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If you already have a Mac that is two or three years old, you should still be able to use it with digital video. If it doesn't meet those requirements, you may be able to upgrade it. As a general rule, however, if your Mac doesn't already have a G3 or higher processor, upgrading is probably going to be more expensive or challenging than simply buying a new Mac. And in the end, a very old upgraded Mac probably will not perform that well anyway.
One of the biggest obstacles that you'll face involves FireWire. If your Mac does not already have a FireWire port, you may have difficulty adding one. PowerMacs can usually be upgraded with a FireWire card, but what if you have a PowerBook G3? In that case, look for a FireWire card that uses the PowerBook's CardBus interface.
 | Before you think you can get away without FireWire, keep in mind that if your Mac is too old for FireWire, its USB 1.1 ports won't be fast enough to capture full-quality digital video. |
Some parts of your Mac may be more easily upgradeable. For more details on upgrade information and installation instructions, check out the very comprehensive Mac OS X Panther All-in-One Desk Reference For Dummies, by Mark L. Chambers, or The iMac For Dummies, by David Pogue (both published by Wiley). Macworld ( Macworld.com) also provides online articles and tutorials to help you upgrade your Mac.
Improving your Mac's memory
Digital video editing uses a lot of computer memory, so you should see significant performance improvements if you upgrade your RAM. Memory is usually pretty easy to upgrade in most desktop Macs. In fact, most iMacs incorporate a handy access panel that enables you to add memory in mere seconds. Depending on the age and speed of your Mac, memory comes on little cards called DIMMs (dual in-line memory modules) or modules called SDRAM (synchronous dynamic random access memory) modules. Both types of memory easily snap into place in special memory slots on the computer's motherboard. Figure 1 illustrates what a DIMM looks like. Read the documentation from Apple that came with your Mac for specific instructions on installing more memory.
Figure 1: DIMMs look something like this.
Make sure that you obtain memory that is specifically designed for your Mac — specify the model as well as its processor type and speed (for example: an 800-MHz G4). Memory modules come in various sizes, so even if all the memory slots in your Mac appear full, you may be able to upgrade by replacing your current DIMMs or SDRAM modules with bigger ones.
 | Portable Macs can also receive memory upgrades, but the task is more technically challenging. It usually requires that you remove the keyboard and some other parts of your iBook or PowerBook. You should leave such upgrades to a professional unless you really know what you are doing. |
Upgrading Mac hard drives
The hard drive in virtually any Mac can be replaced with a bigger unit. Most modern Macs have EIDE — or Enhanced Integrated Drive Electronics — hard drives, a standardized hard-drive format that's ubiquitous in the PC world. (The latest round of PowerMac G5 models use a new super-speedy interface called Serial ATA.)
Standardization keeps the initial cost of new Macs affordable, and it tends to make replacement parts cheaper and easier to find. But resist the urge to run off and buy (for example) that gargantuan 200GB EIDE drive that's advertised in a Sunday flier to replace the 4GB drive in your 4-year-old lime-green iMac. Hold your horses until you consider the following potential problems:
- The new hard drive may be too big. Older Macs may not support some of the massive newer hard drives that are available today.
- The new hard drive may be too hot. Literally. One of the greatest challenges facing computer hardware engineers today involves heat management. Modern processors and hard drives give off a lot of heat, and if too much heat is allowed to build inside the computer case, the life of your Mac will be greatly shortened. Many older iMacs were not designed to manage the heat that's generated by the newest, fastest hard drives.
You should only buy a hard drive that is recommended for your specific Macintosh model. This means that you should buy a new hard drive from a knowledgeable Macintosh retailer. As with memory, make sure that you specify your Mac's model and processor when purchasing a hard drive.
Adding an external hard drive to your Mac
By far, the easiest way to add storage space to your Mac is to use an external hard drive. External drives that connect to a FireWire or USB port are widely available, and although they tend to be more expensive than internal drives, their ease of installation and use makes them worthwhile.
Unfortunately, external drives are usually less than ideal for working with digital video. A FireWire 400 or USB 2.0 (a newer, faster USB standard) external drive is slower than an internal drive — and drive speed is crucial when you are capturing or exporting video. External hard drives are fine if you need a big place to store music or other files, but using an external drive as your main drive for video work isn't recommended.
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