Considering going from late 2011 MBP to MBA. Seeking advice on performance.

I currently have a late 2011 MBP with 4GB RAM, 2.4 GHz Intel Core i5 and am running into some performance issues. My main issue is that it takes time to switch between apps and sometimes to open a new tab in chrome. I have a lot of apps open for work purposes and I'm thinking the slowness could be due to not having enough RAM. When I look at Activity Monitor>System Memory, I see that I have about 1GB in Inactive, 1 GB in Active, and 2 GB in Wired. Then I'm seeing 5.62GB of swap used (that doesn't seem good).
I like how compact the MBAs are and am thinking of getting either the i5 or i7 with 8GB of RAM. I'm thinking that the increase in RAM as well as the flash storage would help with the type of slowness I'm seeing, but would hate to buy it only to have the same problems.
I would love to get some advice on this.

I HAD the same 2011 MBP you have, and HAVE the current Macbook AIR,....theres almost no comparison between the two. You should possibly go use one for a bit at the Apple store etc, however regarding your question "will it be a difference/ big upgrade" the answer is of course yes,....definately so.

Similar Messages

Gaming Performance Increase from Late 2011 MBP to 11 or 13 MBA 2013?

I have a Late 2011 MBP 13,upgraded with 256 GB SSD and 6 GB RAM.
I play mostly CS:S, SC2, WoW, D3 and that's about it.
I would like to be able to move into SimCity (After Aug 29 Launch Obviously), and perhaps DCUO and The Old Republic (VIA BootCamp)
Would I see a nice jump with the haswell chips in the MBA 2013 model?
If so I might jump, if not I am ok here right now, running wow at low with 30+ FPS.
Just curious, thanks for the advice!

The Late 2011 13-inch MacBook Pro has got an Intel HD Graphics 3000 GPU, and the Mid 2013 13-inch MacBook Air has got an Intel HD Graphics 5000 GPU.
The MacBook Air will work better with graphic tasks, but both of them are not ready for heavy use.
If you want to play games like those ones, the best thing you can do is to get a 15-inch MacBook Pro, which includes a quad-core processor and a NVIDIA GPU which will work correctly. The difference will be very big compared to the Mid 2013 MacBook Air.
Also, the MacBook Air is not ready for games. It overheats quickly, and high temperatures damage it. If you get the MacBook Air, don't set high values in games, and make sure that the games you want to play support integrated graphic cards

Problems with Late 2011 MBP (catalog corrupt, won't boot from USB/CD)

