Macos For 2011 Macbook Pro
About battery cycles
I have a late 2011 Macbook pro, 2.4 GHz Intel Core i5, with 4 GB of 1333 MHz DDR3 RAM. It is currently running version 10.7.5. According to EveryMac '. This model is capable of running macOS High. Testing performed on the 15.4' 2011 MacBook Pro (8,2) with the Quad Core i7 2.2Ghz processor and AMD 6750m GPU. Model: MC723LL/A (A1286). Disclaimer: Usage of this site and the content provided is done entirely at your own risk. Information provided is subject to error/inaccuracies and should be taken as opinion, and not as fact.
When you use your Mac notebook, its battery goes through charge cycles. A charge cycle happens when you use all of the battery’s power—but that doesn’t necessarily mean a single charge.
For example, you could use half of your notebook's charge in one day, and then recharge it fully. If you did the same thing the next day, it would count as one charge cycle, not two. In this way, it might take several days to complete a cycle.
Batteries have a limited amount of charge cycles before their performance is expected to diminish. Once the cycle count is reached, a replacement battery is recommended to maintain performance. You can use your battery after it reaches its maximum cycle count, but you might notice a reduction in your battery life.
Knowing how many charge cycles your battery has and how many are left can help you determine when a battery replacement is required. Your battery is designed to retain up to 80% of its original charge capacity at its maximum cycle count. For best performance, replace your battery when you reach its maximum cycle count.
Follow these steps to access information about your Mac notebook battery, including its cycle count:
- Hold the Option key and click the Apple menu. Choose System Information.
- Under the Hardware section of the System Information window, select Power. The current cycle count is listed under the Battery Information section.
Identify your computer
Cycle count limits vary between Mac models. For help identifying your Mac notebook, use the Tech Specs page or these articles:
Cycle count limits
Use the table below to see the cycle count limit for your computer's battery. The battery is considered consumed once it reaches the limit.
| Computer | Maximum Cycle Count |
| MacBook | |
| MacBook (Retina, 12-inch, 2017) MacBook (Retina, 12-inch, Early 2016) MacBook (Retina, 12-inch, Early 2015) MacBook (13-inch, Mid 2010) MacBook (13-inch, Late 2009) | 1000 |
| MacBook (13-inch Aluminum, Late 2008) | 500 |
| MacBook (Mid 2009) MacBook (Early 2009) MacBook (Late 2008) MacBook (Early 2008) MacBook (Late 2007) MacBook (Mid 2007) MacBook (Late 2006) MacBook (13-inch) | 300 |
| MacBook Pro | |
| MacBook Pro (13-inch, M1, 2020) MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2020, Two Thunderbolt 3 ports) MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2020, Four Thunderbolt 3 ports) MacBook Pro (16-inch, 2019) MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2019) MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2019, Four Thunderbolt 3 ports) MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2019, Two Thunderbolt 3 ports) MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2018) MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2018, Four Thunderbolt 3 ports) MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2017) MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2017, Four Thunderbolt 3 ports) MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2017, Two Thunderbolt 3 ports) MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2016) MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2016, Four Thunderbolt 3 ports) MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2016, Two Thunderbolt 3 ports) MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Early 2015) MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Mid 2014) MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Late 2013) MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Early 2013) MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Late 2012) MacBook Pro (13-inch, Mid 2012) MacBook Pro (13-inch, Late 2011) MacBook Pro (13-inch, Early 2011) MacBook Pro (13-inch, Mid 2010) MacBook Pro (13-inch, Mid 2009) MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Mid 2015) MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Mid 2014) MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Late 2013) MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Early 2013) MacBook Pro (Retina, Mid 2012) MacBook Pro (15-inch, Mid 2012) MacBook Pro (15-inch, Late 2011) MacBook Pro (15-inch, Early 2011) MacBook Pro (15-inch, Mid 2010) MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2.53 GHz, Mid 2009) MacBook Pro (15-inch Mid 2009) MacBook Pro (17-inch, Late 2011) MacBook Pro (17-inch, Early 2011) MacBook Pro (17-inch, Mid 2010) MacBook Pro (17-inch, Mid 2009) MacBook Pro (17-inch, Early 2009) | 1000 |
| MacBook Pro (15-inch Late 2008) | 500 |
| MacBook Pro (15-inch, Early 2008) MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2.4/2.2GHz) MacBook Pro (15-inch, Core 2 Duo) MacBook Pro (15-inch Glossy) MacBook Pro (15-inch) MacBook Pro (17-inch, Late 2008) MacBook Pro (17-inch, Early 2008) MacBook Pro (17-inch, 2.4GHz) MacBook Pro (17-inch Core 2 Duo) MacBook Pro (17-inch) | 300 |
| MacBook Air | |
| MacBook Air (M1, 2020) MacBook Air (Retina, 13-inch, 2020) MacBook Air (Retina, 13-inch, 2019) MacBook Air (Retina, 13-inch, 2018) MacBook Air (13-inch, 2017) MacBook Air (11-inch, Early 2015) MacBook Air (11-inch, Early 2014) MacBook Air (11-inch, Mid 2013) MacBook Air (11-inch, Mid 2012) MacBook Air (11-inch, Mid 2011) MacBook Air (11-inch, Late 2010) MacBook Air (13-inch, Early 2015) MacBook Air (13-inch, Early 2014) MacBook Air (13-inch, Mid 2013) MacBook Air (13-inch, Mid 2012) MacBook Air (13-inch, Mid 2011) MacBook Air (13-inch, Late 2010) | 1000 |
| MacBook Air (Mid 2009) | 500 |
| MacBook Air (Late 2008) MacBook Air | 300 |
Learn more
See these resources for more information about the batteries in your Apple notebook.
