HT1338 Late 2008 MacBook speed

How can I make my MacBook run faster?
I know it's older now but is there anything I go do to help speed it up so I don't need to go pay a new one?

See:
Mac Maintenance Quick Assist,
Mac OS X speed FAQ,
Speeding up Macs,
How to Speed up Macs, ,
Macintosh OS X Routine Maintenance,
Essential Mac Maintenance: Get set up,
Essential Mac Maintenance: Rev up your routines,
Maintaining OS X,
Five Mac maintenance myths and
Myths of required versus not required maintenance for Mac OS X for information.

Similar Messages

Data Recovery from Late 2008 Macbook Hard drive?

I have a late 2008 Macbook. It was recently dropped by a child, resulting in it no longer turning on. (It worked one time when tried within about 12 hours after the fact and then wouldn't get past the Apple logo and spinning wheel on startup). I brought it to the Apple store and was told they were 99% sure it was just a failure in the hard drive cable. Unfortunately, I received a call sometime later saying it was not the cable, but the hard drive itself.
I am planning on having Apple replace the hard drive, but I am hesitant to pay them the requested $99 to retrieve data from the hard drive (which they say they believe they could do). I do not have an up-to-date version of Time Machine because I had been traveling for nearly a year with my Mac and had left my hard drive at home and, of course, this incident happened right after my arrival.
I was hoping I could do something like Firewire Target Disk Mode using my iMac ( http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1661 ), but cannot do so because my Macbook does not have a Firewire port.
Does anyone have any solutions? If my only option is to pay Apple then I am resigned to that, but as I already have 95% of my data backed up & I only want a few files from a project I had invested quite some time into, I am hoping there is a way to recover the data myself.
Thanks in advance for your help.

I may have missed it ... late 2008 there were still the plastic-bodied macbooks and the aluminum-bodied macbook. I'm told the plastic macbooks have a max disk drive capacity of 500GB, and the aluminum-bodied macbooks are good upwards of 1TB. An important point to check is the drive height. Normal is 9.5mm (I believe all WD Scorpio Black drives are 9.5mm). Some are 12.5MM and some are less than 9.5mm. See what you have today, and likely it's 9.5mm, so replace with same. If you're in the US, you might confirm max capacity with OWC who also sell hard drives.
One other option .... a little more expensive, however, you could install a solid-state drive in your macbook. If you're able to use a smaller size, a 240GB drive is around $240 at OWC. Significant speed pickup for disk operations. If you consider this, remember for capacity you need to allow 10% or more for systems usage.
Going from Leopard to Mountain Lion, you may want to upgrade to current iLife programs. The only one no longer offered is iDVD, however. If you want a Snow Leopard level of iLife, Amazon or hardcoremac.com should still have the iLife package available.

Upgrading my Late 2008 MacBook Pro running 10.5.8 to Yosemite

I just received a Late 2008 Macbook from a friend that he factory reset. I'm currently running 10.5.8 (very sluggishly) and would like to upgrade to Yosemite. I know I need to buy 10.6.8 before I can make the upgrade, but will my current hardware even be able to support the new software? I don't want to buy anything if I'm going to be running software too powerful for my mac.
Product name: Late 2008 Macbook
Processor Speed: 2 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
Memory: 2 GB 1067 MHz DDR3

It should.
Check that your computer is compatible with Mountain Lion/Mavericks/Yosemite.
To check the model number hold down the option/alt key, go to the Apple menu and select System Information.
iMac (Mid 2007 or newer) model number 7,1 or higher
Your Mac needs:
OS X v10.6.8 or OS X Lion already installed
2 GB or more of memory (More is better - 4 GB minimum seems to be the consensus)
8 GB or more of available space
Check to make sure your applications are compatible. PowerPC applications are no longer supported after 10.6.
Application Compatibility
Applications Compatibility (2)
Do a backup before installing.
The 2 places I’ve seen recommended most to buy reliable RAM are below. I have purchased RAM several times from Other World Computing and have always been very satisfied with the product and service. They have on-line instructions on how to replace the RAM. OWC has also tested RAM above what Apple states is the maximum. I now have 6GB installed on a machine supposedly limited to 4 GB and noticed an improvement (2008 iMac).
Crucial
Other World Computing
One option is to create a new partition (~30- 50 GB), install the new OS, and ‘test drive’ it. If you like/don’t like it it, you can then remove the partition. Do a backup before you do anything. By doing this, if you don’t like it you won’t have to go though the revert process.

