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I'm writing this from a late 2008 Macbook (the first Unibody Macbook, and the direct ancestor of the Macbook the article talks about). On this laptop, I finishe

I'm writing this from a late 2008 Macbook (the first Unibody Macbook, and the direct ancestor of the Macbook the article talks about). On this laptop, I finished school, develop, Photoshop, store all my pictures/videos/music. It is my only machine. It's great. I'm about to purchase my third battery for it (they decline dramatically at around 1300 loadcycles); replacement is very simple (there's a door on mine), even though Apple no longer sells replacement batteries. I've maxed the ram to 8GB, put in a 256GB SSD. So what happens when I finally purchase a new laptop, use it for 5 years, and Apple no longer supports replacing the battery? Then I'm spudgering out glued-in batteries with iFixit's iOpener. And I'd eventually like to upgrade to 512GB, but $700 up from the base price of the 13" Macbook Pro is not how I want to do it... I'd rather wait and upgrade it myself. Will OWC make the SSD card to do it? Hopefully. It's just... disappointing. I'd like a way to get the bulletproofness (just over 7 years on this one without issue) of a solid aluminum unibody but not give up the upgradeability. Perhaps I'm a dinosaur. Guess I'll shoot for another 3 years with this thing until the base Macbook Pros are a significant upgrade. Oh well.

SloopJon 11y ago
I just upgraded my father-in-law's mid-2010 MBP from 4 GB to 8 GB, and replaced the HDD with a SSD. Total cost was about $150. Should be good for another couple of years at least, if it holds up, although battery replacement looks a bit trickier. Meanwhile, my late-2010 MBA is stuck at 4 GB, and battery replacement looks even more difficult.
Alex3917 11y ago
My primary computer is also a late 2008 MBP with 8GB ram. I have to say, having used a modern MBP at my last job, it's crazy how little day-to-day difference there is. I do plan to finally upgrade if the Skylake MBPs are good, but if not then there's really no immediate reason to do so. Given the rate of change in the 90s, it's wild to think that this thing might make it past Obama's presidency on both ends.

SloopJon 11y ago

I just upgraded my father-in-law's mid-2010 MBP from 4 GB to 8 GB, and replaced the HDD with a SSD. Total cost was about $150. Should be good for another couple of years at least, if it holds up, although battery replacement looks a bit trickier. Meanwhile, my late-2010 MBA is stuck at 4 GB, and battery replacement looks even more difficult.

Alex3917 11y ago

My primary computer is also a late 2008 MBP with 8GB ram. I have to say, having used a modern MBP at my last job, it's crazy how little day-to-day difference there is. I do plan to finally upgrade if the Skylake MBPs are good, but if not then there's really no immediate reason to do so. Given the rate of change in the 90s, it's wild to think that this thing might make it past Obama's presidency on both ends.