Repair or upgrade my 2007 Macbook Pro?

Well my late 2007 Macbook Pro just died....Needs new logic board....Apple wants 310 dollars to repair with 90 warranty. Is it worth it or should I look to buy a new or refurbished macbook pro?
Thanks for helping me out with a difficult decission.

$310 is not a bad price but your MBP is just on the cusp of upgradability to Mountain Lion, and may not be sufficient for whatever upgrades may lie ahead, should that matter to you.
The decision depends on what you do with it at present, and what you intend to do in the future.
Apple's Refurbished Macs are a good value:
http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/specialdeals/mac/macbook_pro
That's a hint.

Similar Messages

Best way to upgrade our 2007 MacBook Pro to use Final Cut Pro

Hello All.
We have a 2007 MacBook Pro with 2 gigs ram, 160 Gig Hard drive and a 2.4 Mhz Intel Processor, and a 500 Gig Firewire External Harddrive.
Is it feasable to upgrade this Laptop to run Final cut Pro?
My girlfriend will edit small projects,i.e. vacation footage in H.D, Family Photo/Film montages, etc... nothing major
Any advice much appreciated.
Thanx

Yes, Thanx
We will not be using FCP X, I think we have FCP 7,8 or 9, Not sure.
I was thinking about More Ram from Other World ComputingLike this one:
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Other%20World%20Computing/5300DDR2S6GP/
and maybe this Hardrive:
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Samsung/HNM101MBB/
Just wanted some feedback about this, or other suggested hardware.

Is it worth upgrading a 2007 macbook pro?

Would like some opinions, insights etc. Macbook pro 2007, OSX 10.4.11, 2.16 GHz intel core duo, 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM, 1.5GB memory
My I-pad was stolen this summer and not sure whether to replace it, upgrade this macbook, try to find the $$$$ for a refurb macbook, etc..
Doesn't want to upgrade so can't get apps now etc. Needs a battery (is off brand OK to buy?) or I use it plugged in. Any opinions would be valued . Thanks in advance.

Sounds like its time to start looking for a newer used one.

I have a mid 2007 MacBook Pro with 2GB of RAM and NVIDIA GeForce 8600M graphics. Is it possible to upgrade the RAM and the graphics card?

I have a mid 2007 MacBook Pro with 2GB of RAM and NVIDIA GeForce 8600M graphics card. Is it possible to upgrade the RAM and the graphics card?

The RAM can be upgraded as indicated below. The Graphics card can not be upgraded.
Maximum Memory
6.0 GB (Actual) 4.0 GB (Apple)
Memory Slots
2 - 200-pin PC2-5300 (667MHz) DDR2 SO-DIMM

HT1338 Serial # W87*****Z67 OS 10.7.4 is my late 2007 MacBook Pro (black) but when attempting to purchase X Lion upgrade I get message that hardware is not supported. But X Lion tech spec says mid to late 2007 Macbook pros supported. Any thoughts?

Serial # W87*****Z67 OS 10.7.4 is my late 2007 MacBook Pro (black) but when attempting to purchase X Mountain Lion upgrade I get message that hardware is not supported. But X Mountain Lion tech spec says mid to late 2007 Macbook pros supported. Any thoughts?
<Edited by Host>

See babowa Post Here... on Compatibility...
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4136749?tstart=0

Upgrading RAM on early 2007 Macbook pro, 2.16GHz

I have an early 2007 Macbook Pro, 2.16GHz Intel Cor2Duo with 1GB 667MHz RAM. I have just ordered the Snow Leopard update & would also like to upgrade my RAM.
A rep at the Apple Store checked my serial number and recommended I upgrade to 4GB RAM at a cost of about $200. http://store.apple.com/us/product/MA940G/B
When I search for RAM on other websites I can find it for much less. Is there anything I should be aware of or any reason why NOT to go with the less expensive options?
When I searched for RAM at the following website,
http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/memory/MacBook/Pro/Core2/
it said this about the maximum RAM.
*MacBook Pro 15" 2.16GHz, 2.33Ghz and 17" 2.33GHz models Apple factory specification maximum 2.0GB, OWC tested to support 3.0GB maximum RAM. 4.0GB can be installed, but only 3.0GB will be addressed.
If I purchase 4GB am I only actually getting 3GB due to my computer's limitations?

