Question - upgrading Macbook Pro (old)

[EducatorHustle]

Need a little help here. I've upgraded the memory once and it was quite easy...I only use this laptop for the internet (sitting in my chair going down rabbit holes) and nothing else.

Here is what I'm working with:

• MacBook Pro (13-inch, Late 2011)
• Processor: 2.4 GHz Intel Core i5
• Memory: 8GB 1067 MHz DDR3
• Graphics: Intel HD Graphics 3000 512MB
• Version: 10.10.5 (Yosemite)

I don't want to buy a new laptop when all I'll be doing is using it for online searches and browsing.

It was suggested I do the following:

• Replace with 16GM Ram
• 1600MHz DDR3L
• Quad Core i7
• (found a timetec one for $65)

Add a SSD - and this is where I'm struggling to find out what I need exactly...and something I can install myself. I feel like if I have to pay for parts AND have someone put it in...you get my drift.

And then updating the OSX to boot 87.0.0.0.0

Most of this is a foreign language to me, but I'm comfortable popping the back off to insert the memory, so if it doesn't require too much more than that I'm solid.

Thanks in advance. Like frfr.

 

[theapplehead]

Need a little help here. I've upgraded the memory once and it was quite easy...I only use this laptop for the internet (sitting in my chair going down rabbit holes) and nothing else.

Here is what I'm working with:

• MacBook Pro (13-inch, Late 2011)
• Processor: 2.4 GHz Intel Core i5
• Memory: 8GB 1067 MHz DDR3
• Graphics: Intel HD Graphics 3000 512MB
• Version: 10.10.5 (Yosemite)

I don't want to buy a new laptop when all I'll be doing is using it for online searches and browsing.

It was suggested I do the following:

• Replace with 16GM Ram
• 1600MHz DDR3L
• Quad Core i7
• (found a timetec one for $65)

Add a SSD - and this is where I'm struggling to find out what I need exactly...and something I can install myself. I feel like if I have to pay for parts AND have someone put it in...you get my drift.

And then updating the OSX to boot 87.0.0.0.0

Most of this is a foreign language to me, but I'm comfortable popping the back off to insert the memory, so if it doesn't require too much more than that I'm solid.

Thanks in advance. Like frfr.

At one point I had the exact same machine and I upgraded the RAM to 16GB and swapped the hard drive for an SSD and that alone made a huge difference. I’d also recommend upgrading to macOS 10.13 High Sierra as you’ll get a bit more features that could be nice to have. As far as upgrading the processor goes, there’s no easy way to do that unless you wanna go to the trouble of replacing the logic board. But even with a faster processor you won’t notice a big difference with how old your machine is and being that you only browse the web and whatnot with it. I’d say stick with the i5 and look into upgrading the ram and ssd.

 

[EducatorHustle]

At one point I had the exact same machine and I upgraded the RAM to 16GB and swapped the hard drive for an SSD and that alone made a huge difference. I’d also recommend upgrading to macOS 10.13 High Sierra as you’ll get a bit more features that could be nice to have. As far as upgrading the processor goes, there’s no easy way to do that unless you wanna go to the trouble of replacing the logic board. But even with a faster processor you won’t notice a big difference with how old your machine is and being that you only browse the web and whatnot with it. I’d say stick with the i5 and look into upgrading the ram and ssd.

awesome. any suggestions on the ssd (which one did you use?). thanks for your reply. this upcoming pay day I'm looking to get the parts and boost this baby. *smile*

 

[smirking]

awesome. any suggestions on the ssd (which one did you use?). thanks for your reply. this upcoming pay day I'm looking to get the parts and boost this baby. *smile*

If you had to choose one, I'd upgrade to an SSD if you still have a 2.5" hard drive in this machine. Extra RAM might help in some cases, but for what you've described you're probably rarely ever going to see a benefit. Also, you can't upgrade the processor in a 2011 MBP. Well... it's possible, but if you had to ask about it, the answer is most definitely that it's off the table.

