#MACBOOK PRO EARLY 2013 PARTS UPGRADE#
#MACBOOK PRO EARLY 2013 PARTS FULL#
#MACBOOK PRO EARLY 2013 PARTS PORTABLE#

IвЂ™m really quite happy that thereвЂ™s a way to keep extending the lifetime of this generation of MacBook Pros, as IвЂ™ve seriously considered switching away from Apple as my portable computer due to the design of the new generation of MacBook Pros, if I ever have the need for more performance. I went for installing everything from scratch instead of restoring things from backup, to get a real clean installation. YouвЂ™ll need to create a boot USB drive with OS X Mojave on it (or one of the predecessors вЂ“ but it needs to be recent to be able to support the new drive). Replacing the drive is quite simple and only involves unscrewing two types of screw вЂ“ the ones of the back cover and the one screw holding the SSD drive. I got a set from TackLife a few years back which has not let me down so far (it seems to be currently unavailable on Amazon but there should be other sets like this). The ultimate screwdriver kitД«y the way, if youвЂ™re into taking things apart I recommend you get a kit that has adapters for all the Torx, Philipps and other types of screws out there.

#MACBOOK PRO EARLY 2013 PARTS UPGRADE#

I ordered the drive at the european reseller of OWC and went for the option without the upgrade вЂ“ IвЂ™m still pondering what to do with the old drive. The upgrade kit contains the two screwdrivers youвЂ™ll need to open the MacBook Pro and to unscrew the drive as well as an external case that can be used to hold the old drive. You can get the drive with or without upgrade kit. The replacement drive is 3,5 times faster in terms of read/write speed and this does make a significant difference in the day-to-day use. In this case the motivation was not so much to get more storage (although thatвЂ™s a nice side-effect and you can get up to 2 TB of storage) but to get a faster speed.

There are a few options out there, I went with the OWC Aura 1 TB drive which goes for 271,90 EUR (excluding VAT). The latest upgrade IвЂ™ve done is to replace the original SSD drive. Even if the old keyboard was still working properly, getting a brand new keyboard in the process was nice. Interestingly, since the battery is glued in some ways to the top case, that also meant getting a new keyboard (you cannot just replace the battery). I got the replacement at the Apple Store in Vienna and it cost 209 EUR. The second upgrade IвЂ™ve done last year was to get a battery replacement as the battery life kept on declining after a few years of use. I only put data on it that I donвЂ™t need all the time to be able to do this without having any side-effects. Sure, you loose the access to the SD drive, but it is possible to get the drive out when necessary. Make sure to get one that is designed for your model if you plan on doing the same. The first upgrade IвЂ™ve done was to extend the storage by getting a permanent SD card and use it as additional drive like this one. Using the SD card slot for more storage SD Card storage extension IвЂ™ve done a few upgrades to my MacBook Pro since I bought it and which have helped me to still stay satisfied with it.

the new generation of MacBook Pros have a few design choices IвЂ™m not too fond of: the keyboard (that is known to break), the Touch Bar gimmick (removing haptic feedback on Esc and Function keys) and the connectors (everything has to happen through dongles).

the new generation of MacBook Pros вЂ“ up until the latest upgrade вЂ“ didnвЂ™t really provide much more in terms of performance or memory (RAM, CPU, etc.).

#MACBOOK PRO EARLY 2013 PARTS FULL#

It can for example drive my 38вЂі Dell UltraSharp monitor at full resolution (3840Г—1600 60 Hz). it still works after almost 6 years and is still powerful enough for the bulk of my work (thanks to some upgrades вЂ“ more on this later).

ThereвЂ™s a few reasons why IвЂ™m still clinging on to this model and donвЂ™t feel any need to upgrade to a later model: The main reason thatвЂ™s possible is because there are still a few ways to upgrade this Apple computer. Of all the Apple computers вЂ“ and other computers вЂ“ IвЂ™ve owned, the MacBook Pro Late 2013 is the one IвЂ™ve been able to keep the longest so far. IвЂ™ve started using Apple computers in 2008.

Update: it is now February 2022 and IвЂ™m still using the MacBook Pro Late 2013 after having changed the thermal paste for the CPU and GPU Update: it is now June 2021 and IвЂ™m still using the MacBook Pro Late 2013

Macbook pro early 2013 parts