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MacBook Pro 13" Unibody Mid 2009 2.53 GHz Core 2 Duo processor 250 GB Hard drive 2 GB RAM Running Mavericks version 10.9 My Macbook Pro 13" Mid 2009 has been causing me several problems lately, and I’m curious about whether it is worth spending the money to fix. Current problems: -Battery status is “Replace Now” -It is really, really slow. I’m thinking this might be a RAM issue, but I am unsure. I don’t know how to gauge this from the new Mavericks Activity Monitor design. -Trackpad does not allow me to press to click, I can only tap to click (i.e. I cannot physically press the trackpad to click, I can only tap the surface) -Occasionally (once every two weeks) will have kernel panics that will cause it to reboot. I do not know what causes these, no discernible pattern. When it reboots, the internal clock resets to January 1 2000. Any and all advice would be helpful. I have not opened up my laptop ever, but feel competent enough to do so if it will be worth it. I’m hesitant to try fixing it if people think it won’t work, because costs are fairly high: -$100 to buy two new 4GB RAM chips if I upgrade from 2 to 8 gig -$112 for new battery -$10-$20 for tools to open up my laptop/duster can TOTAL: $250 just in upgrades However, it’s cheaper than a new Mac if you guys know that these things will resolve some of my problems! Thanks in advance for the help, please feel free to ask questions if you need more info
Your battery sounds like it has gone bad and has swollen causing trackpad issues. Also change out the hard drive cable as it is probably faulty. MacBook Pro 13" Unibody Mid 2009 Battery Replacement MacBook Pro 13" Unibody Mid 2009 Hard Drive Cable Replacement
Sorry I’m late to the conversation. Upgrading is better than replacement. I just purchased a battery ($63), 240GB SSD ($145), and USB external enclosure ($12) for less than $250 (crucial website for SSD and amazon for battery) This is for my wife’s mid 2009 13" MacBook pro. IMO, you will see more performance gain from an SSD than the 8GB of RAM. Don’t get me wrong, 8 would help, but SSD would help more. I ordered wife’s MacBook with 4GB of RAM, so going to 8 is not going to show as big of a difference for hers. Check the model number of your hard drive. If it is a 5200 RPM drive, then I would recommend an SSD over RAM. USB enclosure will make the old HDD useable for storage and backup. If you have to do 1 item at a time because of funds, I completely understand. Definitely get that battery done first if it’s swelling. Think of it as this, do I put $250 into this laptop or spend $1200+ on a new one? Good luck! I will be replacing parts in about a week.
I have the exact same macbook pro and I had many of the similar issues.. I recently spent $300 to upgrade it and I dont regret it. Added 8 Gigs or RAM (previously 4), 500GB ssd (previously 500 GB 5400 RPM HD), Replaced the battery.. The computer runs lightning fast now, boots in 20-22 seconds. everything is super fast.. Considering how expensive these laptops are, it’d be worth it to upgrade your existing computer rather than buying a new one.
I am in pretty much the exact same situation. Having the same specs on this machine as OP, my battery suddenly reports being in the “Replace Now” condition, causing the trackpad issues. I plan to upgrade the HDD to a 120gb SSD, 8GB Ram and a new battery. These three fixes should add new life to the pro and the specs will be comparable to the new machines out there, bar the extra ports, thinner profile, processor and graphics card. Since this macbook pro is not going to be my primary machine, the processor and graphics are good enough, and the speed boost will make me fall in love with the pro all over again. Definitely worth considering the upgrade compared to buying a new pro.
Over the years I’ve upgraded several older Macs with SSDs, RAM and batteries. All have been totally worth the cost. So I had great expectations when I recently upgraded my wife’s 2009 MacBook Pro (13"). I put in a new battery, 256GB SSD, and RAM to bring it up to 8GB. Once done, the machine would not boot reliably. So I replaced the hard drive cable thinking I had damaged the delicate thing while replacing the drive. No improvement! The machine will boot reliably - albeit slowly - when the SSD is in an external enclosure. All I can figure is that the hard drive cable socket on the main logic board has been damaged. So after spending about $250 on the machine, I think I owe my wife a new reliable Mac! She will be able to use the new SSD in an external enclosure with her new Mac, so that wasn’t a waste of money. So usually these upgrades of old machines work well, but sometimes you gamble and lose!
