mac questions

lkavaney · Jul 16, 2007

are macs easily upgraded? ie can you add extra ram, memory etc etc or are you automatically needed to buy a whole new system should you need more power? are the screens considered high resolution for graphic/photog work? I'm being everso tempted to upgrade as my laptop is somewhat starting to annoy me and I want a desktop computer again but the "family" one is not too reliable.. its high spec but has had 1 too many fatal errors for my liking. thanks! :hugs:

Mr_Bester · Jul 16, 2007

You can easily add ram and drives. PowerPC macs processors aren't easily upgraded, but I am not sure about the intel mac.
dug

Alpha · Jul 16, 2007

Which Mac? I PP on a desktop. But if I didn't work in a lab with a $500k worth of equipment in it, I wouldn't be able to afford that model. Anything short of a G5 and I start failing to see the reason to go Mac.

avcabob · Jul 16, 2007

Each model is slightly different.

Mac pros (desktop tower): you can easily add more ram and hard drives and they have expansion slots to add cards and you can upgrade the video card.

iMacs (desktop all in one): you can also easily ass more ram. It can only hold one internal drive, but you can always add more storage with externals. Due to being all-in-one, the video card and monitor arn't upgradabe.

MacMini (small desktop): MacMinis use standart parts, but I believe opening them up will void the warranty, so with them, you pretty much are stuck with what they have when you buy it. External storage can be added if you need more hard drive space, but that's about it.

With the laptops, you can add ram, like PC laptops, but only the Macbooks, not the Macbook pros, have the hard drive as a user upgradable part.

With the switch to intel, you could go buy a new processor, and as long as it's in the same family as the one the machine cam with, it will work. Before Apple released their 8-core Mac Pro, it was possible to buy a 4-core, 2 dual core chips, and replace them with 2 quad core chips from intel. That's bassicaly what Apple did with the release of their own 8-core computer, but the point is it was easy for people to do. The only time you would need to buy a whole new computer if if you want to upgrade the motherboard, or logic board as Apple likes to call it, as they don't sell them separately. So when in the PC world, you would upgrade the motherboard and processor, you do have to get a new computer in the Apple world. But selling the previous Apple can make up for most of that cost as Apple computers tend to hold their value very well. I bought a used laptop for $800 about 3 to 4 years ago, and now it's estimated value is still at $500.

lkavaney · Jul 17, 2007

thanks! I'm looking at the mac pro. What spec do you think would be suitable for photography work?

Mr_Bester · Jul 17, 2007

Get as much processor as you can afford and DON'T buy ram from apple. Buy your ram from anywhere else for a ridiculous savings(this goes for any computer, not just apple). I put 8 gig in my g5 for $500 a few years ago and apple wanted nearly $4000.
Dug

avcabob · Jul 17, 2007

I second the no ram from Apple thing. You can easily get name brand high quality ram for half the price Apple would ask for the same amount. And Macs don't use special Apple ram like a lot of people think. They use whatever the PC standard is for the time the computer is made.