Make this little beast even better by installing Sonoma on it! Tutorial is here: ua-cam.com/video/mFYoCppHQrg/v-deo.html Overview is here: ua-cam.com/video/9RWTAKu9YuE/v-deo.html These machines are unstoppable!
@@francescomonea4742 Hey, I'm actually doing a series, on my Linux channel, where I'm going to be installing and testing the top 10 Linux distros on Distrowatch on the 2012 MBP. The first video (about MX Linux) goes live in about an hour and half. If you're interested, here's the channel link: www.youtube.com/@EevnosLinux
I need an external speaker to improve skype incoming audio for interviews for live streaming...the guests have poor quality on their computers or phones
I've just upgraded to Ventura and to be honest, I wasn't expecting much. I was expecting it to be slow and the cpu use to be intensive and the fan to be on the whole time. What I wasn't expecting was how well it worked, even with 4GB ram. I installed Ventura on the day an extra 8GB of ram was due to arrive and spent the morning with the original 4GB, and to be honest other than the odd slowdown here and there, it was useable. When I installed the 8GB in the afternoon though, it was an absolute game changer. I was shocked at how quick and smooth everything worked. I have been actively bidding on M1 MacBooks on eBay but after this, I am totally happy staying with this MacBook for another 2-3 years, that's how good I think it is. It is mental that something I bought secondhand in 2016 for $350AUD is still my main machine in 2023.
trust me , a duo core running on SSD still works. i only upgraded my duo core at 2020 to a 3rd gen(which i regretted) then to a 10th gen bc i wanna play games, otherwise it still runs office and stuffs well.
Are you running Ventura on a mid-2012 MBP? Are you using OpenCore or something? **edit: silly me for commenting before watching the video (or looking at the video notes that have a link to @eevnos's video describing how he did it. I didn't realize this was possible even after specifically searching MR forums to see if anyone had upgraded one of these machines with OC. Cheers
I know it’s been a while, but I’d like to know, did you swap the hard drive for an SSD one and kept the 4 GB of RAM? I have one old MacBook as well and I’m planning to upgrade it both in hardware and software.
Also remember, while the design is 11 years old, they made this model until Oct. of 2016, so there are some out there that are much newer (show less wear, better battery etc.).
The design in general is 15 years old, originating from the 2008 MacBook Aluminum. But talking about just the 2012, yes it shows its time but it still holds up and looks better to even some laptops made today.
Yeah I'm using MBP Mid 2012 now with Ventura 13.1 installed, stock RAM 4GB, and 500GB HDD . Battery health is about 85% . ⭕ I'm using it to run Eclipse IDE as of now and Arduino IDE, Easy EDA softwares are just installed on it but I'm not using. System takes 1 to 2 min to boot . ⭕ While using Eclipse IDE it takes atleast 5 to 8 mins to open it and there after it feels smooth while coding and compiling in it. ⭕ I've installed Chrome browser and it also takes 2 to 4 mins to open. HDD has a free space of 460 GB. ⭕ I'm planning to upgrade the RAM to 8GB as of now (suggest me best budget friendly compatible RAM) and upgrade the storage later. ⭕ I want to use windows 10 in it by partitioning (please make a video) ⭕ I hope you got me. What do you suggest me to experience lag free operation.
@@SagarCh_ I would recommend replacing the HDD with an SSD, that should have a huge improvement on those load times. If it's the original drive it's only 5400 RPM so, by today's standards, they're extremely slow.
No, and neither should you - it’s a 11-years-old machine with obsolete hardware, no support channels (officials and non)….and nothing else, really. I refuse to comment the thumbnail….worst kind of clickbait.
Just a tip if you have a pre retina Macbook Pro like the mid 2012 or older open it up and check the internal fan as you can buy newer drop in replacement fans that have more blades on them and help to keep the system running slightly cooler as the stock OEM fan has far few blades on them than all the replacement fans I ever buy now, its so cheap to replace the fan its one of the first think I change when working on old Macbooks.
I have proudly held on to mine since 2012, I swapped the DVD reader for a solid state drive and added more RAM. These mods significantly extended its life. For video editing, it's ok as long as you're not going into 4K, for everything else it's perfect. The only reason why I don't use it as much now is because the keyboard is giving up. My A S and D keys are not working properly so I usually just use it with a magic keyboard, which is kind of annoying. I'd try to clean the keys but nothing :(
Same here, still kicking but the keyboard is going bad. Changing the keyboard implies taking the whole thing apart, even if it's due for a paste change is a lot of trouble and things can go wrong, speakers want to die as plastic gets brittle, glue doesn't glue anymore...I love it but it's slowly becoming a ticking bomb. I wish changing the keyboard was as easy as in the first iBooks.
I have this!!! Boight it second hand in 2019, it was originally bought in 2015. So 4 years old when I got it. And its still going! Solid as a rock, has never given me any major problems. ❤️❤️❤️❤️
I picked up one of these back in 2015 or 2016, right before they went off the market, and I used it until I gave it to a friend after getting my 2021 MacBook Pro last year. I maxed out the RAM and swapped out the HDD for an SSD when we were all at home during COVID, and it ran great. The main reason I got rid of it was because the low screen resolution was making it too hard to use it for work. It was a great machine, though, and it got me through that dark period where the only MacBook Pros were the horrible 2016 models with the bad keyboards and slowed-down processors.
