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On the white Intel iMac, you have to not force anything. I found that there's a sweet spot where if pressed just right, the latch will release. I'm sure Apple had a special tool to do this reliably every time, but I haven't seen it. I used the credit card method. But once the bezel was off, I found the iMac to be very easy to work on.

Yes, I agree the G5 iMac was a better mechanical design.
I also used the card method. The first latch I opened quite easily in few minutes, the second one took a looong time and I almost lost hope before success. Not a fan of the latch system. 😉
 
I also used the card method. The first latch I opened quite easily in few minutes, the second one took a looong time and I almost lost hope before success. Not a fan of the latch system. 😉
I think the bezel twists slightly making the second latch more difficult to release. I think the trick is to keep the bezel as close to the frame as possible while working on the second latch.
 
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I have never seen laptop behavior such way. I have had tons of Windows laptop, with and without battery installed. All of them aren’t throttling the CPU without functional battery.

So it is either Apple not providing adequate power supply or it is bad design.
This is standard for Apple. Even back in the PowerPC days, laptops would throttle and fall back to a idle speeds if the battery was empty or undetected. Not all Apple notebooks did this but quite a few did. Even if you were going to use the notebook permanently in desktop mode, you had to look after the battery. This is also not unknown with Windows laptops, even if you haven't personally come across one.
 
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This is standard for Apple. Even back in the PowerPC days, laptops would throttle and fall back to a idle speeds if the battery was empty or undetected. Not all Apple notebooks did this but quite a few did. Even if you were going to use the notebook permanently in desktop mode, you had to look after the battery. This is also not unknown with Windows laptops, even if you haven't personally come across one.

Hello, there:

You might be more experienced than me. I also have a wired issue with the MacBook Pro. Currently, the MacBook does not seems to detect the TrackPad. There is no TrackPad section on the settings and the trackpad does not click.

However, the touch seems to function. Since, the TrackPad and keyboard shares the same cable, I couldn't just unplug the cable. But if I use the trackpad, the whole system goes to crazy. Computer won't register any mouse click, it seems that the system is frozen, but it is not. I can see the background activities are running and videos are playing. Just no mouse and keyboard click at all.

My question is: should I just purchase a trackpad replacement or should I just purchase the cable? It seems that top case on eBay is selling for around $50. If I am buying a top case, that means I gonna have to disassemble everything, including the display. This is something I want to avoid.
 
My question is: should I just purchase a trackpad replacement or should I just purchase the cable? It seems that top case on eBay is selling for around $50. If I am buying a top case, that means I gonna have to disassemble everything, including the display. This is something I want to avoid.
If you are going to replace the cable on the topcase, you are still going to have to take the topcase off, no? My instinct would be to do that and take a look at the cable for any obvious faults and see whether it is repairable. I suspect a short between the trackpad and keyboard cables somewhere, which might be an easy fix. I have even seen severed cables rejoined with bodge wires. As long as there is room for those and sufficient insulation, it can be done. If you are going to buy an old car or computer, sooner or later you are going to have to get your hands dirty.
 
If you are going to replace the cable on the topcase, you are still going to have to take the topcase off, no? My instinct would be to do that and take a look at the cable for any obvious faults and see whether it is repairable. I suspect a short between the trackpad and keyboard cables somewhere, which might be an easy fix. I have even seen severed cables rejoined with bodge wires. As long as there is room for those and sufficient insulation, it can be done. If you are going to buy an old car or computer, sooner or later you are going to have to get your hands dirty.

No. The trackpad is screwed on the top case and cable is attached with trackpad to motherboard.

I think there is an issue with the cable, but the cable looks fine to my eye, lol.
 
What have I done? I appear to have killed my Mac Pro, that's what I've done...
Running MX Linux, had switched it back to the HD5770 to see if that would be picked up by BOINC, but it wasn't. Decided to leave it as-is, and after about 5 more minutes, screen blanks and fans rev up to max. Power off. Back on - nothing. Fans working memory LEDs doing there thing, nothing else. LEDs show not much going on, so think the logic board has died.
 
What have I done? I appear to have killed my Mac Pro, that's what I've done...
Running MX Linux, had switched it back to the HD5770 to see if that would be picked up by BOINC, but it wasn't. Decided to leave it as-is, and after about 5 more minutes, screen blanks and fans rev up to max. Power off. Back on - nothing. Fans working memory LEDs doing there thing, nothing else. LEDs show not much going on, so think the logic board has died.

I am so sorry to hear that.

What is BOINC, and why switch to HD5770 killed the Mac Pro?
 
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I am so sorry to hear that.

What is BOINC, and why switch to HD5770 killed the Mac Pro?
I don't think that switching the GPU was the problem, just that this is what I'd done a litle before the failure. BOINC is a platform for distributed computing, where you do work voluntarily for science projects and similar. That can certainly put a heavy load on the machine. BOINC can also do work using the shader units of the GPU. A GTX680 has 1536 shaders, so a great deal of work can be done that way. I'd been unable to get this working on Linux or macOS, hence trying tge different GPU.
Since failure, I have changed GPU (again), PSU, processors, and shuffled the RAM about. Nothing. Just sits there, humming gently to itself. Next task is to take a photo of the diagnostic LEDs and go from there.
 
