I just pulled out my MacBook Pro and can't figure out if I need to buy a new one or stay with what I have. This one is rather slow and I haven't even hit the 1/2 way mark on usage. Ya'll wanna chime in?
well it was built in mid 2012
- Thread starter cajun angel
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If you don’t think it is too slow for your needs I would keep it.
Seems like a lot more information is required in order to make a good decision. What does the halfway mark on usage mean?
well I just chatted with Apple - I only have 8GB of memory and some of the newer models have 16. I've only used roughly 209 GB out of 499.9GB of storage. I'm sure I could probably delete a few things to lower the storage usage but dunno if I need more memory. I know the technology is also better but what I may do is go look and play to see if I really NEED a new one or just stay with the one I have.
I bought a pristine refurbished 2012 MBP last year.
I boosted the ram to 16gb, swapped the HDD for a 1TB SSD and kept the DVD SuperDrive for now.
I also replaced the battery.
It is my main laptop, connected to 2 screens and has a Pre Sonus Audio 96 with 2 mics, an external webcam, an iPhone as a second high resolution webcam, a LaCie 4tb hdd connexted for archives, Wi-fi magic keyboard and mouse, printers attached.
The thing does not miss a bit.
I looked at getting an M1 MBP but will wait another year.
I like that the 2012 is serviceable and I can replace the battery when it expires.
I boosted the ram to 16gb, swapped the HDD for a 1TB SSD and kept the DVD SuperDrive for now.
I also replaced the battery.
It is my main laptop, connected to 2 screens and has a Pre Sonus Audio 96 with 2 mics, an external webcam, an iPhone as a second high resolution webcam, a LaCie 4tb hdd connexted for archives, Wi-fi magic keyboard and mouse, printers attached.
The thing does not miss a bit.
I looked at getting an M1 MBP but will wait another year.
I like that the 2012 is serviceable and I can replace the battery when it expires.
Other than desire, there are three significant things that usually call for a hardware upgrade:
Apple just switched over to a whole new chip architecture, so there may be some software issues if you use any programs that have not been re-written for the new chips. But, if this is not an issue, then a lot of folks have had lots of praise for the new machines, and they are reported to be quite fast.
Good luck,
--Ken
- Lack of OS support and security patches;
- in ability to run software; and
- inability to perform tasks in a reasonable amount of time as determined by the owner
Apple just switched over to a whole new chip architecture, so there may be some software issues if you use any programs that have not been re-written for the new chips. But, if this is not an issue, then a lot of folks have had lots of praise for the new machines, and they are reported to be quite fast.
Good luck,
--Ken
Dianne, the fact that you wrote "Just pulled out my MacBook Pro" and "I haven't even hit the 1/2 way mark on usage" suggests to me that probably you have not used this machine a lot.....and is there any reason that you are now anticipating that you would get more use from it or from a newer machine in the next year or so?
Storage usage on a machine's internal SSD doesn't necessarily indicate the amount of usage that one actually employs with a given machine. For example, right now looking at my 2018 MBP's 1 TB storage states that I have 588.6 GB free. Why is that? Because most of the time fairly soon after I have processed and edited images following a shooting session I then move the files to an external drive and they are no longer on the internal drive at all. But, yes, they did pass through the 2018 and its internal drive for a time and remained on the drive as long as things were still in process, but once I had finished working on the image files, they were shifted off the internal drive to keep it as "lean and mean" as I can, which I think enhances overall performance. The external drives, on the other hand, keep getting more and more filled up!
8 GB RAM used to be the standard and then at some point it gradually shifted to 16 GB RAM. Many of us a long time ago were already using 16 GB RAM and then moved to 32 GB RAM as new machines became available with the possibility of that being an option when purchasing. My 2017 12" MacBook has 16 GB RAM because it was possible at that time to purchase the machine with it, and I did so, looking ahead to the future, even though that machine is not one that I've ever used extensively for editing photos. My 2018 15" MBP machine I purchased with 32 GB RAM right from the get-go because I was intending to use this machine for editing photos and I also was looking ahead to purchasing new camera gear with more resolution than I'd had on any camera in the past, which at that time I had not yet done. I knew that the higher resolution was going to be more demanding on my computer and on its storage system, so planned for that. And, yes, it has indeed proven to be the case that I needed the extra RAM for the challenges presented by my A7R IV and its high-resolution sensor.
