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Is is worth upgrading MBP13 early 2015 logic board to 16GB for 200€?

K

Kraizelburg

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Nov 10, 2018
437
113
Spain
Hi, I have a early 2015 MPB 13 with 8GB RAM and 256GB SSD which I bought for 600€ second hand. The laptop works perfectly fine and only has 107 battery cycles.

I have found on Aliexpress a logic board for the same model A1502 with same i5 processor but with 16GB of RAM for 200€. I was wondering whether it's worth spending 200€ for just 16GB upgrade.

Thanks
 
If the machine is working for your usage then don't bother. there are too many unknown variables buying a logic board from aliexpress and you may cause some damage whilst doing the upgrade. Save the money for your next MBP!
 
nothingtoseehere said:
This is the main point IMO. I completely agree with @Bhavin.
Should you run out of disk space, you can change the SSD which is rather easy to do.
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My reason to upgrade to 16GB is mainly because I'm about to start a bootcamp in data science and they recommend 16GB, but I guess i'm better off saving that money for a new laptop.
 
I've always found it's a waste of $ to try to radically update an old computer. I tried a few times years ago, with the result that the machine ended up broken or the upgrade was not worth it. In the older MBP's, it's easy to replace the ssd, but I wouldn't dream of trying to replace the motherboard. You'd do better buying a machine from a reliable seller on eBay, which is what I did. I'm using a 2015 MBP 3.1 ghz i7, 16 mb ram that I bought on eBay. It's a fantastic machine -- haven't had a moment's trouble with it, but I deliberately bought the highest spec machine I could. If I were you, I'd get a new machine from Apple and not potentially waste your $200. At least you have a machine that works well now, not a paperweight.
 
glhiii said:
I've always found it's a waste of $ to try to radically update an old computer. I tried a few times years ago, with the result that the machine ended up broken or the upgrade was not worth it. In the older MBP's, it's easy to replace the ssd, but I wouldn't dream of trying to replace the motherboard. You'd do better buying a machine from a reliable seller on eBay, which is what I did. I'm using a 2015 MBP 3.1 ghz i7, 16 mb ram that I bought on eBay. It's a fantastic machine -- haven't had a moment's trouble with it, but I deliberately bought the highest spec machine I could. If I were you, I'd get a new machine from Apple and not potentially waste your $200. At least you have a machine that works well now, not a paperweight.
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Why do you suggest that aliexpress is not reliable seller? because its chinese maybe? I have bought tons of stuff on aliexpress and never had a problem.

And btw aliexpress is way bigger company these days than ebay, return policy is good too.
 
I would not buy it because, A) You don't know the condition of the board...it could be bad, or it could be right about to fail, and if you install it and it goes bad that is a huge pain, B) either you have to pay someone to do the install or risk the install yourself (in which case if it is a bad board, a seller may claim you/the installer are at fault, and other components can certainly get damaged during the swap), and C) it is completely possible that RAM won't be your biggest bottleneck on that particular system (i.e., with only a dual core CPU and without a discrete GPU to offload some of the work, you may find that 16 GB makes absolutely no difference in terms of end-performance.) That's my opinion.
 
ght56 said:
I would not buy it because, A) You don't know the condition of the board...it could be bad, or it could be right about to fail, and if you install it and it goes bad that is a huge pain, B) either you have to pay someone to do the install or risk the install yourself (in which case if it is a bad board, a seller may claim you/the installer are at fault, and other components can certainly get damaged during the swap), and C) it is completely possible that RAM won't be your biggest bottleneck on that particular system (i.e., with only a dual core CPU and without a discrete GPU to offload some of the work, you may find that 16 GB makes absolutely no difference in terms of end-performance.) That's my opinion.
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Yes I guess you are totally right, maybe 16GB wont make any difference and paying 200€ only for 8GB more is a bit too much.
 
I think it comes down to your comfort level with working on this stuff. Ever swapped a board before? Feel like doing it a couple times more? No reason you can't hold on to your old one in case stuff breaks.

And as far as stuff breaking, the fact that these boards lack the discrete GPU is probably a good thing. Mine likes to run hot and I'm now on an apple-installed replacement logic board. Looked in to it and found discrete GPUs on the 2013s have been known to go. I'd be totally suspicious of a $200 15in board with a real GPU on it bc somebody is probably passing their bad fortune on to you. But again, you're clear on that front.

But if you know your way around a MacBook (or trust your hands and iFixit) then sendit!
 
oh and I will say that my first logic board had 8GB on it and my new one has 16GB. I notice the biggest difference with virtual machines. And it is a BIG difference.
 
nathan_reilly said:
oh and I will say that my first logic board had 8GB on it and my new one has 16GB. I notice the biggest difference with virtual machines. And it is a BIG difference.
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That was exactly my initial concern as I'm about to start a bootcamp in data science and I've been told I'll have to install anaconda and I wasn't sure if 8GB was enough, my main machine is a ryzen PC with UBUNTU 20.04 and 16GB of RAM I built myself as I like to tinker a lot.

https://es.aliexpress.com/item/4000...earchweb0_0,searchweb201602_,searchweb201603_
 
Kraizelburg said:
That was exactly my initial concern as I'm about to start a bootcamp in data science and I've been told I'll have to install anaconda and I wasn't sure if 8GB was enough, my main machine is a ryzen PC with UBUNTU 20.04 and 16GB of RAM I built myself as I like to tinker a lot.

https://es.aliexpress.com/item/4000...earchweb0_0,searchweb201602_,searchweb201603_
Click to expand...

Okay, you got a main machine. So if this laptop is down for a bit you can still do your work, right?

Also if you are familiar with computer building and the risks/joys/rewards then it is only a matter of trusting yourself to work on a smaller scale. The multitude of connectors are more delicate and screws are easier to misplace, etc.

Of course you have to be prepared for the worst but it also could be quite successful and fun. You gotta honestly evaluate your ability to do this kind of work and then SENDIT!
 
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