How to Speed up my old Macbook

[mmitsch]

We have a really old Macbook, which my daughter had in college. It runs fine but is SLOW. Was wondering if we can get memory added or an SSD hard drive or both to speed it up. It's running High Sierra now.

I copied the stuff below from the system page. If you need more let me know.

Hoping for some good advice!

Thanks!

Mike

ardware Overview:



Model Name: MacBook

Model Identifier: MacBook6,1

Processor Name: Intel Core 2 Duo

Processor Speed: 2.26 GHz

Number of Processors: 1

Total Number of Cores: 2

L2 Cache: 3 MB

Memory: 2 GB

Boot ROM Version: 209.0.0.0.0

SMC Version (system): 1.51f53

Hardware UUID: F630634F-E110-50F8-8530-AAB686D39DD8

Sudden Motion Sensor:

State: Enabled

System Software Overview:



System Version: macOS 10.13.6 (17G8030)

Kernel Version: Darwin 17.7.0

Boot Volume: Snow

Boot Mode: Normal

Computer Name: Sherry's iMac

User Name: MacBook (MacBook)

Secure Virtual Memory: Enabled

System Integrity Protection: Enabled

 

[pigoo3]

We have a really old Macbook,

Was wondering if we can get memory added or an SSD hard drive or both to speed it up. It's running High Sierra now.

Installing a RAM upgrade and an SSD will make this computer feel faster. The question is...is it worth it?

This Late 2009 MacBook is probably worth about $50-$75 ($100 max). The cost of the upgrades would probably be in the $50-$75 territory.

If you sold it...and took the funds from the sale + the funds that would have gone into upgrading it...you could purchase something newer...that has a faster CPU & GPU.

Good luck:

- Nick

p.s. Thread moved to better area (Apple Notebooks).

 

[Slydude]

Check this page for some of the options available. It looks like the memory can be maxed out for about $40.00 US. The SSD will cost between $30 and $250 depending upon the capacity that you want. It will certainly feel faster. There may still be some limits on the OS that can be used though HS isn't bad.

 

[mmitsch]

We have a really old Macbook, which my daughter had in college. It runs fine but is SLOW. Was wondering if we can get memory added or an SSD hard drive or both to speed it up. It's running High Sierra now.

I copied the stuff below from the system page. If you need more let me know.

Hoping for some good advice!

Thanks!

Mike

ardware Overview:



Model Name: MacBook

Model Identifier: MacBook6,1

Processor Name: Intel Core 2 Duo

Processor Speed: 2.26 GHz

Number of Processors: 1

Total Number of Cores: 2

L2 Cache: 3 MB

Memory: 2 GB

Boot ROM Version: 209.0.0.0.0

SMC Version (system): 1.51f53

Hardware UUID: F630634F-E110-50F8-8530-AAB686D39DD8

Sudden Motion Sensor:

State: Enabled

System Software Overview:



System Version: macOS 10.13.6 (17G8030)

Kernel Version: Darwin 17.7.0

Boot Volume: Snow

Boot Mode: Normal

Computer Name: Sherry's iMac

User Name: MacBook (MacBook)

Secure Virtual Memory: Enabled

System Integrity Protection: Enabled

Thank you for the quick response!

So this can be upgraded? Do you know the max amount of ram and the largest ssd drive it could take?

Can the processor be upgraded?

I am also watching a video on You Tube on how to upgrade 2012 MacBook Pros.

May do that too.

Mike

 

[mmitsch]

Check this page for some of the options available. It looks like the memory can be maxed out for about $40.00 US. The SSD will cost between $30 and $250 depending upon the capacity that you want. It will certainly feel faster. There may still be some limits on the OS that can be used though HS isn't bad.

Thank you very much for your reply! What capacity SSD will it take? Should I leave the processor along? Are these things hard to get apart?

Mike

 

[IWT]

A warm welcome to Mac-Forums. And thank you for your post.

According to Mactracker, the Macbook details you very kindly posted indicate that this is a Late 2009 Mackbook whose current value on an open market would likely be just short of $60US. In Apple's language, the computer is "obsolete", meaning that the absence of spare parts and general support would mean that it would be beyond repair should a misfortune happen.

macOS High Sierra (10.13.6) is the maximum operating system it can sustain.

The slowness may, in part, be due to the 2GB of memory, where 8GB would be recommended optimum. It seems that you might be able to upgrade the Memory to 4GB (Apple). There are two memory slots so 2x2GB is possible. The necessary memory is 2 - 204-pin PC3-8500 (1066MHz) DDR3 SO-DIMM.

Slowness may also relate to the low Processor speed, 2 cores and only 3MB on chip shared L2 cache.

You don't mention Storage which could range from 250GB to 500GB on a spinning platter Hard Drive at 5400 rpm.

Replacing the current Hard Drive with an SSD would be a considerable task on your part, but possible.

Without meaning or conveying any offence, expenditure on this Mac would exceed its current value. Being 10 years old as well, suggests that it has little life left in it.

What you could do is backup all the data on it to an External Hard Drive (EHD), wipe the Mac's Hard Drive, reinstall the current OS, upgrade the Memory to 4GB and use it sparingly.

I'm sorry that I have not been very helpful, but the realities of that Mac make for limited options.

