Is it possible to buy a new intelmac motherboard?

Posted:
in Current Mac Hardware edited January 2014
I assume that it is at least possible to build an intel mac from parts as long as you use the right components. It seems like the only thing that is really special about the new intel macs is the motherboard with the special chips on it, right? The cpu, ram, hard drive, and video card are all at least semi-standard, right? If so, where can I buy a new mac motherboard?
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 30
    lgnomelgnome Posts: 81member
    [QUOTE]Originally posted by jmille34

    I assume that it is at least possible to build an intel mac from parts as long as you use the right components. It seems like the only thing that is really special about the new intel macs is the motherboard with the special chips on it, right? The cpu, ram, hard drive, and video card are all at least semi-standard, right? If so, where can I buy a new mac motherboard? [/QUOTE



    I have one for sale - 1 week old. Laptop Core Duo 2.0 rev D mobo with Radeon X1600 w 256 MB VRAM. 2500.00
  • Reply 2 of 30
    Find a local apple certified repair man near you and order the part through him. It will be pricey though I think. Apple doesn't sell parts that easily to the public.
  • Reply 3 of 30
    wmfwmf Posts: 1,164member
    There are no special chips; only the firmware is Apple-specific. You can find the HCL for the hacked whitebox version of OS X if you look hard enough.
  • Reply 4 of 30
    peter_lpeter_l Posts: 26member
    LGnome, why are you selling?
  • Reply 5 of 30
    placeboplacebo Posts: 5,767member
    The current line of Intel-based Mac products uses motherboards that are tough to acquire as a consumer. This is due to them being intended for laptop use, and thus not easily acquirable since nobody builds laptops.
  • Reply 6 of 30
    lgnomelgnome Posts: 81member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by peter_l

    LGnome, why are you selling?



    Heh, im kidding im kidding..
  • Reply 7 of 30
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Placebo

    The current line of Intel-based Mac products uses motherboards that are tough to acquire as a consumer. This is due to them being intended for laptop use, and thus not easily acquirable since nobody builds laptops.



    Do you (or anyone else here) have a link to an article about when the desktop versions will be coming out? It looks like all they have for intel is the imac(/emac) and the mini?



    How about a part number on the motherboard from the 20 inch imac?
  • Reply 8 of 30
    Apple certified resellers/repairers are the only people who would have the actually Apple motherboards and cannot sell them to you at any price, its in the contract. You will not be able to obtain the actually boards anytime soon (until dead out-of-warranty intel macs appear on ebay)

    As other have said, build yourself a PC with an Intel 945 chipset motherboard, a Radeon X1600, and a dualcore CPU and you'll be close to the guts of an iMac. Then look for the intel OSX version, its out there. or just buy a Mac,

    honestly, why reinvent the wheel? its not likely to be vastly cheaper by the time you buy a 20" widescreen monitor
  • Reply 9 of 30
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Thereubster

    Apple certified resellers/repairers are the only people who would have the actually Apple motherboards and cannot sell them to you at any price, its in the contract. You will not be able to obtain the actually boards anytime soon (until dead out-of-warranty intel macs appear on ebay)



    Ahh.. I see



    Quote:

    As other have said, build yourself a PC with an Intel 945 chipset motherboard, a Radeon X1600, and a dualcore CPU and you'll be close to the guts of an iMac. Then look for the intel OSX version, its out there.



    When you say it's out there, can I buy it, or do I have to "find" it? I'd rather buy it, if possible. I have never and will never buy a MS operating system, but I'd gladly contribute my fair share to the company that I hope will eventually crush them. But of course I need the intel version, and all the osx's I see say they require a g4/g5 processor.. Also, should I prefer a name brand Intel motherboard over another manufacturer with the Intel chipset? And is it 945G, 945P, or 945PL Express?



    Quote:

    or just buy a Mac, honestly, why reinvent the wheel? its not likely to be vastly cheaper by the time you buy a 20" widescreen monitor



    I don't want to reinvent the wheel exactly, though I tend to say "why not" more than "why".. I just have a religious thing against buying re-assembled computers. I also don't particularly like the iMac chassis (so sue me). Even if I don't save money (which I will) the experience is still worth it. What really got me interested is when I went into CompUSA and opened up a bsd command shell. I've been thinking about it ever since. I appreciate Apple for what it is, and I have always respected them despite having never spent more than 2 hours total in front of one in my life. Apple made this move to at least partially to appeal to people like me. I just don't have the resources to be able to look things up yet, because I'm still learning the ropes. I don't even know the good sites for information. And everyone in various mac forums has been nice so far, though yours is the first technical answer I've gotten.. maybe a difference in culture, dunno.. not none of that "dont be cheap upgrade ur card n00b!" crap so far..



    Within my circle of friends, having a custom built beige box running an off-the-shelf OSX would go miles toward cementing Apple's spot as a "real computer".. Somehow the notion that it is not real still persists.



    Oh, and I'd have considered a mini, but they jumped the price of the good one too high..
  • Reply 10 of 30
    Hi there Jmille,



    I hear and understand where you are coming from. Unfortunately for you I honestly believe you will untimately be disappointed by Apple. Why?

    Apple simply doesn't cater to people who want to build their own computer. Apple core competency is designing and assembling quality computers that work great out of the box. That's why they design both hardware and software, so it all fits together and there are practically no driver issues and the like on the Mac.

