Upgrading to SSD on 2011 MBP, is it worth it?

"You appear to store a lot of stuff on your system currently with a dual drive config. So if you are considering upgrading to either a MacBook Air or even any of the current MacBook Pro's you'll have to put most of your stuff onto an external drive. So keep that in mind as we go through things here.

The MacBook Air GPU services are quite limited as its using the integrated graphics engine within the Intel CPU unit. Unlike the MacBook Pro you currently have and depending on the newer MacBook Pro you may be also limited to that Intel graphics engine. So depending on what you're needs are you may need to think this through as well.

OK, now onto the elephant in the room... We don't have any crystal balls on what Apple will do with newer OS's but I wouldn't let that be your driver. Apple supports their OS's at least five years after a new OS is released, so if you are using High Sierra you've got at least 2024 before you will lose security updates.

Now the last issue is apps unless you are looking for the next wis-bang app, what you now have is working for you then that's not likely to be a problem either (even the updates)

So is it worth upgrading ?? I would say Yes! You still have quite a long life in your system (as long as you treat it with TLC).

I have a 2011 17"" which I put in a 2 TB SSD for photo editing on the road. I have a 2012 15"" which I use for writing and on the web, it has a 1 TB SSD.

When I service MacBook Pro's when replacing drives, I always replace the HD SATA cable as they tend to wear as they rub along the uppercase. In fact I place electicans tape where the cable rests. On the 15"" models I also make sure the midplane plastic clips to support the bottom cover are also on good shape. I also add some foam tape to the sides of the cable as it crosses the optical drive to help protect it from being crushed.

I would look at moving the SSD into the optical drive location and putting the HD back into the HD bay. The HD crash guard protection is only on the HD SATA port.

Here's the IFIXIT guide you'll need to follow: MacBook Pro 15"" Unibody Early 2011 Hard Drive/IR Sensor Cable Replacement and here is the better part: MacBook Pro 15"" Unibody (Mid 2012) Hard Drive Cable"

"Hello,

I replaced the cable due to booting errors that I identified as a cable problem since the computer was booting fine and SMART state of the drive was verified when paced in the optical bay. However, since the change of cable (all the hdd issues are gone), I have not been able to use the IR sensor at all. System recognizes it on the usb bus but it can’t pair or recognize any IR remote instruction. Before the hard drive cable replacement, it was working (although a bit erratic sometimes). Could it be a software issue? Could it be a defective IR sensor on the cable that I received? Could it be something else?

thanks in advance"