Ian

 

[Slydude]

If I read the page I linked to correctly the maximum memory for that machine is 8 GB. I think the largest SSD saw was 2 TB. ​There are links on that page to installation videos for both the memory and hard drive on that page as well.

 

[pigoo3]

Do you know the max amount of ram and the largest ssd drive it could take?

When you're talking "what's the largest..."...remember this is a 10 year old computer worth about $60 dollars. You could be talking $300-$350 for a large SSD and RAM upgrade.

Can the processor be upgraded?

No

- Nick

 

[Slydude]

When you get to the page I lined to there is a section on drives. When you click there you will find links to installation videos for your machine. I think they are different from the videos for 2012 models.

 

[krs]

I found that in practice, on these old MacBooks, I got the best bang for the buck upgrading the RAM to the maximum possible.

Changing a regular spinner drive to an SSD will allow the Mac to boot up faster, but with a lot more RAM and leaving applications that you use open, you won't notice that much difference when using it - at least that is what I found with a MacBook air with SSD vs a MacBook Pro with a spinner.
It's also a lot easier to upgrade the RAM than upgrade the drive.

But one key thing I would check before spending more money on this Mac - what shape is the battery in.
If it has not been replaced yet, that might be an additional expense unless you want to run this Mac with a power cord.

 

[pm-r]

How to Speed up my old Macbook

I would agree with krs' suggestion, upgrading the RAM to the maximum possible but as well, assuming that the HDD is still fairly healthy, do a Nuke and reinstall that I have found works very well to speed up older Macs:
• use Carbon Copy Cloner (CCC) to create a clone backup phone on external drive.
• boot from the new backup clone, do not do any email Etc,
• use Disk Utility.app to wipe and zero out the hard drive. Do not skip the zero-out option part and yes it can take quite some time.

• when that operation is finished, use CCC to clone back the cloned backup you had created earlier.
• set Startup Disk pref pane to boot from the newly created restored Drive.

When it all boots from the newly recreated restored HDD volume, sit back relax and celebrate and be amazed at the speed improvements and carry on with your normal stuff.

You can then also set up CCC to maintain a current backup.


- Patrick
======

 

[krs]

In addition to what Patrick wrote, maybe before you nuke anything, download and run DriveDX.
A short trial is free and this should give you some indication how healthy the internal drive is.

And also run Coconut battery to check your battery health.

 

[pm-r]

I don't know much about DriveDX, but using the zero-out option of Disk Utility, or whatever they call it these days, will or certainly should map out and re-allocate any or all bad sectors of the HDD spinner hard drive.

It's similar to patching the potholes properly before repaving a street.


- Patrick
======

 

[krs]

Taking your pothole analogy, DriveDX also checks the structural integrity of the base of the street.

I have only looked at the app for maybe 5 minutes, but it tries to determine the "health" of the drive by looking at the number of times the heads have moved. how fast it spins up, ie mechanical aspects.
I use a 2012 MacMini with a 2.5-inch spinner that came with it - also getting on in years, but driveDX gave it the green light on all tests except for one warning, the load cycle count.
The count was 4021543; lifetime rating for a laptop hard drive is 300000 to 600000.
So I'm anout 10 times that.
But then I read elsehwre that for some manufacturers that count number is meaningless.
So right now I just gnore that test.

 

[beilally]

But I think, firstly, you can add one SSD to your notebook, the mac will run faster than before.
If you don't clean mac regularly, all trash and cache will be stored on mac, and make it slow, remove useless apps from mac, clean up Trash Bin on mac,and you can still remove videos and photos to USB storage to extral-hard drive.
Keep mac clean will also speed up mac.
Hope it helpful.

 

[RavingMac]

Another quick, cheap and easy speed up may be freeing up space on the HD. If you have less than 10-15% left on the HD the system can start to bog down.

And, I wouldn’t “waste” the money on upgrading your 2009 MacBook. Clean it up, sell it and buy a 2012 or newer MBP. You will get a much larger performance boost for about the same, or not much more money

 

[pm-r]

But I think, firstly, you can add one SSD to your notebook, the mac will run faster than before.
... ... ...
Hope it helpful.

Not to appear too picky, but I think what you mean to say is replace the HDD with a SSD rather than adding an additional drive.

But I hope they have the problem from last year sorted out by now. ;-)



Patrick
————

 

[Randy B. Singer]

I don't know much about DriveDX, but using the zero-out option of Disk Utility, or whatever they call it these days, will or certainly should map out and re-allocate any or all bad sectors of the HDD spinner hard drive.

Doing that isn't at all necessary. Hard drives have been able to map out bad blocks automatically on the fly for ages now. That's why no one sells low level formatting software for the Mac anymore.

I don't see putting any money into a Mac this old. The payoff won't be worth the investment.

A few months ago I purchased a refurbished 2012 Macbook Pro for only $300 (I got it to tide me over until Apple offers new Macbooks again with scissors keyboards) that showed up, and in every way appeared to be brand new. It has great performance and a bunch of very useful ports. I think that this would be a better way to go.

I got mine from GroupOn, and they tend to run sales on holidays, so it's worth keeping an eye on their offerings or getting on their mailing list.