Late 2008 MacBook Pro - Bootcamp (Vista-32bit) issues

Hey all -
I have a couple issues with my late 2008 MacBook Pro when I use bootcamp to switch to its Vista (32 bit) side. I've never been able to solve these issues myself, so I was hoping I could get some help here.
When on the vista side, when I close the lid the computer display will shut off but the actualy computer will continue to run, and after some time I will no be able to wake it from its sleep.
When I try to turn the brightness down on my screen, it will turn down but then turn back to full brightness a few seconds later.
Scrollng with 2 fingers on the track pad is erratic (I read there was going to be a fix for this?)
The laptop gets so hot to the touch that it is almost painful (I imagine this can't be good for the computer)
It has also become sluggish to the point where even simple games and those on steam won't work without incredible lag. Are there anyways to stop some processes to speed up the vista side?
Like I said, this is all while in bootcamp, not experiencing any of the issues on the OSX side.
Thanks for any help

Would love some help if anyone knows

My early 2010 mac mini is running super slow on the internet compared to my late 2008 macbook pro on the same internet

My early 2010 mac mini has been running really slowly on my network. My late 2008 Macbook Pro runs much faster despite being an older computer. The Mac Mini really doesn't have much on it and almost all of its storage space is there. It downloads at about one third of the speed as my Macbook Pro. Any help is appreciated. Thanks.

When did this difference begin? Did you make any recent changes?

New macbook pro battery for late 2008 macbook pro dies fast.

I have a late 2008 macbook pro 2.4 HGz Intet Core 2 Duo with 2 GB of ram. I've had it since 2009 and just got a new battery, as the old one finally gave up. That being said, the new battery dies quite fast and I'm not sure why. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated! thank you

Only problem is that maybe the battery you were sold was manufactured around the same time as the Mac. And LiPo batteries die because of old age as well as use. Take it out and carefully examine all markings, especially anything that can date when it was made, like copyrights or such.
With that evidence you can go back and demand a refund.

How do connect my late 2008 Macbook to a TV?

I want to connect my late 2008 Macbook aluminum to a tv by HDMI, and i was thinking about getting the "Moshi Mini DP to HDMI Adapter with Audio Support" but it will not support audio for my Mac. Any other way I can connect it to the TV?

If you connect the MacBook using a Mini DisplayPort to HDMI adapter you will probably need to use external speakers or a 3.5mm stereo headphone jack to RCA sound plugs connected to a stereo sound system if your TV doesn't have separate RCA input plugs or a 3.5mm stereo input plug for audio with the HDMI plug. The Mini DisplayPort to HDMI doesn't carry audio unless you have the Mid 2010 model 7,1 and there're no audio plugs on most TVs to work with HDMI since it's expecting audio with the HDMI. But check your TV manual to see if it has audio plugs that work with one of the HDMI ports.
With the Late 2008 model 5,1 Aluminum Unibody there is an adapter that uses the Mini DisplayPort and a USB port to combine video and audio to HDMI. It's only 2 channel stereo not 5.1 Dolby Surround.
http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=104&cp_id=10428&cs_id=1042802 &p_id=5969&seq=1&format=2

How to connect a late 2008 macbook pro to hd tv

I have a late 2008 Macbook Pro and want to connect it to my HD TV what cables do I need ?

looks like if you'll use exactly this adapter you'll get audio over HDMI

I have a late 2008 Macbook Pro, I am trying to run MW3 but it will not work without crashing a few minuets into the game. The general specs on my computer are a dual processor 2.53 ghz. 4 gb ram and a NVIDIA geforce 9400 (9600 is the alternate card)

I have a late 2008 Macbook Pro, I am trying to run MW3 but it will not work without crashing a few minuets into the game. The general specs on my computer are a dual processor 2.53 ghz. 4 gb ram and a NVIDIA geforce 9400 (9600 is the alternate card).
Things to note:
I have been unable to update firmware on this computer for about a year now. Im not sure why.
I am running a bootleg copy of Windows XP on this computer, I would not like to spend $149 to get Windows 7 if possible.
any thoughts on the matter would be greatly appreciated, thank you.

Why don't you take your 'old' MBP into your local Apple Store and have them check out everything that's wrong with it - and I mean everything? Then, when you get an estimate about how much it would cost to get the machine completely repaired, ask about the Apple flat-rate repair pricing?
It's worth a shot - and with what you may save, you can put in the bank for a new MBP.
Clinton

I have a late 2008 Macbook Pro last updated to Mavericks OS. The screen died and it's not worth replacing. How do I remove the hard drive and use a drive sled to access info I need?

