Can I upgrade my MCB 2011 with a SATA to a SSD?

[Mercatuo]

I have a MacBook Pro Late 2011, 2.2 GHz Intel Core i7 with 16 GB DDR3 RAM. So not really the newest one but I want to stick with it as it works just fine (and I recently had the graphic card replaced). BUT it is quite slow when it comes to starting up or rendering videos in Premiere. (320 GB of the 500 GB are used)

Since I don't know much about this, I thought I'd ask you guys in this forum. What do you think, does it make sense to replace the SATA 500GB with an SSD?
Every opinion is welcome.

 

[Audit13]

Definitely makes sense to replace the mechanical drive with an SSD.

A cheaper upgrade may be to install a 240 GB ssd and replace the optical drive with a hard drive caddy/mechanical drive combination. You wind up with great speed and storage space; however, the machine will lose access to optical media unless you have an external optical drive.

 

[organicCPU]

Yes, it absolutely makes sense to install a SSD, if you'd like to keep the MBP.
The question is not SATA or SSD, because your hard drive and optical drive interfaces are both 6.0 Gbps Serial ATA (SATA). Replacing a HDD with a SSD makes more sense.

 

[Mercatuo]

Alright, thanks a lot!

 

[hotmetal]

Definitely do it. I've got a 17" 2011 MBP. I've had 3 new motherboards under warranty and it's hanging in there still. The first time it happened they somehow decided to erase my HDD while trying to fix it so I figured that it was a good opportunity to put a 1TB SSD in. The thing starts up in 12 seconds compared to 'press power button and go for a coffee'. Best £300 I've spent. My 7 year old laptop is still a pleasure to use as a work tool. Pretty good really, despite the dodgy dGPU debacle. Now I'm about ready to replace it, just waiting to see if the 2018 MBP has any major flaws. If you intend to keep the old un running, putting an SSD in will be like giving Viagra to a pensioner, or turbocharging a Lada Riva!

 

[jerryk]

Great idea. It will be like a new machine. It will boot in 10-12 seconds, and app launches will be at most one or two bounces.

 

[Fishrrman]

Put an SSD into it.
You won't believe the increase in performance until you've done it.
Go to ifixit.com to see what's involved (it's very easy, anyone can do it).
USE THE RIGHT TOOLS (Phillips #00 driver and TORX T-6 driver).

Get an external USB3 enclosure and "prep and test" the SSD BEFORE you install it.
I'd use CarbonCopyCloner to clone the contents from the old HDD to the SSD -- fastest and easiest way to get the job done.
After you do the swap, put the old drive into the enclosure and use it for a backup or extra storage.

 

[janitor3]

I have an early 2011 MBP, I put an SSD in then put a 1TB HDD in place of the optical drive for extra storage. Has given my machine a new lease of life. So putting an SSD in is a good idea.

 

[Mercatuo]

Thank you all very much! Especially for the names of the right tools. The replacement went to smooth and now I can even edit videos in 4K on Adobe Premiere on my 16 GB RAM laptop. Who would have thought, so cool!