Something else to consider about your 2012 MBP: is it still able to handle OS and other software updates or is it a model which has now been declared "Vintage" or "Obsolete" by Apple? I'm not sure but I think both the 13" and the 15" models from 2012 have been declared at least "Vintage" if not "Obsolete." More important than just the updates to the OS, of course, would be the security updates, and I think Apple does keep those going in older machines even when the machine isn't able to work with whatever the current OS is and remains on an older version of the OS. One can keep a machine successfully going with older versions of the OS for quite a while as long as they're also able to continue with security-type updates...... To me that would be something to take into consideration. Nothing wrong with continuing to run a machine on Mojave or Catalina as long as one can also still get those important security updates. Hardware support, though, on an "obsolete" machine is a different matter as far as Apple's Genius Bar is concerned, although other computer repair shops may be able to help out with a problem that has arisen.
The really significant issue in the long run, though, is, just how often in the past year or two have you been using this machine? If it's only something you pull out once in a while then maybe it's not worth bothering with replacing. If it is already behind in OS updates and that is a concern for you, but you really have not been using it anyway, it's probably not worth replacing if it cannot be updated to the current OS (Big Sur) and you don't really have that great a need to use it in general, even with whatever OS it currently does have and cannot progress beyond.
As Morty points out in his post, there is a distinct advantage that some of the older machines have that the new ones don't, and that is the ability to replace various parts as needed. An addition of a faster SSD as an internal drive and/or the ability to fairly easily add more RAM as desired, or to replace an ailing battery, is pretty significant, as these days the new machines are now all locked down pretty tightly so that users cannot make even seemingly simple changes themselves. If the RAM or the SSD in my M1 13" MBP goes on the fritz, no way I can simply open up that machine and swap things out-and-in.....I'd have to take the machine to the Apple Genius Bar to let them deal with the situation, as everything is soldered into place.
Bottom line is how much have you used this machine in the past and how much do you anticipate using it or a replacement in the future? Would it be worth tinkering in and adding more RAM and perhaps a new battery if needed, or just overall better to go with a new machine in the first place? How important is it to you to be using the current version of Apple's OS? If not important, again that makes the decision a little easier in terms of simply holding on to what you've already got rather than plunking down a bunch of money on a new machine which also may suffer the fate of spending most of its time in a closet or drawer somewhere rather than being actively used on a daily basis.....
Storage usage on a machine's internal SSD doesn't necessarily indicate the amount of usage that one actually employs with a given machine. For example, right now looking at my 2018 MBP's 1 TB storage states that I have 588.6 GB free. Why is that? Because most of the time fairly soon after I have processed and edited images following a shooting session I then move the files to an external drive and they are no longer on the internal drive at all. But, yes, they did pass through the 2018 and its internal drive for a time and remained on the drive as long as things were still in process, but once I had finished working on the image files, they were shifted off the internal drive to keep it as "lean and mean" as I can, which I think enhances overall performance. The external drives, on the other hand, keep getting more and more filled up!
8 GB RAM used to be the standard and then at some point it gradually shifted to 16 GB RAM. Many of us a long time ago were already using 16 GB RAM and then moved to 32 GB RAM as new machines became available with the possibility of that being an option when purchasing. My 2017 12" MacBook has 16 GB RAM because it was possible at that time to purchase the machine with it, and I did so, looking ahead to the future, even though that machine is not one that I've ever used extensively for editing photos. My 2018 15" MBP machine I purchased with 32 GB RAM right from the get-go because I was intending to use this machine for editing photos and I also was looking ahead to purchasing new camera gear with more resolution than I'd had on any camera in the past, which at that time I had not yet done. I knew that the higher resolution was going to be more demanding on my computer and on its storage system, so planned for that. And, yes, it has indeed proven to be the case that I needed the extra RAM for the challenges presented by my A7R IV and its high-resolution sensor.
Something else to consider about your 2012 MBP: is it still able to handle OS and other software updates or is it a model which has now been declared "Vintage" or "Obsolete" by Apple? I'm not sure but I think both the 13" and the 15" models from 2012 have been declared at least "Vintage" if not "Obsolete." More important than just the updates to the OS, of course, would be the security updates, and I think Apple does keep those going in older machines even when the machine isn't able to work with whatever the current OS is and remains on an older version of the OS. One can keep a machine successfully going with older versions of the OS for quite a while as long as they're also able to continue with security-type updates...... To me that would be something to take into consideration. Nothing wrong with continuing to run a machine on Mojave or Catalina as long as one can also still get those important security updates. Hardware support, though, on an "obsolete" machine is a different matter as far as Apple's Genius Bar is concerned, although other computer repair shops may be able to help out with a problem that has arisen.