    I understand what you would like, but don't expect apple to go there. It is the same as asking BMW or some other quality car company to start selling you parts to assemble your own car. It won't happen cause they just are not in that business.
  • Reply 11 of 30
    lundylundy Posts: 4,466member
    Quote:

    Within my circle of friends, having a custom built beige box running an off-the-shelf OSX would go miles toward cementing Apple's spot as a "real computer"..



    Perhaps, but it would also go miles towards decimating Apple's hardware sales.



    I'd like Wendy's to reduce the price of their Double Cheeseburger to 39 cents, too - I think it would go miles towards cementing Wendy's spot as "the best double cheeseburger".
  • Reply 12 of 30
    All good points, but they knew this would be a can of worms when they made the decision to switch.. I guess they just have to decide which will cost more in the long run: piracy or lower hardware sales, because the genie is officially out of the bottle..



    Anyway, coming from a wintel/lintel background, I am quite used to uncooperative hardware/software, so I shall press on. Thanks for all your advice



    PS, bone stock parts off newegg for: intel 945mb, radeon x1600 (with vivo), 2gb corsair ram (!!), 250gig sata drive with 16mb cache, FULL SIZE CHASSIS with 400+ psu, 1.88 core duo (out of stock on 2.0) shipped is under $1000.. another $450 for kb, mouse, 20" wide screen lcd.. not bad, and I bet it would whoop the imac and be expandable..



    Compatibility is still an issue (vivo for instance), but you get the idea.. plus, I don't need the kb, mouse, and monitor, cuz I have good stuff and a switcher.. that's why the mini would have been great for me. Oh well.. no hurry
  • Reply 13 of 30
    placeboplacebo Posts: 5,767member
    Why are you bothering imitating the iMac components? Do you think you can actually install OS X on it and it'll be like an iMac? You can't, for two reasons:



    1. The iMac has a DRM module that tells OS X that it's an Apple product, which is necessary for OS X to run.



    2. The iMac has an EFI motherboard, which, although the one you picked is the same model, is impossible to buy right now.



    Sooo...



    If you're devoted to running OS X on a PC, you're going to have to use the cracked versions of it, and install maxxus' DRM-bypass patches, and deal with hardware incompatibilities, and the fact that it's internal prerelease software that ISN'T ACTIVELY MAINTAINED ANYMORE, because it was only made for the initial Developer's Macs, which have been recalled and replaced with Intel iMacs. This means that you will not be able to install newer patches without a huge hassle that requires the illicit community to spend two weeks cracking it and you'll essentially be using a beta version of the Mac OS X core.



    So basically, mimicking the iMac's parts probably won't help you any more than building with parts listed here
  • Reply 14 of 30
    Everything is such a hassle with that. I got everything working on an AMD/Nvidia box (yeah, I know) and when it came to update time, everything broke. It's really fun for modders and haxxorz, and my god was it fast, but I just sat on my ibook and enjoyed it alot more. The OS is only part of the experience.
  • Reply 15 of 30
    placeboplacebo Posts: 5,767member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by theapplegenius

    Everything is such a hassle with that. I got everything working on an AMD/Nvidia box (yeah, I know) and when it came to update time, everything broke. It's really fun for modders and haxxorz, and my god was it fast, but I just sat on my ibook and enjoyed it alot more. The OS is only part of the experience.



    Well, one reason the iBook experience might have been better was that its graphics chip had drivers, while on your AMD/Nvidia system, the system was using fallback-for-the-fallback video rendering (you might have had, for example, green and yellow lines appear when a menu faded out, etc: that's the reason).
  • Reply 16 of 30
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Placebo

    Well, one reason the iBook experience might have been better was that its graphics chip had drivers, while on your AMD/Nvidia system, the system was using fallback-for-the-fallback video rendering (you might have had, for example, green and yellow lines appear when a menu faded out, etc: that's the reason).



    Not at all, I ran everything at native res, i had drivers for the nvidia card, ect.
  • Reply 17 of 30
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Placebo

    Why are you bothering imitating the iMac components?



    If you'll notice in my original post, I would *like* to have a *real* intelmac motherboard on which to build a legitimate and fully licensed but custom built box. It was never my intention to pirate anything. And while I don't know the details of exactly what the difference is in their motherboard, I know there is one, so that's the one I want. You can also check one of the software forums on here and see that I have been asking about a *real* copy of OS X. Again, that's what I want. I know all the drawbacks of going the hacked route, but you guys are answering a question that I'm not asking.



    Anyway, the answer I got on the software forum is that there is currently no boxed copy of osx that will run on intel hardware, so the point is moot.
  • Reply 18 of 30
    andersanders Posts: 6,523member
    Buy a mac mini or look on eBay for a broken MacIntel. Its your best bet.
  • Reply 19 of 30
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Anders

    Buy a mac mini or look on eBay for a broken MacIntel. Its your best bet.



    Absolutely, this is your only choice. I was interested enough in this to ask my friend who works for the Apple reseller here (in New Zealand) and he says there is no way you will ever get your hands on the motherboards from Intel Mac's unless someone sells a dead one on ebay. When the iMac G5 came out you could replace the whole motherboard yourself if you needed to and we saw several appear on ebay, but apparently any failed intel MB's must be returned to Apple after replacement by a certified Apple tech!! Almost as if they are worried they will get out somehow... or is this normal?
  • Reply 20 of 30
    Quote:

    Originally posted by dutch pear

    It is the same as asking BMW or some other quality car company to start selling you parts to assemble your own car. It won't happen cause they just are not in that business. [/B]



    My friend works at BMW and you can buy ANY part for ANY of their cars that you like. This is where they make their money. The markup on cars is actually very small so they make most of their money from servicing and parts.
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