Was told cannot upgrade 2002 ibook laptop :(

Hello and welcome to the support Community.

I am really sorry to confirm, a 2002 iBook could not be upgraded to Lion (10.7) iBook 2002 does not meet the Intel chips set required by Lion and yes Macbook from 2006 onward would. (Over 1.8 Ghz) The most it will be upgraded to is 10.4.11. Internet browsing is possible with this iBook, but the truth is, it will lacks things like playing back flash movies and flash games. If it's basic Internet browsing then the iBook is more than capable of rendering most web pages. In regards to upgrades then yes memory and hard drive would be the only thing that can be upgraded.

If you maximize the RAM, it can be used for playing old games and minimally browsing the internet. There are seven different 2002 iBook models. Which one is it?

How much RAM is installed now?

Which version of the OS is installed?

Were any Install and Restore discs included in the purchase?

This is a ten-year-old computer, Kim. Nothing lasts forever. Even a good-looking ten-year-old refrigerator which looks fine on the outside may hit the landfill if its owner figures out that it costs more to fix it than a new one costs.

If the iBook still has the applications that came on it (or they can be restored from the original system software if it was included in the purchase), then there are some possibilities that a nine-year-old would see a little good out of it, but upgrading it past maximizing the RAM won't be easy and/or cheap.

Even the earliest Intel MacBook models are not capable of running Lion. It takes an Intel Core 2 Duo processor to be able to run Mac OS X 10.7 (Lion). The earliest Intel MacBooks were Core Duo (not Core 2 Duo, which is required for Lion).

http://www.apple.com/macosx/specs.html

If you didn't pay a lot for the iBook, then you shouldn't feel too bad about the purchase.

RE: Things like this should be made that you can upgrade completely as it would save a lot of junk in our landfills!!!!

Sadly I agree entirely. A business exsists only to make a profit and incidentally render a service.

I tend to keep old stuff that works just in case I might need it. Yesterday for instance I found out that my HP scanner will not work with OS X 10.7 as it is from the Power PC era. Fortunately I was able to switch to my 6 year old MacBook core duo with OS X 10.6.8 with which it works perfectly.

Just remember what is new is not necessarily needed and what is old is not automatically obsolete.

You can put more memory into this iBook a PC133 512 Meg (They are very cheap to buy now) This will take the total to 640 Meg. You can also increase the hard disk drive to allow more space. Increasing the OS will also help a little at there is better web browsers for Mac OS X 10.4 (Tiger)

I think the most expensive part of this upgrade may well be the cost of Mac OS X 10.4. You may find an auction site selling retail copies of this software at reasonable prices. Be careful to just check if you have a DVD drive installed on the iBook first. (I think the 900Mhz version came with the option of a DVD/Combo drive) You don't want to be buying a DVD copy of OS X 10.4 and find that it wont read. Normally if it states 'copyright 2002' on the base, then it's more than likely it is. from what I recall the G3 900 Mhz version come out in 2002.

In regards to disposable items. Waste is never a good thing, when we think of how much we throw away. There is a point, that how can companies make money, if all you do is keep the same laptop for ten years and just keep upgrading it. I think they would increase the original sales value if they ever was to do that.

Best of luck.

scstables1 wrote:

oh I forgot the CPU speed is 900 mhz.

If the CPU speed is 900 MHz, then it would have come out in 2003.

Is it the 12-inch or 14-inch model. Either will read (or play) DVDs.

This was the last best iBook G3 that Apple made.

Don't be too upset with your husband. You had to be told, yourself, that the age of the computer made a difference in how upgradeable it is.

In these hard times, we all have to make do with what we can afford. There will still be things she can do with the computer to have some fun with it, even if it won't do everything she may want it to do.

If it is a 900 MHz iBook G3, then it can read DVDs (assuming that the optical drive is working as it should).

There are companies that do sell parts for these older computers, but significant upgrading is a different matter.

If you want a computer that is significantly upgradeable, then no laptop is really that way.

The problem is that new technology (YouTube, Facebook, etc.) comes along all the time, and how can you expect a ten-year-old computer to work with something on the internet that didn't exist when it was made?

The internet is growing and expanding and changing by leaps and bounds. Computers are getting smaller, and you just can't fit new parts in them to accommodate the expanding technology. New computers come along to cope with it with faster processors, bigger hard drives, and the capacity for more memory to cope with the new demands on the hardware necessitated by new things happening in technology and on the internet. This is just the way things are.

Re: Things like this should be made that you can upgrade completely as it would save a lot of junk in our landfills!!!!

Companies can't make things that you can "upgrade completely" when they don't even know what that will take some years down the line. It's just not possible.

You can check by going to the apple logo (top right) go to 'About This Mac' and then to 'More Information'

If you go to the section 'ATA' on the left side, the information on the Optical drive should come up. It's worth double checking as not always do people who sale on auctions stick to the original specification. I've known many which should have DVD drives been replaced with standard CD drives.