WOW. My 2012 macbook pro had gotten so bad that it ended up sitting on my dresser collecting dust for months. But my job required me to have a computer, so I could either buy a new one or try upgrading the parts like in this video...i'm shocked at how fast and smooth this beast is now! thank you so much for this video, saved me a lot of money.
I have a 13" version of this laptop I upgraded it to an SSD, 16GB of RAM & even got an adaptor so I could use a newer Wireless AC (WiFi 5) Airport card in it and I dual booted "Ubuntu MATE" & "macOS Ventura" and honestly for what I need it for it works perfect.
I bought a used MBP 2012 and it already included 12 GB of RAM and 128 GB of SSD+500GB of HDD for just $145, and then I upgraded to Ventura using Patcher. That was the best $145 I've spent.
Got one for freelance work in 2015, it’s been a daily driver ever since. Used for artwork, retouching, some light video and 3d it’s never let me down. I do use a render farm for the final 3d output but I can’t fault it. Got the 13 inch for my wife and looking for another for my daughter. All about the ports.
Thank you for sharing this. I updated my old macbook and now considering letting my 4th grader use it for school projects until I’m ready to get a newer used macbook for myself since this made everything so simple.
Once you have reached Disk Utility, you could simply clone the HDD directly to the SDD, which could save you a considerable amount of time. Another option to consider is repasting the CPU with a fresh thermal compound after 10 years of use. This can help the Macbook run more smoothly and efficiently. Overall, it was a helpful tutorial.
I had upgraded the RAM to 16Gb years ago, however, our MacBook was still slow When I upgraded the hard drive to an SSD, (1 Tb), major improvement in performance. What used to take 5 min or more now takes 1 minute. There's a cloning utility I used to copy the old drive - took about two hours. Once installed - big improvement.
I still use a Mid 2012 15” Unibody MacBook Pro! I got it from a laptop lot with 5 other macbooks for $200 and repaired it. So i upgraded it to a 512 GB SSD and put 12 GB of DDR3. I still use this for light video editing and web browsing and it does it very well! It’s probably the most powerful laptop in my collection out of all laptops I have. This goes to show you don’t really need to waste money on a brand new laptop which most likely has soldered components.
Upgraded 18 of these for a school. I was screaming at every point you made a mistake. You got there in the end, if you wanted to keep the files, I would recommend disk / OS backup directly to the new SSD before installation.
@@ELMAULOThere are reasons to clone. If you wanted to basically have a carbon copy of your system settings and would rather save time than set it up from scratch, then cloning is your friend. Don’t do cloning if you’ve got some weird behaviors by installing weird stuff you can’t remove from your Mac. Just do a clean install by then
This is such a great step by step video! Got a old computer as a hand me down, put in a new ssd and 16gb Ram thanks to your instructions. Would be great for students to know about this hack before school starts again!
This has been really helpful.. not a teq head personally, however I followed your instructions to the letter and now works great! Cost around £105 ( $130) all parts from Amazon.
I refurbed my mid 2012 MacBook pro a few months ago and she is running like never before! I did run into one problem while making adjustments - the battery I bought from the link given was too large for my MacBook. I didn't realize you are updating a 15" whereas I own a 13" - duh! Thanks for this easy to follow video!
They were wonderful machines, and fortunately, very durable. Even if something is broken on it, finding replacement parts and upgrades is super affordable.
I've worked on those MacBooks before, and they're really simple. If you're nervous, check iFixit's repair guide. Also, remember to keep the screws organised, as some of them are different lengths. You should also clean out the fan while you're in there, they tend to clog up with dust
i have a 2012 macbook pro and i just followed this tutorial step by step. it’s definitely as easy as it looks. i just knew i was gonna brick my computer 😅
This is great! I did mine about 3 years ago. Additionally, I removed my CD Rom drive and added a dual HD. I took the original 750Gig spinner HD and put it into the slot for the CD and then added a 1 TB SSD as the main drive. Still runs great! Only thing, it runs really hot. Thanks for sharing.
This was great. I'm a PC guy and I've upgraded my PCs, but my wife is a Mac user. She has an old MacBook that the Mac store won't touch because it's too old, and she wants to speed up, if possible to make it usable!
Wow you have the exact same model, same tools, I did the same upgrade even the mouse is the same I dis not documented the process THANK YOU FOR DOCUMENTING this process this will help others.
@@Presidential.44 If your computer has an USB3-interface, you can use an external ssd with an adapter, like an usb-stick... I used to start my iMac from external SSD, bc I didn't want to use the slow internal HDD.
Thanks man i will try this out my MacBook is slow as hell and does not hold a charge was thinking about getting a new laptop but I don’t use it much and would be a waste of money
@9:06 - the answer to your question is because u can use a caddy that supports 6GB/s SATA speed and get 2 identical SSDs make them work on RAID 0 , i bet you should get double the read and write performance around 900MB/s -1000 MB/s
Yeah, that seems to be the consensus. But I don't think many people would notice much of a difference in performance. It would be there. I just don't think you'd notice it much.
Great video, Till I watched this I really didn’t know what more to do on my laptop. I will get those parts and hopefully it will be on because it couldn’t even switch on
There’s no reason to get such a high-end SSD, the speed is limited by the SATA used, not the SSD. No problem with the EVO, but you could get by with 1/4 of the expense.
