Upgrading my MacBook Pro to 8GB & Crucial M4 SSD

pumaz · 11 Mar 2012 at 20:51

I have a Mid 2010 MacBook Pro 13" 4GB Ram and 500GB Hard Drive which I was going to replace with a MacBook Air when the new version becomes available But I've decided to get another year or two of usage out of it in an effort to save a bit of cash (just bought the new iPad)

So I've ordered for delivery tomorrow (not at work either

) Crucial 8GB memory upgrade and a 256GB Crucial M4 SSD. I've got no problem installing the hardware and would like to do a fresh install of Lion. However I've heard that the M4 needs it's firmware updating first and I'll need to enable trim in OSX?

Can someone who knows give me a little advice and steps needed to take for clean optimal install please

pingwing · 11 Mar 2012 at 21:37

Its very easy to do

M4 you need to do a bootable usb stick thing to upgrade the firmware (not up on this but it should be simple)

http://www.groths.org/?page_id=322 turns on trim

cmd + r might do internet recovery on your mac (not 100% sure) which is the best way to install the os

Qu3 · 11 Mar 2012 at 21:56

pingwing said:
Its very easy to do
cmd + r might do internet recovery on your mac (not 100% sure) which is the best way to install the os

Unless you have a Lion USB stick you'll need to backup your recovery partition and recover it on to the new HDD with the Recovery disk assistant.

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4848

pumaz · 11 Mar 2012 at 22:12

I plan to burn a image from "InstallESD.dmg" and boot and install from the DVD, although I hear you can create a USB stick install as well which might be faster.

pumaz · 12 Mar 2012 at 21:12

Completed my MacBook upgrade today, I created a USB stick out of the "InstallESD.dmg" from OSX Lion, Updated the SSD's firmware on my Windows 7 PC (very easy), Fitted both the memory and SSD to the MBP and installed Lion and everythings running great

It's made a huge difference, feels like a new machine!

Supernaut91 · 12 Mar 2012 at 21:15

Hi Pumaz, what spec 2010 machine do you have? Just went to 8Gb myself and was a nice little boost, although I think a new SSD would give even greater improvements!

pumaz · 12 Mar 2012 at 21:27

Supernaut91 said:
Hi Pumaz, what spec 2010 machine do you have? Just went to 8Gb myself and was a nice little boost, although I think a new SSD would give even greater improvements!

This one mate

http://www.everymac.com/systems/apple/macbook_pro/stats/macbook-pro-core-2-duo-2.4-aluminum-13-mid-2010-unibody-specs.html

I know it's early days but so far i'm over the moon with the Crucial 256GB M4 SSD

Supernaut91 · 12 Mar 2012 at 22:51

Wow. That is a good SSD. Bet it cost a fair bit though!

http://www.everymac.com/systems/app...-2.66-aluminum-15-mid-2010-unibody-specs.html

I have this, so I really think something of that spec would benefit me also!

pumaz · 13 Mar 2012 at 10:25

The SSD was £240, it was a lot but I remember paying a similar amount for a 180MB IDE drive for an Amiga many moons ago!

I definitely think you owe it to yourself to perform a similair upgrade as your Mac's better than mine and will benefit even more

Besty · 14 Mar 2012 at 10:40

I performed a similar Crucial upgrade (8GB Ram, 64GB SSD) on my mid-2009 refresh macbook pro 13, best thing I could have done.

I did a time-machine back and restore approach on mine using, Lion.

Just make sure you are prepared with another PC/Mac incase you need to look-up an error on the net.