For older posts, hit up the Archive or Category links in the right sidebar

 


RescueMyClassicMac.com

Do you need old system software disks to boot your vintage Mac?


MailFromCupertino.com

It's fun to look back at old Apple emails. Check them out.


This site is not affiliated with Apple, Inc.
All company logos and product names may be registered trademarks and are hereby acknowledged.

© 2004-2022 Kevin Rye. All Rights Reserved.

For older posts, hit up the Archive or Category links in the right sidebar

 

AppleToTheCore.me

I'm a total Apple addict, as you might tell.

2010 13" MacBook Pro with Upgrades

March 07, 2019 Filed in: MacBooks | Upgrades
My sister-in-law was complaining that her ancient 2010 MacBook Pro was so slow that it was not even usable anymore. This is the same MacBook that I replaced the battery two years ago. She has since picked up a new laptop and the MacBook Pro has been sitting around for about a year collecting dust. She gave it to me to mess around with. She’s right. This thing is sooooo slow. It takes about a minute to boot up and any app that you launch takes about 20-30 seconds to load.

It is a little worse for wear, but it might just need a good cleaning.

macbook13_upgrade_0218


macbook13_upgrade_0214

macbook13_upgrade_0213

The top left-hand corner of the display is dented. Although, I'm sure replacement covers are cheap on eBay for a 9-year old MacBook. I might replace it.

macbook13_upgrade_0217

I've been wanting a MacBook for the longest, but they are so expensive. I just can't justify buying one when I know it's probably not going to get a lot of use. However, with a free MacBook, I saw this as the perfect opportunity to invest a small amount of money to upgrade an older machine and get some use out of it without having to drop $1500+ on a new one.

I hopped online and ordered 16GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD drive.

macbook13_upgrade_0211

The drive even came with an enclosure to house the drive that is being replaced. Pretty sweet deal for only $160 bucks.

macbook13_upgrade_0212

Getting under the hood is only a matter of removing 10 screws.

macbook13_upgrade_0219

I had the drive and RAM swapped out in literally 3 minutes.

macbook13_upgrade_0222

I then jumped into the Recovery mode and reinstalled macOS.

macbook13_upgrade_0228

I let it run overnight since it was late and woke up in the morning to a fresh looking MacBook Pro.

macbook13_upgrade_0230

I also replaced the power adapter. The old one was looking rather grubby. I got an open-box one from eBay for only $18 bucks!

macbook13_upgrade_0209

So how fast is it? It's actually pretty fast. Getting to the login screen went from about a minute (if not longer) to 18 seconds. That could also have something to do with having a clean install vs all the junk that was on it before. However, apps went from taking 20-30 seconds to launch to popping up almost immediately. I am really surprised, and pleased, at how fast it is now. This MacBook might actually turn out to be really useful and not just something that I drag out in a pinch.

Here's a before and after shot of the drive read/write speed. It's night and day.

MBP13_beforeSSD
MBP13_afterSSD

Between the RAM, the drive, and the adapter, I only spent about $250 bucks. Not bad for a MacBook Pro that feels like new.