You may want to open it up and check the fan and heatsink areas for any dust build up. Use some compressed air to clean out whatever debris is there and the rear where the vent holes are.
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Late 2008 Aluminium MacBook - upgrade or replace?
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I decided to upgrade as the battery is still ok and it works perfectly still. Another year or two for a tenth of the cost of a replacement. That's the only problem with Apple is that replacement costs are high. But can't argue with 7 or 8 years of good usage. I can't really afford a new one at the moment (stupid, stupid cars) but enough people have said that the upgrade is good and will really make a difference so I thought I may as well go for it.
OP here again. If anyone's interested - and I realise that fans of this particular laptop are a dwindling band - I'm STILL using my souped-up late-2008 aluminium MacBook as my main (in fact, only) machine. 240GB SSD in the optical bay from which I run my OS and apps, plus a 1TB SSHD in the main drive bay, storing all my media (music, video, images etc). RAM at 8GB. New (third-party) battery giving me about 3 hours max. Running El Capitan 10.11.4.
Still running reasonably well although I'm pretty sure late 2016 will be the time for a replacement - if the new MacBook Pros actually drop that is.
The big thing for me is that I need space - 1TB minimum - and you really have to pay through the nose for that with Apple these days to have that sort of storage installed from the start because (correct me if I'm wrong) the newer MacBook/Pros are un-upgradeable in terms of storage.
Anyhow, here's to the late-2008 aluminium MacBook...
Still running reasonably well although I'm pretty sure late 2016 will be the time for a replacement - if the new MacBook Pros actually drop that is.
The big thing for me is that I need space - 1TB minimum - and you really have to pay through the nose for that with Apple these days to have that sort of storage installed from the start because (correct me if I'm wrong) the newer MacBook/Pros are un-upgradeable in terms of storage.
Anyhow, here's to the late-2008 aluminium MacBook...
Im curious, why did you opt for a more expensive SSHD as your secondary media drive in lieu of a HDD?
Not alone... 2008 late mb signing in with double drive also. Still going strong.
Was about to bite the bullet on a new MB 16, then decided to put it off until later in the year to see what other makers come up with, really liking lenovo's unit right now.
I have this habit of checking activity monitor to see how everything is handling.
I noticed there's much less resource demand and CPU spiking in the latest version of El Capitan, which kind of makes sense because it was an under the hood type of update.
But still glad to see these efforts benefiting even those of us with older architecture.
Will be updating very soon however.
I noticed there's much less resource demand and CPU spiking in the latest version of El Capitan, which kind of makes sense because it was an under the hood type of update.
But still glad to see these efforts benefiting even those of us with older architecture.
Will be updating very soon however.
I could have just left in the existing HDD but it was a few years old so felt it needed replacing (and it was only 750GB which I would have been close to maxing out).
The prices of SSHDs had come down so much that the 1TB SSHD was only about £30 more than the regular 1TB HDD - plus you get the performance boost of a SSHD over a regular HDD. Just felt the SSHD would give me more longevity and peace of mind if I decided to hold on to the laptop for a couple more years (which, it transpires, I did).
I'm not here to give you a hard time, but your £30 would have been better kept in your pocket. The benefit to using a SSHD is when you're accessing the same data frequently but when using it for media storage there is no performance benefit. This is why you don't see external SSHDs. It's all said and done so nothing to do about it now, just thought you should have that information for the next time your shopping for storage
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I still love mine. (I'm using it now!) This used to be my wife's main computer until she decided she wanted to go all-iPad. This is now my mobile warrior.
I upped the RAM to 8 GB and put in a 250 GB SSD about a year ago, and with those upgrades this thing still rocks El Cap pretty nicely! (It's pretty impressive that a 7-8 year old laptop still supports the latest OS version and still runs it pretty well.) At some point you have to ask yourself if you need a lot faster or just more storage in your own 'Book. As you mention, I don't like the current trend of *nothing* being upgradeable or user-serviceable in new Mac laptops. And if speed isn't the issue with your "old" MacBook, you can probably get a 500-512 GB SSD for maybe $150 these days if storage is the main issue. The new MacBooks can't even offer more than 512 GB, and again, these aren't easily user-serviceable to upgrade.
I upped the RAM to 8 GB and put in a 250 GB SSD about a year ago, and with those upgrades this thing still rocks El Cap pretty nicely! (It's pretty impressive that a 7-8 year old laptop still supports the latest OS version and still runs it pretty well.) At some point you have to ask yourself if you need a lot faster or just more storage in your own 'Book. As you mention, I don't like the current trend of *nothing* being upgradeable or user-serviceable in new Mac laptops. And if speed isn't the issue with your "old" MacBook, you can probably get a 500-512 GB SSD for maybe $150 these days if storage is the main issue. The new MacBooks can't even offer more than 512 GB, and again, these aren't easily user-serviceable to upgrade.
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I'm still running mine with 2GB ram. I did upgrade a few years back to 4GB but one of the sticks failed and I didn't realise at the time that Crucial has a lifetime warranty on ram so I threw it.
It's extremely slow but I'm waiting for the WWDC to see if the new MBP is interesting, if not i'll probably stick 8 GB into it until I decide if I want a new laptop or to go for a desktop.
Apparently I can't just buy another 2GB or 4G ram module to go with the current 2 GB? I've been told I need to buy modules together i.e 2x2GB for it to be dual channel?
If anyone cares, our machines were left out in the cold for the next update (this autumn).
There may be some workarounds for people that like to tinker, a thread on that is still developing here.
Personally I think I'll just keep mine on El Capitan though because it's running well enough and I anticipate El Capitan will receive security updates for quite a while yet.
