Early 2011 MBP: hardware upgrade worth it?

[Naudin]

Hi all,

I own an early 2011, 17 inch MacBook Pro with stock hardware (2.2 GHz i7, 4 GB RAM and standard hard disk). Since lately it has been getting really slow, I'm thinking of doing a hardware upgrade. More specifically I'm thinking of replacing my hard disk with a Samsung 850 EVO SSD (500 GB) and upping my RAM to 16 GB (1600 MHz Corsair Vengeance). However, since my MBP is already quite old, I'm not sure whether I should make this investment (around €250 total). I read on some blog that if you're MacBook is more than 4 years old and too slow, it is wiser to just buy a new one. However, I see lots of people still upgrading 2011 MacBooks. There are several objections I could think of; considering the age of the MB, other parts will likely start to fail in the near future, rendering my investment useless. Also, the processor can become the bottleneck so that it does not increase performance to current standards and furthermore, Apple can stop supporting older MacBooks like mine with new OS X versions to come. I've seen this MacBook being sold for quite high prices still (€850-1000), which I'm also taking into consideration. Anyone care to give some advice?

Thanks!

Naudin

 

[chscag]

Apple is no longer offering anything in the 17" category. Granted, your MacBook Pro is not exactly a light weight machine but the screen is desktop quality. If it were mine, I would certainly consider the upgrades even it were only for a few years. One of our moderators owns the same machine as yours so perhaps he'll chime in and give his opinion. Of course you can always sell it but then what would you replace it with?

 

[lclev]

If you like it and want to avoid buying a new laptop, I would upgrade. If you make the upgrades you are listing it will have a new life. You could also do the upgrades and sell it if you are not happy with the results.

I have the 15" Macbook Pro with 16GB of memory. I just, today actually, upgraded the HDD to a 500GB SSD from Crucial. It ran very well but I think replacing the 5400 RPM HDD with the SSD will really give her speed.

Lisa

 

[chas_m]

This is an interesting question. I consider the 2011 models a bit below what I would call "modern spec" going forward due to a lack (correct me if the 17" is different) of Bluetooth 4.x and Thunderbolt, but that doesn't rule out making the investment (I have a 2012 that has all that stuff, and I replaced both the optical and hard drives with SSDs as well as maxing out the RAM).

Yours is a 17-inch, which isn't really possible to replace with a significantly later model, however. If you're comfortable doing the upgrades yourself, then I'd say sure -- SSDs are getting to be pretty reasonably priced (25 cents per GB or so, still pricey compared to HDs per GB but the speed is fabulous) and RAM for that model is probably not expensive. It will certainly goose things to the point where you won't feel the need to replace it until the latest OS X no longer supports it, which may not happen for another year or two yet.

I'm expecting the next few years be all about that USB-C/USB 3.1/Thunderbolt 3 spec, next-gen Bluetooth, and 802.11ac/ad/ah, so before 2020 machines will be on wholly different specs and chips and such that I think will make replacing this current "class" of machines from 2009-2014 necessary. Not sure when the "critical mass" will hit, but it is pretty clearly coming -- and a lot of future stuff from Apple relies on BT 4.x, NFC, and USB-C, so it kinda feels like a generational change is heading our way. My general advice about OS X compatibility is that the day Apple announces a version of OS X your machine cannot run, you've got as much as three years to replace it.

Presuming that OS X 10.13 (which I imagine would come in 2017) would be the one that the "class of 2011" can't handle, that means that (barring hardware failure of some time) you could have as long as 2020 before you REALLY need to replace that thing (want is another question ...). You're right to have some concern about mechanical failure on that machine eventually, but in my experience if you make it past the three-year mark, then only routine failure/normal aging is likely to happen -- you're probably clear of the hidden defect issue.

 

[MacInWin]

I have exactly that same machine and I have upgraded it pretty much as you have discussed. I have TWO internal SSD's, an OWC Mercury Electra 6G at 960GB as the boot drive and a Crucial 480GB SSD in the optical bay. I use that one to store video files mostly. Everything else is on the boot SSD. I used the Data Doubler from OWC to install in the optical bay. That gives me almost 1.5Tb of SSD internal total. I also upgraded to 16GB ram, also from OWC. The one thing I would say is not to use Samsung drives. I've seen reports of issues with Samsungs. You didn't say where you are, but made the reference to price in euros, so I'll assume somewhere in Europe. I think OWC ships internationally, but you'll have to check that with them. Crucial is also a good source for both SSD and memory. I can't speak to the brands you mentioned, sorry.

The hardware, as you know, is pretty solid. The BT is not up to 4.0 standards, but that hasn't affected me much except in the "hand off" and "Air Drop" functions between the MBP and my iPhone. WiFi supports 802.11a/b/g/n, which is plenty fast enough for me. I routinely get 180MB/s download speeds measured on the MBP when connected by WiFi to an Apple Airport Extreme router, so I'm waiting for the other end more than any bottleneck between us. I love the screen size and always think when I have to use a 15" MBP that it's a "toy" computer because it's so small. I know that's an over-reaction, but my 17" screen is great! I even travel internationally with it, having bought a bag that holds it nicely, along with the power supply. As for USB3, I have the Belkin Thunderbolt hub that has 4 USB3 ports (and a bunch more ports for Firewire, Ethernet and Thunderbolt). I figure someone will make a Thunderbolt-USB-C adapter that will be cheaper than a new laptop when that standard takes off. For now, my external drives are either USB3 or Firewire800, both nicely supported by the Belkin. Also, many years ago when this MBP was new, I got a Sonnet ExpressCard34 card reader for the Express socket and use that for SD cards from our cameras. Saved having to carry another cable to connect to the camera, although now days I have to take a USB cable to charge the camera battery, so I've taken to just leaving an SD card in the slot for scratch space if I need to do that. It does come in handy not to have to go find a USB stick with that card just sitting there.

