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Is it worth it to upgrade from a Late 2011 pro?

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michael31986

macrumors 601
Original poster
Jul 11, 2008
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I have a 13 inch mac book pro Late 2011 version. I recently put in an SSD drive and its much faster. I been wanting to upgrade to the 15inch, but not sure if its worth it.

anyone have any suggestions?
 
michael31986 said:
I have a 13 inch mac book pro Late 2011 version. I recently put in an SSD drive and its much faster. I been wanting to upgrade to the 15inch, but not sure if its worth it.

anyone have any suggestions?
Click to expand...

Now would be the time to jump to the 15" models, as they were just updated - and to six cores.

On the other hand, "worth" is entirely subjective and individual, so no one here can answer that for you. If the cost is a rounding error in your checkbook, go for it. If you have to do mac and cheese and PB&J sandwiches to afford it, then no.
 
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michael31986 said:
I have a 13 inch mac book pro Late 2011 version. I recently put in an SSD drive and its much faster. I been wanting to upgrade to the 15inch, but not sure if its worth it.

anyone have any suggestions?
Click to expand...
I still like my 15” late 2011 MBP, so yes, it’s worth upgrading :)
 
Really depends on your requirements and what you consider value.

Is your current machine plenty fast enough for the tasks? If yes, then a new machine will not give you any discernible speed benefit.

Are you bored of your current machine and want something new and shiny? If yes, then you can get this, but the novelty will soon ware. Only do this if you can easily afford the machine, otherwise it's an expensive luxury.

Do you want a 15" for the larger screen, and are struggling with the 13"? If yes, then by all means it's worth the upgrade.

Either path, you're looking at a significant cost. You can easily justify upgrading from such an old machine, the question is whether it has value to yourself in upgrading. If by spending the $3000 you will get more use of the machine, and it will earn you more money, then of course it's value is obvious.
 
Im leaning toward getting the new one, because i use my computer everyday for work and the bigger screen would probably be a plus and then adding Retina, which im sure also makes texts much much clearer.

Is it worth getting the i9? or staying with i7?
 
michael31986 said:
Im leaning toward getting the new one, because i use my computer everyday for work and the bigger screen would probably be a plus and then adding Retina, which im sure also makes texts much much clearer.

Is it worth getting the i9? or staying with i7?
Click to expand...

Get the 2.2 i7 and upgrade storage as needed.
 
Also, Out of my 4gb of ram. I'm using 3.9, so that is alarming, since my fan seems to be on constant high running.
 
michael31986 said:
Wouldn't the I-9 future proof? Or it doesn't necessarily work that way.
Click to expand...

From what it looks like so far, the i9 doesn't have a HUGE benefit compared to the 2.2 or 2.6 i7. It is certainly the fastest CPU of the bunch generally speaking, but value wise I think it depends on what you do.

Personally, I wanted the 560x and at least 512GB storage - so by the time I upgraded the base 2.2 model with those items, the 2.6 i7 was only $80 more - which was a no brainer to me. So I went with the middle of the road. 2.6/512/16gb/560x.

For what it's worth, I tested the base model 2.2/555x at the store and it was still absolutely blazing fast. I don't think you can lose with any of them... but the best value is the middle stock model 2.6/512/560x/16gb if you plan on upgrading those items from the base model anyways.

I really wanted 32gb ram and 1tb drive, but apples upgrades are insanely expensive. It's more cost effective to buy what you need now and resell and upgrade in 3-5 years. At least that's my plan.
 
Momo13Drums said:
From what it looks like so far, the i9 doesn't have a HUGE benefit compared to the 2.2 or 2.6 i7. It is certainly the fastest CPU of the bunch generally speaking, but value wise I think it depends on what you do.

Personally, I wanted the 560x and at least 512GB storage - so by the time I upgraded the base 2.2 model with those items, the 2.6 i7 was only $80 more - which was a no brainer to me. So I went with the middle of the road. 2.6/512/16gb/560x.

For what it's worth, I tested the base model 2.2/555x at the store and it was still absolutely blazing fast. I don't think you can lose with any of them... but the best value is the middle stock model 2.6/512/560x/16gb if you plan on upgrading those items from the base model anyways.

I really wanted 32gb ram and 1tb drive, but apples upgrades are insanely expensive. It's more cost effective to buy what you need now and resell and upgrade in 3-5 years. At least that's my plan.
Click to expand...

