I have a MacBook Pro need to Upgrade.

[4mywife]

I have a MacBook Pro 2010 and need to upgrade it so that my son can use it when he starts culinary school in January 2018. Can we say yeah to never having to cook again or better yet to being his tasting guinea pig!!!! Where do I start and what do I do?

 

[anon(9758025)]

I don't understand quite what your asking could you be clear about what you want? Are you saying you want to buy a new MacBook Pro or just upgrade parts in your current one?

 

[jmr1015]

I have a MacBook Pro 2010 and need to upgrade it so that my son can use it when he starts culinary school in January 2018. Can we say yeah to never having to cook again or better yet to being his tasting guinea pig!!!! Where do I start and what do I do?

We would need to know the exact model and specs of the MacBook Pro to know what would be an "upgrade" over what you already have... but I would say if you have a standard hard drive and less than 8gb of ram, swapping out the HDD for a SSD should be first on your list, then bumping up to 8gb of ram.

 

[robertk328]

We would need to know the exact model and specs of the MacBook Pro to know what would be an "upgrade" over what you already have... but I would say if you have a standard hard drive and less than 8gb of ram, swapping out the HDD for a SSD should be first on your list, then bumping up to 8gb of ram.

This! If you can swap the hard drive for an SSD and add a bit more RAM you could be set for a while. Those are the biggest bang for the buck without buying a new machine.

 

[4mywife]

I have an MacBook Pro 2010 and need to upgrade it. So what parts would I upgrade in it JB184351?

 

[4mywife]

Thanks jmr1015. My next question is this. Where do I find out exactly what model it is and the specs of the MacBook Pro? I may have the box downstairs that it came in.

 

[anon(9758025)]

You can go to he Apple icon and click on this Mac and you should be able to see the specs

 

[Rob Phillips]

Just to clarify, you'll want to go the  Menu in the upper left corner of your screen and then select "About this Mac".

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201581

 

[4mywife]

Thank JB184351. I clicked on the apple icon and got the following info:

MacBook Pro (13 inch Mid 2010)
Processor 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
Memory 8GB 1067 MHz DDR3
Graphics NVIDIA GeForce 320M 256 MB

Does that help? This computer does have a habit of getting the spinning wheel of death a lot. And it can freeze up. But my son needs it for post-secondary school.

 

[robertk328]

That info helps a lot!

Your RAM is sufficient, but the hard drive after all these years could be failing, and if not, it's definitely a source of slowdowns. Replacing it with an SSD drive is the way to go.

Here's a tutorial:
MacBook Pro 13" Unibody Mid 2010 SSD Installation - Crucial

If you're like me and like to watch it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8PFoZP2NAg

I replaced the HDD with an SSD in my 2011 MacMini and made a world of difference!

 

[Dgray2712]

I have a mid 2012 MBP, and just went up to 16 GB RAM, and installed a 1 TB SSD. It's running like new. That would be the way to go.

 

[knotsure]

+1 on the SSD upgrade. Will help a lot on startup and opening programs.

 

[4mywife]

+1 on the SSD upgrade. Will help a lot on startup and opening programs.

Is that an expensive upgrade? Can I get it at Staples or should I get it at the Apple store?

 

[4mywife]

I have a mid 2012 MBP, and just went up to 16 GB RAM, and installed a 1 TB SSD. It's running like new. That would be the way to go.

Thank you for the advice. Would that be an expensive upgrade? Do I get it at the Apple store?

 

[4mywife]

That info helps a lot!

Your RAM is sufficient, but the hard drive after all these years could be failing, and if not, it's definitely a source of slowdowns. Replacing it with an SSD drive is the way to go.

Here's a tutorial:
MacBook Pro 13" Unibody Mid 2010 SSD Installation - Crucial

If you're like me and like to watch it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8PFoZP2NAg

I replaced the HDD with an SSD in my 2011 MacMini and made a world of difference!

thank you for that video. It certainly seems straight forward. I'm sure my oldest son Daniel can always help me with installing it.

 

[Dgray2712]

Thank you for the advice. Would that be an expensive upgrade? Do I get it at the Apple store?

Best Buy is where I went. Spent under 300.

 

[4mywife]

Best Buy is where I went. Spent under 300.

Thank you for the information.

 

[robertk328]

Best Buy is where I went. Spent under 300.

Did they do the upgrade too? Or just sell the parts?

 

[Dgray2712]

Did they do the upgrade too? Or just sell the parts?

Just sold the parts. I did the installation. To put the hardware in took about 45 minutes. Doing the data restore off my external HD took about 5 hours.

 

[knotsure]

I went to frys here in Austin TX. Best Buy would be the next best thing. But check prices on ssds at newegg.com, tigerdirect.com and amazon (to name a few). Best Buy will price match from those websites. There is more detail on their website about the price match. I know the geek squad can do it and maybe cheaper than Apple would charge for the upgrade.