Upgrading ipad lappy and desktop

[jpod]

Hello - Help appreciated - a pal of mine is an Apple fan

Has a ilaptop and an idesktop, no idea what, a few years old, say 3 or 4.

He says they have 4GB in them.

He says both have slowed down. He wants to add 32GB in the desktop and 16gb in the laptop and a 1TB SSD, quoted £400 per machine to do this by a company.

As you can probably guess I have no idea about i-stuff. He said - at the start the desktop was fast enough. He needs storage in the laptop for when he is mobile and an optical drive to read cd-rom and dvd.

Applying my Windows skills, ahem, I thought this:
Reinstall the OS on each machine
Add 4GB to each to make it 8GB a piece, that seems reasonable
Add a SSD to the lappy.

Rather than a 1TB drive I suggested a smaller one - and perhaps an external drive or a NEW ilaptop.

He said new ilaptops don't have optical drives but he could get an external optical drive.

Any advice welcome. Thanks

Do i-PCs use equvalent SSDs and memory sticks?

 

[jpod]

Few more details:

iMac
Running out of space, has 30GB left

Macbook Pro

He is now considering up to 8GB per machine and a 500GB in the laptop, and ITB in the desk top.

The memory upgrade sounds easy - I bet we can do that ourselves with a screwdriver!

Is it possible to fit a second HDD in an iMac? Add a 1TB, like a Caviar black?
Can you add a boot SSD so it is more responsive?
He could use an external drive for mass storage for both machines and it is portable in a caddy.

Thanks

 

[The_Abyss]

You'll need to provide more details. The RAM can't be updated in some MacBooks.

 

[jpod]

Thanks for reading Abyss, I have asked for the model details, will post back shortly once I have them.

pod

 

[Biz.Kid09]

I would get the specific model's for each and post back but I would just look at doubling the RAM in each machine, add an SSD in each as the boot device (256gb in both perhaps?) and then get a 1/2/3tb external drive for backs up and other things.

Reinstall the OS also for a nice fresh OSX.

 

[jpod]

Got the details:

MACHINE NO 1

Macbook pro 15 inch early 2011
https://support.apple.com/kb/sp620?locale=en_GB

Connections and expansion
(no USB 3)
USB 2
Has a firewire & fast thunderbolt port

Processor and memory

4GB (two 2GB SO-DIMMs) of 1333MHz DDR3 memory; two SO-DIMM slots support up to 8GB

Does that mean you can add 8GB using 2x 4GB sticks?

I have read it is possible to add 2x8GB is it worth it?

DDR3, 204-pin, PC3-10600 DDR3 1333 MHz type RAM

https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT201165

Storage
500GB or 750GB 5400-rpm Serial ATA hard drive; optional 750GB 5400-rpm hard drive, 500GB 7200-rpm hard drive, or 128GB, 256GB, or 512GB solid-state drive

Options:
1. Leave the HDD as it is and just doing a fresh install of the OS and use a 500GB SSD for mass portable storage in a caddy!
2. Adding a 500GB SSD to increase speed seems reasonable

MACHINE NO 2

  iMac 21.5 inch mid 2011
https://support.apple.com/kb/sp623?locale=en_GB

Memory
4GB (two 2GB) of 1333MHz DDR3 memory
Configurable to 16GB, only at the Apple Online Store.

Options
Adding 2x4GB or 2x8GB is an option, presumably this can be DIY without apple store!

PC3-10600, Unbuffered, Nonparity, 204-pin, 1333mhz ddr3 sdram
https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT201191

Storage
500GB (7200 rpm) hard drive

Options
Can I pop a 250GB SSD in there and use the 500GB one for mass storage and fresh install? Is it easy?

Fresh install
Is it easy? I assume we have to back up everything that cannot be lost. Is this how to do it – I have no idea?

Quote:
https://discussions.apple.com/message/29025449#29025449

Command R boots to the Recovery Partition, which would enable you to reinstall the OS X version that is already installed. That will remain Yosemite until you use the App Store to upgrade to El Capitan. El Cap cannot be installed from the RP, until you upgrade from the App Store first.

Performing the App Store upgrade also upgrades the Recovery Partition, so that you can use OS X Recovery to "erase and install" El Cap from the Recovery Partition if you so choose.

Thank you for helping with my noobish request.

 

[jpod]

I am guessing 2 of these would sort the memory, just run a little slower in the macs:

Corsair
ValueSelect "Low Voltage" 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800 1600MHz 204 Pin SODIMM Kit (CMSO8GX3M2C


Suspect a hard disc drive caddy with USB would be reasonable.

I like Crucial SSD's.

 

[Biz.Kid09]

I would add 8gb to both as a starter, very easy to do this. Google is your friend for youtube videos etc.

Then, depending on your storage needs just buy an SSD for both. Reinstall and its all done.

Regarding the iMac, I don't believe it is possible to have both an SSD and a HDD so just get a bigger SSD.

Regarding backups etc, you could grab an external hard drive and use this to make a "Time Machine Backup" of each machine. Done.

 

[jpod]

Thanks for the post - I agree 8GB makes sense. Does 16GB make any difference?

Thanks time machine looks great, I will investigate:
https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT201250

 

[Biz.Kid09]

Depending on what he will use it for, 8gb is more than enough for most. If he is heavy on using Photoshop or video editing etc then the 16gb would be great.

 

[jpod]

Thanks Biz.

8GB it is, thanks.

So I guess I will be installing El Capitan on the new HDD's or SSD's - what is the slickest way of getting a fresh install?

Carbon copy cloner of existing machine?
The bootable USB and download El Capitan installer?

 

[Biz.Kid09]

Do a time machine backup of iMac and Macbook, put new hard drives and RAM in and then use a bootable USB.

 

[jpod]

Thanks a million Biz, thanks for all your help, pod