[ampere]

Originally Posted by WasavaTyres

I already have bought a caddy, would this machine support a 1 TB HDD or should I go for 250 GB SSD ??

My suggestion: Look for a good 500GB SSD. That would really help. Should be easy to clone the current storage and move to new SSD. It would make a lightening difference to the performance.

[tilt]

Originally Posted by WasavaTyres

I have a Early 2011 MBP running High Sierra. Plan to replace my dead superdrive with additional storage.

I already have bought a caddy, would this machine support a 1 TB HDD or should I go for 250 GB SSD ??
PS : I've upgraded RAM to 16 GB and replaced the battery in 2014. It was a DIY Job with spares bought off amazon US.

I have a 2010 17" MBPro. That has been maxed out (aftermarket) with a 1TB HDD (works absolutely fine) and also with 8GB RAM when Apple offered a max of 4 GB.

But remember, that machine is now verrrrrrrrrry slow with MacOS High Sierra and the HDD. An SSD would be the better option, purely in terms of speed.

Cheers

[WasavaTyres]

Originally Posted by ampere

My suggestion: Look for a good 500GB SSD. That would really help. Should be easy to clone the current storage and move to new SSD. It would make a lightening difference to the performance.

Since newer OS support is not there for my machine (High Sierra was the last one) would 250 GB suffice for the OS ?

I can use the older Toshiba HDD in the caddy to store all files and keep the SSD purely for OS.
Don't want to spend money for a 500 GB SSD right now.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by WasavaTyres

Since newer OS support is not there for my machine (High Sierra was the last one) would 250 GB suffice for the OS ?

I have a 2011 Macmini running with 500GB SSD for the last 5 years and with an updated 16GB DDR3 @ 1600. Question is how much storage do you need and can the laptop form factor support the slot (I think it can).

I am on High Sierra too. Please note, SSD will add more boost to performance than RAM for now.

[Sebring]

My friend has added 1 TB SSD to his old MacMini. I'm not sure how old. 2011 MBP can take in a lot of memory in SSD form, so if there is any relation I'm sure Macmini can as well.

Originally Posted by ampere

I have a 2011 Macmini running with 500GB SSD for the last 5 years and with an updated 16GB DDR3 @ 1600. Question is how much storage do you need and can the laptop form factor support the slot (I think it can). I am on High Sierra too. Please note, SSD will add more boost to performance than RAM for now.

[Aiel]

Originally Posted by WasavaTyres

I have a Early 2011 MBP running High Sierra. Plan to replace my dead superdrive with additional storage.

I already have bought a caddy, would this machine support a 1 TB HDD or should I go for 250 GB SSD ??
PS : I've upgraded RAM to 16 GB and replaced the battery in 2014. It was a DIY Job with spares bought off amazon US.

I had a 2012 MBP with the following changes:
- Upgraded the RAM to 16GB.
- Replaced the primary hard disk with 512GB SSD.
- Removed the CD drive and replaced with a 2TB HDD in a caddy. I used this purely for storage, with the OS running on the SSD.

This sped the machine up quite fast, even with heavy usage of Lightroom and Photoshop.

[Sebring]

Was watching this today!

https://youtu.be/VNV04ARKwOc

Originally Posted by Aiel

I had a 2012 MBP with the following changes:
- Upgraded the RAM to 16GB.
- Replaced the primary hard disk with 512GB SSD.
- Removed the CD drive and replaced with a 2TB HDD in a caddy. I used this purely for storage, with the OS running on the SSD.

This sped the machine up quite fast, even with heavy usage of Lightroom and Photoshop.

[wheelspinner]

Originally Posted by WasavaTyres

I have a Early 2011 MBP running High Sierra. Plan to replace my dead superdrive with additional storage.

I already have bought a caddy, would this machine support a 1 TB HDD or should I go for 250 GB SSD ??
PS : I've upgraded RAM to 16 GB and replaced the battery in 2014. It was a DIY Job with spares bought off amazon US.