DBatty wrote:
When I search for RAM on other websites I can find it for much less.
That's because Apple charges an arm and a leg for ram. It is rediculous how much they overcharge. Buy your ram elsewhere.
DBatty wrote:
If I purchase 4GB am I only actually getting 3GB due to my computer's limitations?
Correct.

What can i upgrade to and how? late 2007 macbook pro

I am running tiger 10.4.11 can i go straight to mountain lion or do i need to install all 4 in between leopard snow leopard lion and then mountain lion i have a 13" late 2007 macbook pro thank you

Yes. Snow Leopard requires at least 1GB of RAM; the Mac App Store will check compatibility before allowing Mountain Lion to be purchased.
(88252)

I have 2007 MacBook Pro running OSX 10.6.8 what OSX can I upgrade to without making word, Excel and other apps obsolete?

I would like to upgrade OSX on MacBook Pro but when I try to go to Yosemite I get message Word, Excel, and other apps will not run. How can I upgrade and still run my older apps?

Apple Support Communities / Desktop Computers / Mac Pro
MacBook Pro
Mac OS & System Software

2007 MacBook Pro Screen becomes distorted and Computer becomes unresponsive

Hi,
I am wondering if anyone else has experienced this. This is hard to explain with words alone, but I will try: I'll be using my 2007 MacBook Pro with no problems, when all of a sudden the screen will start to flicker and the display will become distorted where everything seems like it is tapering into seperate small rectangles. If I am playing music through any application (iTunes, Safari, Ableton Live, Adobe Premiere, etc.) the music will continue to play and I can still move the mouse around but I cannot click on anything or stop the music and none of my keyboard brightness or volume commands will function. Basically it's a partial freeze. This is very troubling as it is becoming more and more frequent. I did drop my computer once a year and a half ago but have not had any trouble of this sort (or at all for that matter) until about 2 months ago, so I'm not sure if this is related. It happened to me twice before I upgraded to 10.6.4 from 10.4.11, only then it was more serious and when I rebooted afterwards it would give me that ominous gray screen with the restart logo and several languages saying I needed to shut it down. Now when it happens I can restart my computer just fine (assuming I force shut it down with the power button for 6 seconds), but sometimes when it restarts the weird screen effect I described will happen during start up and then go away once it is running again. If anyone has any idea what is causing this please let me know, this computer is very important to me, as I do 85% of my work on it. Help! Thanks!!!!
Matt

Welcome!
You may have the "nVidea Curse." Here is an Apple article explaining the issue and providing for free repair for a period to four years from data of purchase:
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2377
It applies to MBPs with an nVidea 8600M GT graphics chipset. Apple Store have a diagnostic test for teh problem.

2007 Macbook Pro 17" problem

I have a late 2007 Macbook Pro 17", not sure how but my permissions are all screwed up and I am unable to fix them, so basically I can't use the app store to upgrade or get software updates I need. Permission repair doesn't seem to fix them? Is there anything else I can do to fix my permissions problem?

Have you tried....
Mountain Lion Recovery
Boot up from your computer by holding down the command+r keys. This will take you to the recovery drive.
Select Disk Utility & hit Return.
In Disk Utility select the HD on the left & click on Repair Disk (bottom right).

What is max internal hard drive transfer rate compatible with a 2007 MacBook Pro?