Hello,
I have had some problems with my Late 2011 MBP running OSX 10.8.x (latest update)
I was using Safari when suddenly my screen froze. It has happened a couple of times before but it usually is either: 1.) a black screen for 5 seconds while nothing works responds and then it continues work like nothing happened, or 2.) just a freeze for a moment which goes away within a few seconds. I have visited the official service and they found nothing wrong with my laptop and said that it may have been just random occurrence. This time it froze and as I waited the fans went crazy and had no other option but to shut down from the power button. Later, when I wanted to boot up, it gets to the Apple logo, the circle spins and the small bar below appears and after a second or two, it disappears and then the computer shuts down. I went to recovery mode and used disk utility to verify and repair the problem (which only works to find out the problem, not to fix it, thanks anyway apple) Heres what it showed:
Verifying volume “nihil”
Checking file systemChecking Journaled HFS Plus volume.
Checking extents overflow file.
Checking catalog file.
Keys out of order
Invalid extent entry
Incorrect size for file .mdworker_2013-07-21-081г41_эartin-RichaѲds-эacBѯok-ѐro.crash.plist
(It should be 0 instead of 4398046511104)
Illegal name
Invalid extent entry
Invalid extent entry
Incorrect size for file .mdworker_2013-07-22-б20303_MartiѮ-RiѣharѤs-MѡcBoѯk-Pro.crash.plist
(It should be 0 instead of 67108864)
File has incorrect number of links (id = 60851670)
(It should be 1 instead of 67108865)
Invalid extent entry
Invalid extent entry
Incorrect block count for file .mdworker_2013-08-04-145002_Martin-Richards-MacBook-Pro.crash.plist
(It should be 0 instead of 1024)
Invalid extent entry
Invalid extent entry
Incorrect size for file .opendirectoryd_201г-08-04-б516а5_MѡrtiѮ-Riѣhards-MacBook-Pro.crash.plist
(It should be 0 instead of 67108864)
File has incorrect number of links (id = 66286495)
(It should be 1 instead of 67108865)
Invalid catalog record type
The volume nihil could not be verified completely.
Error: This disk needs to be repaired. Click Repair Disk.
Verify and Repair volume “nihil”
Checking file systemChecking Journaled HFS Plus volume.
Checking extents overflow file.
Checking catalog file.
Keys out of order
Invalid extent entry
Incorrect size for file .mdworker_2013-07-21-081г41_эartin-RichaѲds-эacBѯok-ѐro.crash.plist
(It should be 0 instead of 4398046511104)
Illegal name
Invalid extent entry
Invalid extent entry
Incorrect size for file .mdworker_2013-07-22-б20303_MartiѮ-RiѣharѤs-MѡcBoѯk-Pro.crash.plist
(It should be 0 instead of 67108864)
File has incorrect number of links (id = 60851670)
(It should be 1 instead of 67108865)
Invalid extent entry
Invalid extent entry
Incorrect block count for file .mdworker_2013-08-04-145002_Martin-Richards-MacBook-Pro.crash.plist
(It should be 0 instead of 1024)
Invalid extent entry
Invalid extent entry
Incorrect size for file .opendirectoryd_201г-08-04-б516а5_MѡrtiѮ-Riѣhards-MacBook-Pro.crash.plist
(It should be 0 instead of 67108864)
File has incorrect number of links (id = 66286495)
(It should be 1 instead of 67108865)
Invalid catalog record type
The volume nihil could not be verified completely.
Volume repair complete.Updating boot support partitions for the volume as required.Error: Disk Utility can’t repair this disk. Back up as many of your files as possible, reformat the disk, and restore your backed-up files.
I tried to boot DiskWarrior from a USB and a CD, after pushing enter in the bootable device's screen, I get a continuous loop of 3 beeps and I can't boot from either of the mediums.
I also tried the Single-user mode (Command-s when booting) and the /sbin/fsck -fy said that my HD is not completely verifiable. Also, 3/4 of the files mentioned in disk utility are also mentioned in this process, with errors as forrows: keys out of order, invalid index key, invalid extent entries (7 times), incorrect block counts, number of links and incorrect sizes for the foretold files and invalid catalog record type.
The reason why I'm not doing a clean install is that the last few days I've been in the process of deleting unnecessary items on my laptop so I could make a back-up (as for some reason, Time Machine is awfully slow and a new 600 gb backup would take and enormous amount of time, but that's a problem for another day) and as I had not yet reached the backing up part, my data is locked on this (possibly) corrupt HD. How should I advance and what steps should I take?
My first and most important mission would be to get back into my OS to make a back-up. Then I'd deal with the "not being able to boot form USB nor CD" and the TM problem.
Thank you all in advance,
Martin

Before you even start, consider that there may be no Windows 7 driver support for some of the hardware in your laptop. You won't know which hardware devices and functions are unsupported until you find out the hard way. In some cases, a driver conflict could cripple your computer.
Like most OEMS, Toshiba pre-installs Windows 8 to boot with EFI on a GPT hard drive. Your Windows 7 install disc, on the other hand, most likely boots with a BIOS from an MBR. Therefore, your Windows 7 disc will not boot your computer.
You would need to start by performing a low-level format of your hard drive. This completely erases the disc and its metadata. Then you could boot from your Windows installation disc and try to install Windows 7. How successful you will be depends on driver support.
All things considered, you should stay with Windows 8. Next time, more research before you buy.

Can I downgrade from pre-installed Lion to Snow Lepoard on Late 2011 MBP i7 2.4?