OK, having left it overnight, I powered it up again, with the same result. Boot started, then blank screen, with a flash as video signal died, then the fans ramp up. Cycle power, and it just sits and hums and does nothing. Busy for the moment, so can't investigate further. Frustrating.
 
Diagnostic LEDs show no GPU present, and no matter what I do, I cannot influence that. Different GPUs, different slots...nada, zilch, nuffink. And there's a snowstorm brewing outside, so I think I'll just go to bed and sulk...
😡
 
Firstly, I would get hold of an SSD you know is good. Second, make sure the battery is charging properly. If not, remove it, and try the Option key to bring up the boot loader again. Even with no drive at all, you should see a white screen with a mouse cursor somewhere on it. If that's OK, then with a good SSD, you can begin the process of installing a new copy of, I suggest, High Sierra. Without the battery, the processor will be pegged at 1GHz, so it will be slow.

Thanks. I will ty that and post my progress. I also just did some digging, and there are people suggesting the Radeon GPU can cause booting problem. If I cannot get the boot loader with the Option key, could it be caused by the GPU issue? Sometimes the machine can get really hot when trying to boot up.
Hi:

I disconnected the battery as well as the SSD, just use the AC adapter, still there is no reaction to the option key. It go straight to checking the CD player and the SSD. Since I disconnected the SSD, the screen just show an empty folder icon. I don't see any mouse cursor. Does this mean my bootloader is not working? The USB stick that I used has High Sierra installer in it and I can boot it on my 2013 MacBook Pro retina. I am concerned that the 2011 MacBook Pro seems to have only USB 2.0, could it be a factor for not detecting the USB stick I am using?
 
I have exactly the same laptop with faulty AMD GPU. When I boot up, it will display horizontal line across the screen from top to bottom. The screen is pretty much still readable. I still able to bring up boot loader with Option key.

The key is that you have to made sure the bootable USB is properly formatted, so that the boot loader can recognize the USB. The issue for me was that the when the OS installed, it boot into blank screen. I have to boot to installer again, use terminal commend to Disable AMD GPU.
Good to know that the AMD GPU problem will not prevent the boot loader to boot from USB. So I might just have a issue with the boot loader or the USB 2.0 ports on the 2011 MacBook Pro.
 
Hi:

I disconnected the battery as well as the SSD, just use the AC adapter, still there is no reaction to the option key. It go straight to checking the CD player and the SSD. Since I disconnected the SSD, the screen just show an empty folder icon. I don't see any mouse cursor. Does this mean my bootloader is not working? The USB stick that I used has High Sierra installer in it and I can boot it on my 2013 MacBook Pro retina. I am concerned that the 2011 MacBook Pro seems to have only USB 2.0, could it be a factor for not detecting the USB stick I am using?

You need to check the MacBook Pro's USB connection. If the USB stick boots with other MacBook Pro, then I suspect you have bad USB port.

The 2011 MacBook Pro should have two USB ports, try them both.

You could always take the SSD out and install OS into SSD via other Mac. Then install the SSD back to the 2011 MacBook Pro, then it should boot with OS installed.
 
Diagnostic LEDs show no GPU present, and no matter what I do, I cannot influence that. Different GPUs, different slots...nada, zilch, nuffink. And there's a snowstorm brewing outside, so I think I'll just go to bed and sulk...
😡
Well, no matter what I do, this refuses to come back to life. Diag LEDs persist in telliung me no GPU is present, but four different GPUs have been tried. Out of ideas, so s/h logic board incoming...
 
You need to check the MacBook Pro's USB connection. If the USB stick boots with other MacBook Pro, then I suspect you have bad USB port.

The 2011 MacBook Pro should have two USB ports, try them both.

You could always take the SSD out and install OS into SSD via other Mac. Then install the SSD back to the 2011 MacBook Pro, then it should boot with OS installed.
Hi:

Thanks for your help. Both USB ports do not work. Also internet recovery does not work. For your suggestion to install OS (such as High Sierra) on the SSD via another MacBook Pro and then put in back to the 2011 MacBook Pro, does the other MacBook Pro have to be the same model year and same configuration? Can I use my 2013 MacBook Pro to do it? I can easily find a USB-A to SATA 3 connector to install OS on this SSD via my 2013 MacBook Pro.
 
For your suggestion to install OS (such as High Sierra) on the SSD via another MacBook Pro and then put in back to the 2011 MacBook Pro, does the other MacBook Pro have to be the same model year and same configuration?
No.

Can I use my 2013 MacBook Pro to do it?
Yes. If the 2011 has never run High Sierra or a later version before, it might not have the firmware update for APFS bootability so it's safer to stick to HFS+.
 
