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Hand-me-down 2011 MacBook Pro

Bandaman said:
I don't understand the point of your reply.
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You said you don't understand why that laptop isn't supported. It's considered obsolete by Apple's vintage and obsolete device policy. Everything of a certain age is considered unsupported even if there's nothing preventing the hardware from running the latest OS.

It's not an arbitrary decision. The 2012 Unibodies will become obsolete and unsupported at the end of October this year because they were last manufactured on October 22, 2013. Add seven years to that and you get the date that laptop rides off into the sunset.
 
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smirking said:
You said you don't understand why that laptop isn't supported. It's considered obsolete by Apple's device policy outlined above. Everything of a certain age is considered unsupported even if there's nothing preventing the hardware from running the latest OS. It's not an arbitrary decision.
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My point is that it works perfectly under Catalina, so there is no reason for Apple to arbitrarily stop support. It very much is an arbitrary decision. Please do not try and make logical explanations for Apple. It’s annoying. Do you know what else is annoying besides arbitrary obsolescence? When they cut off OS support for their main software. Case in point, you can’t get the latest Pages or Numbers apps on High Sierra, even though the OS is only a couple of years old. If these are apps that you need, you’d be forced to upgrade. Both apps work perfectly on the patched Catalina. Apple stops supporting things to force you to upgrade. There is no other reason. This isn’t even about hardware. Sometimes you don’t want to upgrade to the latest OS due to bugs or whatever. You could have a machine that’s only a couple years old, but because Apple wants you on the absolute latest OS, you can’t use so their software. It’s inexcusable.
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avz said:
The lack of the Metal GPU support is the only legitimate reason, but the same can be said about the late-2008 MacBook.
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It has zero effect on 99.99% of the functionality of the OS.
 
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All I have to say is as long as you’re not doing super intensive stuff it runs as smooth as butter. I can’t imagine if I put in an SSD
 
smirking said:
Don't ask if you don't want to know the reasons why things are done.

And yeah, it's annoying that people actually take the time to answer your questions. What was I thinking?
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You didn’t answer my question because I didn’t ask one. I already know Apple’s support timeframe. I was stating why it doesn’t make sense since older hardware works fine under the latest OS. You added absolutely nothing of value or newness to the conversation.
 
Bandaman said:
You didn’t answer my question because I didn’t ask one. I already know Apple’s support timeframe. I was stating why it doesn’t make sense since older hardware works fine under the latest OS. You added absolutely nothing of value or newness to the conversation.
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Well, sorry about that.
 
Pros:

  • Glowing apple logo
  • no keyboard issues
  • not $2000
  • no touchbar (I heard people hate it)
  • a Windows PC of the same age would belong in the garbage
 
antisomnic said:
Pros:

  • Glowing apple logo
  • no keyboard issues
  • not $2000
  • no touchbar (I heard people hate it)
  • a Windows PC of the same age would belong in the garbage
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Additional Pros:
Magsafe
Can swap out/upgrade memory (i.e. it is not soldered in like modern MBP).
Can swap out/upgrade hard drive/SSD.
Can swap out battery (not glued in.)
 
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Sam Luis Obispo said:
Additional Pros:
Magsafe
Can swap out/upgrade memory (i.e. it is not soldered in like modern MBP).
Can swap out/upgrade hard drive/SSD.
Can swap out battery (not glued in.)
Click to expand...

Given the performance I've gotten I am very tempted to put an SSD in and upgrading from 8gb of RAM to 16gb
 
Basic tasks keep your old one. IMO it would be silly to buy a new one. If you have money burning a hole in your pocket you can donate to my MacBook pro fund. I'd be happy with a 2010 one :)
 
russell_314 said:
Basic tasks keep your old one. IMO it would be silly to buy a new one. If you have money burning a hole in your pocket you can donate to my MacBook pro fund. I'd be happy with a 2010 one :)
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It's run anything I've thrown at it fine, with only a little bit of lag here and there (I attribute it to the old platter hard drive)
 
antisomnic said:
I've recently received a hand-me-down 2011 MacBook Pro that is in pretty good condition. This is in addition to my 2012 13" MacBook Pro. I actually enjoy this MacBook more because it has a 15" higher resolution screen, and the processor is a lot faster.

I'd like people's opinion. Should I sell both of my MacBooks and save up for a new MacBook, or purchase an SSD & upgrade the memory on this 2011? The only thing that sucks if I keep it is that the newest macOS it runs is High Sierra (I've tried cracks to get newer versions and they never run right). What do you guys think?
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sell it asap cause dGPu is faulty, if u sell both maybe can buy 2013 rMBP 13 inch, believe me, screen quality is night and day!
 
This is a 2011 15" MacBook Pro, is that correct?
If so, you had better read up on "RadeonGate", just to know what it is.
So long as yours is running fine, enjoy...
 
I wouldn't touch Catalina on a non-Metal mbp. I use a late 2011 15" mbp (bought in 2012) and I use El Capitan.
The 2011 does not support Metal. Apple uses Metal on OS's higher than El Capitan to control the OS gfx.
My 2011 mbp is super fast still. I installed an SSD (alongside a 1TB spinner) and 16GB ram on the day I bought it.
I make music with it and couldn't imagine it being any faster. If I ever desire to render 3D or create videos then, sure, a 6-core CPU would be good.

I've had the discrete AMD gfx chip fail twice on me; Apple replaced my Logic board the first time it failed and I paid to have the chip replaced (£200) the second time it failed.
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antisomnic said:
i have disabled the AMD GPU
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I use an app to turn off the discrete gfx unless I'm using an external monitor.
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antisomnic said:
Given the performance I've gotten I am very tempted to put an SSD in and upgrading from 8gb of RAM to 16gb
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SSD performance is night and day. Do it.
I hardly see a difference when going from 4GB to 16GB, so... Bit of a myth there mithinks... unless ur creating video's.
 
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OP wrote:
"i have disabled the AMD GPU"

Good move. That should take care of the RadeonGate problem...!
 
Fishrrman said:
OP wrote:
"i have disabled the AMD GPU"

Good move. That should take care of the RadeonGate problem...!
Click to expand...

Not sure of all the details of "RadeonGate" but the problems it was giving me are gone. Slow UI graphics, artifacting and unreadable selection color on menus.

edit: I am now experiencing only one issue. I'd like to use the Auto mode for Light/Dark mode. It seems broken for me. Any fixes?
 
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Hate to be the last 3 posts (Mods feel free to merge). But anyone else make a similar upgrade to a 2011? If so, how well does it run? im expecting it to run like a brand new out of box machine.
 
My 2011 13" Catalina i5/8GB/500GB SSD runs as well as my 2012 MP Hex/48GB/240GB w/2 4Tb & 6TB, and as well as my 2014 MBA i5/4GB/500GB.
 
antisomnic said:
Hate to be the last 3 posts (Mods feel free to merge). But anyone else make a similar upgrade to a 2011? If so, how well does it run? im expecting it to run like a brand new out of box machine.
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I have done it twice. Both machines ran like a dream. We wound up giving one of them to my mother in law and she still uses it. I was working on her machine a couple of weeks ago and the thing hums on Mojave.

It's a no-brainer to upgrade to SSD.
 
AustinIllini said:
I have done it twice. Both machines ran like a dream. We wound up giving one of them to my mother in law and she still uses it. I was working on her machine a couple of weeks ago and the thing hums on Mojave.

It's a no-brainer to upgrade to SSD.
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I feel like going to 16gb of ram is also a huge choice
 
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