Was thinking of getting one of the last late 2011 17″ MacBook Pros as an upgrade from my 2009 MacBook 15″. Will I notice much of a speed difference? 17″ is a2.2ghz quad i7 and the 15″ is a core duo.

I’m not sure on Macs regarding performance comparison of core2duo vs any iX processor, but the difference between my windows core 2 duo (can’t remember exact processor, but it was the last of the high end ones built into a dell precision mobile workstation) and my windows lowly energy efficient i5 is night and day – massively in favour of the i5.

Also, my late 2011 macbook pro 15″ with i7 something and 16gb ram is blazing quick. I use it a lot for lightroom processing.. editing changes are visible straight away and export is fast. It’s got a 1tb hybrid sshd in it but it’s still super fast. Day to day browsing, file opening etc very quick.

My understanding is that iX processors give a leap in performance largely due to getting rid of the front side bus memory interface, so memory operations are far far quicker.

The 2nd Gen Quad Core i7 in the 2011 machine is still a fast processor by today’s standards. In fact the latest 6th gen core i7’s are maybe only 15% faster like for like.

The jump from Core Duo to a quad Core i7 will be like night and day! Check MacTracker for the Geekbench scores for both machines, I’d expect a Quad core i7 MBP (even a 2011 one) to benchmark with a score 3x higher probably than your old machine!

Sounds like it could be a good swap. Adobe cc is a little slow on the 09. How much is the 09 15″ worth if I want to sell it. It’s got 4gb ram, 500gb hard drive.

Get it. Think that’s what year mine is. Slam a massive SSD in it and as much RAM as it”ll take (cost about 300 quid) and it’s like a brand new machine

How much is the 09 15″ worth if I want to sell it. It’s got 4gb ram, 500gb hard drive.

Very little sadly now, because of how slow they are compared to newer machines and their software limitations… Still, any money towards the following will help…

Slam a massive SSD in it and as much RAM as it”ll take (cost about 300 quid) and it’s like a brand new machine

16GB RAM max (though 8GB is plenty for most) and a decent SSD will make a huge difference for sure. Only problem is you’re buying an already 5yr old machine, I’d be wary of spending too much money on it in case something else breaks costing you a lot of money or even writing the machine off… I recently sold my 2011 13″ i7 MBP not because it was slow (it wasn’t, its brand new replacement isn’t even 15% faster), but cos it had had 5 years of use (albeit well looked after) and things do go wrong, and when out of warranty they cost huge amounts to fix. I lost £400 on my last one inside 5 years, £80 a year is a no brainer to me, hence why I’d just buy brand new in your position and find a way to pay for it…

Thanks mboy, that’s my worry as well, a 2011 17″ is still £800. That would be with 16gb ram and a 500gb SSD.

Trouble is new machines are a little expensive.

With those upgrades already, that’s still a pretty serious bit of kit for 800 quid. I run CC on mine all day every day, with an external monitor linked to it and it’s fast. Doesn’t struggle with anything. What are you going to pay for a new machine with similar performance?

I know what you mean. Was just looking on Apple at the new 15″ with 16gb ram and 500 SSD and its £2700, even a high spec 13″ is over £2k.

I was looking at the new 17″ MBP and theres no way I can justify that kind of money, when I’ve got this older model that, with those upgrades, just does everything I need.

looking at the spec on the 15″ machines for over 2 grand, they’ve no more oomph than the (bigger screened) one I’m presently using

I know some people will just automatically upgrade, so there should be some good deals around on second hand, high spec machines. That one you’re talking about would indicate that. For me, 800 quid seems like money well spent. I’d say you wouldn’t have to worry about a new machine for good few years if you got that one. Its the same spec as mine, which is brilliant. This thing cost me over 2 grand back in 2011,as it was the highest spec available. And its certainly earned its keep. 300 quid of upgrades and it’ll be reet for a few years yet.

Macs are built to last, and in 20 odd years of using them I’ve only had one issue, when the logic board went on an old G4. 450 quid to replace if I remember rightly

My MacBook recently died and I need a replacement machine – I only use it for surfing the web, so don’t need masses of power as long as it can run the most recent OS. Could be interested in your old one if you want to sell Td75 – my email address is in my profile.

Just seen this. Upgrade current machine for £200 and then decide.

RAM: put either 1 8gb stick in (2+8=10) or 4+4=8 (note did the 10 on wife’s 2010 machine)
SSD: 500gb ssd is £110 or save a few quid on a 250 if you don’t need the space
Caddy: buy a £15 usb casdy to reuse old harddrive and help with installation

IMO 8 or 10 will be ample unkess you are doing lotsbof video decoding/picture editing work especially with an ssd

I have now upgraded 5 machines for myself and friends. It’s not difficult, just buy some torx drivers and a small phillips (i am diy incompetent and hardest part was unscrewing the back)

I could not justify new mac book pro prices

Let me have a think finbar and I’ll let you know.

Jambalaya, I priced up the upgrades to my current machine this afternoon. 8gb of ram and a 500gb SSD is £167, I would imagine that would make a difference for little outlay.

Have also been looking at the new Macbook, I only work in illustrator and photoshop and I’d plug it into an external monitor anyway. It wouldn’t be a rocket ship, but something for branding concepts and website design it would probably be ok. Plus it’s super portable.

Any one use a new Macbook 12″ retina for graphic design? Definitely couldn’t justify a new macbook pro, as lovely as they are.

I would imagine that would make a difference for little outlay.

Massive difference, ssd means boot from cold is 30 seconds not 2-3 minutes. App start is 5-10 seconds. In theory matched pairs of ram are faster but for practical use 2+8 works just fine. You’ll get that £167 back when selling the machine if you choose to or can re-use the ssd in caddy. I buy Samsung Evo or Pro SSD fwiw

If you download blackmagicspeedtest and run it my guess is you will see 40-50 and ssd will run at 500. Your slow hard drive plus only 4gb ram will be holding you back too. SSD will help massively with ram pressure but an extra 8 is cheap and easy to do when you have the back off.