In attempt to upgrade my mid-2007 MacBook Pro (Intel Core 2 Duo), I bought a Seagate 750GB listed as compatible with my computer on MacSales.com . . .
Seagate Momentus XT ST750LX003 750GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache 2.5" SATA 6.0Gb/s Solid State Hybrid Drive -Bare Drive
Installation appeared to go well and I ran an extended hardware test with no issues found. However, the drive is listed at 5.46 TB (would be nice) and I get an input/output error when attempting to partition. I can initiate an erase, but after the time I would suspect it would take to erase the drive, I get an input/output error - it seems to appear after the first 750 GB of the '5.5 TB' was erased. At all times, the drive is not recognized when I attempt to install OS X from original discs.
I suspect the 6.0 GB/s transfer capacity of the hard drive is not compatible with the MacBook Pro. The drive came with 4 jumper pins but no jumper and no label diagram to set a slower transfer rate. I called Seagate, Newegg, OWC, and Apple, but no one has compatibility info for my MacBook Pro. To them, it appears I am running the first tests of this new technology with an 'older' MacBook Pro.
My MBP has had no issues - I'd like to keep her going with the optimum internal hard drive capacity, but don't necessarily want to set up a test bench in my house (though my kids would enjoy destroying it) and pay several shipping and restocking fees to test new hard drives.
The original drive had a 1.5 GB/s transfer rate. Does anyone know the maximum transfer rate compatible with a 2007 MacBook Pro? 3.0 GB/s? 1.5 GB/s? Thank you.

No spinning hard drive will transfer data faster then 60-80MB a second. The XT models have a flash storage area that is used when reading and writing data that can make it Appear faster in some situations. That flash memory if only 8 or 16GBs in side, I forget which one.
The drie is rated to work on 6GB SATA bus but it certainly can not transfer data that fast. It should be backword compatible to work on slower buses.
Your drive is 750GBs in size. Not wure where you are getting this 5.5TB (that is 5.5 Tera Bytes which is 5500 Giga Bytes. Your drive is under 1TB)
What are you using to partition the drive? Disk Utilities from the original install DVD?
You need to install on your old drive, Update it from the Apple Website then clone it to the new drive. The version of OSX you are using may not function correctly with that large of a drive. Or get yourself a copy of Snow Leopard, retail disk for $29 from Apple, and do all the partitioning and installing with that version od OSX.

Late 2007 MacBook Pro intermittent black screen

I have this very odd issue with an intermittent black screen on a late 2007 MacBook Pro (4GB/320GB 7200rpm) Mac OS X 10.6.8 v1.1
Apologies for the length of the post.
In cycles separated by a few days to a week, the screen will flicker to black, initially very briefly, then for longer periods until it is black continuously, where it stays from a few hours to a couple of days then it flickers to normal, again very briefly then with longer intervals until it is steady and normal. It can then be fine for a week or more.
When the screen is working, it's perfect; no lines, stripes, colour shift or any difference to what one would expect. When it is black, the backlight is still operational (and dimming when on battery power) but there is no image - all pixels are solid black. Shining a torch on/through the screen does not reveal any image. When mirrored, the external monitor shows the brightness adjustment moving up and down in response to the key presses but it has no effect on the internal screen.
My external display (Eizo) is always functional no matter what the built-in one is doing and is completely solid at all times.
There is no correlation to temperature (I have SMC fan control), sleep, restart, fan speed, power source or anything environmental. The MacBook is on a fan stand for most of the time. External connections make no difference. If the fault is present before changing any of these factors, it is there after.
I am aware that this machine has known vulnerabilities with GPU and display issues but none present quite like this. I have performed the usual trawl on the net and I now know more than I ever wanted to about attempts to fix it.
Software remedies attempted:
Resetting PRAM and power manager.
No sleep image file (never used this option). I deleted the old swap files that were there in any case but this unsurprisingly did nothing.
Resetting the display settings via keyboard commands or Sys Prefs.
Screen savers and settings are not implicated.
Nothing whatever in the console logs that I can see.
TechTool Pro gives video RAM a clean bill of health and all other components pass including tests on the HD with TTP and DiskWarrior.
Safe boot and booting from systems on backups seem to have no effect but one safe boot restored the screen briefly - I think it was a coincidence.
I updated the OS from 10.6.6 to 10.6.8 while this fault was coming and going and it made no difference. I usually prepare the machine for updates by running the cron jobs, repairing permissions etc.
In expectation of suffering this fault when the external monitor was not connected, I installed iScreen on the MacBook and use my iPad as a supplementary display and that works well too. Having all three operating, when the internal is functioning, is quite fun.
Hardware tests:
I removed the upper plate holding the keyboard and the interior of the machine was very clean with only some small dust accumulations in the fans, which were removed. There was no sign of any discolouration, corrosion, or other unpleasantness on the PCBs. All connectors and wiring looked good.
Every part of the logic board, cables and connectors were percussed, gently deflected and spray freezed, both while the fault was present and not (machine running) with no effect.
Display back was removed and the LCD board given the same treatment. No changes.
Display cable disconnected at both ends and tested for continuity (probe resistance accounted for) and consistency with a Fluke 87 multimeter - passed OK. On a scope, active signals and power were present on all the pins when the display was working but the fault did not occur during this test, which might have been interesting.
No apparent shorting of the display cable but without removing it this cannot be proved.
Problem not affected by hinge position, pressure on any part of the display, twisting, percussing etc.
Used compressed air to blow out the connectors which were reseated carefully.
After all this, the machine remains in exactly the same state, cycling between operational and black with various flickering stages as it comes and goes.
All I can deduce is that as the external monitor has always been OK, the GPU itself is probably working fine and the fault is more likely in the LCD panel electronics. I doesn't feel like a software issue to me but heck, I don't know what is going on.
Does anyone have any experience of something like this?
Thanks,
Joel.

