Macbook pro late 2008 upgrade

[phospholipid1]

Received an old macbook pro late 2008 and was wanting to upgrade it a little, just wondering on what ssd and ram my mac is capable of holding?

Here are the current specs:

Processor name: intel core 2 duo
processor speed: 2.53 ghz
no of processors: 1
no of cores: 2
L2 Cache: 6mb
Memory: 4gb
bus speed: 1.07ghz
Serial no. W88523DC1GA

Could someone tell me which ssd I can get (what dimensions?), and the maximum ram capacity of this system

 

[DeltaMac]

Your late 2008 MacBook Pro can have a maximum of 8 GB RAM installed.

The SSD can be any 2.5-inch SSD, and you should look for one that is compatible with your SATA bus, which is SATA2 (3.0 Gbps)

 

[mneblett]

I have the 2.4GHz version of the same machine. 8GB of RAM and a 256GB SSD made a huge difference in the apparent performance.

On the SSD, it's getting nearly impossible to find a decent SATA II (3Gb/s) SSD anymore -- get a SATA III (6Gb/s) SSD (which is backwards-compatible with SATA II and will work in your machine).

I put a SATA III SSD in my late '08, in part because I wanted to have the ability to use the SSD someday in another SATA III-equipped computer.

 

[phospholipid1]

Thanks, and what about the RAM - What should I look for? Also, where can I find these products in the UK? I searched around but get directed to a lot of North American websites.

One more question, I was speaking to a friend who advised me to just sell this one (They are selling for around £400 on ebay) and save up for a newer model? Do you agree with him? I partly agree because the model is kind of heavy at 2.5kg, but that's not too big of a deal. I'll be using it for programming in Java and Python/ruby mainly... Nothing too extensive (no gaming).

edit: would this be compatible? http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00A7JFYXC/ref=noref?ie=UTF8&psc=1&s=computers#productDetails

 

[stevemurrayphot]

Yes, I believe so

just returning this for my late 08 MBP and exchanging for a 256M version, should be fine. It comes with cables and enclosure, which is handy, plus Windows software for cloning your hard disk - I'll just use CarbonCopyCloner when it gets here, not expecting any issues. Try Crucial for the memory, not had any problem with my 8Gb upgrade at all.

 

[phospholipid1]

Could someone please tell me if this will fit into my current mac: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Kingston-Te...F8&qid=1391219914&sr=8-2&keywords=ssd+for+mac

 

[DeltaMac]

This RAM would be exactly right for your MBPro
http://www.amazon.co.uk/memory-upgr...12?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1391220228&sr=1-12
If you prefer a lower price, then continue looking with those specs
PC3-8500 (1066 MHz) DDR3 SO-DIMM
Just remember that 4 GB will be your largest size single stick, and 2 x 4 GB will give your the maximum RAM.
The SSD that you linked will fit and work OK, but less capacity than what I would get.

 

[pukrnukr]

One more question, I was speaking to a friend who advised me to just sell this one (They are selling for around £400 on ebay) and save up for a newer model? Do you agree with him? I partly agree because the model is kind of heavy at 2.5kg, but that's not too big of a deal. I'll be using it for programming in Java and Python/ruby mainly... Nothing too extensive (no gaming).

If you got this macbook pro for free or didn't pay much for it, I would sell it and save a little more and get something a few years newer with a core i5. I've been looking to sell my late 2008 macbook pro and buy a newer one because it looks as if, at least here in the us, that I can sell mine and buy something considerably faster for only a few hundred out of my pocket.