Go for a 512 GB SSD if you wanna upgrade your storage space. 250 GB seems too little to me.

I 'm currently having a 512 GB SSD in my Mac Pro late 2016 and must say, the performance on an SSD is just terrific. (The only bummer on the latest TOUCHBAR models is battery life sucks and is no more than 3-4 hrs at max if you are doing moderately heavy work.)

I have used HDDs since a long time, but they are terrible at stuff like running big applications, file R/W speeds cause performance to suffer. But if you don't have to run a lot of applications like Xcode, etc. and are just gonna store a large number of useless files, go for HDD, that's a cheaper and better option. Still I would say get at least 250 gigs of SSD storage (and if u wanna store media files, pictures and so on, put them in an external drive).

Go for SSD if you want better performance (for Dev work suppose) and HDD if you are someone who isn't really bothered about performance and can live with lower file R/W speeds.

[nileshch]

Originally Posted by Aiel

I had a 2012 MBP with the following changes:
- Upgraded the RAM to 16GB.
- Replaced the primary hard disk with 512GB SSD.
- Removed the CD drive and replaced with a 2TB HDD in a caddy. I used this purely for storage, with the OS running on the SSD.

This sped the machine up quite fast, even with heavy usage of Lightroom and Photoshop.

What a coincidence! I also have a 13-inch 2012 MBP and a couple of years back had upgraded the ram to 16GB and SSD to 256GB. Removed the DVD Drive and left the bay empty. The DVD drive used to spin unnecessarily! My battery life has increased dramatically. Its been running great with Mojave and programs like Lightroom, Photoshop and Illustrator. It even runs my 4K monitor at 2K resolution. The only issue is - the heat slows down everything periodically. Have to run a fan close to the laptop to get good performance out of it!

I am now seriously thinking of upgrading to a new MBP. However, I am caught up between the 13 inch and 15 inch ones. heart says 15-inch from a screen size and future-proof perspective. But the 13-inch is very portable and has adequate power for regular use. So the confusion goes on while I use my 2012 MBP!

[wheelspinner]

A few issues I would like to highlight in my 2016 MacBook Pro after close observation for a long time, might be relevant for most recent (post-2015) models as well if you try to relate -

1) Butterfly Keyboard. Fingers pain badly once you are typing for hours on end. My usage is for 8-10 hrs daily. You can live with it if your usage hours are lesser though.
2) RAMs and SSDs come soldered? So you have to buy a new device altogether to upgrade your specs (nice strategy by Apple)
3) Battery backup is not 10 hrs, as claimed by Apple. Its hardly 3-4 hrs even when you run only optimised system apps like Safari, with ambient brightness (75-80%)
4) Touch Bar is an absolute gimmick, most of the work it does can be done more easily with the help of a few commands. Small things like the absence of Physical keys are absolutely irritating folks, if you are a Vim user for instance.

If you are planning on buying a 2018 MacBook Pro which is available at a good discount at some stores, please be aware that it has a faulty keyboard in most units. A friend was recently forced to sell his due to persistent battery and keyboard issue - Such poor build quality, Apple has lost that reliability it was known for in its devices!

I tried out the 1st to 3rd gen butterfly keyboards and it still hasn't improved much. The slightest amount of dust if it gets in your Keyboard will make the keys get stuck/damage the whole keyboard! If you are planning to upgrade, keep these things in mind folks, cause I don't want you guys to suffer from these problems like myself after making so big an investment!

Software Part -

Mojave and High Sierra suck. I can't run Frida, a security testing tool, which used to run smoothly in both of my Windows and Linux computers. Also, Xcode and lots of apps which I use in my dev work keep crashing for no reason. Over the years, Apple's software is degrading, kinda losing their stability, it seems - which is something to think if you are choosing Apple for the remarkable stability their *OS have on offer.