There may be some workarounds for people that like to tinker, a thread on that is still developing here.
Personally I think I'll just keep mine on El Capitan though because it's running well enough and I anticipate El Capitan will receive security updates for quite a while yet.
I recently just disassemble the fan to clean the dust. Gosh, 7 1/2 years worth of dust inside that, no wonder I frequently need to crank up the fan speed manually. I am wondering to replace the thermal paste, is it worth it to tear it down just to replace it? Since it is on the other side of the motherboard.
I also plan to replace the keyboard with the one with Backlight, since mine is 2.0GHz version. I already verified I have the backlight connector, just need to find the courage to disassemble all of the guts.
My MB already maxed out with 8GB of RAM, 1TB of HDD, and 256G of SSD. Wondered to buy 512G Samsung 850EVO to replace 840EVO, is it even worth it for SATA2 interface? And replacing the 1TB HDD with 2TB one. Although I don't really need extra space since I store most of it on NAS.
I am hoping for someone to find a way to install Sierra on this Mac though. Not able to update to latest version kinda sad, since this Mac is still so capable, just heating up so easy (never to the point of overheat 100C, just hover around 90-93C when peaking the CPU), and the battery life never satisfactory of 2016 notebooks (just around 2 hours, that is new battery with 85% health).
Just buy the 8GB ram (4gb x2), it is quite cheap. Although dual channel doesn't really noticeable, I believe have some impact for graphics performance (at least on Intel graphics case, don't really know for this 9400M). You can still use this laptop as backup since it is still quite fast in the future, and also replace the HDD with SSD, cheap one will do, such as 750EVO, faster one doesn't have advantages since it is SATA2 only.
I also plan to replace the keyboard with the one with Backlight, since mine is 2.0GHz version. I already verified I have the backlight connector, just need to find the courage to disassemble all of the guts.
My MB already maxed out with 8GB of RAM, 1TB of HDD, and 256G of SSD. Wondered to buy 512G Samsung 850EVO to replace 840EVO, is it even worth it for SATA2 interface? And replacing the 1TB HDD with 2TB one. Although I don't really need extra space since I store most of it on NAS.
I am hoping for someone to find a way to install Sierra on this Mac though. Not able to update to latest version kinda sad, since this Mac is still so capable, just heating up so easy (never to the point of overheat 100C, just hover around 90-93C when peaking the CPU), and the battery life never satisfactory of 2016 notebooks (just around 2 hours, that is new battery with 85% health).
Just buy the 8GB ram (4gb x2), it is quite cheap. Although dual channel doesn't really noticeable, I believe have some impact for graphics performance (at least on Intel graphics case, don't really know for this 9400M). You can still use this laptop as backup since it is still quite fast in the future, and also replace the HDD with SSD, cheap one will do, such as 750EVO, faster one doesn't have advantages since it is SATA2 only.
Looks like they found a way to install it and it works perfectly already, good news as long as this stays true upon release.
I'm battling through with my 2008 Macbook (aluminium unibody) it has a 1TB SSD installed and 8GB RAM. It still works great but i'm craving a Retina style screen as i'm a full time writer. I would like a longer battery life, i'm on my third official battery but i'm lucky to get 80 mins from 100%-0%. One of my USB ports has broken, my speakers give distorted noise and even when i plug my headphones in they only give sound in one ear (but the headphones work perfectly with every other device).
I've been waiting for a Macbook Pro for a while now and while my Macbook has started to go a lot more wrong in the past year I really don't want to buy a rMBP which is now 15 months old tech.
I'm tempted to buy the 2016 rMB but I don't like the fact they only have one port.
Perhaps I'll try a rMB for 14 days and if I like it then I'll keep it and then perhaps eBay the rMB and take a hit on the price when the new rMBP comes out in October or whenever they finally will release them.
Am I stupid to think owning a computer for a few months only to take a price hit when i sell it when I plan to buy a new rMBP?
I've used the Macbook for nearly 8 years, surely I can wait another three months?
I've been waiting for a Macbook Pro for a while now and while my Macbook has started to go a lot more wrong in the past year I really don't want to buy a rMBP which is now 15 months old tech.
I'm tempted to buy the 2016 rMB but I don't like the fact they only have one port.
Perhaps I'll try a rMB for 14 days and if I like it then I'll keep it and then perhaps eBay the rMB and take a hit on the price when the new rMBP comes out in October or whenever they finally will release them.
Am I stupid to think owning a computer for a few months only to take a price hit when i sell it when I plan to buy a new rMBP?
I've used the Macbook for nearly 8 years, surely I can wait another three months?
Honestly it sounds like you don't have sufficient information yet to choose between two products because one isn't out yet. 3 months is nothing, really, I'd just wait it out and see what happens when they reveal the redesign for the rMBP. If you were dead set on the rMB though I would just suggest getting it now, but that doesn't seem to be the case.
Do you already tried to reset your SMC or PRAM on your Macbook?
Last year I also noticed one of my USB port doesn't working, and I am ready to take it to third party repair center to do something about that, until I read on Internet you can try to reset the SMC and PRAM to see if it just disabled my the computer, and it is worked, my USB port came back alive until now.
My headphone jack already died since two years ago. It must be on special position for it to be working. Bluetooth headset never worked properly to begin with, since it directly distorted when CPU usage hike.
I have the same feeling as you, used my Macbook for above 7 years already, even with SSD and RAM maxed, it definitely much much slower than any notebook today (although still faster than those Atom tablets, or notebook with 5400rpm hard drive). The only reason why I haven't buy the new Macbook is lack of design change. I simply very hesitant to buy same design with my 8 years old design Macbook. rMB simply not the right product because lack of port to begin with, and Core M turns me off.