Can you upgrade a 2012 MacBook Pro?
A couple of weeks ago, Apple announced the launch of the 2018 MacBook Pro. This had me thinking, hey, maybe I want to get a new Mac! Show
[level1] Back in college, I bought a mid-2012 MacBook pro after a series of Windows computers were dying on me consistently for years. I went through about three computers in high school and the beginning of college purely because they were cheap. I still have this computer today (it’s turning 6 in September!), and I just upgraded it. In this article, I want to provide some insight into the process to upgrade a mid-2012 MacBook pro. And, I also want to give you my thoughts on whether upgrading the mid-2012 MacBook Pro was worth it. The original tech specsI bought the better of the two 13″ mid-2012 MacBook Pro’s offered at the time. Here’s a list of the key technical specifications my MacBook Pro had before the upgrades.
Why I chose to upgradeYou might wonder why I didn’t just buy a new Mac. And the answer is quite simple. The 2018 MacBook pro that I want is about $2500. And to top it all off, I LIKED using my mid-2012 Mac. There was absolutely nothing wrong with it, and I enjoyed it. I didn’t have a good reason to replace it, other than it was running a little slow and laggy. Finally, after doing some research on upgrading the mid-2012 model, I found out that it’s a pretty easy upgrade! Should you upgrade your mid-2012 MacBook Pro?If you’re trying to decide whether or not to replace or upgrade your mid-2012 MacBook Pro, I recommend considering the following points:
To perform any technical upgrade, you’ll have to be comfortable opening up your MacBook Pro, taking apart subassemblies, and reassembling the aftermarket components. With this upgrade, you’ll also be removing your original hard drive, which means you’ll be starting over with a fresh system. If you have important documents or programs, you’ll want to back these up before continuing. If this makes your stomach churn, then you’re probably better off buying a new Mac. On the flip side, if this doesn’t phase you, you can save quite a bit of money replacing a couple of components. Components I upgradedIf you made it this far, you’re probably wondering what parts I updated on my mid-2012 MacBook Pro. First off, I replaced the original 750GB mechanical hard drive (HDD) with a 500GB Solid State Drive (SSD). Then, I opted to remove the optical drive and replace it with a second 500GB SSD. The original plan was to create a RAID 0 drive with the two 500GB SSD’s. But, that didn’t happen. I’ll explain more about that later. Lastly, I upgraded the 8GB of RAM to 16GB. You may also want to replace your mac battery while you’re upgrading everything else. Prepare for the upgradeI recommend setting up your Time Machine and backing up your existing files and programs. Take note of the programs you most commonly use. You’ll have to reinstall these applications once the existing hard drive is replaced. Create a Bootable Flash DriveThen, you’ll need to create a bootable flash drive with macOS. I recommend using at least an 8GB flash drive that’s new or empty, as it will be completely reformatted before installing macOS. Here are a couple of videos that’ll walk you through the process. Using Terminal CommandsUsing One-Click MethodNow, that you have a bootable drive, you can gather the components needed for the upgrade. List of PartsHere’s a full list of parts and tools that I used to upgrade my Mac. If you want to perform this upgrade, feel free to use the same list of materials! The Items with an asterisk (*) are optional. To upgrade the original HDD to an SSDUpdate November 2019: The 1TB and 2TB SSDs have significantly dropped in price, so you may want to consider buying the largest possible drive you can afford!
To upgrade the RAM
To replace the optical (Super Drive) with an SSD
Tools
Perform the InstallationOnce you have your parts, you’re ready to do the upgrade. Here’s the video that I used to complete the installation. DISCLAIMER: Proceed with Caution. I’m not liable for any damage you do to your computer. Do this at your own risk. If you have some handyman skills, this should be pretty straight forward. Just be careful when working inside your computer. Some of the cables (FaceTime Camera, WiFi module cords) are very delicate. If you break them, the repair is more complex than this upgrade. Also, remember to unplug the battery before working on your computer! Sale
My thoughts on the InstallationIn the 6 years that I’ve owned my computer, I’ve never taken off the back cover or upgraded any of the components. If I had known this upgrade was so simple, I probably would have done this a long time ago! It probably took me about 30-40 minutes to fully replace the RAM, the original HDD, and the optical drive. The easier replacements were the RAM and the original SSD. The optical drive replacement was a little trickier but doable. Optional ExtrasI also opted to get an External HDD Enclosure so that I could use my original HDD as a backup drive. Also, if you chose to replace the optical drive with an SSD, you may want to pick up a USB Super Drive. My computer runs noticeably faster without the internal SuperDrive taking up communication bandwidth. Therefore, I’m ok with having an external DVD drive because I prefer speed over occasional entertainment.