I have a late 2008 Macbook Pro last updated to the Mavericks OS. The screen died and I took it into an Apple store and was told replacing the screen and the hardware to repair everything would cost almost as much as buying a new laptop or a cheaper model. I was told that I can use a drive sled to access data I need on my hard drive. How do I remove my hard drive and use a drive sled to get to the information I need? What makes matters more complicated is I need to update my iPhone and my iTunes/App store purchases. How can I accomplish this?
My wife has a late 2008 Macbook Pro as well, which I am assuming I need to run my hard drive. Is there a way to just access just my hard drive without interfering with hers?
I know this is lengthy. Thanks to whoever looks at this and offers advice/instruction.

the device you need is an External enclosure for a 2.5" (laptop form factor) SATA drive.
A USB-interface enclosure will be slow, but is adequate for this task and for re-purposing as a backup drive later. A firewire-interface drive would be faster, but is harder to find, more expensive, and faster than needed for this purpose.
The drive will mount as an "extra" drive on your wife's Macbook, and you can drag and drop whatever you wish. You could create a separate Account for yourself on her computer, and use Migration Assistant or just copy your stuff over to the new account. Then it would not interfere with her files.

I did a factory reset on my late 2008 MacBook from a Snow Leopard disc. It installed fine, but as soon as I began to use the computer (safari) it froze. Couldn't even force quit. So I held down the power button to turn it off, and now it won't start up.

I did a factory reset on my late 2008 MacBook from a Snow Leopard disc. It installed fine, but as soon as I began to use the computer (safari) it froze. Couldn't even force quit. So I held down the power button to turn it off, and now it won't start up. It goes to the grey Apple screen and just sits there loud as can be. Help! Please keep in mind I've not done anything like this before and am going to need a little hand-holding. Thanks in advance.

Hi. Don't worry it's nothing serious. Insert the Instal Disc (Snow Leopard) and press the C button while turning on the computer. Once you see the desktop, go to Utility and choose Disk Utility. Select the Macintosh Partition on the left window pane and then click on Repair Disk and Repair Disk Permissions on the bottom right corner. Wait for both processes to finish. Click on the Apple icon (top left corner) and choose quit. Your computer should restart. See if it reboots normally. If not you can always reinstall the OS following the same steps. Good luck!

MacBook hard drive is full again. Replaced original hard drive with a Samsung SSD 840 Pro Series 256GB hard drive about 18 mo. ago, but my MacBook is now already saying that my hard drive is full again. 13in. Alum. Late 2008 MacBook

My MacBook hard drive is full again. I have a 13in. Aluminum, Late 2008 MacBook, and about 18 months ago (in October 2013), I replaced the original hard drive with a Samsung SSD 840 Pro Series 256GB hard drive. However, my MacBook is now already saying that my hard drive is full again. When I check "System Information," under "Storage," it states the following: Audio 52.02 GB; Movies 33.68GB; Photos 43.13GB; Apps 14.76 GB; Backups 174.4 MB; and Other 96.39GB.
Also, at home, I have an Apple Time Capsule 4th Generation 2TB that I use as my wireless router, and I also use it for automatic backup via Time Machine. And when I first purchased Time Capsule, the first time I connected Time Capsule, Time Machine asked if I would like to use it to back up my files, and I clicked, "Use as Backup Disk." And that's really all I've ever done with Time Capsule.
In addition, I also have a LaCie Porsche Design P'9223 1TB external hard drive. I have copied my MacBook's hard drive onto my LaCie external hard drive.
Does anyone have any suggestions? Obviously the Audio, Movies, Photos, and Apps are taking up a lot of space... Any suggestions re: what I can do with Audio, Movies, Photos, and Apps? And what about the Other? Other is taking up 96.39 GB. What is Other, and what can I do about it?
And what about partitioning my hard drive... Is that something I should do? Should I partition, or configure, my MacBook's internal hard drive differently? And should I partition, or configure, my external hard drive? And if I need to partition, or configure, my MacBook's internal hard drive differently, how do I setup Time Machine to backup per any such changes? Same thing for my external hard drive?
13in. Aluminum, Late 2008 MacBook, 250 GB (with upgraded Samsung SSD 840 Pro Series 256GB hard drive)
Processor 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
Memory 2 GB 1067 MHz DDR3
OS X 10.9.5
plus
Apple Time Capsule 4th Generation 2TB
LaCie Porsche Design P'9223 1TB external hard drive
Thank you for your help.

Partitioning makes no sense. You have a drawer full of stuff. Split it into two smaller drawers and you have two smaller drawers full of stuff.
Decide what you can store on external storage - your iPhoto/Aperture/Lightroom libraries can all be stored on externals, as can your iTunes Libraries and so on. Do you need to carry 30 gigs of movies with you all the time? You can get portable drives the size of an iPhone these days.