Thomas,
Thanks for your post and I'm sorry you have suffered the same problems.
My trust levels are not very high because it's clear there is some systemic display problem with this model, which is why Apple are fixing them. As I mentioned, we have no idea if the replacement boards are any different to the originals. From your experience it would look like they are not and my suspicion is that it is very unlikely that Apple made a new batch of these logic boards a long time after the model was discontinued. If anyone has evidence to the contrary, I stand to be corrected.
As you say, the difference between our two faults appears to be that a physical deformation of some part of the machine does something with yours but never did with mine. At one point I felt that a short in the internal display cable seemed like the best explanation for the problem but it looks like it's more complex than that because of the behaviour of our external displays and subsequent strange booting behaviour.
If, as I have read, the soldering of the GPU was faulty and leads to progressive failure of the graphics sub-system, then all kinds of strange behaviours could arise and produce the intermittent problems we have seen. Micro-fractures of the chip interconnects would suggest that tiny movements might change the presentation of the fault. If soldering really is the issue, then keeping the machine as cool as possible will extend the life of the connections. Consequently mine will sit on a fan-stand for the rest of its days, which is no problem because it just had Win 7 installed on it and I don't want to be seen in public with it in that state ;-)
All we can conclude is that a logic board swap fixes the problem for some indeterminate period, so the problem is on that board. Whether it is a design fault with the NVIDIA chip itself or a manufacturing fault with the board is not clear but we can probably forget LCD panels, cables, sleep issues, power supplies and all the other peripheral issues unless there is yet another design issue that causes the GPU to fail.
Are you intending to present your machine to Apple for another go at a fix?

Late 2007 Macbook pro 15inch Mavericks update?

I have a late 2007 Macbook pro 15inch which I love. Can it be updated to mavericks or must I bid it a fond farewell?
Thank you!

Your Mac originally came with 2 GB of RAM. Mavericks will run in that amount but will be slower than if you have 4 GB or 6 GB. If after you upgrade you want more speed see OWC (macsales.com) or Crucial.com for memory upgrades. They are inexpensive.

Does anyone know the maximum hard drive size for a 2007 Macbook Pro (A1226)?

