Should I upgrade my current MacBook Pro or buy a new one?

[eddiejoer]

Model: MacBook Pro 13 inch 2010
Processor: 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
RAM: 4 GB 1067 MHz DDR3
Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce 320M 256 MB
Storage: 250GB HDD
OS X: Yosemite 10.10.5



Hi, I have been looking into upgrading my current laptop with some much needed performance boosters, but am not sure whether in the long run this is worth it, or if I should save up for a newer model.

The upgrades I am thinking about are firstly replacing my current HDD with a 250GB SSD, and secondly replacing my 4GB of ram with 16GB. (Officially, Apple state this machine only supports 8GB, but it's been since verified that it can take up to 16GB).

Whilst I know that these two upgrades should improve the speed and performance of my machine fairly dramatically, I am wondering roughy how many years my laptop will be useable for after the upgrade. The main limiting factor appears to be my processor, which I'm aware could be a hinderance in the future. I understand that apple have a tendency to make each new OS X updates only available for newer machines, and I'm worried that soon they will not be available for the Core 2 Duo models. Can anyone confirm this?

So, I guess my question is, how limiting will my processor be to the lifespan/performance of my mac if I were to perform the upgrades stated above?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated, and thanks in advance!

 

[killawat]

If you have the scratch to upgrade to a new rig I would. the upgrade will increase your speed but your locked out of new enhancements to IO (tb2, usb3) and battery/power enhancements. Also if you rely on your machine for work you may want to get a new one under warranty and eligible for AppleCare.

The notion that newer versions of OS X will be locked out for older machines is false. Typically certain features (I.e handoff) are disabled because the earlier machines can't handle it due to hardware constraints.

 

[ron1004]

I believe that your MBP is SATA-2, so the upgrade to an SSD will not see the full SSD SATA-3 capable speeds, but as you can see in my sig, I have added an SSD to my 2010 and the speed increase was still impressive.
The RAM upgrade will not bring much in the line of a speed increase unless you are using applications that are memory hungry.