I did the same upgrades with my 13" 2012 MBP. I swapped the HD tor a 1TB SSD, the RAM, battery & sprayed the dust from the fans. I also upgraded the OS to Ventura via Open Core Legacy Patcher. It's a good backup device
Did similar. Very happy with improved performance and wringing a few more productive years out of laptop. Can I suggest renewing the thermal paste to help ensure good cooling. And compiling list of tasks on paper or phone in advance. Helps to ensure no mistakes, doing all the steps and in the correct order...
@@davidgraham9577I should have removed the thermal paste. What I did to help with cooling was drilled some small holes in the bottom plate to allow for air to flow out & it makes a difference
I actually have one of these models and I did the RAM/SSD upgrade a few years ago. It's still a very solid machine for Adobe CC. Kind of wary about the quality of a 20 dollar laptop battery though. I bought a new 45 dollar non-oem battery when I did the other upgrades but ended up returning it because it was defective so I put the old one back in. From what I hear, off-brand batteries for old macbooks are kind of hit or miss.
The iFixit battery is pretty good. Just be sure to get the high capacity one if available and do the battery calibration thing described in the insert card.
I was wondering just that (the Adobe CC support). So, it really would support working with Photoshop, Illustrator and maybe Lightroom? I dont need video or sound editing, just simple photo editing and vectoring.
@@victorhugosanchezhuerta5715 I have a 2015 model I use mainly so my 2012 has just been sitting, but I remember Photoshop and Illustrator working fine on it. I may have older versions though, so if you plan to use official Adobe CC current stuff you should check the Mac OS requirements they need and be sure the Macbook supports it. I'd guess it would be fine, but for a 12 year old laptop I'd verify.
Thanks for this bro. I haven’t used this MacBook in years. It was my last apple laptop since I went back to traditional PC. Now I can revive it and give it to my 7 YO son! 😂
the only reason i remove the CD drive is to replace it with 2TB HDD for data storage. from my personal experience, store data in SSD could be ended in disaster since SSD never warning you if any fault happen. so use 2TB Samsung SSD in main bay for system and remporary data, and another 2TB seagate HDD in superdrive bay for cold data storage
Could a person remove the cd/dvd drive and install an extra fan for cooling ? I haven’t seen it done any where yet so maybe its not possible/wont fit ? Just an idea. Thanks 4 Vid !!!
1- You did changed the 663 mhz rams with 1600. Wont it cause any issue in future? 2- What is your opinion of 3rd party batteries? 3- Heating in old laptops is a major issue. Any reason why you didn't clean up the fans from the treasures they have collected over the years and not replacing the termal compounds under them/CPU/GPU? Thanks and very good demonstration. Please show more about how to software upgrade very old MacBooks, say 2006 MBP to X.15 or better? Seems Apple hids the update files as I don't see them when going to site you mentioned at 11:00 . I have real issues here as my old 17" MBP that is otherwise fine, doesn't accept any update and every web site I go to or want to download any app says my computer software must be updated first... Very frustrating and so much of thanks to Apple and their greedy taste buds!
Dude! So excited by this. I love my mid-2012 13” MacBook Pro, but in the time it takes to boot up or even close an application or file, I could go to the kitchen and wash all the dishes! I’ve been looking at the new ones and I didn’t want to buy one right away, so if this will work for a few more years, I’ll be super happy. Fingers crossed and thanks a lot. Also, where do I get a tool kit like yours? Amazon?
@wulu3519 Not sure, fingers crossed! I will say, though, that the battery does seem to go down faster than I would like, but I don't know if that's the quality of the battery or installer error.
This is the best video I’ve found on UA-cam for this upgrade. Especially the tip to format with afps (everyone else says do journaled) I was getting ready to toss my old MBP. The thing took 2 minutes to boot and would give me endless rainbow circles for even the most simple tasks. Now it’s running better than brand new
I just got a new Mac, giving my old Mac 2012 to my daughter. I do not know if to risk and trying to upgrade... could be better, or could be a bad idea...
I replaced the DVD with a second 1Tb SSD because Boot Camp wouldn’t install Windows 10 onto the 1Tb that OSX is installed on. Now I have OSX on a 1Tb SSD and Windows 10 on a separate 1Tb SSD.
It's gonna still be Catalina, I'd say. I have this machine myself. Used to have 16GB ram in it. (One ram slot died lol) Extra ram makes it faster at compiling code. Doesn't change the OS compatibility for the model.
Did this same thing in 2016, kept the classic 💻 until 2020, when the wi-fi card died. Once the 💿 drive was discontinued ca. 2015, they became rip-offs!
My exact macbook! Thank you so very much! Im new to the pc and mac and I'm asking professionals whats best before I do it. This is gunna sound dumb but what CAN'T i update? Because Im looking to gut it to get it up to close to modern lol
I got this one on sale: www.ifixit.com/products/marlin-screwdriver-set-15-precision-screwdrivers But at the time, I think I might have just been using a no-name set from Amazon: amzn.to/3A4K8a0 The iFixit one is far more durable, though.
For those that aren’t used to working on their own computers, you gotta love an instructional video by a guy saying “oops should’ve done this” and “oops forgot to do that” as you’re trying to follow along. 😂
you missed an opportunity to change out the optical drive too !!! that thing stinks lol There is a bracket you can buy that allows you to fit another 2.5 ssd in that area !
