Introduction

Aim

 The aim of this blog is to assist owners of the Apple MacBook model A1181. The content of this blog consists of my opinions, beliefs and knowledge. It also consists of portions of the knowledge entered into the public domain by Apple and other organizations and individuals. These external sources are credited and often linked to in this blog.


An A1181 MacBook. They also came in Black. (Photo Source: everymac.com)

Background 

The A1181 MacBook had a long production life and continues to provide many people with reliable and affordable computing. These machines continue to  age.

Many people buy used Macbooks and need to orientate to the Apple environment for the first time.  It is a different environment to the Windows world. Things are different.

Everyone in the Windows world, for example, has some idea of the BIOS screen on a Windows computer.  Apple computers do not have a BIOS screen. They have other, resettable facilities instead.

For example, here's an Apple forum post in which a person is asking how to "reset the BIOS" on his Apple machine so he could boot from an external drive:  https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3748878?start=0&tstart=0

There are many such facilities which the new user needs to know about. Such knowledge becomes critical when the Macbook refuses to boot because it needs its "SMC" reset. The Mac may play dead until this simple reset is performed. Apple explains the SMC reset at this support page: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3964  There are other critical routines to know about. It pays to explore the Apple support pages and to explore the Mac forums.

 There are a number of things one can try in an attempt to revive even an apparently dead A1181 MacBook. Most of the possible routines do not involve taking the machine apart. Most of them are evidence of the intelligent design embodied within the A1181 MacBook.

 I am not a tech. Just an Apple user. These are some of the things I have found and experienced. Some of the things I know, some of the things I believe. I hope it helps you.

Identifying your MacBook 

Apple produced the A1181 MacBook from 2006 until October 2009. At that time the A1181 MacBook was replaced by the A1342 MacBook (The Polycarbonate “Unibody”).

(An Aluminum “Unibody” MacBook was introduced in October 2008 and discontinued in June 2009, being sold alongside the A1181 MacBook). This blog is devoted the A1181, (polycarbonate, Black or White), fitted with the Intel Core Duo or Core 2 Duo processor.

 Some of the opinions and knowledge contained here will apply to any MacBook, and indeed to any Mac. Some of it, however, will not.

 Over the years the specifications of the A1181 changed and improved. The model identifier of each series of MacBook changed as a result. To fix a Macbook, you often need to know which A1181 MacBook a particular machine is. There are no visual clues. The A1181 MacBook model identifiers are as follows:
From May 2006: 1,1
From November 2006: 2,1
From November 2007: 3,1
From February 2008: 4,1
From October 2008: 4,2
From January 2009: 5,2
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MacBook - this is a good page to read, particularly if you are considering buying a used Macbook of any kind.

Sometimes the specifications changed without a corresponding change being made to the model identifier.

"System Profiler" Identifies your MacBook

You can find the model identifier of your MacBook by clicking on the Apple symbol on the top left hand side of the upper task bar. From the drop down menu which appears, select “About this Mac”. From within the box which appears, select “More Info”. You have opened “System Profiler”.
The “Hardware Overview” Screen appears. The second item listed is the “Model Identifier”. While you are on this page of System Profiler, note down your machine’s serial number, which is the 12th item on the list.

Using the Model Identifier and Serial Number

 Enter “MacBook” followed by your model identifier in your internet browser search box. Eg. “MacBook 4,1” (or whatever yours is.) From the search results, select the EveryMac site listing. You should now be at the EveryMac “Lookup” page. Follow the instructions and enter the portion of your serial number required into the EveryMac search box and hit return. A full description of your machine is given.

Pinning down the exact part your Macbook might need

While the cost of new parts is probably prohibitive, good second hand parts are available from excellent suppliers in many countries. Parts can also be found on eBay and other online sources. Brand new but non genuine sourced parts, mainly from China, can be good buys. (When a new battery is required, a genuine Apple battery is definitely worth the money however. The quality of non genuine batteries is very variable. Some dodgy ones can damage your MacBook. A used genuine MacBook battery is often better than a new non genuine battery. More on batteries later.)

