Is the Intel iMac's CPU socketed or soldered?

I don’t know technically what the case is (I suspect socketed as it’s based on standard architecture) but it’s not possible to upgrade the CPU, either by yourself and definitely any Apple service provider or store will assist you on that.

CPU upgrades are simply not allowed and Apple has made sure that it’s not possible to do so.

The Apple store would not. You’d have to go to an Apple-capable shop, but not necessarily one which is Apple authorized for service.

This unit is a Core2Duo. Not certain anyone makes upgrades for these yet. Only for systems with PPC processors and those are usually only to G3 or G4 from older revs.

Or I could do it myself…. so it is possible then?

Look up, I just edited my response to be more specific

Couldn’t i just get a newer core2duo, like a 2.8Ghz and replace it?

DIY, is highly discouraged for this model! Getting into an iMac is a HUGE P.I.T.A. All of them are literally hair-pulling experiences. I do alot of work on Macs and they can be a harrowing experience. I really wish that they would just stick to their large(ish) tower designs which are very easy to manage for repair and upgrades.

Apple always comes up with these funky designs, which look great, but are always a nut-cracker to repair. I have sliced open more than one finger doing repairs in the past. The greatest designs and easiest to work on are usually the most boring design-wise. It’s always a trade-off.

And their laptops? Fugaddabahddit! Worst experience ever. Unless you actually have the tools, which you have to get from Apple, it’s a nightmare.

Hmm, yea ok. I might just build myself a $1500 rig from scratch then an have my mac for my photo editing.

Before you drop $1500 or more, check this out

Yea, thats all well and good but i’m in Australia anyway. But i put tiger on my 5 year old intel laptop so i shouldn’t have any trouble hacking a brand new desktop with leopard!

Very cool! Let me know how it goes. I have been thinking about doing my own “clone” myself. Any and all opinions and experiences appreciated!

(off-topic) Oh, and if McCain-Palin wins our presidential election today, I may be your neighbor within the year! That would be the last straw for me.

Haha, so true…. Here’s the pics from installation Hackintosh

NICE! Is it still working well for you? Have you done any software updates since?

Yeah it worked for a while on Tiger, i tried to install Leopard, it installed but not even the USB ports would work so i went back to Tiger. It was unstable though because it is SSH not SSH2 so i went back to Linux.