I have a black 2006 Macbook and I'm contemplating whether I should upgrade it to an SSD. It's currently running Lion with 2.5 GB RAM and my main issues with it are that it gets really hot and runs slow. Will swapping to an SSD somewhat alleviate this or should I just save my money considering it's a 6 year old computer and look into buying an Air in the near future?
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Upgrade or replace?
- Thread starter Rich0512
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When you say it is slow... explain when it is slow.
If it is slow launching apps or opening a large photo for example, those are disk based activities that an SSD would really help with, even on an older machine.
But if you are saying apps run slow even after they are launched, an SSD is going to do very little to help with that.
If it is running okay now, I would save up for the new machine if it was me.
If it is slow launching apps or opening a large photo for example, those are disk based activities that an SSD would really help with, even on an older machine.
But if you are saying apps run slow even after they are launched, an SSD is going to do very little to help with that.
If it is running okay now, I would save up for the new machine if it was me.
I think upgrading to an SSD on a machine that old is a waste of money. In order to improve the speed and performance of your laptop, you would need to upgrade more than just a single component (this includes cpu, gpu, RAM, harddrive, battery). The SSD upgrade alone would not resolve your issues. Also, even if you do upgrade the SSD and see some improvement, it is very likely that other components may fail (and therefore require replacing) due to the age of your device. So, I think it would be better to put the money you are thinking of spending on an SSD towards buying a newer machine. It doesn't have to be brand new, it won't take a big (or expensive) upgrade to see better performance.
I agree that the 2006 machine is simply getting too old to upgrade. Donate it to a charity or give it someone who home schools and has small kids who can use it for a couple of years.
I would not invest more in a machine too old for running Mavericks (or future OSs), even if I did not plan to run Mavericks anytime soon.
OS X Mavericks: System Requirements
Learn about the system requirements for OS X Mavericks.
To install Mavericks, you need one of these Macs:
iMac (Mid-2007 or later)
MacBook (13-inch Aluminum, Late 2008), (13-inch, Early 2009 or later)
MacBook Pro (13-inch, Mid-2009 or later),
MacBook Pro (15-inch or 17-inch, Mid/Late 2007 or later)
MacBook Air (Late 2008 or later)
Mac mini (Early 2009 or later)
Mac Pro (Early 2008 or later)
Xserve (Early 2009)
Your Mac also needs:
OS X Mountain Lion, Lion, or Snow Leopard v10.6.8 already installed
2 GB or more of memory
8 GB or more of available space
I would not invest more in a machine too old for running Mavericks (or future OSs), even if I did not plan to run Mavericks anytime soon.
OS X Mavericks: System Requirements
Learn about the system requirements for OS X Mavericks.
To install Mavericks, you need one of these Macs:
iMac (Mid-2007 or later)
MacBook (13-inch Aluminum, Late 2008), (13-inch, Early 2009 or later)
MacBook Pro (13-inch, Mid-2009 or later),
MacBook Pro (15-inch or 17-inch, Mid/Late 2007 or later)
MacBook Air (Late 2008 or later)
Mac mini (Early 2009 or later)
Mac Pro (Early 2008 or later)
Xserve (Early 2009)
Your Mac also needs:
OS X Mountain Lion, Lion, or Snow Leopard v10.6.8 already installed
2 GB or more of memory
8 GB or more of available space
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