Old Mac newer OS

[lane17]

Hi all!

I have a 2011 Macbook Pro (i5 2sc gen) that came with El Capitan. If I upgrade it to High Sierra, will it help or slow it down?

For example now I couldn't install any RDP clients on it, because the OS couldn't support it. So I'd like to make it usable but the speed (responsiveness) is also important here.

 

[Fishrrman]

Does the 2011 MBP have the original, platter-based hard drive?
Or... have you upgraded it with an SSD?

If the drive is still the original HDD, REPLACE IT with an SSD.
That will make the greatest speed difference.
The replacement is easy and just about anyone can do it with the right tools.
Go to ifixit.com to see what's involved.

Also, if you're thinking of High Sierra, I'd recommend dosdude1's "macOS Hiehg Sierra Patcher", available here:

macOS High Sierra Patcher

(along with easy-to-understand instructions)

 

[dmr727]

I'd at least give it a shot - maybe install to an external drive to see what you think.

At a minimum, make sure you've got an SSD. If not, upgrade.

 

[lane17]

Thanks.

I don't want to invest to much time not to mention money into it. It's like my third computer I use occasionally. The original system (as far as I know) was never reinstalled nor maintained although it still works. I was just wondering if High Sierra isn't "too new" for the hardware I currently have?

What I did now I upgraded it to HS and it seems to be tiny tiny bit slower, but it might as well be an issue with an upgrade and that's why I want a fresh installation.

 

[Fishrrman]

OP:

Again, buy a cheap 2.5" SATA SSD and put it in.
You can get a 256gb SSD for around $35.
It will run much better.

Then re-purpose the old HDD for backups or scratch storage.

 

[lane17]

OP:

Again, buy a cheap 2.5" SATA SSD and put it in.
You can get a 256gb SSD for around $35.
It will run much better.

Then re-purpose the old HDD for backups or scratch storage.

Thank you, but it doesn't answer my question and as described hardware fix is not the answer I'm looking for.

 

[benwiggy]

High Sierra is not going to be a limiting factor.

But if it's a 13" model with 2-cores, then it's going to be slow anyway, particularly for Remote Desktop. Similarly, if it's still got a hard drive, then that's going to slow it down, too.

 

[lane17]

Yeah, @benwiggy totally I know that. RDP was just the compatibility issue example. Yes, it's a very old computer, I was just wondering if installing newer OS will be in any way beneficial or should I give it a fresh install of the same old El Capitan or maybe just Sierra. I'm just curious of your experiences.

 

[benwiggy]

The major benefits are: improved compatibility with newer software; bug and security fixes; and a handful of new features.

The only benefit of a 'clean' install is in what you don't restore afterwards. E.g. You delete 100% and restore 95%. It's a lot easier just to see what you've installed and delete it, if you think it might be a problem. You can use something like Etrecheck, which will produce a report of all the rubbish you've installed that has its hooks into the OS and which could cause a problem.

EtreCheck

etrecheck.com