Renewing a Late 2008 MacBook Pro: hard drive and battery substitution

Hi all,
I am an happy user of a late 2008 MacBook pro.
However, with the passing of time, it became slow and the battery also deteriorate (it still quite OK, but it is not like at the beginning).
But let's start from the beginning: the hard drive
By googling for a while, I noticed that several people experienced very slow performance of their late 2008 MacBook Pro. That is also my case. Apparently, this is due to the hard disk which is dying, and then I considering to change it. However, I haven't found answers to these questions:
- Is it possible to mirror all the containt of the current disk to the new one?
- I only have the original installation disks of the first Leopard. I made all the updates through the network. Moreover, since it passed lot of time, I am afraid that some sector of the installation disks may be damaged. This means that I may fail in the installation of Mac Os X on the new hard drive. If I have to reinstall everything from scratch with the new hard drive and without installation disks, how should I do?
- If I go a Mac Reseller shop, will do they perform this operation? And how much does it costs to make it? Or I may also go to some generic computer reparation guy?
- Is it convenient to save all the data (movies, documents, pictures, emails, etc) somewhere (e.g. external HD) and then perform a completely new installation?
Next, let's consider the battery.
Here is a screenshot taken with iStat Pro:
Do you think it is worth changing it? From System Profile I have those other info:
Full charge capacity (mAh):          3386
       Current (mA):          846
       Voltage (mV):          12029
Condition:          Replace soon
What do you suggest to do then? How much does it cost a new battery? Actually, I think that also the processor performance deteriorate (it often becomes very hot, especially when watching Flash or Silverlight stuff), but, unfortunately I cannot change it.

Hi!
Thanks for all the answer. Please let me to resume this old and interesting discussion.
After having evaluated several solutions (including NAS, different ways of backup, etc) I bought an external firewire HDD, since I believe it nicely fits my necessities. Next, after these holidays, I will finally replace my old HDD with a SSD one. I think 120 GB are ok. I just need the apps and small-sized documents (rather LaTeX, Matlab, word, pages or excel documents, etc. - no movies or mp3 (I have Spotify, for that) ). Large files (e.g. movies, pictures, etc) may end up in external firewire HDD.
Now, let's consider the OS. I currently have 10.6.8 and I am very satisfied of that. I find it very stable, and all the apps I need are still well supported. On the other hand, given that there are like 5 years that I have the same installation, I may have a lot of obsolete files and setting that I can safely remove. This means that once I will have performed a backup of my documents, my email, my pictures etc. I can safely throw away all the rest. Hence, I may perform a brand-new installation of the OS. Although I am happy with 10.6.8, I was wondering if it is worth to upgrade it (I have a 2.53 Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo - 4 GB 1067 Mhz DDR3 RAM) to Lion, Mountain Lion or Mavricks. In that case, which would be the real benefits? And what about the cons?
Finally consider that I only have the Leopard installation disks from 2008 (not even Snow Leopard) and I will bring my laptop to a techician to change the HDD (I know, it is simple but I don't have all the screws etc. and I will not buy them only for this purpose). Once he will have replaced the HDD, will he re-install the OS also? Or I have to reinstall the OS through my original DVD (5 years old, I don't even know if they still work) and upgrade to Snow Leopard again by myself? I would exclude the carbon copy solution since I may want to throw away a lot of garbage and perform a brand new instalation of the OS. How to proceed? Thanks again!

How to update graphics card drivers for late 2008 macbook pro with Nvidia 9600m GT?

Can anybody help me update the drivers for my 9600m GT graphics card for my Late 2008 Macbook pro? I am running OS X Lion 10.7.5 with a Windows 7 partition. I have tried finding support on Nvidia's website, but at least for the 9600m GT, it isn't supported for my operating system. Would I have to update it from my Windows side? And if so, would the update apply to my OS X side as well? I have a little computer knowledge, but nothing indepth.

Welcome to Apple Support Communities
In OS X, Apple provides the GPU drivers and you cannot update them from NVIDIA. They are updated with each OS X update, so you are running the most recent drivers for your OS X version. OS X Mountain Lion and Mavericks have got more recent GPU drivers, but it's not worth upgrading unless you need newer drivers for an app (I highly doubt this).
However, you can update the GPU drivers in Windows, and you should do it to get the best performance. You can download them from the NVIDIA site > http://www.nvidia.com/Download/index.aspx?lang=en-us Note that drivers are only applied in the operating system you are installing them, so they will not be installed in OS X

How much ram can I add to my late 2008 MacBook Pro? I run Mavericks and just got a new inexpensive hard drive. RAM is not very expensive so Thought I would bump it up from the current 2MB of 1067 Mhz DDr3

How much ram can I add to my late 2008 MacBook Pro? I run Mavericks and just got a new inexpensive hard drive. RAM is not very expensive so Thought I would bump it up from the current 2MB of 1067 Mhz DDr3

Maximum Memory
8.0 GB (Actual) 4.0 GB (Apple)
Memory Slots
2 - 204-pin PC3-8500 (1066 MHz) DDR3 SO-DIMM

HT1338 Late 2008 MacBook speed

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