MacBookPro has slowed down A LOT

[pm-forums]

I have a 2010 (refurbished) MacBookPro that I bought form Apple that has treated me quite well, up until the last year or so when it started really slowing down in performance. I use a lot of Adobe Creative Suite software which is really chugging, lots of spinning balls, even just opening and closing programs, saving, making changes, etc. forget Photoshop, it takes forever to do anything. Internet is quite slow regardless of my connection speed and browser. Even using Notes is painfully slow!

Since I've been admittedly quite lazy in maintenance, I decided to do a complete clean system install. I backed up all my data, wiped the OS and reinstalled. Then I upgraded from Yosemite to El Capitan, and installed for the first time my newly ordered subscription programs for Adobe Creative Cloud.

I would say things are BETTER, but not by a huge margin. It's still pretty slow, and not fast enough for the kind of work I do (when I first bought the machine is was fast in comparison). I'm also going to be doing a fair amount of VIDEO EDITING using Adobe Premiere which means I need even more power than I prevoiously needed.

So what do the kind and smart folks in here think should be my next step? I haven't run any actual diagnostics since I'm not well-versed in that area, but if you can recommend anything that would be awesome. I am exploring the possibility of getting more memory or possibly even replacing the HardDrive with a new Crucial SSD drive which I know almost nothing about.

I am tempted to bring my model into the Apple Store but I'm guessing some will tell me that would be a bad idea. I used to have AppleCare but like an idiot let it expire. Obviously I'd prefer to not break the bank but if I have to spend a little money, I will try.

Here are my current specs, and I STRONGLY appreciate any advice anyone can give me. Also feel free to troll away : ) By the way if I am posting this in the wrong place, and you know of a better location, by all means let me know.

MacBook Pro 15 Inch Mid 2010
Processor 2.4 Ghz Intel Core i5
Memory 4 GB 1067 MHz DDR3
Graphics NVIDIA GeForce GT 330M 256 MB

 

[r6mile]

You'll hear this from nearly everyone else on this forum, but absolutely put in a new SSD drive and go up to 8GB of RAM (the max on your machine). Yours is still a pretty capable machine, more RAM and an SSD will make it feel like new.

 

[T5BRICK]

So what do the kind and smart folks in here think should be my next step? I haven't run any actual diagnostics since I'm not well-versed in that area, but if you can recommend anything that would be awesome. I am exploring the possibility of getting more memory or possibly even replacing the HardDrive with a new Crucial SSD drive which I know almost nothing about.

Admittedly, your computer is getting pretty old, but the CPU and GPU are still pretty decent. A SSD is the absolute best upgrade you can perform. Just do it. It will make a huge difference.

As for RAM, the 15" 2010 models can be a little picky. It maxes out at 2 x 4GB sticks, and you'll need to find PC-8500 DDR 3.

But seriously. Get a SSD.

 

[r6mile]

I should have added - Crucial have a 'compatibility check' on their website. Just put in your laptop model, and they'll show RAM and SSDs that are guaranteed to work. You can buy direct from them and their prices are about the same as Amazon I think. 8GB of RAM and a 240GB SSD will only set you back $118.

 

[pm-forums]

Thank you to all you nice people who responded! I did the Compatibility Check on the Crucial website (than's r6!!!) and the thing that confuses me is that it came up with a list of compatible SSDs with somewhat wildly varying price ranges. Anywhere from $69.99 to $89.99 to $259.99. I'm obviously more interested in the low end but they are still good quality, yes? I don't know anything about the specs details to determine.

Also, I am terrified of opening up my MacBookPro and replacing things but I will give it a try. I use to open up my old Dell PCs and carefully clean out/replace things all the time and had little fear, but for some reason those silver Mac casings are intimidating!

 

[iMacDragon]

Absolutely any SSD will make most day to day things feel faster.

And it's really not tricky at all to take the bottom panel off any of the unibody macbooks, just make sure you have the correct sized philips 00 screwdriver, or you will risk stripping the screwheads.

 

[r6mile]

Thank you to all you nice people who responded! I did the Compatibility Check on the Crucial website (than's r6!!!) and the thing that confuses me is that it came up with a list of compatible SSDs with somewhat wildly varying price ranges. Anywhere from $69.99 to $89.99 to $259.99. I'm obviously more interested in the low end but they are still good quality, yes? I don't know anything about the specs details to determine.

Also, I am terrified of opening up my MacBookPro and replacing things but I will give it a try. I use to open up my old Dell PCs and carefully clean out/replace things all the time and had little fear, but for some reason those silver Mac casings are intimidating!

What makes the price difference is the difference in storage. 240GB is probably the best value, though it depends on your needs.

Here is what you need:
-2x4GB Crucial RAM
-Crucial BX200 240GB hard drive (500GB will cost twice that, and 1TB four times that, so this depends on your need)
-a USB enclosure for your hard drive (something like this http://www.amazon.co.uk/Inateck-Ext...&qid=1457551386&sr=8-1&keywords=usb+enclosure)
-a phillips 00 screwdriver

And here is how you go about it:
-Put your new SSD drive into the USB enclosure, and use a programme like Carbon Copy Cloner to clone your hard drive into the SSD (clone the recovery partition too when it asks)
-check that everything worked correctly, by restarting your Mac, pressing the Option key on start-up and selecting your external hard drive. OS X should boot fine (if a bit slower because your laptop only has USB 2.0)
-open the back of your MBP - this is very easy just don't lose any screws.
-replace the RAM and the hard drive with your new Crucial RAM and SSD (this is easy, but there are lots of videos on youtube if you are unsure)
-put your old hard drive into the USB enclosure, and you can use this as external storage. format it using disk utility.
-you are done!

 

[t0mat0]

Put an SSD in. Will make Adobe Photoshop/CC go much much faster.
iFixit should have a guide as to how to do it for your Mac. The RAM, SSD and the machine will be faster than it ever has.
Edit - I got the fix tool kit (useful and needed for the SSD swap, Memory swap). got the Ram, Samsung SSD, and then carbon copy clone'd over (can do with the trial irc).
my partner's face when she saw Photoshop boot up the first time

 

[jonnysods]

SSD all the way, just like these guys said. I have a 2010 MBP with an SSD, it's unreal. Doesn't miss a beat.

It's actually got me wanting to put one in my 2010 iMac...

 

[pm-forums]

Hello to all the people on this thread... several weeks later and I wanted to come back and offer a follow-up to anyone who was interested. So, I followed the instructions of everyone here, read all the online guides, purchased the SSD and related items, and dedicated a Saturday to the project of giving my MacBook Pro a new drive and RAM upgrade.

With the exception of discovering that I overlooked the necessity of that tiny "Torx" screwdriver for the internal hard drive removal and SSD implant (which sent me out into the dead of night to find a 24 hour hardware store who had one for like $3.99), everything seems to have worked out really well!

The procedure was SCARY because I was, of course, terrified I would damage something. But I didn't run into any problems. I haven't used my machine as much as I would like since I spend so much time at work on my work machine, but from what I can tell it is running really, really well. And I am super impressed by the speed. I recently subscribed to Adobe Creative Cloud and I cannot believe how fast these programs open, perform, and close. As an experiment I tried opening like 3 of them at once (Photoshop, After Effects, InDesign) - oh and at the same time why not throw in PowerPoint from the Microsoft side of things?? and it was so fast and flawless... My machine in it's previous state probably would have churned and churned and churned for 3 hours and then exploded upon such a request!

Anyway, the short story??? THANK YOU to all of you who encouraged me and gave me tips.

: )

 

[jonnysods]

Great to hear!!