Which is fine because you'll be thrilled with what an SSD upgrade can do for your speeds. So, what kind of SSD? Any 2.5" SSD using a SATA interface should do. Just pick one from a reputable brand. Here are a few options:

Kingston 240GB A400 SATA 3 2.5" Internal SSD SA400S37/240G - HDD Replacement for Increase Performance

Incredible speeds plus rock-solid reliability - Kingston's A400 solid-state drive dramatically improves the responsiveness of your existing system with incredible boot, loading and file transfer times compared to mechanical hard drives. Powered by a latest gen controller for read and write speeds...

www.amazon.com

Crucial MX500 250GB 3D NAND SATA 2.5 Inch Internal SSD, up to 560MB/s - CT250MX500SSD1

Start your system in seconds, store up to 4TB of data, and upgrade with an SSD you can count on. Join more and more people who are keeping their family videos, travel photos, music, and important documents on an SSD, and get the near-instant performance and lasting reliability that comes with sol...

www.amazon.com

SAMSUNG 870 EVO SATA SSD 250GB 2.5” Internal Solid State Drive, Upgrade Desktop PC or Laptop Memory and Storage for IT Pros, Creators, Everyday Users, MZ-77E250B/AM

>The latest 870 EVO has indisputable performance, reliability and compatibility built upon Samsung's pioneering technology. Enjoy professional-level SSD performance which maximizes the SATA interface limit to 560/530 MB/s sequential speeds*, accelerates write speeds and maintains long-term high p...

www.amazon.com

 

[EducatorHustle]

If you had to choose one, I'd upgrade to an SSD if you still have a 2.5" hard drive in this machine. Extra RAM might help in some cases, but for what you've described you're probably rarely ever going to see a benefit. Also, you can't upgrade the processor in a 2011 MBP. Well... it's possible, but if you had to ask about it, the answer is most definitely that it's off the table.

Which is fine because you'll be thrilled with what an SSD upgrade can do for your speeds. So, what kind of SSD? Any 2.5" SSD using a SATA interface should do. Just pick one from a reputable brand. Here are a few options:

Kingston 240GB A400 SATA 3 2.5" Internal SSD SA400S37/240G - HDD Replacement for Increase Performance

Incredible speeds plus rock-solid reliability - Kingston's A400 solid-state drive dramatically improves the responsiveness of your existing system with incredible boot, loading and file transfer times compared to mechanical hard drives. Powered by a latest gen controller for read and write speeds...

www.amazon.com

Crucial MX500 250GB 3D NAND SATA 2.5 Inch Internal SSD, up to 560MB/s - CT250MX500SSD1

Start your system in seconds, store up to 4TB of data, and upgrade with an SSD you can count on. Join more and more people who are keeping their family videos, travel photos, music, and important documents on an SSD, and get the near-instant performance and lasting reliability that comes with sol...

www.amazon.com

SAMSUNG 870 EVO SATA SSD 250GB 2.5” Internal Solid State Drive, Upgrade Desktop PC or Laptop Memory and Storage for IT Pros, Creators, Everyday Users, MZ-77E250B/AM

>The latest 870 EVO has indisputable performance, reliability and compatibility built upon Samsung's pioneering technology. Enjoy professional-level SSD performance which maximizes the SATA interface limit to 560/530 MB/s sequential speeds*, accelerates write speeds and maintains long-term high p...

www.amazon.com

this helps me tremendously. now i know what to look for and what i'm working with. will update after the upgrade. thank you

 

[smirking]

this helps me tremendously. now i know what to look for and what i'm working with. will update after the upgrade. thank you

Here's an article that'll be helpful to you:

Ask iFixit: What Should I Upgrade First on My Old MacBook Pro?

Back to School season is here. We’re highlighting useful resources for getting your tech ready, plus 20% off select parts all month long. Most issues plaguing your existing devices can be fixed easily…

www.ifixit.com

Upgrading the SSD is fairly easy on these models. On any MBP model that takes a 2.5" SATA SSD, I don't even bother consulting repair guides. I just pop it open and look for the SSD, but if this is your first time doing something like this, you may want to do a little bit of homework in advance and you'll find walk-throughs on iFixit. It's not a difficult upgrade, but some of the connectors are on quite tight and it's hard to tell which direction you push or if it's safe to pull hard on something.

 

[macbookm1airlover]

I second what @smirking said...I have a 2012 MacBook Pro (virtually the same as your 2011) and did an SSD upgrade. That is going to be the main thing that speeds up what you are doing. The RAM is just fine where it's at if all you are doing is web browsing. As for the reliability of the SSD's, I have used and recommended Samsung SSD's for years with no issues at all.

 

[theapplehead]

awesome. any suggestions on the ssd (which one did you use?). thanks for your reply. this upcoming pay day I'm looking to get the parts and boost this baby. *smile*

Pretty much any of the recommendations other folks mentioned would be great. Just to reiterate a few, Samsung and Kingston are solid. I think mine was Samsung but it was a couple years back so I’m not certain. You could also just go to Staples or Best Buy and see what they’ve got and you should be fine as well.