Great video. What’s the newest version of Mac operating system you can put on it? Ares is a 2013 . Or would you buy a newer one for college student? Thank you
Awesome video! I plan on doing this to my old macbook that i have lying around. Instead of transferring everything from the old hard drive can you just take programs from it and install that on the new hard drive? I bought logic pro many years ago and dont have the disk anymore to re install it and thats the only thing i want thats currently on the system.
I upgraded a 13” mid 2012 MacBook Pro ram and it worked like a dream….then the charger sparked and then it wouldn’t turn on, so I put in a new battery and it still won’t turn on. Any ideas? Two screws went flying but that wouldn’t stop it from working?
I had a custom from then to 16 and 1TB which is why I still have it but the OS will not upgrade beyond 10.12.6 so chrome will not and other sites depend on that... So ridiculous that it will basically just be storage.
Fun fact If you use boot camp You can install windows 10 dual boot to have both Mac and windows 10 flies on this machine With no hacking NOT FOR GAMING But when you need windows nice to have free windows 10 a reboot away on 1 machine
I have a newer 2022 macbook air with an M2 chip, but only 256 GB SSD and 8GB RAM. I really need to upgrade the RAM and SSD storage but I don't want to spend another several thousand dollars to buy a better laptop that only has the same ram and twice as much storage! I really need a way to add 16GB RAM, if not 32GB RAM into the laptop, is there a way to do it?
Yeah it does! Actually, I think the most practical use of these is to install ChromeOS as it's a familiar operating system and runs excellent on these.
I did this on mine and those of my friends, and they still work splendidly. My main question though: how long until softwares start failing since we can't do OS updates on these machines anymore?
My 2012 is running open core legacy patcher just installed sonoma macos 14.0 no issues was running ventura without issues as well still only 8gb of ram too upgrading to 16gb soon
If patchers aren't your thing, then my guess is we're about a year or two away from starting to run into apps that just won't launch or work properly. Catalina is 4 years old now, so if you're not installing a different operating system or leveraging patchers, we're not too far away from reaching the end of this laptop's usability. That said, I would definitely install ChromeOS, Ubuntu, or run a patcher. They really do make the MacBook so much more usable.
Why we need SATA -USB CONNECTOR? WHY NOT DIRECTLY FRESH INSTALL, I SPEND (MACBOOK IT SELF COST ME $100), 16GB RAM $30, SSD 240GB $25, MUGSAFE $25 AND I INSTALL FRESH MONTEREY WITH PATCHER. I GOT MY MACBOOK PRO 2012 AT YAHOO JAPAN AUTION, VERY GOOD VALUE, 31 CYCLES BATTERY AND 91% FULL CAPACITY FROM NEW(100%).
??? You have the Adapter Cable, why dont you just hook the old HDD on as external drive, start the machine from there and then format the SSD as new system disk? done it this way several times successfully.
Mine is a 13'. Does it make a difference? Called Apple store and Geek Squad and neither would do this. Any suggestions where I could get this done in the Chicago area?
I upgraded my 2012 MBP to the biggest hard drive I could afford, the max amount of ram and a new battery. Last year I had to buy a new system not because my old one wasn’t fast but because the Adobe software left me behind! No matter what you do to an older system the software available today is not friendly at all!
@@6whatnext unfortunately you’re right. I still use the laptop for other things or when my newer system is crunching away on other tasks. I do enjoy the newer software and it does have some great advantages.
Wow! So easy. Why it's so dificult today? Ok, because they want you to buy more and so on. But why they had that replacement policie then and not anymore?
it might have been better if you also upgrade that DVD drive to Caddy Drive and use your previous HDD as a second storage just so you can turn your guy into a beast! at least that’s what i did to my MBP 13” 2012. 😁
Thinking of doing the same. What caddy/drive combo do you recommend? Also…no reason these days to have DVD drive any more? Before I remove it want to make sure I’ve considered all remaining use cases for the drive.
Totally agree with you there. Your photos, videos, any storage that you can offload to another drive will be better for your main SSD, especially if you have so much stuff that you're close to filling up the main drive space.
another modification I would do if you didn’t need the cd drive is exchange it for another ssd slot i which is what I did for my 13inch just a little bit more space if needed
All the instructions worked great with a few exceptions: 1. When turned on ther was a 3 beep sound continuously. It stopped when I reset the rams. 2.When the system opened it showed OS Lion no Catalina 3. Not sure what to do....help.
16gb is officially what you can have for ram. You can use any SSD you want. (its a Sata 2.5) I would look at 1tb or more. In general a larger capacity SSD will last longer. Brands like Samsung, Crucial, WD and Sandisk are cool. Google the model and maker before you buy. The 2012 can run the latest OS from Apple but will require a patcher. I use Linux on mine but the patchers aren't hard to use. Consider buying an external enclosure to load MacOS unto the SSD. This way you can make sure things are working fine before you replace the drive in the laptop.
Thanks, @a.lawrence4969! I couldn't have said it better myself. Another brand I would include in that "trusted" brands list is WD (Western Digital). For the video, I used a TeamGroup, which has been a pretty reliable brand for me, and they're always really well priced. So I would feel totally comfortable recommending that brand too.
Hi, really good video. I have an MBP 2011, 13 inch. Just before retina came out. I would like to get a decent battery for it, can i get a battery that will last for 5 hrs or more? Would love to know your opinion on this, the repair shops in romania tell me that’s not possible.
