2009 Macbook Pro - SSD worthwhile?

[Over over under steer]

Hello all,

I'm fairly tech savvy chap but it has been a fair few years since I've dived hands on into anything.

My 2009 MBP (Core 2 Duo 2.53 GHz P8700 w/ 4GB DDR3 RAM) hasn't really been used in yonks as I really don't need a laptop at home. However, my new firm's working from home arrangement means I need to be able to remote in from a PC/Mac, and I really begrudge buying a new machine for that alone....

The OS is pretty whacked, with no App Store (strange as it's running Snow Leopard) so can't make a backup of the OS onto a bootable USB drive. So two questions:

- Is it worth upgrading to a 128gb SSD and upping ram to 8GB and reinstalling the OS? Conscious it may just be too old now...
- If so, how do I get a bootable copy of Mac OS without being able to create one on my Mac itself?

Many thanks,

[tazgalsinh]

I upgrade my 2011 MacBook Pro to SSD a few years ago and the speed difference was night and day.

Make a backup with timemachine. swap the HDD over and then boot up with your timemachine USB plugged it and it should restore your lastest backup.

[Over over under steer]

tazgalsinh said:

I upgrade my 2011 MacBook Pro to SSD a few years ago and the speed difference was night and day.

Make a backup with timemachine. swap the HDD over and then boot up with your timemachine USB plugged it and it should restore your lastest backup.

Thanks for that, would really prefer to do a clean install. Is this possible?

[WinstonWolf]

I ran pretty much the same spec as you and did those upgrades, the answer is a definite yes.

You can download and burn a DVD, the basic process is outlined here

https://mac-how-to.gadgethacks.com/how-to/create-b...

[jeremyc]

Over over under steer said:

- Is it worth upgrading to a 128gb SSD and upping ram to 8GB and reinstalling the OS? Conscious it may just be too old now...

Yes. I did this to my mid 2009 MPB a couple of years ago and it's still going strong. I chose a 500Gbyte SSD though.

[Over over under steer]

WinstonWolf said:

I ran pretty much the same spec as you and did those upgrades, the answer is a definite yes.

You can download and burn a DVD, the basic process is outlined here

https://mac-how-to.gadgethacks.com/how-to/create-b...

Brilliant, I'll do just that... exactly what I need.

jeremyc said:

yes: Yes. I did this to my mid 2009 MPB a couple of years ago and it's still going strong. I chose a 500Gbyte SSD though.

I just need the minimum size SSD to keep me going, all my stuff is cloud based and I'll be simply using remote desktop so brill.

Glad to see there's life still left in the girl, now time to get the screwdrivers out!

[Order66]

Changing the drive to an SSD is the singlar best upgrade you can do to any machine (windows or Mac). Completely transforms performance. Absolutely worth the investment.

[wibble cb]

I did this a while back....its not the quickest machine out there, but its fine for most things

If you can at least boot it up, check for OS upgrades, mine is on El Capitan (the latest it can be for a mac this old)



just checked how much the 512 gb ssd is these days, 85 cad$, I paid $200!

[tog]

You can probably stick 16GB RAM in even if the max according to spec is 8GB. Just use 2x 8GB sticks instead of 2x 4GB. Worked fine on my 2010 13" MB Pro, but you should probably Google it to check it's the same with a 2009.

[Over over under steer]

By way of an update. My wheezing old 2009 Macbook Pro was upgraded with a VERY cheap 120GB Kingston SSD (£18 on Amazon) and then booted up with El Capitan (latest OS it could handle, bought a cheap pendrive boot stick off amazon for £8 to save hassle). It now runs perfectly for everything I need it to.

Thanks for the advice, and recommend it to anyone thinking about doing the same.

[DoubleSix]

How was the process?

Software required etc?

[snapdragon69]

I always...

1. Create an OS X Install USB or DVD installer using DiskMaker X (formerly Lion DiskMaker) https://diskmakerx.com/
2. Remove old HDD and put it into a USB case/caddy - it will be used later during Setup Assistant.
3 Install new SSD.
4 Boot from you USB or DVD and install OS X.
5.Reboot, boots up from new SSD.
6 During Setup Assistant, choose to take applications, settings and users from a Hard Disk or other Mac
7 Reboot and login and test

[AJB88]

my old 2010 MBP was a different machine one I put 8gb ram and SSD into it! I sold it eventually when they dropped OS updates for it, running Dell XPS Ubuntu now.