it doesn't have to be flashed, but its nice to have it. or you can get lucky like me and it came flashed to my surprise...😁This is helpful! It looks like the W3530 in the machine I am looking at is 130W so I'd stick with one of the faster processors you listed which is also 130W. Thanks for the advice on the graphics card. That was my other concern! Does the card have to have Mac-specific firmware or is it universal?