IMHO, your repair shops are wrong. Unfortunately there are a ton of cheap and low-quality batteries on the market… If you want the original capacity and run time, you have to choose wisely. Good batteries are quite expensive. around 90 - 110 euros.
I did exactly everything you did it was running so much better. I add the HD & I can not get it to work. I'm running High Sierra. It keeps saying "'recovery server could not be contacted"... please HELP.. TY
What are the best possible components to buy in 2023 to do this. I’m about to do it but I can’t decide for the best ones + the ones which would get the most out of this little legendary laptop. ( living in Germany )
Hi, just did the same, got myself a used 15" MB pro, 2012(stay away from 2011models with AMD radeon graphic chips) get a sandisk 500gb ssd from media markt or online for 50-60€ and pick up 2 x 8gb memory sticks (16GB Total) DDR3 1600mhz Ebay, etc. and this thing is flying, I am running Mojave OS, but that's because I run music software where certain drivers weren't updated. The later Catalina OS obviously works fine also. I "updated" because my 2010 MBpro was struggling with most online apps but the 2012 is great, the last of the Unibodys with all the in and outputs. Lovely piece of kit and much quieter too, This is for the Unibody, not Retina models. Hope this helps
![I bought a huge PILE of 32 MacBooks for cheap. Can I fix them? [Part 1]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/DowXEdFiFWQ/mqdefault.jpg)
WOW. My 2012 macbook pro had gotten so bad that it ended up sitting on my dresser collecting dust for months. But my job required me to have a computer, so I could either buy a new one or try upgrading the parts like in this video...i'm shocked at how fast and smooth this beast is now! thank you so much for this video, saved me a lot of money.
Glad to hear it’s working out for you. It’s still a handy little laptop.
You can add a second SDD (or HDD) to where the optical drive was they're both full 6GBs slots I think.
I still use 3 of these for my photo Booths.
I have a 13" version of this laptop I upgraded it to an SSD, 16GB of RAM & even got an adaptor so I could use a newer Wireless AC (WiFi 5) Airport card in it and I dual booted "Ubuntu MATE" & "macOS Ventura" and honestly for what I need it for it works perfect.
@@arranmc182 Hi can you share the link to the wifi adapter?
@@natbrownizzle1387 RAM to 16 + the SSD is the move!
I bought a used MBP 2012 and it already included 12 GB of RAM and 128 GB of SSD+500GB of HDD for just $145, and then I upgraded to Ventura using Patcher. That was the best $145 I've spent.
I did the same to my 13 inch MacBook Pro. It makes a ton of difference and I now use my 2012 daily without issue. I also patched mine to Ventura
Is Ventura work well n smooth in MBP 2012? Wanna patch but a bit hesitate. How big is your SSD & RAM?
@@aswinwu it works fine on mine. I have a 1 tb ssd and 16gb of ram
@@carson2646 Do I have to reinstall my softwares on macos patch?
How do you get to update your MacBook Pro 2012 to Ventura?
@@toocoolrogz3949 open core legacy patcher
Got one for freelance work in 2015, it’s been a daily driver ever since. Used for artwork, retouching, some light video and 3d it’s never let me down. I do use a render farm for the final 3d output but I can’t fault it. Got the 13 inch for my wife and looking for another for my daughter. All about the ports.
Thank you for sharing this. I updated my old macbook and now considering letting my 4th grader use it for school projects until I’m ready to get a newer used macbook for myself since this made everything so simple.
Once you have reached Disk Utility, you could simply clone the HDD directly to the SDD, which could save you a considerable amount of time. Another option to consider is repasting the CPU with a fresh thermal compound after 10 years of use. This can help the Macbook run more smoothly and efficiently. Overall, it was a helpful tutorial.
You could also boot from your external hard disk.
You do this before putting new SSD in ?
@@liljoshbeats3608 Yes you also can for saving some time, then you don't have to do all the Internet Recovery, you boot instantanly
thanks a bunch for this, just ordered a new 16 gig RAM pair and a crucial SSD and can't wait to upgrade this old boy and see how far he can run.
I had upgraded the RAM to 16Gb years ago, however, our MacBook was still slow When I upgraded the hard drive to an SSD, (1 Tb), major improvement in performance. What used to take 5 min or more now takes 1 minute. There's a cloning utility I used to copy the old drive - took about two hours. Once installed - big improvement.
I still use a Mid 2012 15” Unibody MacBook Pro! I got it from a laptop lot with 5 other macbooks for $200 and repaired it. So i upgraded it to a 512 GB SSD and put 12 GB of DDR3. I still use this for light video editing and web browsing and it does it very well! It’s probably the most powerful laptop in my collection out of all laptops I have. This goes to show you don’t really need to waste money on a brand new laptop which most likely has soldered components.
Computers have gotten super powerful over the last decade. But the NEED for powerful computers by consumers hasn't grown significantly.
Upgraded 18 of these for a school. I was screaming at every point you made a mistake. You got there in the end, if you wanted to keep the files, I would recommend disk / OS backup directly to the new SSD before installation.
Can you explain how you would do that ?
@@dushaneperry4763 you literally get a sata enclosure and clone the disk over using disk utility, then it’s just a case of swapping them over
No sé recomienda hacer una clonación, es mejor instalar el S.O limpio y después pasar tus archivos como documentos música etc.
