Can I upgrade my 2.3 GHz Intel Core i5 on my MacBook Pro? I am getting into video editing and need something better.

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Coleman Ashworth

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Dec 23, 2014
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The title says it all. Can I upgrade my 2.3 GHz Intel Core i5 on my MacBook Pro? I am getting into video editing and need something better. If you could add the links to your product recommendation I would really appreciate it.

About my MacBook

Pro (13-inch, Early 2011)
2.3 GHz Intel Core i5
4 GB 1333 MHz DDR3
Intel HD Graphics 3000 384 MB
 
Solution
RunLuke
No. That's the problem with laptops and apple in general. The CPU is soldered in place.
You could probably buy a new mainboard with a new cpu on it, but I highly doubt it would make sense economically. Or even work.

Sell it and get a new one. Build a desktop pc and woooom, laptops are IMO shit for work, can't get rid of the heat. So unless you REALLY need portability, I'd recommend a desktop pc. Or apple. If you wanna spend the extra dosh or really like FCP (if you do, use Premiere Pro instead).
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RunLuke

RunLuke

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Dec 8, 2014
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No. That's the problem with laptops and apple in general. The CPU is soldered in place.
You could probably buy a new mainboard with a new cpu on it, but I highly doubt it would make sense economically. Or even work.

Sell it and get a new one. Build a desktop pc and woooom, laptops are IMO shit for work, can't get rid of the heat. So unless you REALLY need portability, I'd recommend a desktop pc. Or apple. If you wanna spend the extra dosh or really like FCP (if you do, use Premiere Pro instead).
 
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Solution
spdragoo

spdragoo

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Oct 17, 2011
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Probably not. As with just about any laptop, it's usually incredibly difficult (if not impossible) to upgrade the major components like the CPU, due to:
-- components being soldered or hot-glued onto the board
-- extreme difficulty in disassembling/reassembling the laptop case & internals
-- tendancy for laptops to use particular types of processors (i.e. low-power variants, specialized socket types, etc.) that makes it extremely difficult to find an upgrade CPU that will match them.

For example, based on your listing (core i5, 2.3GHz core speed, Intel HD 3000 graphics), you probably have either the i5-2410M or 2415M. The primary differences between the 2 models are the socket types (2415M is solely BGA-1023, 2410M comes in BGA-1023 or Socket G2 types) & the integrated GPU clock (2410M goes from 650-1200MHz, 2415M goes from 650-1300MHz), with everything else being identical (dual-core, 256kB L2 cache per core, shared 3MB L3 cache, 35W TDP, Sandy Bridge architecture). There are some later Ivy Bridge CPUs that might be able to work, due to the same socket and TDP (i5-3210M/3230M/3320M/3340M/3360M/3380M) that bump up to HD 4000 graphics & have faster clocks (2.5 to 2.9 GHz), but there's not going to be a lot of performance boost there. Also, that's about as far as you can go, as Socket G2 has been replaced by Socket G3. And, again, the issue with taking the laptop apart, hoping you can fit the new CPU in, & then hoping you can put everything back together again.

Your best options are either to see if your MacBook can add additional RAM (more RAM = less time for video encoding), or save up to buy a brand-new MacBook.
 
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