Software ConfigurationCongrats on making it this far. I hope your installation went smoothly. Now that the hardware upgrades are finished, we can move on to installing the software. Format Your New SSD’s and Install macOSOnce you install the new components, you’ll need to format and install a copy of macOS. I opted for macOS High Sierra, which is the latest version of macOS. One thing I wasn’t aware of is that you cannot install High Sierra on drives formatted as Striped RAID 0. So, unfortunately, I just installed macOS on one hard drive, and the other hard drive is recognized as an internal SSD. The installation video above shows you how to do this. RAID 0 isn’t supported on High Sierra (yet)There have been a lot of comments about this on Apple Forums, so hopefully, with the new macOS release, this problem will be fixed. If you’re planning on using the Striped RAID 0 format in the future, you will need two SSD’s of the same size. That’s why I bought two 500GB SSD’s rather than one 500 GB SSD and one 250 GB SSD to save money. So, while this wasn’t accomplished with the upgrade, it could be an addition I see soon. RAID 0 on Catalina is promising…While I haven’t gotten around to using RAID 0 on my Mac, a few of you have mentioned your success with RAID 0 on Catalina. You can read about that experience, here. If you’re looking to use two SSDs, make sure they’re both the same capacity, and buy the largest ones you can afford. (It doesn’t make sense going through this process only to run out of space in a few months.) Here’s what I’d buy (as of April 2020) if I were to do this again: Sale
Sale
Enable TRIM once the OS is installedLastly, you can enable TRIM on your Samsung SSD’s. Open up a terminal and type in the command, sudo trimforce enable You’ll be prompted for your login password, then hit enter. Your system will reboot to enable TRIM support. You can verify this worked by going to the Apple logo (top left) and pressing alt/option > System Information > SATA/SATA Express. Finally, choose your SSD, and look for “Trim Support: Yes” To read more about the benefits of TRIM, click here. Is upgrading the mid-2012 MacBook Pro worth it?All-in-all the total cost to perform the upgrade was $363.25 $225. Was it worth it? Absolutely, yes. Related: You may also enjoy reading about the Best Laptops to Buy in 2020. Update November 2019Yet another price drop for this project. Expect to spend about $225 with the tools. If you’re planning to use your computer for another few years, then upgrade the SSDs to the largest size you can afford. The 1TB and 2TB SSDs have significantly dropped in price, so if you plan to do a lot of video editing or photography, it might be worth the extra up-front investment. Update January 2019The replacement parts are less expensive now. If you were to do this upgrade now, it’d cost you $267 with the tools. Not too bad, considering a 32gb iPad costs $279! Here’s the new specification of my mac:
Compared to the latest 2019 MacBook Pro, the savings are 100% worth it. I wasn’t ready to pull the trigger on a new computer because mine was in really good shape. If you have taken care of your Mac, and it’s just a little slow now, then I’d highly recommend upgrading the components. I can’t recommend it enough. The spinning wheel of death is now a memory.My computer used to take anywhere from 5-10 minutes to restart or boot up. Now, my computer boots in less than a minute. I can also have many memory-hogging programs (Adobe Photoshop, iMovie, etc.), and my computer is very responsive. I used to see the spinning wheel of death while working within graphics or modeling programs. Now, this is just a distant memory! 😉 I had to share this upgrade with you because I was skeptical of even doing the upgrade in the first place. But if your computer is in really good physical condition, and you have a bit of patience and handyman skills, I would say go for it! Enjoy My Teaching Style?Now that you have a blazing-fast 2012 MBP, maybe you’re interested in taking your tech skills to the next level! Learn Robotics has a growing collection of robotics courses where you can build projects alongside me while learning coding, electronics, and mechatronics skills. [level1] If you enjoy my teaching style, and how I explain things, you’ll love my courses! The best part, is you don’t even need to be technical to start building robots! Click here to learn more about Learn Robotics Courses. Before You Comment or Ask a QuestionBefore posting your comment, please consider buying me a coffee. This article is free, and providing you with customized information does take a lot of my time. I’m happy to help, but I can no longer provide individualized advice pro bono. Thank you for understanding. Can a 2012 MacBook Pro be updated?These Mac models are compatible with macOS Catalina: MacBook (Early 2015 or newer) MacBook Air (Mid 2012 or newer) MacBook Pro (Mid 2012 or newer)
Is my MacBook Pro 2012 too old to update?Apple considers Mac "vintage" if they were released between 5 and 7 years ago, and obsolete if older than 7 years. Obsolete Macs no longer qualify for service and support. Security updates are no longer available.
Is the 2012 MacBook Pro still good?Due to its good performance and supported by an attractive appearance. One of them is the Macbook Pro released in 2012. Even though it is old school, aka its 8 years old since it was first released, this Macbook still has a lot of enthusiasts, even though this type of Macbook is out of production.
Can I upgrade my MacBook Pro 2012 to High Sierra?Mac Hardware Requirements
These Mac models are compatible with macOS High Sierra: MacBook (Late 2009 or newer) MacBook Pro (Mid 2010 or newer) MacBook Air (Late 2010 or newer)
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