Easy to use laptop for a senior citizen doing photos

Keep in mind that the newer models are all glued together meaning that you cannot upgrade anything after purchase, so you need to buy what you want immediately. And, another suggestion: have a look at the different models first, but when you think you know what you want, go visit the refurbished section of the online Apple store: that is where I buy most of my devices as they are as new and have the same warranty as a new one:

https://www.apple.com/shop/refurbished

the hardware is not all that different, they just have more or less powerful capabilities. and they all run on the same operating system which will be quite different from a 2011. I would suggest that you go to an Apple store and look at all three. I think a pretty basic machine would be fine, just make sure it has 16 GB of RAM and an SSD for a hard drive large enough for all your photos - 500 GB at least.

Oh, and iPhoto is now Photos. Ask about that in the store too.

Well, that is your decision to make. Applecare is a bit like home or car insurance: hopefully you will never need it, but if there is a problem, having it will save you a lot of money. Repairs to today's electronic devices is extremely expensive; a logic board can cost up to $800. Additionally, with all/most of the parts being glued together, sometimes 3 - 4 parts will have to be replaced at the same time making it more expensive. In the case of iPads for instance, Apple will usually just replace the entire device - so, if you had one and no Applecare, you would face the expense of buying another. In the case of computers, it covers you for 3 years. I know many people who have never bothered with it, but I am the cautious type so I usually get it although it is not cheap.

Absolutely nothing is user accessible in the new machines - so much for "thinner, lighter, better". So, yes, Apple would have to replace the battery. The new batteries have an expected life cycle up to 1,000 charge cycles, so unless there is a defect, it should last a while.

Not sure what you mean with updating your 2011 - update what? The OS? Which one are you on?

And, with 40,000 pictures - do not tell me that you do not have them backed up on an external hard drive. If you do not, you should do this now. A 2011 can malfunction at any time - you are talking about an ancient machine in the electronics world, so the logic board, or graphics/screen can go. So can your hard drive - all parts will fail sooner or later. So it is very important that you have a backup of your precious photos and other important files.

I know it's a sticker shock! And no, I would not buy a 2012 today unless it was refurbished by Apple and came with a warranty. I have one (with Applecare until mid next year), which, by the way, I am keeping at Sierra purposely because a) some of my apps are not compatible with anything newer and b) because the machine is from 2012, it can boot into 10.9.5 (which I have on an external drive) which in turn will let me run my favorite old movie/video apps. You can continue to run Sierra until Apple stops supporting it with security updates. If you want to run that, simply check the app store to see what it is offering you.

My other machine is running whatever is the latest OS which will be worthwhile because of security updates and the new fangled things it can do including iCloud (which I do not use for privacy reasons).

Yes, OWC is fine; I buy all my external drives, RAM, and an internal SSD for said 2012 MBP etc. from them. So, yes, that would be ok, but remember: you are only trading up one year with hardware, so you are still way behind.

One of the problems with those is that the browsers that run on them will no longer work at some point because they have been (security) updated and will no longer run within an outdated OS.

And, lots of people use iCloud. I've chosen not to because a) it is a privacy issue (I also choose not to use Facebook or Google because they sell your information), and b) nothing online is 100% safe. Anything can and may be hacked into to look for account, credit card numbers, etc. But, most people do not care or know, so they use it - which is fine until you read or hear of another major company's records hacked into.

Try the link from this thread to download High Sierra

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/8573861