I've purchased a MacBook Pro Quad-Core i7 2.4 with pre-installed Lion (no installation DVD's included), but, unfortunately, found out that a big number of audio software doesn't run natively and malfunctions with this version of OS, meanwhile they worked flawlessly on my previous MacBook using Snow Leopard.
The question is: can I downgrade from pre-installed Lion to Snow Lepoard on Late 2011 MBP i7 2.4?

Thanks a lot for your reply. I ran into those numerous techy ways of downgrading, but I've found none addressing my particular model (I think I read something about 15", while mine is 17" and sometime it does make difference - because Apple love to keep secrets about what's inside). Since i've got zellions of audio plugins install, I'm trying to make sure that messing around with systems will lead to some fruitful result. So the new question: is there a way to make sure (I haven't found any tech spec threads naming the borderline between a "working variant" and "no-use-trying" variant) - is that just a matter of chance and doing it at one own risk, or is there still a way to make surefire decision?

BootCamp on Late 2011 MBP Question.

I don't know where to start but here goes. I've had boot camp w/ Win7 32bit on my MBP for sometime now with the original HD. I upgraded to a SSD, and removed the optical drive and put the original HDD there. recently decided to upgrade the original HDD to 1TB and CarbonCopy Cloner does not support cloning Boot Camp partitions. So heres what I did to get BC back on my MBP. I cloned my SSD to the new HDD. Removed the SSD and reinstalled the optical drive so I can use BC to partition and install Win7 on the new 1TB HD. The reason why I did that was because my MBP does not support booting from external USB CD-ROM. Now after I got Win7 up and running I removed the optical drive, moved the 1TB HDD back over and reinstalled my SSD as the main boot disk.
Now here comes my real question. Can I wipe the OS X Partition on the 1TB disk or will it cause problems with BootCamp ?
Thanks in advance
System info:
Late 2011 MBP
16GB Ram
Crucial 512GB SSD
WD 1TB in optical drive bay
2.4 GHz Intel Core i5
OSX Yosemite 10.10.2

gpt show: /dev/disk1: mediasize=1000204886016; sectorsize=512; blocks=1953525168
gpt show: /dev/disk1: Suspicious MBR at sector 0
gpt show: /dev/disk1: Pri GPT at sector 1
gpt show: /dev/disk1: Sec GPT at sector 1953525167
       start        size index contents
           0           1         MBR
           1           1         Pri GPT header
           2          32         Pri GPT table
          34           6
          40      409600      1 GPT part - C12A7328-F81F-11D2-BA4B-00A0C93EC93B
      409640 1759493968      2 GPT part - 48465300-0000-11AA-AA11-00306543ECAC
1759903608      262280
1760165888   193357824      3 GPT part - EBD0A0A2-B9E5-4433-87C0-68B6B72699C7
1953523712        1423
1953525135          32         Sec GPT table
1953525167           1         Sec GPT header

Question regarding SSD/HDD setup in late 2011 MBP

Sorry to start a new thread about this topic but I couldn't find the information I needed.
I'm about to install a 256gb SSD in place of the standard 500gb HDD in my late 2011 MBP, replacing the optical drive with the existing HDD. I don't really want to do a clean install, so I'm planning on using carbon copy cloner.
My question is how do I clone only the necessary files (my 400gb of data won't all fit on the SSD)?
I'm planning on putting all apps, system files, both libraries and the shared folder on the SSD, with music, docs, movies, photos and downloads remaining on the HDD.
Is it as simple as:
-select all necessary folders in CCC and clone to SSD
-boot from SSD
-delete cloned files from HDD
-redirect itunes etc to new paths
Thanks in advance.

I have a MacBook Pro 2.4ghz (MacBookPro8,2) (Late 2011) .. would you be able to tell me based on these screenshots if I would be okay putting a 6G SSD in my optical drive bay? Thank you!!

No installation disc in late 2011 mbp, why

in late 2011 mbp there is no os disc. I'm gonna install win system .but i don't have the disc . how do I install the drivers? how do i recover ?
can I ask for a disc from apple store?
anyone knows it?

Computers shipped with Lion don't include any installer discs -- in fact Lion isn't available on discs at all. Your hard drive contains a Recovery partition (a new feature in Lion) that can be used to repair the primary partition or reinstall Lion from the Net. All the other software that is included with the computer can be downloaded from the Mac App Store and reinstalled if necessary. See the user guide that came with the computer.

