Apple MacBook Pro 17" Late 2011 2.5GHz i7 16GB RAM 2*1TB SSDs - Excellent-No AMD
This MacBook Pro flies......  From cold too fully usable, in under 20 seconds!
Apple MacBook Pro 17" / Late 2011 / Glossy screen / 2.5GHz i7 / 16GB 2133MHz RAM / 2*1TB SSDs (RAID0) - Excellent Condition - Disabled AMD - upgraded to the max.
Manufacture date - 21-11-2011
Please note: The dedicated AMD Radeon HD 6770M graphics chip has been disabled.  The built-in Intel HD Graphics 3000 works perfectly.  This additional graphics chip has been a widespread
issue on the 15" & 17" MacBook Pros, from 2011 (Search - Radeongate).  I have applied a complete solution ==> this MacBook Pro no longer looks for the AMD graphics chip; this chip is no
longer powered, and the sleep function still works perfectly.  Please never reset the NVRAM - known as a PRAM reset, it will render this MacBook Pro unusable.
The downside:
  o  Graphics processing will be slightly slower, under certain circumstances.  But to be honest, I have never noticed it.
  o  There is no external monitor support via the Thunderbolt port.
  o  There is no brightness control via the standard keys.  I have installed, via the Mac Store, Brightness Slider.  This adds a tiny app to the macOS Menu Bar.
      I have configured it with - Fn F1 & Fn F2 'shortcuts'; or you can use the slider in the Menu Bar - it is easy to use and works perfectly.
  o  NEVER perform a NVRAM reset (old name PRAM reset).  If you do this, it will clear the NVRAM update that I have performed; so the MBP does not look for the dedicated AMD Radeon HD
      6770M graphics chip at startup.  This MBP would boot and start as normal; but with an inactive screen.  You would have to return the MBP to me, at your own expense, so I could re-fix this.
The upside:
  o  The AMD Radeon graphics chip would fail at some point; rendering the MacBook Pro unusable.
  o  Now that the dedicated graphics chip is not powered; there is less power drain and less heat produced.
  o  Less heat = slower fans and less fan noise.  Therefore, the laptop runs cooler, quieter and for longer on battery power.
  o  Now this MacBook Pro has 2 fans and 2 heat sink pipes dedicated to cooling the Intel GPU/CPU and RAM.  Which means, when required, the CPU will stay on Turbo Mode for longer.
  o  Battery life is extended even more, with the replacement of both the mechanical hard disk and optical drive, with two SSDs.
Please review all of the photos, this MacBook Pro is very rare with this high specification and in this condition.
I am a private seller, who does this as a hobby.  I have been working as a performance specialist on high-end corporate computers (mainframes) for over 35 years; this is a logical
extension to my work ethos.
I take excellent examples of the 2011 MacBook Pro 17" models and give them a complete makeover.  I install the finest hardware upgrades to deliver the fastest balanced machine possible.
There are no custom patches, firmware tweaks or anything else that would affect the smooth running, power requirements or heat output of this MacBook Pro.
This MacBook Pro flies......  From cold too fully usable in under 20 seconds.
Disk access is nearly 1GB a second, for both Write & Read (Blackmagic speed test - disk benchmarking software).  See the last photo, for performance figures with this setup.
This is the 4th fastest MacBook Pro 17" ever - in Geekbench 4 (Single-Core Score).  That is out of a total of 12,754 results!
https://browser.geekbench.com/v4/cpu/16722445       Labelled - MacBook Pro (17-inch Late 2011) - PAW009 - 16GB 2133MHz RAM (Finished)
Details:
Keyboard layout - UK.
Full 17” screen. The largest laptop screen Apple has ever made - 1920 x 1200 (better than FHD) resolution.
The screen is glossy - clear punchy colours and great contrast; hence, the black bezel.  There are no dead pixels.  The screen 'front' is brand new.
Rare - 32nm "Sandy Bridge" 2.5GHz Intel "Core i7" processor (2860QM), turbo boost frequency up to 3.6GHz.  With 4 independent processor "cores" and a 8MB shared level 3 cache.
Two new 8GB (Total - 16GB) - HyperX 2133MHz DDR3L RAM modules.  Totally stable, fully recognised and 40% faster than the 'stock' RAM (1333MHz).
