Carlschav Loc: New Jersey

I am an amateur photographer interested in getting into photo processing programs like Topaz. The problem is that I have a 7-year old MacBook Pro (4GB and 500GB HD W/250GB available, running Catalina) that is incredibly slow. I was told by someone at an Apple Store near me, that I should upgrade to 16GB and a 1Tb SSD HD that I could get at Crucial.com for about $90 and $115, and install myself. (The store will not touch any computer that is more than 5 years old.)
Questions:
1. Would the upgrades improve the laptop’s response issues; and,
2. How complicated is it to upgrade the RAM and replace the SSD HD?

Thanks, I appreciate any help.

Wingpilot Loc: Wasilla. Ak

Good morning. I asked Apple, as well as the Geek Squad at Best Buy (actually, their Apple “expert”) and was advised that it may be risky using non-Apple approved components when considering upgrading the MacBook Pro. Make sure that those items you mention are fully compatible with your computer before spending the money. I also asked about upgrading my MacBook Pro and was advised that it would cost around $400–500.00 to do that.

mas24 Loc: Southern CA

I own a 7 year old Windows 10 laptop. I'm most likely going to buy a new laptop next year, after the Xmas spending. I don't own a Mac, but if the Store won't touch a computer that is 5 years old. Surely, a privately owned computer repair shop can upgrade your older Mac, so long as you have the proper parts. You Tube Videos should have tutorials on how to change Ram and HDD or SSD. Good luck.

Carlschav Loc: New Jersey

Thanks. Will do.
Crucial.com bases their recommendations for RAM and HD replacement on the specific make, model and year of your computer.

Old Coot

My advice. Get rid of the "catalina" software and go no higher than "Mojave" Don't know if you can upgrade the ram but so easy to upgrade the HD to I terrabyte

cjc2 Loc: Hellertown PA

I would check online with OWC aka MacSales. You can also call them for recommendations. They are considered by many as the MAC upgrade king. Crucial is also a brand that Apple often recommends, so check prices. In my experience, OWC will be more helpful. You need memory for sure and an SSD will speed things up quite a bit. It may also be time for a new machine. Best of luck.

bbrowner Loc: Chapel Hill, NC

About not using Apple components...

I very recently bought a new 27" iMac. When talking with the sales person about the thought of upgrading the memory... he said... "if you upgrade the memory... don't get it from us. It's too expensive. Get it from a third party... like Crucial.

I used Crucial memory a few years ago/ to upgrade my (old) MacBook Pro. It helped. But that machine was too old . While it helped... other stuff was too old to bother with. Don't use it now.

Barry

Wingpilot Loc: Wasilla. Ak

Good tech tip. I agree that the Apple stuff is pretty spendy, but if there is some non-Apple gear that they approve of or would recommend using, and for a lot less, that’s the way to go. There is some stuff out there that won’t work, or won’t work properly in a Mac, so it’s important to use the right stuff, as you mention above.

minniev Loc: MIssissippi

I recently worked on my 2011 MacBook Pro and got it much more workable than it was. Mine will only accommodate 8 gb ram (you can look up your model number on the Apple site or a third party vendor like Crucial to see how much yours will accommodate), so it was maxed out at 8 and still very slow, and neither LR nor PS would run.

SO: what I did was:
Upgraded to High Sierra but did not try to go past that.
Googled instructions about how to replace the DVD drive in my model mac with an SSD, watched video.
Removed every program and file I did not want on my “new” machine, then backed it up for safety.
Cloned the hard drive using a trial copy of a commercial Cloner program
Removed the DVD drive
Put in an SSD in the slot that held the DVD drive (I had to buy a “tray” to hold it, about $8 on Amazon)
Copied the drive contents from the cloner program back to the SSD
Reformatted the original hard drive
Moved all my files and photos to the hard drive, leaving only the programs on the SSD

Now my elderly laptop starts up in seconds instead of minutes and I can run LR, PS, On1 and plugins. I have not tried any of the newer Topaz programs that eat up so much of the system, though. I use the old Topaz and NIK plugins, and a few others.

photogeneralist Loc: Lopez Island Washington State

Our Macbook Pro is a mid 2009 model 15". When the Hard drive died, we replaced the dead drive with a new Solid State Drive SSD. Since getting into the innards is a complicated and delicate process involving removal of the display screen to gain access to the innards, It seemed worthwhile to upgrade the RAM while we were in there anyway. So the ram has been maxed out The result was a noticeably faster cold boot and a barely noticeable increase in processing speed. Also, by vacuuming out the accumulated lint etc. the computer runs cooler.

Note: I have neither the skills, knowledge nor specialized tools for the job so I gave the job to a friend that has all three.

ORpilot Loc: Prineville, Or

I like these guys too. They have always answered my questions and offered suggestions. I have a 2009 vintage MacBook Pro 13inch and our local chain store "Simply Mac" (simplymac.com) works on my vintage MacBook no problem. I updraded my hard drive 500Gb, memory 4Gb and battery. Then a year later I replaced the battery again myself, easy job. The battery came from OWC. They recommended only using El Capitan. It isn't as fast as my 2016 27" iMac. But it does fine for general photo work. The speed is a little noticable when I'm shooting my 42mp shots. I use the onboard Apple photos to do most of my editing. I directly load photos on the laptop and they are transfered via Apple to my iMac. I use ON1 and Capture One on my iMac. I have not upgraded to Catalina on any of my Macs. Have fun, you can do it. Just remember that when dealing with memory to always be grounded to the machine and don't touch any contacts.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

I put a 500GB Samsung SSD in my 2012 MBP, and it speeded it up noticeably - at least any operation that relied on the hard drive. Mine came with 16GB of memory. I don't use it for photo processing, so I've never been bothered by slowness. Replacing the drive in a Mac desktop looks like an awful job, but working on the laptop was easy. Lots of info on YouTube. Prices have come way down on those SSDs.

https://smile.amazon.com/SanDisk-480GB-Solid-State-SDSSDA-480G-G26/dp/B01F9G46Q8/ref=sxin_8_osp34-543ada6a_cov?ascsubtag=543ada6a-6013-492a-a494-3c56e9e8ab28&creativeASIN=B01F9G46Q8&cv_ct_id=amzn1.osp.543ada6a-6013-492a-a494-3c56e9e8ab28&cv_ct_pg=search&cv_ct_wn=osp-search&keywords=samsung+ssd&linkCode=oas&pd_rd_i=B01F9G46Q8&pd_rd_r=218d4534-b747-47ba-9efa-cf3748d7cae0&pd_rd_w=2OVDu&pd_rd_wg=4a49P&pf_rd_p=a23a388c-add5-49df-b293-a31ade89c6bf&pf_rd_r=XBZXBM0RH5B68Z92B35A&qid=1574704224&tag=lifewirepublish-20

https://smile.amazon.com/s?k=samsung+ssd&ref=nb_sb_noss_2

Tom B Loc: Rhode Island

I have upgraded many of these for clients with Crucial and other SSD's and memory with no issues whatsoever. Just be sure to get the correct memory. If you go to the Apple logo in the top left and click about this Mac there is a Memory tab that will give you the specific type. The performance increase was incredible.

Carlschav Loc: New Jersey

Thanks to all for terrific advice.
Have a great Thanksgiving.

chevman Loc: Matthews, North Carolina

I have upgraded two MacBook Pros with Crucial SSD and Memory no sweat. You can go on line to Crucial and they can analyze your computer and suggest compatible upgrades for you. Go for it you will be amazed at the performance. Also did a brand new HP Pavilion 15 inch touch screen laptop from Costco and an older Dell 17” laptop and what a difference in performance it made.