I am asking myself which constellation is better: should I stock up my RAM up to 16GB (from 8GB), or should I buy a SSD with 128GB??
I really dont know :/
Cheers!
BTW: My macbook supports 16GB RAM, i already checked this 😉
Macbook Pro Upgrade – 16GB RAM or 128GB SSD
macbook promemoryssdupgrade
Related Solutions
RAM still is a lot faster than any SSD which you use in your Mac. RAM has a shorter access times and much higher transfer rates:
[table]
The SATA interface by which the hard disk is connected limits the throughput to a theoretical maximum of 6Gbit/s (600MB/s) for SATA3.
You can determine how much the page outs are written to the disk by taking a look at the Activity Monitor. I try to keep the ratio at a maximum of 10/1 (page in/page out). The more page outs you have, the more like a RAM upgrade will benefit you.
The 2011 Mac MacBook Pros have an Apple specified (as you found) maximum amount of RAM as 8GB. The "real world" tests all show that the 2011 MacBook Pros actually have a maximum amount of 16GB of RAM. See below for several examples. This has been somewhat common practice for Apple over the years, where there specs will show a maximum of X but the real world tests and reviews all confirm a maximum of Y.
Your initial 8GB DIMM was probably faulty. Had it been functioning properly your Mac should have recognized all 16GB of memory. There are no technical reasons or firmware restrictions that would keep your Mac from recognizing the full 16GB.
Other World Computing's RAM upgrade page for this machine
Crucial's RAM upgrade page for this machine
EveryMac's spec page for this machine showing official & unofficial RAM specs
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Best Answer
While I agree with others here that an SSD will give your MacBook Pro a great speed boost, the problem with a 128GB SSD is that it's probably smaller in capacity than your currently installed hard disk. If that's the case and you'll need to have a hard disk in the optical bay as well, the SSD solution is less attractive if you need the optical drive.
The problem with storage solutions that are too small is that they become less effective (fast) as you fill them close to their capacity. This is true of both hard disks and SSDs.
So, best to ask the questions:
How big is my installed hard disk and how much of it am I using, how much more of it will I be using in the next year?
Do I need the optical drive built into my MacBook Pro or could I move my current hard disk into that bay with an adapter.
If you can fit your MacBook Pro's current installed stuff into 64GB (unlikely but possible) then a 128GB SSD might work out well, even without the use of a hard disk for additional storage.