WOW! my computer sounds so ancient compared to that.
4gb ram and 2.4 ghz intel core i5 and 500 gb SSD.
 
So I decided on 15 inch. But is 32 ram or i9 worth it ?
[doublepost=1534448798][/doublepost]32 GB ram. I9. And 1tb.


I think that's good. My 13 inch would still have been fine if back in 2011. I didn't cheapen out and get the slower processor and smaller screen. I wouldn't have cheapened out now.
 
Naimfan said:
No. There is NOTHING you can do to "future-proof" a laptop like this.
Click to expand...
So if I wanted to use the is computer for say 10 years. The I-9 processor. Wouldn't be faster than an i7?
[doublepost=1534450798][/doublepost]
Naimfan said:
No. There is NOTHING you can do to "future-proof" a laptop like this.
Click to expand...
My rationale with being so called better for longer use is that the bf has an older Mac than mine and it runs faster and doesn't throttle cause he bought the one with the highest processor and RAM.
 
michael31986 said:
So if I wanted to use the is computer for say 10 years. The I-9 processor. Wouldn't be faster than an i7?
Click to expand...

Based on current benchmarks, due to cooling issues, no.

You asked about "future-proofing" - there is no such thing. If you look at the Late 2013 MacBook Pros, ALL of them are still supported and can run Mojave; there is, thus, no difference as far as "future-proofing" from the cheapest 15" to the highest end 15".
 
Naimfan said:
Based on current benchmarks, due to cooling issues, no.

You asked about "future-proofing" - there is no such thing. If you look at the Late 2013 MacBook Pros, ALL of them are still supported and can run Mojave; there is, thus, no difference as far as "future-proofing" from the cheapest 15" to the highest end 15".
Click to expand...
Aren't the fixing the cooling issues?

Okay I meant future proof for use with other programs. Now for Apple allowing me to upgrade the software. I work in a virtual environment for work, so thought how can a faster process.not be better for future use when programs need faster processors.

Sorry if I just don't know much about computers.
 
If what you use your 2011 for now is not cutting it, sure. But if it's not bogging down and you have decent amount of Ram in your 2011, you could upgrade to a newer-2013, 2014, 2015 15" with Retina, all the ports and better keyboard for less than the 2018.
 
Naimfan said:
You asked if the i9 is worth it for future-proofing. The answer is no.
Click to expand...
So just to confirm an i7 in 7 years will be just as fast as the i9
[doublepost=1534456095][/doublepost]
Rocko99991 said:
If what you use your 2011 for now is not cutting it, sure. But if it's not bogging down and you have decent amount of Ram in your 2011, you could upgrade to a newer-2013, 2014, 2015 15" with Retina, all the ports and better keyboard for less than the 2018.
Click to expand...
It is bogging down. The fan constantly runs cause of the me using a virtual machine on my Mac.
 
michael31986 said:
So just to confirm an i7 in 7 years will be just as fast as the i9
[doublepost=1534456095][/doublepost]
It is bogging down. The fan constantly runs cause of the me using a virtual machine on my Mac.
Click to expand...
The 18's fans may run quite a bit too. The heat management isn't great.
 
I would change just for retina. Wouldn't want to go back to non retina. i9 or i7 - my non technical opinion, its not that big a deal. From a 2011 "13 MacBook Pro the 15" i7 16gb is going to be amazingly fast. I moved from 2013 macbook pro 13" and I love it - fast and super screen. Double the price I paid for my 13" 5 years ago... crazy but what can you do... I use it 8+ hours a day so worth it.
 
Rocko99991 said:
The 18's fans may run quite a bit too. The heat management isn't great.
Click to expand...
Mine runs the fan a lot because of the ram used during virtual machine and my other programs opened.

I want to keep my Mac book for a long time. That's why I'm thinking just invest in the faster ram and processor so I can hold onto it longer. Yes it won't be as fast in the future but still can be better at management of the larger programs that will be out.
 
michael31986 said:
Mine runs the fan a lot because of the ram used during virtual machine and my other programs opened.

I want to keep my Mac book for a long time. That's why I'm thinking just invest in the faster ram and processor so I can hold onto it longer. Yes it won't be as fast in the future but still can be better at management of the larger programs that will be out.
Click to expand...
How much ram do you have in your 11?
 
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