repairs will void this warranty as well.

Although tie-in sales provisions generally are not permissible, you can include this kind of provision in your warranty if you can effectively show the FTC that your product will not work properly without a specific item or service. If you believe that this is the case for your product, you should contact the warranty staff of the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection for information on how you should apply for a waiver of the tie-in sales prohibition.

03-07-2007, 05:25 PM

Originally Posted by sixslinger

I received negative reputation for posting in this thread that replacing your HDD will void your warranty, with the note "no it doesnt...stop spreading ignorance"...just to be clear..it DOES DOES DOES unequivocally void your warranty...i could care less who left me negative rep points, but c'mon...dont chastise me for telling it like it is.

if you upgrade the HDD yourself it will void the warranty on the drive and any other part that the drive causes and issue with. It will NOT void the warranty on the whole computer..

03-07-2007, 05:38 PM

okay..here is the final answer..i called Apple, (for an unrelated reason), and decided to ask them about this. This is what they said:
The HDD is a user upgradeable part on:
Macbook
Mac Pro
Mac Mini
it is NOT a user upgradeable part, and voids your Apple warranty on:
iMac
Macbook Pro

so there is our final answer....straight from the horses mouth. call them yourself if you have a problem with it...dont fuss at me

03-07-2007, 05:44 PM

Originally Posted by sixslinger

okay..here is the final answer..i called Apple, (for an unrelated reason), and decided to ask them about this. This is what they said:
The HDD is a user upgradeable part on:
Macbook
Mac Pro
Mac Mini
it is NOT a user upgradeable part, and voids your Apple warranty on:
iMac
Macbook Pro

so there is our final answer....straight from the horses mouth. call them yourself if you have a problem with it...dont fuss at me

the post right above yours was from apple also.. i called them.. now we have two different answers from apple.

03-07-2007, 05:44 PM

Originally Posted by NaplesBill

Who is this YOU your speaking to? I am not the one who left the neg rep!

Yeah I was referring to who left us the bad feedback.:headphone

03-07-2007, 06:59 PM

The way I understand the Magnuson/Moss act is that they can only void the warranty on the part you replaced. In other words, the hard drive cannot void the cpu warranty unless the manufacturer(in this case Apple) proves that the hard drive replacement damaged the CPU. This is exactly why you can put aftermarket parts on your car and the manufacturer cannot just void your warranty. The original purpose of this act was to protect consumers from dealers monopolizing on OEM parts and repair costs.

03-07-2007, 07:24 PM

Ok.....since KoDorSean got a different answer than me, perhaps even Apple isnt sure??? The way I understand it, opening the case (on some models??) voids the warranty for the entire computer. All I know, is that I shared what I learned from Apple with this community, and I was left negative (and rude) rep feedback. I really don't care that much about my rep score, but it does bug me a bit, because i'm here to learn, and share what I know with others. Another post disagreeing with me would have been a much more productive way to solve the problem, rather than just leaving neg rep points, IMHO