Early 2011 13" MBP worth upgrading or should I look at retiring it?

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My MBP has been all around the world with me. I maxed out the memory (8GB) and that's about it. It's kind of like a train. It can be slow to start, but once the momentum is up, it runs fine. Once its been idle overnight, it can take a couple of minutes for things to start running smooth.

Overall, I've been happy with it, but iMovie is a drag to run. I'm running Sierra 10.12.6. The battery is original and I don't really try to run it without wall power.

I'm thinking of replacing the hard drive and installing the biggest, fastest hard drive I can as well as replacing the battery.

Is it worth it to install a new solid state hard drive and any other components in this old dog or should I just start looking at a new MBP?

Tony.
 
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Just as an FYI, the Early 2011 MBP will accept 16GB ram.

What I would do is throw an SSD in the main drive bay, then put a spinner HDD in place of the optical drive. Then you can put the optical drive in an external USB enclosure, if it's still functioning. They cost of everything, would be the only thing that would hold me back, it's something only you can answer. As a new (or newer?) MBP, could cost upwards of 10X as much.

Ram - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00BKVQETY/?tag=macforums0e4-20
SSD - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0764WCXCV/?tag=macforums0e4-20
HDD - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01DOL05OC/?tag=macforums0e4-20
Adapter - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01I15ZVKY/?tag=macforums0e4-20
External USB - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00JCT0SU2/?tag=macforums0e4-20
 
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Just as an FYI, the Early 2011 MBP will accept 16GB ram.

What I would do is throw an SSD in the main drive bay, then put a spinner HDD in place of the optical drive. Then you can put the optical drive in an external USB enclosure, if it's still functioning. They cost of everything, would be the only thing that would hold me back, it's something only you can answer. As a new (or newer?) MBP, could cost upwards of 10X as much.

Ram - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00BKVQETY/?tag=macforums0e4-20
SSD - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0764WCXCV/?tag=macforums0e4-20
HDD - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01DOL05OC/?tag=macforums0e4-20
Adapter - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01I15ZVKY/?tag=macforums0e4-20
External USB - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00JCT0SU2/?tag=macforums0e4-20

Exactly right. See my post in this thread:

https://www.mac-forums.com/forums/s...c-2010-screaming-help-mean-2.html#post1819443

I did the same thing with a 2011 iMac and 2011 Mac Mini and now use both as my daily driver at work (Mac Mini) and home (iMac). I also have a 2016 MacBook Pro but only use it when I need to.

- - - Updated - - -

Please backup. Everything has a life cycle, unexpected and warning free. Nothing will last as long as you want it to.

I cannot stress this enough!!! Time Machine has saved me on more than one (hardware failure) occasion.
 
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So I can install a 1TB SSD? That would be great!

Tony.

Well yes if (1) the hard drive is replaceable, and (2) if you want to buy a 1 TB SSD. LOL
 
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So I can install a 1TB SSD? That would be great!

Tony.
Yes you can, but I don't remember if the Early 2011 model have SATA 1 or SATA 2, so you may not get the full speed, not that you would notice it.
 
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Any way I can upgrade my WiFi or Bluetooth hardware, or is that non-upgradeable? Or is it not necessary? Any particular battery to go with or stay away from?

Thanks for the help!

Tony.
 

Raz0rEdge

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You cannot upgrade the WiFi or Bluetooth hardware, just the memory and storage. As far as battery goes, OEM is best.
 

pigoo3

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Any way I can upgrade my WiFi or Bluetooth hardware, or is that non-upgradeable? Or is it not necessary?

In real life situations...not really necessary (even if it could be done...which it isn't like Raz0rEdge mentioned). Pretty much most WiFi network's you're likely to connect to won't exceed the max speed of the 2011 MBP's WiFi hardware.

Any particular battery to go with or stay away from?

You can mess around with el cheapo batteries via ebay (I've done it);)...and you might get lucky. But many times you're going to end up with something that doesn't fit properly, has a shorter total run time than expected, etc.

Best replacement batteries I've found & always recommend are from OWC (macsales.com).:)

HTH,

- Nick
 
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Well, looks like I’ll be upgrading my wife’s mid-2013 11 inch MacBook Air too. It’s only got a 128GB SSD. I assume I can upgrade the RAM too?

Looks like I’ve got lots of ordering to do.

Tony.
 

krs


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Well, looks like I’ll be upgrading my wife’s mid-2013 11 inch MacBook Air too. It’s only got a 128GB SSD. I assume I can upgrade the RAM too?

On that MBa you can upgrade the SSD but you cannot upgrade the RAM, it is soldered on the board.
 

pigoo3

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Like krs said...can't upgrade RAM on MacBook Air's...but upgrading internal storage is possible. Originally upgrading storage wasn't possible...until 3rd party suppliers came out with a solution.

- Nick
 
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Take a look at ifixit.com, they have great repair guides for all Macs.
 
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Okay, so my 1TB SSD is coming in today. Can anyone point me to the instructions on how to do this with a USB stick and time machine? Or am I stuck with having to get a cable and clone the drive before I install it? Never done this before.

Tony.
 

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