 

[Fishrrman]

OP:

If all you'll be using it for is "online searches and browsing", you're WASTING your money putting more RAM into it. 8gb is enough. You're throwing money away on more RAM.

You SHOULD put an SSD into it, however.
This will GREATLY improve performance and make 10x the difference vis-a-vis adding RAM.
Go to ifixit.com to see how it's done.

All you need is a 2.5" SATA SSD. Any brand will do. 250gb may be "all you need".
These things are CHEAP.
Buy for price, not speed (MBP is too old).

You do need THE RIGHT TOOLS for taking the back off and taking the "nubs" off the side of the old drive (and putting them onto the new one).
You'll need:
- Phillips #00 driver
- TORX T-6 driver
These are cheap and can be found online or at hardware stores.

I would also suggest you get one of these:

Inateck 2.5 Inch USB 3.0 Hard Drive Enclosure External SATA HDD and SSD Case - Optimized for 9.5mm 7mm 2.5" SSD, Tool Free (FE2002)

Attention: package contains an extra foam sticker for 7 mm thickness hard drives, you should attach the sticker to the original one inside the lid before you insert the hard drive; 12.5 mm hard drives might be incompatible with this product. 70% faster than traditional USB 3.0 With UASP transfer ...

www.amazon.com

You can snap the new SSD into it, and "set it up and test it" BEFORE you even open the MBP.
This way... if something isn't right... you find out about it while you still have A WORKING COMPUTER.

You need to use disk utility to format the new SSD to "Mac OS extended with journaling enabled, GUID partition format" (this is also called HFS+).

If you get the external enclosure, you can
- Put the SSD into it
- Format it
- Use CarbonCopyCloner to "clone" the contents of the internal drive to the SSD
- Then, do a "test boot" from the external SSD to be sure it works
- Then, open it up (just take the back off) and swap drives
- Then boot with the new SSD to be sure it works
- Then... go to the startup disk preference pane and set the SSD to be "the new boot drive".

Finally, take the old drive and put it into the enclosure.
You can now keep it as a backup, or re-purpose it for something else.

 

[EducatorHustle]

OP:

If all you'll be using it for is "online searches and browsing", you're WASTING your money putting more RAM into it. 8gb is enough. You're throwing money away on more RAM.

You SHOULD put an SSD into it, however.
This will GREATLY improve performance and make 10x the difference vis-a-vis adding RAM.
Go to ifixit.com to see how it's done.

All you need is a 2.5" SATA SSD. Any brand will do. 250gb may be "all you need".
These things are CHEAP.
Buy for price, not speed (MBP is too old).

You do need THE RIGHT TOOLS for taking the back off and taking the "nubs" off the side of the old drive (and putting them onto the new one).
You'll need:
- Phillips #00 driver
- TORX T-6 driver
These are cheap and can be found online or at hardware stores.

I would also suggest you get one of these:

Inateck 2.5 Inch USB 3.0 Hard Drive Enclosure External SATA HDD and SSD Case - Optimized for 9.5mm 7mm 2.5" SSD, Tool Free (FE2002)

Attention: package contains an extra foam sticker for 7 mm thickness hard drives, you should attach the sticker to the original one inside the lid before you insert the hard drive; 12.5 mm hard drives might be incompatible with this product. 70% faster than traditional USB 3.0 With UASP transfer ...

www.amazon.com

You can snap the new SSD into it, and "set it up and test it" BEFORE you even open the MBP.
This way... if something isn't right... you find out about it while you still have A WORKING COMPUTER.

You need to use disk utility to format the new SSD to "Mac OS extended with journaling enabled, GUID partition format" (this is also called HFS+).

If you get the external enclosure, you can
- Put the SSD into it
- Format it
- Use CarbonCopyCloner to "clone" the contents of the internal drive to the SSD
- Then, do a "test boot" from the external SSD to be sure it works
- Then, open it up (just take the back off) and swap drives
- Then boot with the new SSD to be sure it works
- Then... go to the startup disk preference pane and set the SSD to be "the new boot drive".

Finally, take the old drive and put it into the enclosure.
You can now keep it as a backup, or re-purpose it for something else.

thank you! saving money is the most important part. appreciate it greatly.

 

[EducatorHustle]

Finally did the SSD update! Love it! Just trying to get a working version of the correct OSX now. Thank you all!!