More 2006 iMacs, I seem to be collecting them now... I was gifted this 2006 CoreDuo iMac 17-inch from a relative. It had a broken HDD wouldn't boot, and was going to go into the trash. I was asked if I wanted it. After upgrading my 20-inch iMac (see above), I had the OEM 250 GB spinning HDD and a 2.16 GHz Core2 Duo CPU laying around. I replaced the defective HDD and swapped the 32-bit CoreDuo CPU. After upgrades, the computer booted right up, and I was able to successfully flash the firmware to 5,1 using the instructions below:

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/problems-upgrading-imac-4-1-to-5-1.2188232/

This project cost me zero $$$, and only a few hours of time, and now I have a cute, perfectly useable 17-inch iMac. I think with the 5,1 firmware it should take 3 GB, but it's not really worth spending any money upgrading, so I'm going to leave this computer as is. Snow Leopard runs perfectly fine on 2GB.

IMG_1781.jpeg


IMG_1782.jpeg
 
No.


Yes. If the 2011 has never run High Sierra or a later version before, it might not have the firmware update for APFS bootability so it's safer to stick to HFS+.
That is excellent. I will go get a USB to SATA 3 adapter to install High Sierra on this SSD and get the 2011 MacBook Pro back to life. Many thanks.
 
IMG_0108.jpeg


This came into my collection today! It is the 2010 MacBook Pro with Core i7 processor. I got it for $67 dollars, it came with no HDD, no battery. Ordered a battery for 70 dollars. So total cost is around $130. It is one with high-res display. I know I had to buy it!
 
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There have been several YouTube videos recently recommending older Unibody MacBook Pros, or the Retina models (2012–2015), as viable options for 2024. These creators suggest these MacBooks are still usable and a good, cheap buy. While I find these videos fun to watch, I don't agree with the idea that buying old MacBook Pros, especially the Unibody or Retina models, is a smart move right now.

Unibody MacBook Pros are indeed very affordable, and Retina MacBook Pros from 2012–2015 can often be found at decent prices on the second-hand market. It's true that these MacBooks can handle basic tasks just fine — I even enjoy using mine on a daily basis. But recommending them as a good purchase for most people is a different matter altogether.

The biggest issue with these older machines is the battery. The newest Unibody MacBook Pro is now 13 years old, and the latest Retina MacBook Pro models are a decade old. It’s nearly impossible to find one with an acceptable battery life. And none of these YouTube creators seem to factor in the cost of replacing the battery, which can run anywhere from $100 to $200, depending on the model and service provider.

Another concern is that if you're buying one of these old Macs, especially a Unibody MacBook Pro, you'll likely need to upgrade the SSD and RAM. Sure, a 250GB SSD can cost between $20 and $40, and 16GB of RAM is available for under $30. But when you add up the cost of the laptop, a new battery, an SSD upgrade, and RAM, you're not getting a bargain anymore. In fact, the total cost could easily exceed that of an entry-level new laptop, especially when factoring in the time and hassle involved in upgrading.

Even if price isn't the main issue, the software experience isn’t ideal either. We all know about OCLP (OpenCore Legacy Patcher) to run newer macOS versions on these older machines, but recommending OCLP for the average person isn’t a great idea. It’s a workaround — a hack, really — and newer macOS versions simply aren't designed for these old devices. For someone just looking for a cheap, reliable laptop for daily use, this setup could lead to a lot of frustration.

In short, while these old MacBooks can be fun to tinker with, I wouldn’t recommend them as a practical choice for most buyers in 2024. The cost, battery life, and software limitations make them less of a deal than they might initially seem.
 
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I don't agree with the idea that buying old MacBook Pros, especially the Unibody or Retina models, is a smart move right now.
You are free to express your opinion.
I have another one.
I love my MBP 2014 running current Windows 11 like a charm. All it required was installing Win11 from a Rufus installer.
Best deal two years ago for 200€ + 25€ for a new battery.
 
You are free to express your opinion.
I have another one.
I love my MBP 2014 running current Windows 11 like a charm. All it required was installing Win11 from a Rufus installer.
Best deal two years ago for 200€ + 25€ for a new battery.

First of all: You and me are not folks who don’t have any computer knowledges. If a person who is looking for a computer for daily computing tasks, the last thing he/she should buy is computers that requires some hack to get newer OS installed.


Second: The value proposition for Unibody MacBook and Retina MacBooks (2012-2015) isn’t there anymore. Most Intel MacBooks have low resale value, which means you could get decent 2017-2020 MacBook Pro for relative cheap.


Third: Both Windows 11 and newer macOS requires some short of software hacks. It is terrible for people who is looking for stable and trouble free computing experiences. OCLP requires root patches with every software update and new installation with version updates. Microsoft has clearly indicated no guaranteed software update for computer that doesn’t set hardware requirements.

Only time Unibody MacBook Pros and Retina MacBook Pro makes sense is when you get for ultra cheap and you have knowledge to install and maintain new OS on unsupported hardware. The 2010 MacBook Pro 15inch I got for $67 dollars, combine with 8GB RAM + SSD upgrade, probably net around $120.
 
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