Spinning wheel on late 2011 mbp

my late 2011 mbp running 10.7.5 with 2.4 GHz i5 and 4GB which I bought last September is getting the spinning wheel. It only started recently and it makes my mbp lag for 3-5 seconds. If I click on anything or type, nothing would happena dn I would have to wait then everything would happen later. I don't see why this should be happening to a mbp which is over a year old. Can anyone help me?

There was nothing red that came up from the first part.
The lag has been getting worse. If my mbp lags then it does all of the commands at least 3-5 seconds late with the spinning wheel. I have to force quit my applications at times.
Here is the output from EtreCheck:
Hardware Information:
          MacBook Pro (13-inch, Late 2011)
          MacBook Pro - model: MacBookPro8,1
          1 2.4 GHz Intel Core i5 CPU: 2 cores
          4 GB RAM
Video Information:
          Intel HD Graphics 3000 - VRAM: 384 MB
System Software:
          Mac OS X 10.7.5 (11G63) - Uptime: 0 days 0:3:53
Disk Information:
          TOSHIBA MK5065GSXF disk0 : (500.11 GB)
                    disk0s1 (disk0s1) <not mounted>: 209.7 MB
                    Macintosh HD (disk0s2) /: 499.25 GB (455.02 GB free)
                    Recovery HD (disk0s3) <not mounted>: 650 MB
          MATSHITADVD-R   UJ-8A8
USB Information:
          Apple Inc. Apple Internal Keyboard / Trackpad
          Apple Inc. BRCM2070 Hub
                    Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller
          Apple Inc. FaceTime HD Camera (Built-in)
          Apple Inc. iPhone
          Apple Computer, Inc. IR Receiver
FireWire Information:
Thunderbolt Information:
          Apple, Inc. MacBook Pro
Kernel Extensions:
Problem System Launch Daemons:
          [not loaded] ftp-proxy.plist
Problem System Launch Agents:
Launch Daemons:
          [loaded] com.adobe.fpsaud.plist
          [loaded] com.microsoft.office.licensing.helper.plist
Launch Agents:
User Launch Agents:
User Login Items:
          iTunesHelper
3rd Party Preference Panes:
          Flash Player
Internet Plug-ins:
          Flash Player.plugin
          FlashPlayer-10.6.plugin
          JavaAppletPlugin.plugin
          QuickTime Plugin.plugin
          SharePointBrowserPlugin.plugin
User Internet Plug-ins:
Bad Fonts:
          None
Top Processes by CPU:
              78%          iTunes
               5%          WindowServer
               2%          mdworker
               2%          mds
               1%          hidd
               1%          SystemUIServer
               1%          EtreCheck
               1%          fontd
               0%          Microsoft PowerPoint
               0%          coreaudiod
Top Processes by Memory:
          168 MB             Microsoft PowerPoint
          143 MB             WebProcess
          86 MB              Safari
          74 MB              iTunes
          57 MB              WindowServer
          41 MB              Dock
          41 MB              mds
          33 MB              ReportCrash
          25 MB              SystemUIServer
          20 MB              Image Capture Extension
Virtual Memory Statistics
          1.90 GB            Free RAM
          1.03 GB            Active RAM
          177 MB             Inactive RAM
          915 MB             Wired RAM
          302 MB             Page-ins
          0 B                Page-outs

I have the new macbook pro from late 2011. when i try plugging my cannon gl2 into the mac via firewire 800 it does not show up in iMovie as an option to import from. i even have gone into my settings on the camera and changed it to vcr.

I have the new MacBook Pro from late 2011. "the one before the new ritina display" i have a cannon gl2 video camera which is mini dv. when i plug it into my mac via firwire 800 it does not show up in the iMovie. i have set the settings on the camera to vcr mode and changed it to av->dv out. when i click on the import from camera on imovie it doesnt even show my camera in it. it just gives me the option to import video from my facetime camera. the camera is turned on the wires are connected i know for fact that its a firewire and not a usb. i know what they each look like. i bought the firewire cable and it was marked down cause it was an opened and used item. would it be possible that it could be deffected and if that is not the reason what other options do i have?

