Is it worth upgrading Macbook mid 2010 [closed]
I own a Macbook Pro Mid 2010 (Macbook 7,1) which has gone through several upgrades. Before any of the upgrades, the CPU fan was constantly noisy whenever running any application, making it impossible to use. You would need to close all other applications just to make it possible to do a video call, and it still lagged even after that.
I have done the following upgrades so far:
- early 2013: added 2GB RAM (4GB + 2GB = 6GB), at the time, this was the maximum, installing 4GB + 4GB didn't work for me
- early 2015: replaced the hard drive with SSD 256GB
- replaced battery and MagSafe
After each upgrade, it has always worked a bit better, but only until the next OSX version came out and then it would become impossible to use again. I purchased a desktop PC in early 2016 and hasn't been using the Macbook since then.
Recently I found out that OWC has tested that Macbook mid 2010 would work with 16GB, it gave me an idea to try another upgrade. I've always loved my Macbook and hate to leave it collecting dust in the cabinet or even toss it. I'm just not sure if it worths to spend another 100euro just to find out that the whole thing is just not good enough anymore for the current software, regardless of the 16GB. Obviously the bottleneck would be the Core2duo processor which you can't really do anything about it.
So what do you think? Anyone did the same upgrade, can you share if it gave the MacBook a new life?
Solution 1:
In the corner of the world where I live there are still plenty of MacBooks Pro 2010 in circulation. But you have already done the main upgrade that I do for my clients: swapped the spinning HD with an SSD.
I get the impression that you really want there to be a path to a good upgrade. But the reality is as you say that it has a C2D CPU which just doesn't cut it anymore.
Also it can only run macOS 10.13.6 max, so software wise it will always be stuck in 2017, and apps and upgrades will slowly leave it in the dust.
I do not personally think it is wort spending much more money on. But, it has a SSD and therefore it should run reasonably ok as it is. Its 6GB of RAM isn't hopelessly little, especially not if you keep at least 20GB free on the SSD so it can swap nicely (it's an SSD, so the swapping will be quite snappy).
Its loud fans do not jive with my experience of everyday use though. Why don't you, if you want to give it another look, try to address just that. I would do two things:
Reinstall it cleanly with macOS 10.13.6, making sure you leave any old OS cruft out of the installation. Note that if it currenlty has a very old version of macOS, you might have to two-step it through 10.11, as it is sometimes impossible to upgrade direclty to 10.13. Also note that you might have to backdate the Mac's clock a few years while the installation is ongoing to allow it.
Open it, check for dust in the fan duct and remove and reapply the thermal grease between CPU and heat sink.
And then in use, make sure you keep at least 20GB free on the SSD so you keep macOS happy and non space-constrained