Advice On Upgrade/Will My MBP Last

[Jamestm]

I'm sure you've answered this time and time again but I need some advice.

I've had a mid 2010 15" with hi-res anti-glare screen for four years now and it's become quite hit and miss.

Some days it's fine, although understandably slower after four years of daily use, but sometimes it's really, really slow, can't handle more than five apps at a time and freezes (especially iTunes, Mail and Safari) until I force quit them.

When it has one of its episodes, the fan is also really loud like it wants to take off into space.

I mainly use it for Internet, Mail, iTunes, word processing, photos, downloads, the occasional game. I run no strenuous programmes but I do use it a lot; 10 hours on average daily.

I want the highest spec 15" retina as I assume that would last me another 4/5+ years, and longer than say the 13" lower spec model.

Do you think it's worth upgrading now before it gets much worse?

Does it sound like it would last another year?

And with the new machines out this week, I can either get one for £1839 with discount through my work or £1599 for the 2013 model from the refurb store.

Is it worth extra £200+ for the newer model?

Thanks for any help.

 

[w00t951]

That's a very light workload.

If you install an SSD and enable TRIM support manually, your performance issues will disappear (assuming you know basic computer maintenance, eg. don't install crapware and manage startup programs).

If you want a fantastic display, however, the Retina is a great upgrade. I upgraded from my SSD-swapped 2011 MacBook Pro not for want of performance, but for that luscious 2880x1800 IPS display.

Don't care about the display? Get an SSD and save yourself a lot of money.

 

[youngplaya0228]

I was in your exact same situation not even two days ago (received that version MBP from a friend tho). I just bought 8GB of RAM and a decent SSD, and the computer is as fast as my custom gaming rig now. The SSD will 100% fix your problems

 

[Jamestm]

Thanks for the advice.

To be honest, as much as I want the retina display, and I really do, if I can upgrade the RAM and install a SSD, it sounds as though I can hold off getting a new machine altogether for a while which would be ideal, money-wise.

Unfortunately, I don't have any knowledge or experience in this, but having a look on YouTube and this and other forums, I can see that it shouldn't be too difficult.

Would you recommend buying all the parts from somewhere like crucial.com?

 

[Brittw1]

I just upgraded my macbook late 2009. Its like a brand new machine. I put a Samsung evo in mine along with the 8gb of ram. I found amazon to be the cheapest place for both products.

 

[eezacque]

I want the highest spec 15" retina as I assume that would last me another 4/5+ years, and longer than say the 13" lower spec model.

What makes you believe the highest spec 15" lasts longer than the 13" lower spec? I wouldn't assume any of them lasts a lot longer than 3 years, and, given heat issues with higher specs, I expect the lower specs 13" lasts longer.

 

[glenthompson]

Thanks for the advice.

To be honest, as much as I want the retina display, and I really do, if I can upgrade the RAM and install a SSD, it sounds as though I can hold off getting a new machine altogether for a while which would be ideal, money-wise.

Unfortunately, I don't have any knowledge or experience in this, but having a look on YouTube and this and other forums, I can see that it shouldn't be too difficult.

Would you recommend buying all the parts from somewhere like crucial.com?

Check out ifixit.com for tutorials on how to make the swap. A SSD is the best performance upgrade you can do. Check out the Samsung Evo series of drives. Crucial memory is good.