I would say that odds are high that you have a bad cable. Maybe that is why they returned it.
I would suggest trying a different firewire cable.
You can find Firewire cables inexpensively at monoprice.com. You need a 4 pin to 9 pin firewire cable.
Here is a link.
http://www.monoprice.com/products/subdepartment.asp?c_id=102&cp_id=10301
Other things to check:
Is your camera plugged in to wall power (not to batteries only). Must be hooked to an AC power source to import.

HT4325 Why I can't use airplay mirroring in my MacBook pro OS X Lion from late 2011?

Why can't I use airplay mirroring in my MacBook pro OS X Lion from late 2011?

About AirPlay and Airplay Mirroring
AirPlay Mirroring requires a second-generation Apple TV or later, and is supported on the following Mac models: iMac (Mid 2011 or newer), Mac mini (Mid 2011 or newer), MacBook Air (Mid 2011 or newer), and MacBook Pro (Early 2011 or newer). For non-qualifying Macs you can try using Air Parrot.
Several Apple Articles Regarding AirPlay
Apple TV (2nd and 3rd gen)- How to use AirPlay Mirroring
How to set up and configure AirPort Express for AirPlay and iTunes
About AirPlay Mirroring in OS X Mountain Lion
iTunes 10- About playing music with AirPlay
Troubleshooting AirPlay and AirPlay Mirroring
Using AirPlay

Ok, so i bought a 16GB DDR3 1333MHz RAM for my late 2011 13" MacBook Pro whose memory runs at 1067 MHz (I was also told that late 2011 MBPs run at 1333MHz, is mine an exception?)... Im looking for all possibilities to close the compatibility gap...

Ok, so i bought a 16GB DDR3 1333MHz RAM for my late 2011 13" MacBook Pro whose memory runs at 1067 MHz (I was also told that late 2011 MBPs run at 1333MHz, is mine an exception, if so, why?)... Im looking for all possibilities to close the compatibility gap because computer freezes at boot and was wondering if there was anything i could do to get this 16GB DDR3 1333MHz RAM to work at 1067MHz or somehow get my computer to run at 1333MHz?...

You don't have a late 2011 MB Pro.
You have a 2010 version. Your MB doesn't support 16GB. 8GB Max.
That's what it shows on your about this MAC.
You need to return the RAM and get 8GB ( 2 X 4GB ) 1066MHz.
Your system bus is set to 1066MHz.
You're having issues because you've installed more RAM than your MB can support. It's only reading 4GB per bank which totals to 8GB and not 16GB.

Late 2011 MBP i7 gets slow with and after Aperture

My first post, please pardon my ignorance. I have read similar threads but I believe my situation is a bit different.
Anyway, my late 2011 MBP i7 4GB ram, running on SL gets very slow after I open/browse/edit in Aperture. The system does page out to 1.3 gb. When using Safary and email, it becomes very painfull even after I close out the Aperture. The whole system becomes laggy and menus become delayed. The only solution is to reboot and my mac is back like new until I open the Aperture again. Every program is up to date and only about 160gb out of 500gb HDD being used.
Heres what I've done so far:
1. long hardware test checked ok
2. NVRAM reset
3. downloaded Kasperski and found no viruses
4. rebuild/repair aperture database
5. ordered 8gb crucial ram, should be in in a few days
Is it due to not having enough RAM? My previous 2006 MBP Core 2 Due was almost as fast running on Lion and 4GB ram. I would expect a significant speed increase on my 4 core i7, but unfortunately it's not the case.

Paging out to 1.3 gig effectively means that a lot of stuff is sitting in virtual memory on your hard disk. The i7 is great for improving the speed of whatever is in memory, but anything that is paged out is limited to the performance of the HDD and SATA bus.
The cheapest and most effective first step is to max out your RAM. It's a modest investment that will benefit you immensely. The second step is to replace mechanical disks with SSDs. Currently, this is a pricy proposition, but the performance improvement can be nearly 100% over a mechanical drive system.
At the end of the day, it's about how much money you want to spend to go as fast as you can afford.