@@ELMAULOThere are reasons to clone. If you wanted to basically have a carbon copy of your system settings and would rather save time than set it up from scratch, then cloning is your friend. Don’t do cloning if you’ve got some weird behaviors by installing weird stuff you can’t remove from your Mac. Just do a clean install by then
Watching this on my 2012. Still works great. Fast, sure, dependable. In love with it....
This is such a great step by step video! Got a old computer as a hand me down, put in a new ssd and 16gb Ram thanks to your instructions. Would be great for students to know about this hack before school starts again!
I have a 2010 mac book pro which i upgraded in 2019. these machines are really hard to kill!
This has been really helpful.. not a teq head personally, however I followed your instructions to the letter and now works great! Cost around £105 ( $130) all parts from Amazon.
Man do this it makes a huge difference in performance I’ve had mine since 2014 and it still out does some modern computers
For real. I think people underestimate how wonderful of a device this was/is?
I refurbed my mid 2012 MacBook pro a few months ago and she is running like never before! I did run into one problem while making adjustments - the battery I bought from the link given was too large for my MacBook. I didn't realize you are updating a 15" whereas I own a 13" - duh! Thanks for this easy to follow video!
same here!
I hope I can upgrade my mid 2012 macbook pro, you make it seem so easy. My macbook has sentimental value to me. :)
They were wonderful machines, and fortunately, very durable. Even if something is broken on it, finding replacement parts and upgrades is super affordable.
I've worked on those MacBooks before, and they're really simple. If you're nervous, check iFixit's repair guide. Also, remember to keep the screws organised, as some of them are different lengths. You should also clean out the fan while you're in there, they tend to clog up with dust
I also have but no battery it's totally dead😢😢
i have a 2012 macbook pro and i just followed this tutorial step by step. it’s definitely as easy as it looks. i just knew i was gonna brick my computer 😅
Just upgraded the ram and swapped the original hdd with a Samsung ssd. Night and day.... never seen this macbook pro this fast.
This is great! I did mine about 3 years ago. Additionally, I removed my CD Rom drive and added a dual HD. I took the original 750Gig spinner HD and put it into the slot for the CD and then added a 1 TB SSD as the main drive. Still runs great! Only thing, it runs really hot. Thanks for sharing.
Change the thermal paste
@@puertoriqueno24 I think overall the Intel Macs ran hot.
@@tamwilfred Not really, the G5 was the most heat output. The intels run very cool imo if everything is does right.
This was great. I'm a PC guy and I've upgraded my PCs, but my wife is a Mac user. She has an old MacBook that the Mac store won't touch because it's too old, and she wants to speed up, if possible to make it usable!
An interesting video!👍It's also a good idea to give the laptop a clean and to renew the thermal paste.
Wow you have the exact same model, same tools, I did the same upgrade even the mouse is the same I dis not documented the process THANK YOU FOR DOCUMENTING this process this will help others.
Bruuuuh ayou are a treasure! To think about doing this and sharing it!!!
Saving folks thousands!!! 🙏
Thank you man very informative and hands down best tutorial on this, This made me refurbish my old mac and i am loving it
You would want a second ssd for recording audio and video. Because it will not interfere with OS read write.
I'm not a computer savvy guy but how would you install the second SSD? I'm interested in audio engineering
can you elaborate on this pls? cheers
@@Presidential.44 You remove DVD and fit an SSD with adapter.
@@Presidential.44 If your computer has an USB3-interface, you can use an external ssd with an adapter, like an usb-stick... I used to start my iMac from external SSD, bc I didn't want to use the slow internal HDD.
Thanks man i will try this out my MacBook is slow as hell and does not hold a charge was thinking about getting a new laptop but I don’t use it much and would be a waste of money
@9:06 - the answer to your question is because u can use a caddy that supports 6GB/s SATA speed and get 2 identical SSDs make them work on RAID 0 , i bet you should get double the read and write performance around 900MB/s -1000 MB/s
Yeah, that seems to be the consensus. But I don't think many people would notice much of a difference in performance. It would be there. I just don't think you'd notice it much.
Great video, Till I watched this I really didn’t know what more to do on my laptop. I will get those parts and hopefully it will be on because it couldn’t even switch on
thanks bruh... I will be upgrading my 2012 MBP with Samsung 870 EVO SSD very soon🛐❤️
There’s no reason to get such a high-end SSD, the speed is limited by the SATA used, not the SSD. No problem with the EVO, but you could get by with 1/4 of the expense.
thanks
I did the same upgrades with my 13" 2012 MBP. I swapped the HD tor a 1TB SSD, the RAM, battery & sprayed the dust from the fans. I also upgraded the OS to Ventura via Open Core Legacy Patcher. It's a good backup device
Me too on 15 inch 13inch and Mac mini 2012. its great fun. Make sure you use OCLP 0.6.4. to fix bugs with 2012 models.
@@mikepxg6406 I need to try that with a Mac Mini.
Did similar. Very happy with improved performance and wringing a few more productive years out of laptop. Can I suggest renewing the thermal paste to help ensure good cooling. And compiling list of tasks on paper or phone in advance. Helps to ensure no mistakes, doing all the steps and in the correct order...
