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Keep or Sell

B

BoxsterRS

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jul 13, 2010
106
24
Hi,

I have an early 2011 15" Macbook Pro i7 2.0 ghz with 8gb ram and an ssd. I do not complain about performance, some hang ups but nothing more troublesome that a restart cannot resolve. New 15" Macbook Pros are thinner faster cooler all that but I would like to read what others think about this. I have no reason at all to sell my laptop I paid close to 2K for it and yes time has passed but If I upgrade to 16gb ram and a new battery as long as OSX continues to support my hardware I have no reason to get a new one. So, what are your takes? Should I sell or keep it and upgrade the ram?
 
There is a big question to ask yourself: What do you use it for?
RETINA represents a big differential between what you have got and what's out of there, if you plan to watch movies and use it a lot as a media center, than the answer would be sell it. The upgrade will be huge.

But if the answer to the question would be no, than it would be not necessary at all, if the current one does its job as you want
 
If my late 2011 mbp still working today I would still use it until skylake mbp launch, but again only you know when to upgrade.
 
Keep it until you can't stand it anymore. If it works, I wouldn't buy anything new until there is a significant redesign. (current form factor has been around way too long, there is room to go thinner/lighter on the pro models.)
 
BoxsterRS said:
Hi,

I have an early 2011 15" Macbook Pro i7 2.0 ghz with 8gb ram and an ssd. I do not complain about performance, some hang ups but nothing more troublesome that a restart cannot resolve. New 15" Macbook Pros are thinner faster cooler all that but I would like to read what others think about this. I have no reason at all to sell my laptop I paid close to 2K for it and yes time has passed but If I upgrade to 16gb ram and a new battery as long as OSX continues to support my hardware I have no reason to get a new one. So, what are your takes? Should I sell or keep it and upgrade the ram?
Click to expand...

I would say get rid of it as fast as you can. That machine is very prone to GPU failure to the point where it is almost a question when, not if. There is a current repair program offered but it runs out in February, after that when it fails it's pretty much tough luck.
 
At least, regarding GPU issues, I have never had an issue with it. It actually runs pretty fast with OSX 10.11.1. I might just get 16gb more ram but thanks anyway for the input.
 
BoxsterRS said:
Hi,

I have an early 2011 15" Macbook Pro i7 2.0 ghz with 8gb ram and an ssd. I do not complain about performance, some hang ups but nothing more troublesome that a restart cannot resolve. New 15" Macbook Pros are thinner faster cooler all that but I would like to read what others think about this. I have no reason at all to sell my laptop I paid close to 2K for it and yes time has passed but If I upgrade to 16gb ram and a new battery as long as OSX continues to support my hardware I have no reason to get a new one. So, what are your takes? Should I sell or keep it and upgrade the ram?
Click to expand...
With absolutely no mention of typical usage, any answer to your post is just a wild guess. For all we know your typical usage could be done on an iPad and the machine is overkill for you.

More info, please.
 
I have a similar model and plan to keep using mine for awhile. When at home I use it in clamshell mode with a 23" ACD which gives me plenty of screen real estate. Doing some work on the road with the 15" screen is tight and would be helped with a retina display but not enough to get me to spend the money.

I'm not worried about the GPU failure. If it happens I will buy a new MBP then. If it doesn't then I'm happy with what I have.
 
Typical usage is nothing more than writing documents, using anatomy modeling software, etc Im not creating games just using it through med school so for that reason "that kind of usage"
 
BoxsterRS said:
Hi,

I have an early 2011 15" Macbook Pro i7 2.0 ghz with 8gb ram and an ssd. I do not complain about performance, some hang ups but nothing more troublesome that a restart cannot resolve. New 15" Macbook Pros are thinner faster cooler all that but I would like to read what others think about this. I have no reason at all to sell my laptop I paid close to 2K for it and yes time has passed but If I upgrade to 16gb ram and a new battery as long as OSX continues to support my hardware I have no reason to get a new one. So, what are your takes? Should I sell or keep it and upgrade the ram?
Click to expand...
Keep it. Not really impressed with not upgradable Mac. And so many complain about their retina displays, trying to get the right panel. Maybe that all fixed now. I will get a new Mac when mine dies or no longer supported by Software updates.
 
BoxsterRS said:
Typical usage is nothing more than writing documents, using anatomy modeling software, etc Im not creating games just using it through med school so for that reason "that kind of usage"
Click to expand...
I don't see any compelling reasons to upgrade to a new machine, and you definitely don't need more RAM, then.
 
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