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I have 2 early 2011 17" PowerBooks both work but run at a snails pace. My main one has all the ram maxed out but still is slow. I believe the main one has that GPU problem. I missed the repair deadline. What I am wondering is if I invested in one of these. Could I get it running fast and would it support the Adobe photoshop, illustrator and Modo 3D software. Is it worth it or should I buy a new laptop. What do I need to do if these are keepers? Update (08/18/2017) Haha Well OK than. My MacBook Pros are as follows: Both systems specs (by doing serial number lookup on EveryMac): MacBook Pro “Core i7” 2.3 17" Early 2011 2.3 GHz Core i7 (I7-2820QM) Intro. February 24, 2011Disc. October 24, 2011Order BTO/CTOModel A1297 (EMC 2352-1*)Family Early 2011 17"ID MacBookPro8,3RAM 4 GBVRAM 1 GB*Storage 750 GB HDDOptical 8X DL “SuperDrive” Update (08/18/2017) I noticed that lookup did not include the added RAM. I don’t recall what the max configuration was for it (16?) but the 1st one has the total amount of RAM that can be added to max it out. The RAM that was in it was replaced with max.
If theses are 2011 MacBook Pros (the last of the 17" machines" they are highly prized. What are the Axxx numbers on the back of the machine? If they are the circa 2004 PowerBooks, they are essentially worthless. UPDATE MacBook Pro “Core i7” 2.3 17" Early 2011 http://www.everymac.com/systems/apple/ma… They are both the same machines. They do not appear to have been upgraded. The RAM is Standard RAM: 4 GB Maximum RAM: 16 GB* RAM Type: PC3-10600 DDR3 Min. RAM Speed: 1333 MHz Details: Supports 1333 MHz PC3-10600 DDR3 SDRAM. I have one of these on my bench right now. I just upgraded it with a 1 TB SSHD and it is running like a champ. According to your storage needs you can also drop in an SSD for a really competitive (compared to todays standards) screamer. I would take it to at least 8 GB of RAM, higher if you are doing a lot of PhotoShop. My came in with no display (black screen). The fix was a PRAM reset which cleared it right up. If it does not, do a hot air workstation reflow of the GPU, or pay to have it done. This machine should bring around $1200 on eBay.
You can install Linux on them and configure it to not use the GPU. See this https://wiki.debian.org/InstallingDebian…