I have a 2007 Macbook Pro (A1226). Is there a limit to the sized hard drive that can be installed? If so, what is the largest hard drive I can put into it? I have a 500GB HD that I upgraded to from the 320 GB that was in it when I bought it. I'm now trying to install a 1 TB or 750 GB drive, but after cloning with 'Carbon Copy Cloner' and installing it, I get the "?-folder" flashing when I start up. I'm pretty confident in CCC because if I use it to clone to another 500GB HD, it works fine. The problem only occurs when I try to use larger drives. Is 500GB the largest HD I can use in this machine? If so, can anyone point me to a spec sheet so I can be sure the next Macbook I buy can be expanded to suit me.
Thanks in advance.
Brian

You said: "I've never tried the restore function in disk utility. Would that be the same as cloning the drive?
YES! See the my old instructions below. What you might try after step 5 is to restart you MBP holding down the Option key. Select the new HDD icon and see if it boots. This way you will know that the new HDD is operable.
Ciao.
INSTALLING A NEW HDD IN A MB
1. Make certain that you have backed up all of your important data.
2. You will need a HDD enclosure. One with a USB connection will do. A 9 pin Firewire is better.
3. Install your new drive in the enclosure and connect it to your MBP.
4. Open DISK UTILITY>ERASE. From the left hand column drag the new drive into the 'Name' field. Make sure that the format is 'Mac OS Extended (Journaled)'. Click on the 'Erase' button.
5. Click on the 'Restore' button (on top). Drag the old drive into the 'Source' field and the new drive into the 'Destination' field. Click on the 'Restore' button on the bottom right hand corner.
Depending upon the amount of data you are transferring, this may take a couple hours or more. A Firewire will speed up the transfer. This will result in both drives having identical information on them.
6. After the data transfer has completed, you may swap the drives. Start the MBP and you have finished the installation. The initial boot may take a bit longer than you are accustomed to, but that is normal.
7. When you are satisfied that the new hard drive if functioning properly, you can erase the old drive and use it for any needs that you may have.

Performance unacceptable after installing lion on late 2007 MacBook Pro

I have a mid-2007 MacBook Pro with 2Gb of memory and a 2.4GHz Intel Core2Duo. Since installing Lion, Safari is all but unusable, it takes forever to load, every page I try to load stops the entire computer with the spinning beach ball, I haven't even tried flash sites. iTunes hangs every time I download a podcast at the processing file stage. I keep iTunes open to feed my AppleTV, but after a few hours of watching I have to restart iTunes because everything starts to hang. To say nothing of what happens when iTunes starts automatically downloading podcasts. Syncs with my iPad have been hit or miss. The entire machine seems slow and sluggish. I tried running one app at a time, and that helped some, but it didn't fix the problem. I am assuming this is a RAM issue and have ordered more, but Apple said it would work with 2Gb of RAM. I don't call this working.
So my question is does it save memory to run apps in full screen or should I keep them as just windows? I have tried to kill all the extras, and I have been trying to just do one thing at a time, but I have honestly never had this kind of reaction to a new OS when the machine was in spec. And I have been upgrading since system 7. Is 4Gb going to be enough? Is the processor just not fast enough to handle it? Upgrading to a new machine is not an option at all, and I really like the working bits of Lion I have seen, but am I stuck?

I haven't done permissions yet, but I have rebooted several times. I had an issue with the superdrive not recognizing DVDs, so I zapped the PRAM and did the SMC thing. Plus, I've tried rebooting just to see if that would help, but it has not.
I have been watching istat and there's some free memory but not a lot. I was fine under snow leopard, I never had any troubles until I started running a lot of stuff at once. I agree that this is almost certainly memory. It gets worse the more things I try to do at once. Everything hangs whenever there's an operation to be done (syncing, downloading). It just feels like the machine is choking.
I saw an article earlier on one of the Mac RSSs that the writer was having problems with Safari consuming up to a gig of memory just sitting idle with a few tabs open. I'm not going to bother with Safari until I put the memory in, Chrome runs pretty well, even if I can't really do the full-screen thing. I guess at this point I'm just looking for help for what I can do to conserve memory until more arrives. And I'm a little annoyed at Apple for saying Lion works with 2Gb of RAM when it really doesn't. If you can't use the browser or the iTunes, how can you even hope to run Photoshop? iMovie takes 5 minutes to load and when it does it's full of visual glitches.
I guess I'll try permissions and see if that helps. Thanks for your ideas though.

Repair or upgrade my 2007 Macbook Pro?

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