@@davidgraham9577I should have removed the thermal paste. What I did to help with cooling was drilled some small holes in the bottom plate to allow for air to flow out & it makes a difference
I actually have one of these models and I did the RAM/SSD upgrade a few years ago. It's still a very solid machine for Adobe CC. Kind of wary about the quality of a 20 dollar laptop battery though. I bought a new 45 dollar non-oem battery when I did the other upgrades but ended up returning it because it was defective so I put the old one back in. From what I hear, off-brand batteries for old macbooks are kind of hit or miss.
The replacement 🔋s only last for 2-3 hrs unplugged. These are ideally best for a main home computer with the screen flapped-down when in sleep mode.
The iFixit battery is pretty good. Just be sure to get the high capacity one if available and do the battery calibration thing described in the insert card.
I was wondering just that (the Adobe CC support). So, it really would support working with Photoshop, Illustrator and maybe Lightroom? I dont need video or sound editing, just simple photo editing and vectoring.
@@victorhugosanchezhuerta5715 I have a 2015 model I use mainly so my 2012 has just been sitting, but I remember Photoshop and Illustrator working fine on it. I may have older versions though, so if you plan to use official Adobe CC current stuff you should check the Mac OS requirements they need and be sure the Macbook supports it. I'd guess it would be fine, but for a 12 year old laptop I'd verify.
Thanks for this bro. I haven’t used this MacBook in years. It was my last apple laptop since I went back to traditional PC. Now I can revive it and give it to my 7 YO son! 😂
Eso es genial!, es una gran producto considerando su antigüedad
the only reason i remove the CD drive is to replace it with 2TB HDD for data storage.
from my personal experience, store data in SSD could be ended in disaster since SSD never warning you if any fault happen.
so use 2TB Samsung SSD in main bay for system and remporary data, and another 2TB seagate HDD in superdrive bay for cold data storage
You can also use open legacy patcher to load current os. i’m running ventura on my 2012 mbp: no probs.
How do you do that??
Thank you! I love my new MacBook 💻 😊. First time Mac user!
Could a person remove the cd/dvd drive and install an extra fan for cooling ? I haven’t seen it done any where yet so maybe its not possible/wont fit ? Just an idea. Thanks 4 Vid !!!
theres something called Caddy(extra hdd or ssd), maybe you can find something like that for extra cooling
1- You did changed the 663 mhz rams with 1600. Wont it cause any issue in future?
2- What is your opinion of 3rd party batteries?
3- Heating in old laptops is a major issue. Any reason why you didn't clean up the fans from the treasures they have collected over the years and not replacing the termal compounds under them/CPU/GPU?
Thanks and very good demonstration.
Please show more about how to software upgrade very old MacBooks, say 2006 MBP to X.15 or better? Seems Apple hids the update files as I don't see them when going to site you mentioned at 11:00 . I have real issues here as my old 17" MBP that is otherwise fine, doesn't accept any update and every web site I go to or want to download any app says my computer software must be updated first... Very frustrating and so much of thanks to Apple and their greedy taste buds!
Using it as my second computer, for my school using Linux.
Dude! So excited by this. I love my mid-2012 13” MacBook Pro, but in the time it takes to boot up or even close an application or file, I could go to the kitchen and wash all the dishes! I’ve been looking at the new ones and I didn’t want to buy one right away, so if this will work for a few more years, I’ll be super happy. Fingers crossed and thanks a lot. Also, where do I get a tool kit like yours? Amazon?
@wulu3519 Not sure, fingers crossed! I will say, though, that the battery does seem to go down faster than I would like, but I don't know if that's the quality of the battery or installer error.
Thanks for your help!
This is the best video I’ve found on UA-cam for this upgrade. Especially the tip to format with afps (everyone else says do journaled)
I was getting ready to toss my old MBP. The thing took 2 minutes to boot and would give me endless rainbow circles for even the most simple tasks. Now it’s running better than brand new
Depending on how much ram you start out with. I found that the SSD really sped things up.I just have the 8GB version
using macOS monterey on my mid 2012 macbook pro using OCLP and now works like a charm
The second SSD would be for harddisk recording. Meaning it can write without the OS interfering with SSD/HDD access..
I've heard that since then. When you have a 2nd gen, dual core I5, I wonder how much of a difference it ends up making, though.
I have 2, both i5, 16gb, 480 gb ssd. 1 is running macos 14.1 Sonoma the other is running Rocky Linux. Both work very well.
Thank you for sharing this very vital information on on upgrading 2012 mac book pro, thanks very much appreciated.
Glad it was helpful!
I just got a new Mac, giving my old Mac 2012 to my daughter. I do not know if to risk and trying to upgrade... could be better, or could be a bad idea...
thanks for this guide, watched it because i need to know to work on a macbook since i'm buying this exact model from eBay since i want to fix it
Good luck with it!
@@nerdyneighborthank you, telling from the pictures tho I can tell that the thing is definitely gonna need an entirely new screen assembly lol
that was a great thorough video, thanks
So much useful information. Thankyou.
2:52 I have updated several MBP 2012 models and it’s a
Snap to upgrade
I replaced the DVD with a second 1Tb SSD because Boot Camp wouldn’t install Windows 10 onto the 1Tb that OSX is installed on. Now I have OSX on a 1Tb SSD and Windows 10 on a separate 1Tb SSD.
Thanks for the clear, easily understood demo. I'm wondering what's the latest version of the OS that runs adequately on the upgraded machine.
It's gonna still be Catalina, I'd say. I have this machine myself. Used to have 16GB ram in it. (One ram slot died lol) Extra ram makes it faster at compiling code. Doesn't change the OS compatibility for the model.
