Took my daughters old 2011-2014 MBP and put in 500gb SSD and 16gb RAM and now they are fast as

[Pepsidog]

lightening. I think you can upgrade up to 2015 13in. After that Apple made it so you couldn’t upgrade the computer yourself, they glued the components so what you ordered you were stuck with. I went in Craiglist and found a 2013 MBP 13in in good working order and souped it up for my neighbor. Cost about $100 for SSD and RAM but very easy to install. Beats paying for a new machine. You can get a good 2013 13in MBP for about $250-$300. I also still use my 2007 iMac for watching tv shows for free. Watching Turkish history shows now about the rise of the Ottoman Empire. Each episode is about 2 1/2 hours, great acting, no commercials and each period has about 150 episodes. So I have watched from Ertrugal the Kati Tribe leader to Osman the Father of the Ottomans and Ertrugals youngest son all the way up to the last Sultan Abdul Hamid II. What a fascinating history. Hundreds of hours of riveting tv. Only drawback is subtitled but I got used to them quickly. Also can watch Drillis Ertrugal on Netflix with voiceover. I’m obsessed with Turkish history now and can’t wait to go to Istanbul. Learned more history watching these shows than any other place. Google “Watch Turkish shows free”. Or go to Turkish123.com or Kayifamilytv.com 2 good sites to watch.

[usonian]

1. Congrats!

I am hanging in there with the old stuff.

After many years of not splurging on myself on anything, I chose new camera gear.
Mirrorless is a giant step forward. I took it.

Computer upgrades for me would "focus" on a sharp, bright display. This 2013 (!) imac works well, and I recall, it has the 7200 rpm disk, a distinct improvement on the usual sluggish 5200 rpm ones.

Right to repair/upgrade. YES.

[Pepsidog]

4. Just paid $175 for MBP in great condition off FB Marketplace. Hopefully it works as good as it look.

[kysrsoze]

2. Did the same thing with our 2012 Mac Mini. Went to 1TB SSD and 16GB RAM

It was complicated, but essentially we now have a new computer that's fast enough for HD video processing - 4K would be a big stretch.

I'm sure Apple wants to do everything they can to make customers think they can't upgrade components, or just make it impossible altogether - something PC manufacturers haven't done in the past. I've kept PC's going LONG after they should have been put out to pasture - only Windows upgrade to 11 prevents that if the machines aren't deemed good enough to upgrade - but they can still run Win10 with no problems.

[Pepsidog]

5. Great idea. I might try it.

[CloudWatcher]

3. iFixit.com

The iFixit folks have several excellent upgrade kits and include
all the tools you need to do the work.

But ... be careful, they're not for those with weak eyes or big thumbs. Or
anyone in a hurry

And an upgraded old machine can be fully functional, but still fall off of Apple's
software update list. E.g. I've got a 2013 MacBookPro that I have upgraded, but
the latest macOS won't install on it. Too old.

[Pepsidog]

6. You are correct. I ruined one by breaking a cable and it's not really worth getting fixed. Gotta

take it slow, have the right tools, and make sure you keep the parts especially the screws in safe place so as to not lose the parts. The ifixit people are pretty amazing at how fast they can replace parts. My son is an orthopedic surgery resident so I will start letting him use his steady hands to make future repairs.

[usonian]

7. YMMV, but there's Linux

I've done it. Matter of fact, had YellowDog Linux running on a powerbook G3 (the black one in Independence Day).
I feared no man for that sledgehammer of a laptop was with me.

You can download Knoppix DVD image or, these days, thumb drive image. Sometimes, it's in magazines, but I haven't bee hitting the magazine racks for a long time. It's Debian Linux and the point is, if it boots up from the "media" then it just runs. Optional to install it. Naturally, you partition the disk first if you don't want to trash whatever MacOS is there. procede with caution.

We (Sun and partners) were pretty high on "live CD" distros because you could deploy them in classrooms and the OS was unbreakable. Any hanky-panky, and you reboot to a clean OS. This is what Tails does, IIRC. Go into a hostile environment, and you know the OS is sparkling clean. I know that Knoppix runs on all the Apple intel hardware I've tried. Can't say for Tails.

I posted an article elsewhere about "being anonymous" in this age of anti-abortion bounties. I'll repost it for visibility.
I'm all the way up to HighSierra here. I was on cellular internet for years and years. I was not going to drag a 17 inch imac into the library, that's for damn sure. Will start upgrading now that I have this "best option available" DSL.

Good luck to all.

[AllaN01Bear]

8. love the old stuff. first they wanted u to tinker . now its all glued shut. build it urself ,do

love the old stuff itself for that very reason.