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Early MBP 2011 upgrade question

F

finalcut

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Oct 9, 2007
401
34
Quebec, Canada
Hello,

I have a MBP early 2011 with 16GB of ram and a Sandisk 256GB SSD ExtremeIII + my 750GB in the optical bay.

What should I expect by upgrading my machine with a rMBP? It would be a 16GB ram of course and I am thinking to upgrade the CPU to a 2.7 instead of a 2.4 for 100$

I do a bit of picture editing with Pixelmator, using Aperture a lot to process my Nikon RAW files (nikon Capture NX2 as well).

I also Play a lot of World of Warcraft when kids are sleeping! ;)
I know wow is now retina but it doesnt matter to me since my MBP is connected to my LED Cinema Display (non thunderbold).

Should I see a speed bump enough to justify the money? Or wait 2-3 years until Apple release the new MBP with Carbon fiber casing? :cool:
 
2-3 years for carbon fiber casing? Ha. Apple's trademark is aluminum. Also, you do not need retina if you will be plugged in to a moniter all the time. But there should be a pretty significant speed increase. However, I would say you do not NEED to upgrade now. If you can wait, you should wait for Haswell later this year.
 
Your machine is already fast and plenty capable.

The biggest improvements.
1. Screen
2. USB 3.0
3. Speakers

Modest improvements;
1. dGPU
2. iGPU

Smaller improvements;
1. CPU
2. Battery life

No real improvements;
1. SSD performance increases
2. Ram performance increases

You'll be getting rid of;
1. FW Port
2. Optical Drive/Bay
3. RAM User upgrades
4. Weight

You'll gain;
1. Retina Screen (which is amazing imo)
2. HDMI
3. 1 extra TB Port

----------
B... said:
But there should be a pretty significant speed increase.
Click to expand...

Not true.
 
It depends what he will be doing. Sandry Bridge to Ivy Bridge was a pretty good upgrade, especially on the iGPU side. The Keplar upgrade was pretty signifcnt too. Maybe not huge, but big enough that it was an upgrade. But I agree, from 2011 to 2012 will not be as big as from C2D to 2012, for example.
 
B... said:
It depends what he will be doing. Sandry Bridge to Ivy Bridge was a pretty good upgrade, especially on the iGPU side. The Keplar upgrade was pretty signifcnt too. Maybe not huge, but big enough that it was an upgrade. But I agree, from 2011 to 2012 will not be as big as from C2D to 2012, for example.
Click to expand...

Now thats true lol.

Just needed to be more specific. I think the biggest improvements are USB2 to USB3 and the i/dGPU upgrade from 2011 to 2012, but then add in the 2012 rMBP, the screen, weight reduction, etc are pretty big too.
 
Orlandoech.com said:
I think the biggest improvements are USB2 to USB3 and the i/dGPU.
Click to expand...
Agree, particularly with the USB3. Since the rMBP's are sealed to prevent drive upgrades, external drive performance is important. The next would be the slimmer/lighter profile.

Thunderbolt... meh. Either a flop or ahead of its time.
 
Krazy Bill said:
Agree, particularly with the USB3. Since the rMBP's are sealed to prevent drive upgrades, external drive performance is important. The next would be the slimmer/lighter profile.

Thunderbolt... meh. Either a flop or ahead of its time.
Click to expand...

You can swab out the SSD with ease to an OWC replacement or OEM Samsung or SanDisk purchased online at ridiculous prices.
 
Actually, to me there is no much improvement.... I have the 13 inches early 2011 with 2.7 i7... after upgrading to ssd and 16 gb of ram I went to the Apple store to see the possible difference with the equivalent rMBP.... to me they are pretty the same.... So I decided to wait more .... maybe a pair of years...
PS: I use Mac for programming, as I am a PhD student in mechanical engineering, and up to now I've never experienced slow compiling or so on... the only thing that now catches my interest is the 15... but only because of the quad core processor....
 
Orlandoech.com said:
You can swab out the SSD with ease to an OWC replacement or OEM Samsung or SanDisk purchased online at ridiculous prices.
Click to expand...
Ok, but let's not get into the swap-out-SSD vs. voiding-the-warranty debate. If Apple wanted your mitts "in there" they'd have used less solder/glue.
 
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