Did this same thing in 2016, kept the classic 💻 until 2020, when the wi-fi card died. Once the 💿 drive was discontinued ca. 2015, they became rip-offs!
Interesting. If you haven seen it yet. You should checkout the cpu upgrade some dude did. 😮😊
Round 4 and A straight,
My exact macbook! Thank you so very much! Im new to the pc and mac and I'm asking professionals whats best before I do it. This is gunna sound dumb but what CAN'T i update? Because Im looking to gut it to get it up to close to modern lol
brilliant, thank you, a big help!
Thank you for this vid, I am planning to do the same.. 🙏👏👏
Nice i have macbook mid 101 2012 ,wort it in 2023 ..
Surprisingly capable.
Usb and blue tooth 🦷 right left enabled,
Hi, I like your work, very neat. Please let me know where you got your screw driver set. Thank you.
I got this one on sale: www.ifixit.com/products/marlin-screwdriver-set-15-precision-screwdrivers
But at the time, I think I might have just been using a no-name set from Amazon: amzn.to/3A4K8a0
The iFixit one is far more durable, though.
For those that aren’t used to working on their own computers, you gotta love an instructional video by a guy saying “oops should’ve done this” and “oops forgot to do that” as you’re trying to follow along. 😂
I was like. For gods sake can u please open the goddamn laptop.. jeez..half of the video your talking screws.. my god..😡
you missed an opportunity to change out the optical drive too !!! that thing stinks lol
There is a bracket you can buy that allows you to fit another 2.5 ssd in that area !
Very Nice ! But....
it would be a total update, if you had changed the cd drive, and replaced it with another HD, it would be FULL
Good point, good point. But I think most users would only really go this far. Also, I should have replaced the thermal paste.
Never upgrade an old Mac like this without repasting the CPU!
Great video. What’s the newest version of Mac operating system you can put on it? Ares is a 2013 . Or would you buy a newer one for college student? Thank you
Then MacBook, I have you just have to remove the battery. And there's a little gate where the memory is. The battery is removed with like, a quarter.
Ah, sounds like a 2008 or 2009 MacBook.
@@nerdyneighbor Sorry, this is my other channel. I was using Text-to-Speech, sorry for the mix up.
You failed to remove the securing pins from the old hard drive and add them to the new HD.
I sure did. That what I actually ended up doing as I was waiting for it to boot into internet recovery.
Just curious, do we need to purchase the sata adapter if we don’t have anything to transfer over from the old hdd?
Awesome video! I plan on doing this to my old macbook that i have lying around. Instead of transferring everything from the old hard drive can you just take programs from it and install that on the new hard drive? I bought logic pro many years ago and dont have the disk anymore to re install it and thats the only thing i want thats currently on the system.
I upgraded a 13” mid 2012 MacBook Pro ram and it worked like a dream….then the charger sparked and then it wouldn’t turn on, so I put in a new battery and it still won’t turn on. Any ideas? Two screws went flying but that wouldn’t stop it from working?
I had a custom from then to 16 and 1TB which is why I still have it but the OS will not upgrade beyond 10.12.6 so chrome will not and other sites depend on that... So ridiculous that it will basically just be storage.
Fun fact
If you use boot camp
You can install windows 10 dual boot to have both
Mac and windows 10 flies on this machine
With no hacking
NOT FOR GAMING
But when you need windows nice to have free windows 10 a reboot away on 1 machine
I have a newer 2022 macbook air with an M2 chip, but only 256 GB SSD and 8GB RAM. I really need to upgrade the RAM and SSD storage but I don't want to spend another several thousand dollars to buy a better laptop that only has the same ram and twice as much storage! I really need a way to add 16GB RAM, if not 32GB RAM into the laptop, is there a way to do it?
Hey man. After 2012 they soldered the ram and ssd and you can't upgrade it 😢
Linux runs really great on these old macbooks
Yeah it does! Actually, I think the most practical use of these is to install ChromeOS as it's a familiar operating system and runs excellent on these.
I did this on mine and those of my friends, and they still work splendidly. My main question though: how long until softwares start failing since we can't do OS updates on these machines anymore?
My 2012 is running open core legacy patcher just installed sonoma macos 14.0 no issues was running ventura without issues as well still only 8gb of ram too upgrading to 16gb soon
If patchers aren't your thing, then my guess is we're about a year or two away from starting to run into apps that just won't launch or work properly. Catalina is 4 years old now, so if you're not installing a different operating system or leveraging patchers, we're not too far away from reaching the end of this laptop's usability.
That said, I would definitely install ChromeOS, Ubuntu, or run a patcher. They really do make the MacBook so much more usable.
With anode black cathiode red , window transfered on ram from computer blue tooth enabled copy paste
Why we need SATA -USB CONNECTOR? WHY NOT DIRECTLY FRESH INSTALL, I SPEND (MACBOOK IT SELF COST ME $100), 16GB RAM $30, SSD 240GB $25, MUGSAFE $25 AND I INSTALL FRESH MONTEREY WITH PATCHER. I GOT MY MACBOOK PRO 2012 AT YAHOO JAPAN AUTION, VERY GOOD VALUE, 31 CYCLES BATTERY AND 91% FULL CAPACITY FROM NEW(100%).