But what I like most is the maintainability of this thing. Eleven screws (normal Phillips head) to open the case and you can see everything. I clean the fans once a year so they stay efficient, the hard drive replacement and data doubler work was easy to do. The newer machines are a lot harder to do your own maintenance, what with parts being glued in and not user maintainable. Apple is moving to an "appliance" model where the user won't be able to do anything but buy a new system.

I figure to keep this one going until Apple deprecates it for the OS and stops supporting it that way, at which time I'll have to make a decision of whether to downgrade to a newer 15" or leave Apple. I don't want a machine that I can't replace things after it is out of warranty. I don't like being stuck with only ONE option for repair--send it back to the manufacturer. But I'll cross that bridge when I get to it.

Hope that helps.

ONE last thing: It's pretty amazing to boot this MBP up now. It's up in seconds and it's dead quiet. The only noise is a very gentle sound from the fans, and that's pretty low unless I drive it hard and it starts to heat up. I've had people comment about how quiet it is. If I'm in a particularly quirky mood, I'll tell them it's an Apple MacBook Air prototype 17". It's fun to see them react to that.

 

[lclev]

Just thought I would post my speed test since I installed a new 500GB Crucial MX200 SSD on my "old" early 2011 MBP, i7, 16GB. I replaced a 1TB 5400 RPM drive that was giving me a lot of beachballs. The change has given the "old girl" a new pep in her step!



Lisa

 

[pigoo3]

Just thought I would post my speed test since I installed a new 500GB Crucial MX200 SSD on my "old" early 2011 MBP, i7, 16GB. I replaced a 1TB 5400 RPM drive that was giving me a lot of beachballs. The change has given the "old girl" a new pep in her step!

Just curious. For comparison…what were the numbers for the old drive (if you remember them)? I realize now that the drives have been swapped…this data may not be accessible.

- Nick

 

[lclev]

Right Nick - I thought of that too - after I replaced the drive. I tend to get those brilliant thoughts a bit late. I wish I had though. I will tell you the 5400 RPM HDD was making her really pokey. I just felt it had more potential. After I did the upgrade I put her through her paces with Premiere Pro and Photoshop. I really noticed a huge performance increase.

Actually I did not expect the increase I got. It was a pleasant surprise.

Lisa

 

[pigoo3]

Actually I did not expect the increase I got. It was a pleasant surprise.

Realistically I know that the SSD is wayyyy faster than the old 5400pm drive. It's just fun to see the numbers side by side!

- Nick

 

[lclev]

Yes it would have been. I wish I had thought of it. Sigh...

Lisa

 

[pigoo3]

Yes it would have been. I wish I had thought of it. Sigh...

I'm sure back when you swapped in the SSD…you weren't thinking that you would be posting performance numbers in this thread (5400 rpm HD numbers).

- Nick

 

[lclev]

Nope - but I wish I had at least run the test. It would have been interesting. I have now replaced all the main drives on all my personal computers with SSD's. Two laptops and two desktops. The Macbook Air came with one. Can you tell I like them!

Lisa

 

[pigoo3]

If you were a glutton for punishment. You could always reinstall the 5400rpm drive…and run the numbers!

Just kidding!

- Nick

 

[lclev]

Nope not that curious. I did think about putting it in a USB adapter but it would not be the same thing.

Lisa

 

[chas_m]

I'm pretty sure someone has already invented this wheel ... just look up your particular model at barefeats or xbench and that should get you the default disk throughput speeds.

 

[Naudin]

Thanks everyone for your help. I'm seriously considering an upgrade now. However, on another forum someone else advised my not to, since there seems to be widespread failure of the AMD Radeon HD 6750M graphics card after a certain period of time in this range of MacBooks (see https://www.apple.com/support/macbookpro-videoissues/). Does anyone here have this problem?

 

[pigoo3]

Thanks everyone for your help. I'm seriously considering an upgrade now. However, on another forum someone else advised my not to, since there seems to be widespread failure of the AMD Radeon HD 6750M graphics card after a certain period of time in this range of MacBooks (see https://www.apple.com/support/macbookpro-videoissues/). Does anyone here have this problem?

This problem is only with 15" & 17" MacBook Pro's. And it covers models no longer sold.

If you were thinking of purchasing a new model…then no worries.

- Nick

 

[Naudin]

This problem is only with 15" & 17" MacBook Pro's. And it covers models no longer sold.

If you were thinking of purchasing a new model…then no worries.

- Nick

I meant upgrading my hardware, not to a newer MacBook model

 

[lclev]

You can check on the link you provided to see if your laptop is affected. If it is contact Apple right away and get it fixed. That program expires on February 27, 2016. My model was not affected and I have never had any issues.

Lisa

 

[MacInWin]

I have that model and my graphics card has been fine. The warranty extension on the defective cards runs out Feb 27, 2016. I have talked to Apple online and they indicate that if it hasn't actually failed, the replacement is not covered. You might try, if you have an Apple store nearby, taking it in and if you talk nicely to the guys at the Genius bar about wanting to keep it going for a nice long time they MIGHT stretch the warranty and replace it. It's been known to happen from time to time. And if they say no, you're no worse off than before. However, the online guys I spoke with said that even in the affected machines it seems to be a very limited subset of the cards that have actually failed.