To perform any technical upgrade, you'll have to be comfortable opening up your MacBook Pro, taking apart subassemblies, and reassembling the aftermarket components. With this upgrade, you'll also be removing your original hard drive, which means you'll be starting over with a fresh system.
Here's How to Speed Up Your Mac
- Find resource-hungry processes. Some apps are more power-hungry than others and can slow your Mac to a crawl.
- Manage your startup items.
- Turn off visual effects.
- Delete browser add-ons.
- Reindex Spotlight.
- Reduce Desktop clutter.
- Empty the caches.
- Uninstall unused apps.
Slowness is often a sign of a failing hard drive, so if nothing else be sure you keep a good up to date backup. If this is the 13" mid-2012, there is a known issue with the hard drive cable itself going bad, which can also cause slowness.
How to upgrade to macOS High Sierra
- Check compatibility. You can upgrade to macOS High Sierra from OS X Mountain Lion or later on any of the following Mac models.
- Make a backup. Before installing any upgrade, it's a good idea to back up your Mac.
- Get connected.
- Download macOS High Sierra.
- Begin installation.
- Allow installation to complete.
Answer: A: you can not upgrade the graphics card. It is soldered to the logic board.
Mac graphics card updatesPut simply, it's likely you won't be able to upgrade your Mac's GPU (that is, the graphics card). However, with Mac models featuring Thunderbolt you can attach an external GPU.
To test your GPU:
- Make sure Geekbench is the only application currently running on your Mac.
- Select 'Compute' from Geekbench's left-hand menu.
- Give the 'Run Compute Benchmark' button a click.
How to Disable Graphics Card Switching on MacBook Pro
- Go to the ? Apple menu and choose “System Preferences” and then go to “Energy” control panel.
- Uncheck the box next to “Automatic graphics switching”
No. Even if the repair is perfect that system won't get access to the newest macOS updates within a year or two. Even if you don't care about current compatibility with software a fully functional 2011 MBP 13” isn't worth that much.
SYMPTOMS OF A BAD LOGIC BOARD
- Battery not charging.
- Not recognizing battery.
- No backlight/image on screen.
- Randomly crashing.
- USB ports not working.
- Not turning on.
Your Thunderbolt 3-equipped Mac running macOS High Sierra 10.13. 4 or later can access additional graphics performance by connecting to an external graphics processor (also known as an eGPU). To use an eGPU, a Mac with an Intel processor is required.
If you want to force it to use one or other of the graphics cards, click on the menu bar icon and select either Integrated Only or Discrete Only. To switch back to dynamic switching, select Dynamic Switching.
If your built-in camera isn't working on your Mac
- Check the camera indicator light. If the camera indicator light next to the camera flashes green on your Mac notebook, contact Apple.
- Update your software. Make sure your software is up to date.
- Check Screen Time settings.
- Give apps permission.
- Try another app.
- Reset the SMC.
- Learn more.
Logic board repair, by a professional, is around $400. Most board problems are caused by a few bad components, which they're able to find and replace.
The early 2011 13-inch MacBook Pro is no longer eligible for hardware service or new parts from Apple or Apple Authorized Service Providers, except in Turkey and California, where Apple will continue to provide repairs and documentation for up to two years, or roughly December 2018 in this case, as required by local
Apple's new 2019 Mac Pro features an entirely new design that's modern, but also harkens back to older Mac Pro models. Learning from past lessons, Apple built the new Mac Pro to be modular, upgradeable, customizable, and able to handle some of the highest-end components available on the market.
They have the integrated Intel HD Graphics 630 processor, as well as a discrete AMD Radeon Pro 5300M or AMD Radeon Pro 5500M graphics card.
Graphics cards “burn out” and are not usable after 5-10 years of operation. As these "burn outs" occur, some graphics cards can be recovered temporarily using these steps. Applying heat to a video card for a continuous amount of time will melt the solder connections and potentially repair any damaged solder points.
If you want to use the higher-performance discrete graphics processor at all times, choose Apple menu > System Preferences and click Energy Saver. Then deselect the automatic graphics switching checkbox.
Open System Preferences by clicking the System Preferences icon on your dock. Click on Energy Saver. If using an older MacBook Pro, select the 'Higher performance' option. For newer MacBook Pro's, disable the 'Automatic graphics switching' option.
Macbook Pros that have two graphic cards built-in have the option of switching between a more powerful card and less powerful card to conserve battery life. When you are traveling on business, it makes sense to use the more energy efficient graphics card to preserve your battery life.
On your Mac, choose Apple menu > System Preferences, click Security & Privacy, then click Privacy. Select Camera. Select the checkbox next to an app to allow it to access your camera.
