Upgrade RAM + HD or buy new MacBook

[Rev Rich]

MacBook Pro 13" Mid 2010 - 7,1
4GB / 250 GB / with new Logic Board
Mavericks 10.9.5
Pros & Cons of upgrade to 8 or 16 GB RAM and 240 SSD -- or current new Mac Book Pro

 

[harryb2448]

Well it is coming up for its fifth birthday so would personally put the money into a new model. The 15" comes with 16GB of memory, and the 13" with 8GB which Apple cannupgrade to 16GB the way I read it.

GeekBench tests record the 15" is much faster than the 13", and the 2014 15" has a score of 3477 compared to the 2010 score of 2057. Here is a list of scores:-


http://browser.primatelabs.com/mac-benchmarks

 

[Rev Rich]

Thanks for the response.

 

[Rev Rich]

Thanks, again. I downloaded Geekbench 3 Tryout, ran it.
Score = 1347 Single Core / 2294 Multi Core.

 

[pigoo3]

Pros & Cons of upgrade to 8 or 16 GB RAM and 240 SSD -- or current new Mac Book Pro

New MacBook Pro is going to cost a heck of a lot more!

- Nick

 

[Rev Rich]

Yes. So, any significant advantage to a new one? My use is mostly documents in Pages & Word + Mail + web searches.

 

[pigoo3]

Yes. So, any significant advantage to a new one? My use is mostly documents in Pages & Word + Mail + web searches.

You haven't really told us why you want/need to upgrade.

But as an example…I have a 13" MacBook Pro very similar to yours (and the tasks I use it for are more demanding than yours)…and I'm doing just fine. I have considered a 4gig to 8gig ram upgrade…but it's not something critical at the moment.

If you have no burning need to upgrade…you could either leave it as is…or do an 8gig ram upgrade. I CERTAINLY would not purchase a new 13" MacBook Pro costing $1000+ with the info given thus far!…unless you have $1000+ burning a hole in your pocket!

- Nick

 

[Rev Rich]

Thanks, Nick ... no burning need. Do want to want more speed in opening programs & websites = the way it was when I bought it new.

Best value/option/use of $$ seems to be the upgrade I mentioned -- PLUS following the tips you and Chas M have mentioned in other threads. Using OnyX and avoiding use to other "cleaners."

Yesterday, I used Disk Utility in Recovery Partition to Verify & Repair the HD and that made a noticeable improvement.

Thanks for your advise. I'm OK now with closing this thread = my question is answered to my satisfaction.
Richard

 

[harryb2448]

The thread is left open Richard to assist others with the same or a similar question.

 

[pigoo3]

Do want to want more speed in opening programs & websites = the way it was when I bought it new.

- It's possible that if your HD is getting full...this could be slowing things down.
- Also...over time, newer OS versions and newer app versions...get more complex. So even if you completely wiped/erased and reformatted your current HD...it still may not be as "snappy" as it was in 2010 (5 years ago).
- An SSD will definitely do exactly as you want. The computer will boot faster. Opening programs & files will open much faster.

A ram upgrade and the install of an SSD are definitely two great "bang for the buck" upgrades!

- Nick