You remember the 2011 model. The lovely GPU issues, the slow HDD and massive heating issues. This was all just in the beginning, so how is life treating those clinging onto their 2011 Pro for dear life over 10 years later.
Is it a worthwhile purchase in 2024? Straight up – No. There are better models that you can get for your money now, including other non Mac devices. The only reason you would buy a 2011 model is either for the nostalgia, buying on a budget or if you’re looking for “a MacBook” and nothing more.
The 2011 series were plagued with issues in its early years. You may recall a massive outcry of users several months into using their devices having their screen turn pink and for their pricey gadget to die off like a fly getting sprayed with Raid. This prompted Apple to issue a mass re-call on the 15 inch model of the Pro 2011 due to their failing GPU. This could also be “solved” at home by either reballing the chip or by disabling the GPU before things got too dire and only use the inbuilt Intel graphics. This would cause a degraded performance and a decreased battery life.
Did yours survive? Mines did! Thankfully I have the 13 inch model. Let me tell you, life isn’t that great over here.
So what went wrong?
Bootcamp – Yes I know, starting off the Apple blogpost with a feature involving Windows. The 2011 series were implementing a UEFI boot loader whilst most Windows install media would use Legacy Bios. This was fine for Windows XP up to Windows 7, but when Windows 8 came around, things got a bit messy. If you updated from Windows 7 to 8 using the upgrade option, you would be fine. Windows would continue to boot in Legacy mode in which the bootcamp drivers were written for, but, if you were to reinstall Windows 8 from an install media it would boot into UEFI mode and things got sketchy. No sound drivers, wonky display drivers, poor backlight control and many other issues plagued these systems. Lesson learned, only upgrade, no clean installs allowed. Oh, and no USB booting for Legacy BIOS mode, burn it to a DVD or forget about it!
But how far can you upgrade? Windows 10 1903 seems to be the latest that this MacBook can run without having a BSOD every 10 minutes. There is a patched mac.hal driver floating around online that does fix the BSOD issue and can even get your MacBook unofficially updated all the way to Windows 11.
What about macOS? The 2011 series originally shipped with 10.6/10.7, and can be officially updated all the way up to 10.13.6. Thats not bad for a laptop of this age, but when you think about it, what can you still do on High Sierra?
Well, No App Store updates for you. Yep, Apple “accidentally” killed the CSS on the update page rendering it useless. Oh and no Microsoft Office updates as well, you’ll still be able to use Office 2019/365 (yes we know you get it for free from Harvard), but only an early version of it. As I said, life ain’t looking too good over here.
Safari also has it’s quirks. Some websites are missing features, graphics and some fail to load completly.
What is the 2011 actually good for then in 2024?
Media Consumption – Youtube, Netflix and all other major streaming websites work great still. Use an alternative browser such as Firefox or Chrome and you’ll be flying along without an issue.
General office/school use – The keyboard on the 2011 (and 2010) feels fantastic. It’s backlit like any normal MacBook and doesn’t have the horrible butterfly keys of the 2017 tradgedy. The iSight webcam still looks crisp on Zoom calls and the volume is still reasonably loud and clear comparing it to MacBooks later on down the line.
I have a 2011, what should I do with it?
Update it as much far as you can officially. Once you hit the end, try out DosDudes Mojave patcher. I wouldn’t risk going as high as Catalina or BigSur for your daily driver (as well as no metal support)
Upgrade your RAM! Max it out to the full 16GB if you can. It will drastically improve boot times and load times for programs. Remember – macOS is a heavy OS to lift and run smoothly.
Swap to an SSD. This was a life saver for my MacBook, it tripled the performance and made it buttery smooth.
Change the battery! Be careful with this one. A lot of people forget that batteries can expand and even worse, explode if not cared for properly. My 2011 has only just started showing the “Service Battery” symbol in my notifications but I hope to get at least another year out of it. Make sure you get a good quality replacement (preferably iFixit if you can and avoid the “RosePower” ones on eBay!)
Keep it clean, as you would with any laptop! Older laptops generally have more “gunk” build up around buttons, inside the hinge and around the internal fans. Giving it an open up and a full clean up can do it the world of good for thermals.
I hope your trusty 2011 MacBook serves you well, with good maintenance and keeping things up to date without the help of big Tim Apple, this is a MacBook that can withstand the test of time with some proper care.
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