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What can you do to upgrade your Mac without opening it up and attacking the logic board with a soldering iron? We take an in–depth look

WRITTEN BY IAN OSBORNE
Image credits: Apple Inc, Future.

O NE OF THE most common criticisms of the Mac is that it’s not upgradeable. This is not true. While modern Macs have integrated memory and storage chips soldered to the logic board, there are a lot of other things you can do to upgrade and enhance your Apple computer. You don’t have to open the casing and swap out internal parts to turn your Mac from wheezy to whizzy.

In this feature, we explore the many ways you can power up your Mac, from teaming it with a high quality external display to make using it easier and more fun, to increasing the amount of available storage by connecting an external drive. You can even easily connect more peripherals by doubling the number of available ports —and we’ve lined up some amazing add–ons and accessories that will will enable you to do just that.

You’ll also discover some of the cool things you can do in macOS to make all of these things perform better and smarter —such as tweaking your display resolution in System Settings and customising your mouse and keyboard, or teaming your Mac with an iPad via Sidecar for a handy second screen.

By the time you’ve finished, your Mac will be running like a race car with an F1 engine. Let’s hear that baby roar!

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Mac|Life
April 2025
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