Core Duo/Core 2 Duo MacBook CPU Upgrading

Just recently, I completed a project based on an idea I've had for quite some time now... Upgrading the CPU in a MacBook. In theory it should be possible, as long as the CPU is compatible with the chipset in the machine, and has the same front side bus speed. Well, it turns out that is indeed the case. I successfully upgraded the CPU on a MacBook5,2 (Mid-2009) from its stock 2.13 GHz P7450 to a 2.53 GHz T9400 from a Late-2008 MacBookPro5,1 logic board. Both machines have the same chipset (nVidia MCP79).

The Process

To begin, I had to remove the T9400 from the donor board. Like all my other BGA swaps, I used my hot air rework station with a special nozzle, with the board placed on a board preheater. Here's a picture of my setup. Definitely not the best, but hey, it gets the job done. Once the CPU has been removed from the donor board, the re-balling process can begin. This can be quite tedious, as you have to manually pick and place quite a few solder balls into the stencil, but it's not too bad. Here's the T9400 after re-balling it. The next step is to remove the original CPU off the MacBook5,2 logic board. Here's a picture of the board after removing the P7450 and cleaning it up. Lastly, the T9400 is aligned properly on the board, then heated and soldered on. Now, we test the machine, and it works, with the 2.53 GHz T9400 detected properly and working perfectly! If you want to see this in more detail, feel free to check out my YouTube video, where I go over the whole process.

In the future, I plan on upgrading more MacBook CPUs, including swapping Core Duos on MacBook1,1 and MacBookPro1,1 logic boards with Core 2 Duo CPUs, allowing them to run Lion. I'm definitely looking forward to these future projects!