Mid 2010 MacBook Pro 15": Upgrade or buy a new mac?

I would not spend any money on an eight year old computer that is already deemed obsolete or vintage Vintage and obsolete products - Apple Support. Another 4 years means you'll be working with a 12 year old computer. I don't know of any technical degree programs at university level that you could successfully take on using a 12 year old computer.

It appears, from the responses to yours and my query about upgrading, that upgrading does not provide much. I guess the manufactures build equipment to be replaced and not fixed or upgraded. I, for one, am from the old school where we went into the computer and upgraded many parts such as processors, memory... Oh well guess I will just wait for mine to completely shut down before buying another one. Good luck with yours.

4GB is not enough RAM to run ElCapitan and later in an appropriately-responsive way.

You can replace one of your 2GB DIMMs with exactly the correct 4GB DIMM and attain 6GB. In the US, the cost is under US$40. Or replace one with an 8GB DIMM for under US$80. double those numbers for two DIMMs.

You can replace your slower rotating drive with an SSD drive of about 250GB for (in the US) under US$150.

I certainly understand BobTheFisherman's point but I would spend a little money on this computer to try and make it last 2-3 more years. Instead of a 500GB SSD I'd go with a 250GB SSD which can be found in the $110-$140 range and I'd max out the RAM. If the computer dies you can pull the SSD and put it into an external enclosure. (Of course the same could be said of the 500GB drive but I'd still go with the smaller less expensive model since the possible death of your computer could take out the drive - less lost this way.)

I'm currently using a mid-2010 MacBook Pro 17" - it's not my primary machine, I just use it for iOS app development, so my use case may be different to yours. At any rate, it's a 1st-gen i7, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD (the 500GB HD died years ago). It's fine for pretty much everything I do on it. Sure, it isn't going to win any races (though, adding the SSD made a huge performance difference) but you know what? It has a keyboard that can't be disabled by a few specks of dust, it doesn't have T2 kernel panics multiple times daily, it doesn't have a case that comes apart due to heating, it doesn't have crackling speakers, it doesn't have GPU issues, it doesn't have throttling issues, it has a great variety of ports, and if RAM fries or the SSD dies, I can swap in another without a $700 bill for a new main-board. In short, it just works.

I've watched every release of the MBP for years now, ready to upgrade if the right machine comes along, and every time I've been disappointed as Apple has, yet again, dropped the ball in one way or another. The current MBPs are, in no way, "pro" machines; until Apple stops putting appearance above functionality or this thing actually outright dies or can't run my tools any more, I won't be upgrading.

Good and valid point. I'll just plow along with my existing computers until they give out and then trash them.

I have 8GB and no, apparent, problems with High Sierra. I think I will go with an SSD just to assist in speeding things up a little.

Users who already have enough RAM and replace their existing rotating drive with an appropriately sized (about 250Gb or larger) SSD drive report, "It's like getting a whole new computer!"