My final verdict would be to go for the iMacs (whose RAM and SSD are still upgradable) if you need for Dev work and its keyboard is quite decent too. But don't go for the MacBooks, they have so many hardware, performance and battery backup issues that I am fed up of mine and thinking about selling mine dirt cheap!

Any inputs - your experience/feedbacks on these issues is highly appreciated and helpful!

[ampere]

Originally Posted by wheelspinner

My final verdict would be to go for the iMacs (whose RAM and SSD are still upgradable) if you need for Dev work and its keyboard is quite decent too. But don't go for the MacBooks, they have so many hardware, performance and battery backup issues that I am fed up of mine and thinking about selling mine dirt cheap!

I fully agree to this. I have been on Apple systems for near 15 years. But I rarely got myself a new mac book. Earlier the Mini used to be mini power house as compared macbooks or iMACs. But with the 2019 version Apple has restored the faith on Mini product line. In my opinion, its best Apple system you can get for your price. Given it comes SSD, Higher RAM and many thunderbolts, one can easily use it across the board. (too bad it cannot configured in India, but in some other regions its supported)

What I have against the macbooks? Nothing. Its just they are too expensive for the mobility one needs. At least I dont need my home compute to be mobile. But I sure need my home compute on a MAC. Gives one the basic unix credibility and also the legal cover to buy licensed SW. Not to mention, "by-design" ergonomics one will follow by sitting upright while working!

Ultimately one should decide based on his/her need..

[Aiel]

Originally Posted by nileshch

What a coincidence! I also have a 13-inch 2012 MBP

I have moved on from the MBP and is currently being used as a stationary media storage device. The keyboard and touchpad were acting up and the MBP began to restart, when I used to carry it around.

I am currently using a HP Pavillion Gaming laptop.

[Sebring]

So my 2011 MBP packed up, and the HDD had surrendered. Got a 1 TB Samsung SSD for $100. Fixed it and my machine has a new lease of life. Using it for desk music, downloads and stuff. Battery life has gone up by 40%.

[blackwasp]

Originally Posted by wheelspinner

Any inputs - your experience/feedbacks on these issues is highly appreciated and helpful!

Echoes most of my sentiments. Currently using a 2011 21.5 iMac with DIY fusion drive and a 2015 rMBP. Happy with both, but I see no value in new MacBooks. Terribly overpriced. Only 2 options currently considered for my iMac replacement - a Mac mini with external graphics card and the 27 inch 5k iMac. More inclined towards the iMac as mom to uses the hope PC and loved the screen.

Once I saw the prices, I came back to reality and have postponed purchase till either of my current machines fails me. Sadly, I see no value in upgrading my current devices at today's prices for the upgraded. 13 inch rMBP with dual core systems and 8 GB ram? No thanks. Will hold on to these as much as I can.

When I was deign engineering, I picked up the iMac for the VFM factor when other friends were getting a laptop. Most of them had to replace their machines before we graduated. In 3rd year I picked up an iPad mini for presentations and some Remote Desktop work (iMac at home used to be always on) and got things done much faster. Even now, the iMac is going strong.

Only positive of the Apple products I see today is the ecosystem and the ease of use. If my mom can use an iMac with 0 inputs from me, I say its a great product.

[tilt]

macOs Catalina is out.


A word of caution before you folks upgrade, especially if you have a Brother printer/scanner - some models of Brother (and maybe some other brands too, I do not know) have issues.


My specific issue is that my Brother MFC-74650DN can now only print and no longer scan. Apple has the printer drivers for this (and so do Brother themselves), but neither of them has an updated TWAIN scanner driver.


Brother clearly says on their website that the scanner driver will NOT work with Catalina, and they do not say anything about whether it would be updated at all or not.


Luckily I only updated one of my Macs and not my daily-driver Mac.


I have emailed Brother Support about this, but am not expecting any encouraging response. The maximum I expect them to say is "mmmYeah, that printer is discontinued, so... yeaaahhhhhhh...sorry, mmmKay?"


Cheers