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Give 2010 MBP New Life
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buying an SSD would be the best thing you could do, get another 2 or so years out of it, easily...
It's really easy to crack open the case. I use a ball peen hammer and a large flatblade screwdriver.
But seriously, if you are able to do a clean install, you might as well replace your hard drive with an SSD and do a clean install on it. Nothing else is going to give as big of a performance gain.
There's a reason that there are a million threads lauding the performance gains.
Doing this is beyond easy! it will take you approximately 10 minutes if you go really really really slowly!
here, take a look at this:
https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/MacBook+Pro+13-Inch+Unibody+Mid+2010+Hard+Drive+Replacement/4305
i just installed a Samsung 840 EVO (which is your best bet in terms of bang for buck) on a 2010 13" MBP and the thing is almost as fast as my friends 2012 rMBP, we tested it and boot tome differs by 2 seconds....
1.Install an SSD
2.remove and clean out fan
3. add more ram
4. clean install
http://arstechnica.com/apple/2013/1...otable-os-x-10-9-mavericks-usb-install-drive/
Doing a clean install of OSX onto a new SSD is the absolute best upgrade anyone can perform. Period.
Seriously, your computer will feel faster than it did when it was new.
I appreciate the advice/superiority of an SSD. But with a battery that lasts for 30mins etc, I don't think it's worth buying one, installing it and then having to sell it when I buy a new MBP with one built in already!
So as it currently stands, will a clean install be beneficial?
So as it currently stands, will a clean install be beneficial?
a new battery will cost you $100 (iFixit) a new 128 SSD will cost you $80 (Amazon, Newegg, etc)
so for $180 you basically get a computer that will be almost as good as a 2012 2.5 i5 model
and in terms of general light use (no hard core photo editing) almost as good as a rMBP....
but to answer your question a clean install will improve things but only marginally...
My 13" 2010 MBP came with 8GB but I upgraded the HDD to Plextor M5 Pro Xtreme 256GB ($283 in Amazon)
Next I did is open up and clean the fans and reapplied the thermal paste.
If you do not frequent the optical drive, you can opt to swap it with a data doubler and put in your old HDD for storage purpose.
Do note that the 2010 13" MBP can support up to 16GB of ram. You can consider on upgrading to that amount too.
Edit : I forgot to mention that if you opt for SSD, do take a look at the controllers they are using, the MBP are very sensitive to some of the SSD controllers (e.g. sandforce) Opt for something that carries samsung SSD controller or Marvell (e.g. Samsung 840, Plextor SSD series)
Next I did is open up and clean the fans and reapplied the thermal paste.
If you do not frequent the optical drive, you can opt to swap it with a data doubler and put in your old HDD for storage purpose.
Do note that the 2010 13" MBP can support up to 16GB of ram. You can consider on upgrading to that amount too.
Edit : I forgot to mention that if you opt for SSD, do take a look at the controllers they are using, the MBP are very sensitive to some of the SSD controllers (e.g. sandforce) Opt for something that carries samsung SSD controller or Marvell (e.g. Samsung 840, Plextor SSD series)
I'd say you may receive a tiny benefit, but OS X is not like windows where you want to do a clean install every so often. If you're not willing to upgrade the ram/or SSD then live with the laptop for a little while longer as is, and then upgrade to a new model.
I recently bought my friends MBP 2010, the battery still gives 2 hours!
How i gave it new life was upgrading to a 1TB HDD and a complete reinstall of the OS and updating it to the latest. Then upgraded the RAM to 8GB.
Doesn't feel slow at all and its pretty fast! Does well with my photo editing and using photoshop
Boot time may be a little slow, but that the trade off of having more space
Will upgrade to an SSD down the road.
Id follow what everyone is suggesting here
1. Upgrade to an SSD
2. Buy a new battery
3. Upgrade the RAM
your laptop will be as good as new, MacBooks are pretty solid and need a little TLC to keep going.
Personally I'm not brave enough to reapply thermal paste, but I'm good enough to give a good air compress at the internals
How i gave it new life was upgrading to a 1TB HDD and a complete reinstall of the OS and updating it to the latest. Then upgraded the RAM to 8GB.
Doesn't feel slow at all and its pretty fast! Does well with my photo editing and using photoshop
Boot time may be a little slow, but that the trade off of having more space
Will upgrade to an SSD down the road.
Id follow what everyone is suggesting here
1. Upgrade to an SSD
2. Buy a new battery
3. Upgrade the RAM
your laptop will be as good as new, MacBooks are pretty solid and need a little TLC to keep going.
Personally I'm not brave enough to reapply thermal paste, but I'm good enough to give a good air compress at the internals
BTW, I don't remove the fan for cleaning. I use a can of compressed out to clean out the insides. I do make sure that a strong stream of air blasts the fan to get the dust off the blades.
To open the case and do much of the work you will need a small Phillips screwdriver, a Torx screwdriver for removing the mounting bolts on both sides of the HD, and a maybe a trowing screwdriver to remove 3 screws from the battery.
There is a very good screwdriver at Ifixit that has all the bits for working on a Macbook plus pentalobe bits needed for newer MacBooks.
https://www.ifixit.com/Store/Tools/54-Bit-Driver-Kit/IF145-022
To open the case and do much of the work you will need a small Phillips screwdriver, a Torx screwdriver for removing the mounting bolts on both sides of the HD, and a maybe a trowing screwdriver to remove 3 screws from the battery.
There is a very good screwdriver at Ifixit that has all the bits for working on a Macbook plus pentalobe bits needed for newer MacBooks.
https://www.ifixit.com/Store/Tools/54-Bit-Driver-Kit/IF145-022