CS5.1 on SSD drive?

​@F1Vanc 

In addition to what Eugene said, Adobe does not reset activations, so be sure that you have at least one available.

See this help page from more info:

https://helpx.adobe.com/x-productkb/policy-pricing/activation-network-issues-creative-suite.html

From what we read on the forums, you may have difficulty activating CS5.1. It’s quite possible that you won’t succeed.

Jane

Hi,

No need to apologise, it's a perfectly reasonable question, particularly when you're considering buying a computer specifically to run older software.

The good news is that an SSD (Solid State Drive) won't be a problem. It's simply a newer, faster type of storage than a traditional hard drive. Photoshop doesn't really care which type you're using, and you should actually notice better performance with an SSD.

However, there are a few things I'd be careful about before buying a MacBook Pro.

Photoshop CS5.1 is quite old now, and while people have managed to run it on macOS High Sierra (10.13), that operating system was never officially supported by Adobe for CS5.1. So there's no guarantee that everything will install and work correctly.

I'd also want to be certain you can still activate the older software using your serial number. I wouldn't like to see you buy a computer only to discover you can't get Photoshop installed and activated.

What size is the SSD? Photoshop uses free disk space as a scratch disk when working on images, so having sufficient free space is important, particularly if you're working with large files.

Also, does the MacBook Pro have a DVD drive? Many models don't, so you may need an external USB DVD drive to install Photoshop from your original disc.

One other consideration is that High Sierra itself is very old and no longer receives security updates, so I wouldn't recommend using it as your main computer for everyday internet use.

My advice would be not to buy a MacBook Pro based solely on the fact that it has High Sierra installed. The SSD is absolutely fine, but it's the software compatibility and installation that I'd want to be certain about first.

Do you know which year or model of MacBook Pro you're considering? That might help us give you more specific advice before you spend any money.