MBPro late 2011 15' SSD upgrade

[Giuanniello]

By October I plan on upgrading my machines, the one I am using now is a 2009 27' iMac with i7 cpu and 8GB RAM whose HD already changed into a 500GB HD, it does pretty well for what I need, some basic-mid photo editing but nothing very demanding; the other machine which I used to use the most is a late 2011 MBPro 15' whose mainboard was changed under warranty a while ago and whose i7 CPU along with 16GB RAM used to do pretty well for my photo editing but whose spinning HD makes it an elephant compared also to my son's MBAir 13' with a mere 128GB HD and 4GB RAM so I am planning to upgrade my son's air to a 256GB disk so that he has some more space (lot of threads about SSD adapters and so on but I'd rather go for a ready to go solution based on a Trascend JetDrive which now, at a 130 euros mark, is much more affordable than it used to be a year ago but I am wondering if on my beloved MBPro makes sense to spend for a high end SSD rather than an average one bearing in mind I would stay within the 500GB limit not making sense to spend a bunch of money for such an old machine.

End of the day, which route would you advise to go on my MBPro, brand wise above all.

Grazie


Giovanni

 

[MSastre]

By October I plan on upgrading my machines, the one I am using now is a 2009 27' iMac with i7 cpu and 8GB RAM whose HD already changed into a 500GB HD, it does pretty well for what I need, some basic-mid photo editing but nothing very demanding; the other machine which I used to use the most is a late 2011 MBPro 15' whose mainboard was changed under warranty a while ago and whose i7 CPU along with 16GB RAM used to do pretty well for my photo editing but whose spinning HD makes it an elephant compared also to my son's MBAir 13' with a mere 128GB HD and 4GB RAM so I am planning to upgrade my son's air to a 256GB disk so that he has some more space (lot of threads about SSD adapters and so on but I'd rather go for a ready to go solution based on a Trascend JetDrive which now, at a 130 euros mark, is much more affordable than it used to be a year ago but I am wondering if on my beloved MBPro makes sense to spend for a high end SSD rather than an average one bearing in mind I would stay within the 500GB limit not making sense to spend a bunch of money for such an old machine.

End of the day, which route would you advise to go on my MBPro, brand wise above all.

Grazie


Giovanni

I've put several Crucial SSDs in a number of my Macs, a couple of them 2009s. Makes a world of difference. They have them in several sizes and also list compatibility for your system. Highly recommend them.

 

[Rocko99991]

I put a Sandisk SSD in my 2011. Speeds were not that great. Sent it back and put Samsung 860 and they were much faster. I get about 500mb read/write with the Samsung.

 

[jerryk]

Any SSD now on the market should be a fine upgrade for your system. A 512 GB Samsung 860 would run $115 USD.

 

[Giuanniello]

Any SSD now on the market should be a fine upgrade for your system. A 512 GB Samsung 860 would run $115 USD.

What? That's it for a 512GB??? Well, if that's the price tag I'd go for a 1TB and give new life to my beloved MBPro but I am pretty sure here in Italy they are not that cheap, gonna go give a check on Amazon or will ask a friend coming off the US in couple months to get me one.

Thank you so much

 

[Rocko99991]

Any SSD now on the market should be a fine upgrade for your system. A 512 GB Samsung 860 would run $115 USD.

I wouldn't agree with this. While they will be faster than a spinning drive, the speed between SSD's varies greatly. I would stay away from the cheaper SSDs and go with what Jerryk and I recommended. Samsung 860 is a fantastic SSD.

 

[LaMonte]

I wouldn't agree with this. While they will be faster than a spinning drive, the speed between SSD's varies greatly. I would stay away from the cheaper SSDs and go with what Jerryk and I recommended. Samsung 860 is a fantastic SSD.

I have
[doublepost=1534524495][/doublepost]I have a 2011 MacBook Pro 15 inch, the mainboard was changed under warranty 2 years ago. I installed a 860 Samsung 512 drive in it about a year ago with 16 GB of memory. You can buy it from Amazon for around $110 today. I have uses this computer along side the newer ones and as far as speed its not worth buying a new one. the graphics look great for what I do. I do most my work with the Adobe CS6 and Corel Draw. For backup I use the Samsung T5 SSD 512GB.

 

[Audit13]

I have used Adata, crucial, Samsung, OCZ, and Kingston in various 15" and 13" MacBooks. The SSDs were all fast and felt about the same in speed even though benchmarks said otherwise.

Given the age of the machine and the potential for a gpu failure, I wouldn't spend money to get a top end drive. 2.5" SSDs have been around for years and the technology has matured without any speed gains.

 

[jerryk]

What? That's it for a 512GB??? Well, if that's the price tag I'd go for a 1TB and give new life to my beloved MBPro but I am pretty sure here in Italy they are not that cheap, gonna go give a check on Amazon or will ask a friend coming off the US in couple months to get me one.

Thank you so much

Yes, the prices have dropped. 2.5 inch SSDs have crashed in price since few computer manufactures uses them any more. Most computers made today use NVME or other M.2 (gum stick format) SSDs, or in a few cases, like Apple, solder the SSD modules directly to the main board.

This makes it cheap for those of us that have older systems with 2.5" spinning hard drives to get a 8X or better performance increase.

BTW, I was wrong on the price. The 500 GB Samsung 860 is now down to $107 USD on Amazon. 1 TB is $199 USD. 😉

Enjoy your speedy new system!

 

[MagicBoy]

I put a 512GB Crucial M4 in my 2011 MBP when I had it. Transformed the machine, well worth the (then exorbitant) £250.