The internal components of the A1181 MacBook changed over the years and some parts are not interchangeable between all the model series. Two sites which are very useful in giving the exact part number required for a specific MacBook model series are IFixit at http://www.ifixit.com/Device/MacBook and Powerbook Medic at http://www.powerbookmedic.com/

The IFixit page explains why identifying your Macbook is difficult: “The MacBook is the most difficult Apple laptop to identify. While the MacBook Air and MacBook Unibody are easy to distinguish, differentiating between the plastic MacBooks is challenging. Unfortunately, Apple printed the same model number on all machines, regardless of their internal configuration. Even if you think you know exactly which MacBook you have, a quick trip through the laptop identification system can't hurt.” – Source: IFixit.

The difficulty is matched by the importance of buying the right part. Some parts are interchangeable between each A1181 model series, some are not. If you assume you know the specific MacBook model series you have without checking, you will probably be wrong.

 The A1181 (Core Duo, Core 2 Duo) Macbooks are like the old VW Beetle. At least with the old Beetle, a trained eye could tell the model year by looking at the door handle type in combination the tail light size and window size. There are no such visual clues for the A1181 Macbook. They all look the same, but there are significant internal differences.

Given that top cases (the keyboard/palm rest units) are often changed as they fail, (more about that later) there is no guarantee that the model identifiers printed on the topcase underside (seen inside the battery bay when the battery is removed)  actually refer to the machine they are fitted to. Go by the System Profiler information first. This reports what the machine actually is. Take that information and use it at EveryMac, IFixit or Powerbook Medic to Identify your MacBook and the parts you might need.

OSX Versions and Your Macbook

Every Mac user has a preferred version of OSX. Some people have to have the very latest. Some people still use Tiger. Some people have expensive applications in versions which run only on earlier versions of the Apple OSX operating system.

 On the other hand,  each series of the A1181 MacBook has a “minimum” and “maximum” (earliest, latest) version of OSX which it can handle. Knowing which versions of OSX your machine can work with is important. It is pointless buying applications software which require OSX Mountain Lion if your machine cannot not handle Mountain Lion, for example. One site which lists every Mac made and which gives the maximum and minimum OSX version for each machine is http://apple-history.com/ At this page, choose the model year of your Macbook in the “year" column. For example, let’s choose the very first Macbook, the 2006 model. The listing under “Essentials” for this early machine states: “Minimum OS: 10.4.6 Maximum OS: 10.6.8” This early machine will happily run with the given versions of Tiger (10.4), Leopard (10.5) and Snow Leopard. But it will not run from Lion or Mountain Lion. So, if you have this first model MacBook, the Mountain Lion compatible version of Final Cut Pro, for example, is not for you.

It is quite impressive that the early Intel Macs can run an Operating system as late as Snow Leopard. This forward compatibility is a hallmark of Apple computers.

Before you buy software, make sure the software is compatible with your machine and your version of OSX. If you want or need to upgrade your version of OSX, make sure your machine can handle it. Experimentation may reveal that a particular machine may successfully run a particular version of OSX even when the information indicates, in theory, that it won’t. Such cases are rare.

When you upgrade your version of OSX, make sure your existing applications software is compatible with it. Before you upgrade your version of OSX, make a bootable clone of your primary drive. Do this just in case you discover your needed applications software won’t work with the new version of OSX and you need to revert to your previous configuration. Making a bootable clone drive is very easy on a Mac. I use this: http://www.bombich.com/ - Carbon Copy Cloner. Another opinions about Carbon Copy Cloner in comparison to Apple’s Time Machine are found here: http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=1169769

If your old version of OSX does not include Time Machine, Carbon Copy Cloner is one answer. I use Carbon Copy Cloner out of habit even though I now have Time Machine via Snow Leopard.

You can put more than one version of OSX on your machine. Simply create multiple partitions on your hard drive and install the versions of OSX required and which are compatible with your machine.

As OSX contains security features which are updated with each later version, it pays to use the latest version of OSX that you have when using the internet. To ensure your version of OSX is as updated as possible, run “Software Update” regularly. Pick and choose the updates you want, but include all Java and Security updates. (Software Update: Click Apple Symbol, Left Hand Side  top task bar > drop down menu> select “Software Update” when connected to the internet.)

Java updates for Apple are very important. Missing a Java update may mean that months later you have to hunt the Apple site for a required update in order to run a new piece of applications software.

Here is an example of an Apple Java Security Update for Lion available for free at the Apple site: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5242



Next: Solutions for a dead optical drive.