[SOLVED] Is an Old MacBook Worth Upgrading?

[matt4723]

Please move this thread if it's in the wrong place. I figured I should probably place this is the Mac Forum because the question is about a Mac.

I've been a Windows user for as long as I an remember, but I'm finally considering switching to Mac. To test the waters, I purchased a late 2009 Unibody MacBook off eBay and I've been using it alongside my Windows PC for a few weeks now. I've been considering upgrading the RAM to 8GB and the hard drive to an SSD. My question is, is it worth upgrading? Currently, it's running macOS Sierra, but I have the feeling that the next release of MacOS will officially obsolete the late-09 MacBook. So I ask, should I even bother upgrading it?

Here are the specs:
Macbook 6,1
macOS Sierra 10.12.1
2.26 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
4 GB 1333 MHz DDR3 RAM
320 GB HDD
NVidia GeForce 9400M GPU, 256 MB VRAM

Thanks
Matt

 

[BadAsAl]

Even if you can't go to the next OS release, it will run great with Sierra and 8GB and SSD for many years to come.
Putting in an SSD alone will make it feel like a much more powerful machine.

 

[dudeman509]

A bit old processor-wise, but RAM and a SSD will make it feel like a "new" (to you) machine.

 

[photonboy]

Not sure if more than 4GB will be very obvious. My dad's laptop has 2GB and runs quite well with Windows 10. If I had a program that was RAM hungry it would help.

Google Chrome for example with lots of tabs open but frankly I think 4GB is most likely enough for most use cases.

The SSD will make it bootup and perform a bit faster, but whether that's "worth it" is hard to determine.

SSD's are reasonably inexpensive now though. You can use pcpartpicker, but if a 250GB is sufficient they cost as little as $65USD now:
http://pcpartpicker.com/product/gf98TW/a-data-internal-hard-drive-asp550ss3240gmc

*Investigate the general QUALITY of the SSD but also ensure there are no compatibility issues. There may be with a 2009 Mac but I just don't know.

If the SSD is compatible, then I'd consider reinstalling from scratch if you know how. That's not much of a risk since you have the HDD to put back in. Otherwise you'll need to get a USB enclosure so you can CLONE.

I'd keep the HDD in a static bag in case you need it due to SSD failure (hardware or corrupt data you can't fix).

 

[photonboy]

http://www.apple.com/lae/macos/how-to-upgrade/

It says "late 2009 or newer" so you'd have to investigate that a bit closer.

Some features won't work, and also unless there's actually some performance benefit or application benefit I wouldn't upgrade.

You may even introduce issues.

 

[microlost]

It depends what you would use it for, if just for basic web browsing then get a free upgrade by switching to linux, it will greatly improve the performance and potentially delay the need for hardware upgrades/getting a newer computer by severall years. If for word proccessing, linux also has you covered with libreoffice. However, if you want to run more mainstream sofware, I would reccommeng the ssd upgrade, the RAM that is currently in it should suit your needs for general purposes (I only have 3gbs) So, unless you are planning on doing some serious work with that machine, linux and/or an ssd would be adequate.