The really significant issue in the long run, though, is, just how often in the past year or two have you been using this machine? If it's only something you pull out once in a while then maybe it's not worth bothering with replacing. If it is already behind in OS updates and that is a concern for you, but you really have not been using it anyway, it's probably not worth replacing if it cannot be updated to the current OS (Big Sur) and you don't really have that great a need to use it in general, even with whatever OS it currently does have and cannot progress beyond.
As Morty points out in his post, there is a distinct advantage that some of the older machines have that the new ones don't, and that is the ability to replace various parts as needed. An addition of a faster SSD as an internal drive and/or the ability to fairly easily add more RAM as desired, or to replace an ailing battery, is pretty significant, as these days the new machines are now all locked down pretty tightly so that users cannot make even seemingly simple changes themselves. If the RAM or the SSD in my M1 13" MBP goes on the fritz, no way I can simply open up that machine and swap things out-and-in.....I'd have to take the machine to the Apple Genius Bar to let them deal with the situation, as everything is soldered into place.
Bottom line is how much have you used this machine in the past and how much do you anticipate using it or a replacement in the future? Would it be worth tinkering in and adding more RAM and perhaps a new battery if needed, or just overall better to go with a new machine in the first place? How important is it to you to be using the current version of Apple's OS? If not important, again that makes the decision a little easier in terms of simply holding on to what you've already got rather than plunking down a bunch of money on a new machine which also may suffer the fate of spending most of its time in a closet or drawer somewhere rather than being actively used on a daily basis.....
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I still use a mid 2012 15" macbook pro (quad core) as my personal computer to this day but I also replaced the hard drive with an SSD and I upgraded the ram to 16gb, both right as I got it. I can honestly get a few more years out of this thing if I wanted to. My wife had a mid 2012 13" macbook pro (dual core) but with stock internals and it has been on its last leg for a while now. I could probably replace the hard drive wiht an SSD and upgrade the RAM but battery life sucked, track pad stopped working, and it was just done. If yours still works fine, upgrade the drive to an SSD and try it with 8gb (or upgrade to 16gb) and you may get another couple years out of it. Just remember these machines won't upgrade to big sur or any future OS.
Unless the speed is something that really bothers you and you have a chunk of money burning a hole in your pocket I'd keep using it. Monty mentioned a couple of incremental upgrades that can he did, those should help alleviate some of the speed issues and they are not costly.
This site provides all the info and links to upgrades for each Mac.
The link is for mine but it is easy to navigate back.
https://everymac.com/systems/apple/...re-i5-2.5-13-mid-2012-unibody-usb3-specs.html
The link is for mine but it is easy to navigate back.
https://everymac.com/systems/apple/...re-i5-2.5-13-mid-2012-unibody-usb3-specs.html
I just can't justify my buying another laptop since the one I have doesn't have any issues except being a bit slow. I mainly use it for photography - my iPad is for games, and my Mac is for a bit of everything except games. Thanks ya'll for all your input. I'm taking a step back for now.
Just FYI I ran several benchmark tests on all my laptops, from first generation i7 to last year’s MBP. I was surprised by how incremental the performance gains were.
Between the oldest (13-14 year old Thinkpad) and the MBPs the gains were 2x.
Me thinking I really wasted a lot of money on all these laptops.
You might be able to get a local Apple-authorized repair shop to at least install a new SSD for storage and additional RAM, too, and that would give you the desired speed without costing nearly as much as buying a new machine would, and that way could keep using the machine more comfortably over the next year or two until you are really ready to buy something new.
well, we went to the Micro Center and oh ya! I have bought a new hard drive and 16 GB memory My laptop should last me a few more years and I"m happy!
That's a good plan. I just updated my 2012 mac mini with my old SSD I had laying around and it's a night and day difference in responsiveness vs. the seagate hybrid drive. It's only got the 4gb or 8gb of ram it came with but the SSD makes a huge difference.
Good news, Dianne! Question: when you say "hard drive," do you mean a platter/spinner hard drive or do you mean an SSD (Solid State Drive)? Big difference there, both in terminology and in actual usage!
Anyway, good luck in getting the new stuff all installed and set up in the machine, and it definitely should make a big difference in how speedy and responsive the computer is!
Anyway, good luck in getting the new stuff all installed and set up in the machine, and it definitely should make a big difference in how speedy and responsive the computer is!
Brilliant, these machines are phenomenal.
With the ram maxed up and a new SSD it will perform very well for many years.
Catalina is still supported and you can even replace the battery very easily should you need to.
You will love it.
Well I'm up and running! Thanks ya'll
Great news! Enjoy your updated, faster machine!
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