Intel HD Graphics 3000 graphics processor that shares 512MB of the system's RAM.  The integrated graphics memory allocation, is increased from the default of 384MB - due to the
upgraded RAM - 16GB.
Two separate SSDs (Totalling - 2TB) - one replacing the original HDD and the second one has replaced the DVD re-writer.  Therefore, there is no optical drive inside this MacBook Pro.
The two SSDs are identical - Brand New Crucial BX500 CT1000BX500SSD1 1000GB (1TB).
It will come in a RAID0 configuration, with the latest available MacOS High Sierra version - 10.13.6 with Security Update 2020-006 (Patch level - 17G14042), already installed and configured
(incl. MS Office).
  o  Administrator Account ==> Full name - Administrator Account / Account name - Admin / Password - admin
  o  Administrator Account ==> Full name - Home Account / Account name - Home / Password - home
Note:  No OS version upgrades or re-install of High Sierra should be installed,* Apps can be installed.  Just to be clear, there is nothing wrong with this MacBook Pro; Apple just stopped
           supporting any RAID based 'boot' configurations, years ago.
           *  If you possess the technical knowledge to perform an OS version upgrade or High Sierra re-install, onto a RAID configuration, you can, but this is at your own risk.
ExpressCard/34 slot - I have added a new 2-port USB 3.0 card.  This gives close to USB 3.0 speeds via these 2 additional ports.  macOS auto detects this card.
A great addition to this laptop, that already has:
  o  1 Gigabit Ethernet port - 10/100/1000BASE-T Gigabit Ethernet (RJ-45 connector)
  o  1 FireWire 800 port (up to 800 Mbps)
  o  3 USB 2.0 ports (up to 480 Mbps)
  o  1 Thunderbolt port (up to 10 Gbps)
  o  1 Audio in
  o  1 Audio out
  o  Wi-Fi wireless networking (based on IEEE 802.11n specification); IEEE 802.11a/b/g compatible
  o  Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR (Enhanced Data Rate) wireless technology
  o  MagSafe power port
  o  Kensington lock slot
  o  HD camera - FaceTime / WhatsApp / Zoom / Teams etc.
The full specification can be found here (Late 2011) - https://support.apple.com/kb/sp646?locale=en_GB
I have added a new SanDisk Ultra Fit 256GB USB 3.1 Flash Drive. This has been setup as a local Time Machine backup device; so you can forget about it.
Battery is in excellent health - cycle count is 575 and it holds 93.4% of its original capacity.  Manufacture date - 13-10-2011
New - Genuine Apple 85W charger with plug.  The charger's - orange / green charging status; work perfectly.
MacBook Pro Condition:
Overall - Excellent - Perfect screen.  A few light scratches on the body.  Some marks on the corners.  A lot of light scratches on the bottom.
  o  The keyboard backlight does not work.
  o  Both the inside and outside of this laptop have been meticulously cleaned.
  o  All of the lights work - backlit keyboard, battery charge level, white - on and white - blinking (sleep).
  o  The keyboard, trackpad, speaker grills and palm rests are all in near mint unmarked condition.
  o  The chassis is in excellent condition - no visible scratches or dings.  Even the corners are in excellent condition - there are always marks on the corners.
  o  The bottom, which is prone to damage, is in excellent condition with only a couple of light scratches.  All the feet have been replaced, and are in perfect condition.
      Note: The bottom casing is from a different MacBook Pro, as I was not happy with the condition of this MacBook Pro's bottom casing.  So, the serial number on the bottom is incorrect.
                 The About Mac screen will show that the serial number of the logic board is - C02GQ0AMDW48 (Apple MacBook Pro 17" - Late 2011 2.5GHz i7).
It will be sent well wrapped, in a new plain laptop box with a separate cable management compartment.
This MacBook Pro comes from a pet and smoke free home.
Upon payment, it will be sent via UPS - fully tracked, delivered to the buyers address, signed for, & fully insured.  This is included in the purchase price.
I have endeavoured to cover every aspect of this laptop, but if you have any questions - please do get in touch.
There is a 'No Returns If Opened' sticker on the base; this is to protect both parties.  If you wish to - the label is simple to remove, and it will leave no trace.
I have 100% positive feedback, so please buy with confidence.
PAW009