Boot Camp - No Device Found - Late 2011 MBP

Hello All,
Recently i have attempted to boot camp my late 2011 macbook pro using a bootable Windows 7 Professional IMG File and a bootable Windows drive. Creating the Bootable Drive had no issues, though, while trying to install windows onto the partitioned drive a message appeared wanting me to plug in the bootable USB drive - in which it was already plugged in. I have tried several methods 'supposedly' fixing the issue but all has failed - such as trying different USB's varying in capacity and brand, pressing option during boot up and so on.
I am aware that many other users face this issue is but it seems that there is no clear resolution. From my understanding, it is not possible to boot camp a mac which has an internal optical drive, using a bootable Windows Drive. However, my optical drive is broken and i am unable to install windows using a DVD/CD. Can someone please clarify if this is correct?
If i am correct and i am unable to install windows from a USB drive. Are there any free third party virtualization software that i am able to use, such as Parallels but for free?
Thankyou,
Cam

yeah as Csound1 says then if you are not going to play 3d computer games on windows
then installing windows as a virtual machine is 100% less troublesome in terms of drivers and difficult installs using iso's and the likes

Why wont the SSD from my 2011 MBP work right away in my 2012 MBP?

I have a 2011 MBP running a Samsung SSD 470 without a problem.
I swapped the SSD into my new 2012 MBP which is, apart from the yearly updates (2.3 i5 to 2.5 i5 processor and RAM speed increase from 1333 to 1600) exactly the same computer. I expected to literally carry on using it from where I left off in the 2011 model but the 2012 machine will not boot with this drive in it.
Why?

actually i own a late 2011 Macbook Pro and I bought my niece a new 2012 Macbook Pro....
gave her one of my old Kingston V200 128GB SSD to give her speed....
It booted but kept on crashing and the startup is very slow...So i did an internet recovery install....And now it's working great...
came to a conclusion ( i may be wrong ) - because my 2011 is a Sandy Bridge Processor/Chipset combo and the 2012 is the new Ivy Bridge Processor/Chipset combo was the issue...After a clean install, everything was fine...
I understand you're hesitant about doing a clean install because you don't have it backed up....
Try booting with the original drive to see if your sata cable is fine just to eliminate your sata cable as defective...

Trouble installing 1TB HD in late 2011 MBP 17"

I have just got my hands on the last 2011 model MBP17", but it was fitted with a 500GB solid state drive, which is not really big enough
I have tried to replace it with a 1TB 5400rpm drive from mid 2009 MBP 17", but it doesn't recognise it
Will the later one only take more modern types of drive?....or what?
(the 500GB went into the 2009 MBP with no trouble or data loss)

Just to make certain that I have a clear understanding:
The HDD labled '1 TB ST....' has 10.8.5 on it and is installed in the 2009 MBP. There is 663.7 MB of data on it.
Mt. Lion technical requirements state that 8+ GB of room is required for installation. We have a discrepancy here.
The HDD labled 1 TB WD has two volumes:
Super Duper Backup which has Mt. Lion OSX and is a copt of the 2009 MBP.
Misc Copies is a Time Machine backup of the 2011 MBP which has Lion on it.
abderite wrote:
I have ordered another Mountain Lion for the 2011 machine, but you have to wait for a slot on AppStore and can't use one's previous 'purchase' on a 2nd machine.
If you have purchased an OSX that did not come as an original OSX on a MBP, you are entitled to install it on another MBP. You should not have to purchase it again. You should be able to download it from your App store account.
I will then erase the drive in the 2009 machine, re-instate the application bundle that came with the 2011 computer from MiscCopies to sell the machine on.
This would be incorrect on your part. The proper way to sell a MBP is to have the original OSX installed with no third party applications. The 2009 probably came with Leopard (10.5) which should be installed. Look at these guidelines:
http://http://www.thesafemac.com/how-to-prepare-your-mac-for-sale/
Ciao.

Considering going from late 2011 MBP to MBA. Seeking advice on performance.

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