This article outlines your real world options to correct a faulty GPU graphics card on a MacBook Pro 2011. The AMD Graphics card for most MacBook Pro's manufactured in 2011 are known to have issues after 5-7 years of use. First, let’s understand the expected behavior of a failingtofailed MacBook Pro 2011 AMD 6750 or 6770GPU graphics card.
*Your MacBook Pro begins to run hotter,fans spinningat higher speeds, the CPU begins to spike randomly in any application you have opened according to activity monitor.
*Your first kernelpanic happens. Your MacBook Pro 2011 reboots itself and displays a crash report at the next login. Below is an example repot line:
*You begin using your MacBook Pro 2011 again only to experience another kernel panic and several more thereafter. At this point, you begin to notice distorted video on startup includingparallellines across the screen. In some cases, your MacBook Pro 2011 will no longer boot past the Apple logo.
You just confirmed your MacBook Pro 2011 is suffering from the widely known GPU issue.Apple acknowledge the issue many years ago and offered free replacement program, however many users believed Apple was just “refreshing the MacBook Pro 2011 logic board, and the issue would resurface again 5-7 years later”. Apple ceased the replacement program beginning in 2017. See Apple’s official statement below.
The following models are no longer eligible for this program: MacBook Pro (15-inch, Early 2011), MacBook Pro (15-inch, Late 2011), MacBook Pro (17-inch, Early 2011) and MacBook Pro (17-inch, Late 2011).
Macos Mojave 2011 Macbook Pro
First – Force Attempt to Disable the Faulty AMD GPU
This method will write a value into NVRAM to not use the faulty AMD GPU and only use , however this method will not power off the GPU. This means, the GPU will still run with your MacBook Pro on and overheat, forcing your computer to shutdown. In addition, this method is known to cause confusion between your MacBook GPU units while working in the OS and will still cause kernel panics.
This method is NOT recommended as a permanent fix for your MacBook Pro 2011.
This method will help you gain access to your MacBook Pro 2011 to pull off files and perform Time Machine Backups before you won’t be able to post boot. In our experience, this method gave us around 3 hours of time to operate normally in our OS before the MacBook stopped booting altogether.
- Reset your MacBook Pro SMC and NVRAM/PRAM.
- Shutdown your MacBook Pro. Boot into Single User Mode by holding down Command + S and power on.
- Once you single mode has loaded, hit enter a few times to get to localhost:/ root# prompt.
- Type the following commands in order below. The first command disables the faulty AMD GPU from loading at start. The second command output boot logs as the MacBook Pro boots up.
Anytime you want to revert the above commands, reset your Mac NVRAM/PRAM outlined above.
As your MacBook Pro reboots, you will see verbose boot logs appearing. You should no longer see distorted video as well. Your MacBook Pro should post a boot and allow you to login.
* At this point Immediately begin to backup your files. *
You can use SMC Fan control to pump up your fan speed to maximum power to help keep the MacBook cool. You’ll notice the GPU Intel HD Graphics 3000 512MB only appear in about this Mac after you made the NVRAM change.
Once you have successfully backed up any files you need, we highly recommend to shutdown your MacBook Pro and no longer use it at this point. The MacBook Pro will eventually stop posting a boot once the GPU chip decides to crap out completely.
Best Macos For Early 2011 Macbook Pro
Second – Get The Faulty GPU Replaced
Macos Catalina 2011 Macbook Pro
If you truly want to save your vintage MacBook Pro 2011 (or in our case the fastest MacBook Pro 17” ever) you need to replace the GPU on your logic board with a 2nd generation AMD chip that was manufactured after 2017. These chips do not go bad. There’s guides online that show you how to do this and you can pick up the newer GPU for around $35. If you don’t want the hassle of disassembling your MacBook Pro, soldering, and crossing your fingers you did it right, we HIGHLY recommend this professional and efficient eBay service offering MacBook Pro 2011 repair which will replace the faulty GPU with a 2nd generation AMD GPU – making your MacBook Pro 2011 last forever!
The eBay listing - here. Most repairs and replacements are under $200 and include shipping!
Best Macos For 2011 Macbook Pro
In summary, these are your BEST options for reviving your MacBook Pro 2011. Other guides online state you can permanently disable power to the faulty GPU, but none we followed worked. Keep in mind that even if you kill the power to the faulty GPU, it also disables your external display port, since the AMD GPU is wired to that. Your video performance for graphics and gaming will also suffer. The INTEL graphic chip is not a performance chip, whatsoever.
The 17” MacBook Pro Late 2011 is one of the fastest MacBook Pro’s Apple released (see the fastest MacBook pro 17” here) and is the last 17” model manufactured. These machine are still highly sought after online. The GPU repair on eBay is well worth the money down the road to preserve this vintage machine.