Macbook late 2008 - Worth upgrading?

[loisd]

Hello all,

I have a Macbook from Late 2008, around 2.4 Ghz, which I customized with 4 GB of RAM.

Today it is 6 years old, the battery is dying, and the computer is overall slow. I am wondering: is it worth refreshing the hardware or just buying a new Mac altogether?

By refreshing the hardware, I would mean changing the battery, perhaps changing the RAM or the hard drive if you guys tell me these things' performance deteriorate with time?

And then obviously resetting the system to as new (e.g. kind of reformatting).

What do you think?

 

[DaKKs]

Hello all,

I have a Macbook from Late 2008, around 2.4 Ghz, which I customized with 4 GB of RAM.

Today it is 6 years old, the battery is dying, and the computer is overall slow. I am wondering: is it worth refreshing the hardware or just buying a new Mac altogether?

By refreshing the hardware, I would mean changing the battery, perhaps changing the RAM or the hard drive if you guys tell me these things' performance deteriorate with time?

And then obviously resetting the system to as new (e.g. kind of reformatting).

What do you think?

I recently upgraded my Macbook mid 2009 and to be honest, I'm not that satisfied as I thought I'd be. Hardware wise our machines are mostly identical.

I'd go for a newer mac if I were you. I'm gonna do the same soon.

Its a common misconception that computer performance deteriorates over time. On a software level that might be true, but you only need to reformat and reinstall the OS to get back to the original performance. Its everything else that get more demanding. Programs require faster hardware, the web is more demanding due to all the extra rubbish developers add to their sites, and movies are compressed more and more leading to a higher strain on the hardware to play them. I wont even mention games, cause that's obvious.

 

[loisd]

Thank you for the quick reply.

I'm going to get a new Mac, and give my old one to younger members of the family.

What should I do in addition to replacing battery and reformatting the system as new?

 

[badger91]

I too have a late 2008 MacBook. Mine is a 13" 2Ghz that I upgraded it to an SSD and 4GB of ram about a year ago. It ran fine until this past week when it started having issues.

I just picked up a 15" MacBook Pro retina and couldn't be happier. It's much quicker than my old MacBook and the screen is amazing!

 

[User*09]

Hello all,

I have a Macbook from Late 2008, around 2.4 Ghz, which I customized with 4 GB of RAM.

Today it is 6 years old, the battery is dying, and the computer is overall slow. I am wondering: is it worth refreshing the hardware or just buying a new Mac altogether?

By refreshing the hardware, I would mean changing the battery, perhaps changing the RAM or the hard drive if you guys tell me these things' performance deteriorate with time?

And then obviously resetting the system to as new (e.g. kind of reformatting).

What do you think?

Late 2008 Macbook here. 2.0 GHz 8 GB RAM. I have not upgraded to an SSD yet. Im running 10.10.1, and the only issue I am having is Safari crashing while watching Youtube. Sometime it gets a little hot while watching videos?playing light games.

Tried going back to Snow Leopard, but I was just to used to the gestures of Lion/Mountain Lion

The latest version of Mountain Lion was the last bug free OS for me. Mavericks never panned out, and I am still waiting to see if Yosemite gets better. For what I do mostly, internet, reading, some iWork stuff, its problem free. just the Youtube/Safari crash is annoying.

 

[DaKKs]

Thank you for the quick reply.

I'm going to get a new Mac, and give my old one to younger members of the family.

What should I do in addition to replacing battery and reformatting the system as new?

If you can find a cheap SSD it would do wonders for the machine. But if you want to skip that, that's probably the only thing you need to do. 4GB ram is still more than enough for most people. If the machine is in god mechanical condition, all you'll need is a refresh.

 

[brdeveloper]

Hello all,

I have a Macbook from Late 2008, around 2.4 Ghz, which I customized with 4 GB of RAM.

Today it is 6 years old, the battery is dying, and the computer is overall slow. I am wondering: is it worth refreshing the hardware or just buying a new Mac altogether?

By refreshing the hardware, I would mean changing the battery, perhaps changing the RAM or the hard drive if you guys tell me these things' performance deteriorate with time?

And then obviously resetting the system to as new (e.g. kind of reformatting).

What do you think?

250GB SSD + 2x4GB RAM = approx. $170,00
New battery = around $100? Don't know

With $270,00, or less if you keep the 4GB and buy a lower capacity SSD, you can have a totally new Mac experience. I think it's worth upgrading.

A new laptop costs around $1000,00 and if you want a little future-proofing, you'll have to spend even more for a base Retina 13".

 

[gooser]

brdeveloper, now that just plain makes sense.

 

[cycledance]

i think it's totally worth it to get an older mac portable up to speed by maxing the ram and an ssd. macs are now more in sync than ever with icloud so it can coexist neatly with a new mac. it'd be sad to not do it imo...

 

[neilly93]

I agree - I have a late 2.4ghz 2008 Macbook Aluminium. I've upgraded the RAM to 8GB and added a 240GB SSD, and you wouldn't believe the improvement in performance. Running Yosemite, it boots in less than 30 seconds, and apps open as quickly as they do on the display MBAs in my local Apple Store. Hoping to get at least another year's worth out of it before upgrading.

 

[Bruno09]

OP, take a look at this : http://www.crucial.com/ProductDispl...p_category=&parent_category_rn=&storeId=10151

 

[snarestud940]

I agree - I have a late 2.4ghz 2008 Macbook Aluminium. I've upgraded the RAM to 8GB and added a 240GB SSD, and you wouldn't believe the improvement in performance. Running Yosemite, it boots in less than 30 seconds, and apps open as quickly as they do on the display MBAs in my local Apple Store. Hoping to get at least another year's worth out of it before upgrading.

Alright. I'm in this boat too. How do I upgrade my Macbook late 2008 to 8 GB of ram? I only have 2... and what does upgrading to an SSD mean? Is it something I can do myself?!