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Resolved 2010 Unibody MacBook in 2016?

S

Spectrum Abuser

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Aug 27, 2011
1,377
48
Hello!

I'm currently looking at purchasing a used Unibody MacBook with the 320M Nvidia GPU, but was wondering if it's a exceptional choice in 2016. I do plan on upgrading the ram to 8GB and most likely swapping out the HDD for an SSD.

What I'll need it for:

General web browsing
Email
YouTube playback @720p
Beginner/intermediate Java programming for class
Photo editing through GIMP/equivalent software

The battery life is a secondary concern, but as long as the older unit can get a reasonable amount of time off the charger, (preferably at least 2 hours) then I'm fine with that.

Does anyone know how these older MacBooks handle El Capitan?
 
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I've got 13" aluminum unibody 2010 MacBook Pro and I can tell you that mine is still running perfectly. I upgraded to 8gb ram and an SSD. For the usage you suggested (YouTube, surfing, email etc) I can confirm it runs great. I am running the most recent OS as well. I get about 2 hours usage unplugged on the original battery. The only thing I can't help you with is Java I have no idea what kind of power that would entail. I haven't even thought of buying a new Mac in the 6 years I've had this one.
 
For that use and with the spec'd ram and sad it'll be fine, albeit I'm assuming the Java programming isn't that resource intensive given your description.

I don't know about El Capitan though.
[doublepost=1458342369][/doublepost]Also... Battery is going to be more of a function of how much the battery has aged. You can get it replaced of course.
 
My partner uses a 2010 white unibody MB every day (for general internet browsing, youtube, word processing. etc), with 4GB RAM and an SSD and it runs great on El Capitan.
 
deeddawg said:
For that use and with the spec'd ram and sad it'll be fine, albeit I'm assuming the Java programming isn't that resource intensive given your description.

I don't know about El Capitan though.
[doublepost=1458342369][/doublepost]Also... Battery is going to be more of a function of how much the battery has aged. You can get it replaced of course.
Click to expand...

My concern would be if it's worth it to just spend the extra $200 or so and get a 2011 13" MacBook Pro with the i5 CPU.
 
Spectrum Abuser said:
My concern would be if it's worth it to just spend the extra $200 or so and get a 2011 13" MacBook Pro with the i5 CPU.
Click to expand...

If you want usable advice, you really ought to lay out ALL of your cards when asking for help.

Give full details and prices for your options, as well as some sense of how big a deal $200 is to you. For some folks that's half their share of the next month's rent and means they're eating ramen for a month. For other folks that $200 is a night out on the town with their sweetie. "worth it" is a VERY personal thing.
 
deeddawg said:
If you want usable advice, you really ought to lay out ALL of your cards when asking for help.

Give full details and prices for your options, as well as some sense of how big a deal $200 is to you. For some folks that's half their share of the next month's rent and means they're eating ramen for a month. For other folks that $200 is a night out on the town with their sweetie. "worth it" is a VERY personal thing.
Click to expand...

Right. Well thank you anyways.
 
Spend the extra $200 and get the 2011. Significant boost in processor speed between C2D and i5, as well as SATA2 vs SATA3 (latter supporting double the bandwidth of the former for any SSD you may want to get) being the biggest improvements, among others.
 
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Mine works amazingly. I use a few intensive applications. You will be fine. My battery lasts about 6-7 hours. I have a 500HDD.
 

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Spectrum Abuser said:
Hello!

I'm currently looking at purchasing a used Unibody MacBook with the 320M Nvidia GPU, but was wondering if it's a exceptional choice in 2016. I do plan on upgrading the ram to 8GB and most likely swapping out the HDD for an SSD.

What I'll need it for:

General web browsing
Email
YouTube playback @720p
Beginner/intermediate Java programming for class
Photo editing through GIMP/equivalent software

The battery life is a secondary concern, but as long as the older unit can get a reasonable amount of time off the charger, (preferably at least 2 hours) then I'm fine with that.

Does anyone know how these older MacBooks handle El Capitan?
Click to expand...

Oh yeah I meant to say that with an SSD and 8GB, they are just fine with El Cap.
 
Works splendidly, i'm writing this on one right now. Raided dual SSD's, 8 gigs of ram and el cap. Gonna bump it up to 16 eventually as this is my last mac. Gotta last as long as possible.

Honestly, i have more powerful machines, but still like this old thing more. Does everything i need it to do with the exception off running my dv4mini. No, noticeable slowdowns for anything in normal use.
 
Just an update. I ended up purchasing a 13" entry level MacBook Air instead. $100 off of retail thanks to in-store price matching; it just feels better in my opinion to have that one year limited warranty and a battery with one cycle count.
 
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