If you use Opencore you can upgrade to OS 11/12/113/14
??? You have the Adapter Cable, why dont you just hook the old HDD on as external drive, start the machine from there and then format the SSD as new system disk? done it this way several times successfully.
Is there a way to upgrade the Facetime camera , stock one is 720p. Already did the upgrades in the past, even in 2023 a great machine. :-)
Mine is a 13'. Does it make a difference? Called Apple store and Geek Squad and neither would do this. Any suggestions where I could get this done in the Chicago area?
I upgraded my 2012 MBP to the biggest hard drive I could afford, the max amount of ram and a new battery. Last year I had to buy a new system not because my old one wasn’t fast but because the Adobe software left me behind! No matter what you do to an older system the software available today is not friendly at all!
Not really worth it then if photo editing is main requirement ?
@@6whatnext unfortunately you’re right. I still use the laptop for other things or when my newer system is crunching away on other tasks. I do enjoy the newer software and it does have some great advantages.
Wow! So easy. Why it's so dificult today? Ok, because they want you to buy more and so on. But why they had that replacement policie then and not anymore?
it might have been better if you also upgrade that DVD drive to Caddy Drive and use your previous HDD as a second storage just so you can turn your guy into a beast!
at least that’s what i did to my MBP 13” 2012. 😁
Thinking of doing the same. What caddy/drive combo do you recommend? Also…no reason these days to have DVD drive any more? Before I remove it want to make sure I’ve considered all remaining use cases for the drive.
Totally agree with you there. Your photos, videos, any storage that you can offload to another drive will be better for your main SSD, especially if you have so much stuff that you're close to filling up the main drive space.
HUH? WHY? It won't run the latest google browser which requires 10.15. You got maybe a few months before Google pitches a fit .
another modification I would do if you didn’t need the cd drive is exchange it for another ssd slot i which is what I did for my 13inch just a little bit more space if needed
Since you’re already opening, would you consider reapplying thermal paste? Or not worth it…
No, would probably totally be worth it. I just forgot.
surprise you didn't link your tool kit. i need a good recommend..does the tool kit work for all 2012 sizes and release time ? thanks
Done, thanks... any way to add hardware to optimize parallel functions to use AI Jasper?
Upgrading the RAM and SSD would make the biggest difference. Anything beyond that would be a lot of effort for very little increase.
All the instructions worked great with a few exceptions:
1. When turned on ther was a 3 beep sound continuously. It stopped when I reset the rams.
2.When the system opened it showed OS Lion no Catalina
3. Not sure what to do....help.
Wow this is very interesting thanks
Glad you enjoyed it
I did the same on my 2009 macbook pro, still running in 2024. You replaced the battery, you did not upgrade it, right?
Where can I get these components cheaply in Europe? Any recommendations/links would be greatly appreciated?
Great Video!
what is the largest GB capacity that I could use on my 2012 and what brand model do you recommend.?
16gb is officially what you can have for ram. You can use any SSD you want. (its a Sata 2.5) I would look at 1tb or more. In general a larger capacity SSD will last longer. Brands like Samsung, Crucial, WD and Sandisk are cool. Google the model and maker before you buy. The 2012 can run the latest OS from Apple but will require a patcher. I use Linux on mine but the patchers aren't hard to use.
Consider buying an external enclosure to load MacOS unto the SSD. This way you can make sure things are working fine before you replace the drive in the laptop.
Thanks, @a.lawrence4969! I couldn't have said it better myself. Another brand I would include in that "trusted" brands list is WD (Western Digital). For the video, I used a TeamGroup, which has been a pretty reliable brand for me, and they're always really well priced. So I would feel totally comfortable recommending that brand too.
Hi, really good video. I have an MBP 2011, 13 inch. Just before retina came out. I would like to get a decent battery for it, can i get a battery that will last for 5 hrs or more? Would love to know your opinion on this, the repair shops in romania tell me that’s not possible.
IMHO, your repair shops are wrong. Unfortunately there are a ton of cheap and low-quality batteries on the market… If you want the original capacity and run time, you have to choose wisely. Good batteries are quite expensive. around 90 - 110 euros.
Can these steps be used to upgrade a 2012 MacBook Air. Looking to upgrade my MacBook Air 13in to 2023 saving money.
Think this would be good enough to Dj ??
I did exactly everything you did it was running so much better. I add the HD & I can not get it to work. I'm running High Sierra. It keeps saying "'recovery server could not be contacted"... please HELP.. TY
Is it necessary to upgrade the operating system as well??
What are the best possible components to buy in 2023 to do this. I’m about to do it but I can’t decide for the best ones + the ones which would get the most out of this little legendary laptop. ( living in Germany )
Hi, just did the same, got myself a used 15" MB pro, 2012(stay away from 2011models with AMD radeon graphic chips) get a sandisk 500gb ssd from media markt or online for 50-60€ and pick up 2 x 8gb memory sticks (16GB Total) DDR3 1600mhz Ebay, etc. and this thing is flying, I am running Mojave OS, but that's because I run music software where certain drivers weren't updated. The later Catalina OS obviously works fine also. I "updated" because my 2010 MBpro was struggling with most online apps but the 2012 is great, the last of the Unibodys with all the in and outputs. Lovely piece of kit and much quieter too, This is for the Unibody, not Retina models. Hope this helps
@@antichicmusic I got the 13'' 2012 MacbookPro. Thanks alot buddy