@@jesuschrist8706 the last time it froze up and started back up it only showed a gray screen with a folder with question mark on it. Couldn’t do anything from there really
Wow, what a great vid, thanks a lot for the grounded perspective. It’s so hard to control the urge to buy the new and shiny ones sometimes, but since doing some maintenance like fixing up the battery and cleaning the fans my old machine is admittedly working very well. And it’s barely half as old as yours over there.
That's great! Yeah, Apple are master marketers and make the desire to get a new one very strong. It's hard to keep the NEED vs WANT separate and if your current computer does what you need, then there is no need to upgrade. 😉
I have 3 Macbooks, (#1)2014 Pro 13" 8 gig ram. 121gig SSD, (#2) 2014 Pro 15" 16 gig ram.512gig SSD. NVIDIA dedicated graphics, (#3) 2022 Pro from work. They are all awesome beasts. I paid Micro Center $50 each to replace batteries on the 2014's. If you get a chance to buy a 2012, 2013 or 2014 Pro cheap, jump on it. These machines are beasts and absolutely fantastic. Fun fact: My older MacBooks are more reliable than the new one. The 2022 Pro has overheating issues. Good job Eevnos
Great video. I bought a 2008 regular Macbook new before my freshman year of college and after upgrading the RAM and installing an SSD that machine lasted me until 2019. Instead of getting another new machine, I decided to find a used model of the last fully upgradable Macbook and that led me to this same 2012 model. Fully maxing out RAM and installing an SSD made it feel as snappy as a brand new machine in basically every non-graphically intensive task. It's such a shame that in the 11 years since this machine was released, Apple has completely neutered its laptops from an upgradeability standpoint; getting 11 serviceable years out of a laptop is incredible user value and a great thing for the environment when that is scaled up to hundreds of thousands of machines in the wild. I actually just recently caved and bought a different used Macbook, this time a 2020 M1 Pro, but that 2012 is still being used as a daily driver for my girlfriend in grad school. It saddens me that we'll likely never see this kind of user-upgradeability again in Apple products. People argue that soldering everything to the board allows the machines to be thinner, but I actually prefer having a thicker laptop that allows for actual i/o ports and would trade size for upgradeability any day.
My mom still uses her 2010 white polycarbonate MacBook. It's running High Sierra, but she only uses it for web browsing, email and some word documents. I've really impressed that a 13 year old computer can still be usable.
Awesome video. I still use mine daily and am planning on sending it in to Dossdude1 to have the CPU swapped to a Quad Core i7 ua-cam.com/video/yLzzmj2c-Wk/v-deo.html . I'm curious what the performance on Ventura would be with it vs the dual core.
I just have updated my MBP 2012 to Ventura ofcourse I follow your tutorial and it was successful. Perfomance is superb, the feel of 2023.I can now install any apps which I were not able to previously. Great and informative content.
Proud user of macbook pro mod 2012 here, I have been using it for around 8 Years already and still going on , fully upgraded the ram to 16 gigs and swapped the hdd with ssd. Instead of updating the OS I am using browser based app for documentation and things and live boot linux for retro gaming. This laptop is awesome especially when it's running on linux it's even faster than some brand new windows 💻 🥰🥰🥰
Which linux distro you are using? (& Hardware compatibility issue on it) I'm planning to dual boot linux on MBP 2012 So it would be great if you could share your opinion about most compatible distro with MBP 2012
I have had this machine since launch June 2012. Still running strong Dual SSD, 8GB ram, new battery, new thermal paste, OSX , Windows 10 and Ubuntu running natively. It also served as my 24/7 Plex server from 2016 till the 2019. I have other newer pc's and apples. But the versatility of this MacBook is unmatched to this day!!!!
This remains being my main laptop, I use it for voice over recording, video editing and 2d animation, I wish I could upgrade but it seems Apple will never offer 512gb MacBooks as their entry level model, and the prices (at least in Mexico) are insane
That is what really makes MacBooks very expensive, 512GB should be the base model because of all the HD files that MacBook and iPhones record, I always need 1TB at the minimum but because it's considered the highest the price is so much.
You just convinced me to go ahead and pick this bad boy up! I’m on a budget trying to get back into my video and photo work and found this for £180 from Cex. I was thinking of getting a Mac mini for accessibility but after reading that you’ve used it pretty much for everything I need it for. I’m sold! Cheers man!
I still have this machine, it was my first macbook ever, back in the 2012. Now my niece uses it for education and it just works! I installed SSD, 16 gigs of ram, renewed battery, thermal paste, and it works just fine. This is the best laptops Apple ever made, agree! In terms of gaming - I used to play Knights and Merchants on it, and it was good, so, depending on what kind of games you want to play, but definitely it runs some simple stuff!
Thank you for this video. This very laptop is the one I'm using. I bought it 10 years ago and on day one I maxed out the ram as well as added an ssd. It has treated me well and am now finally considering moving to a newer machine but they are so pricey now.
I put Linux on mine and use it daily for college note taking and homework. It's exceptional. Way faster than a Chromebook, way more stable than a Windows 10 machine of the same price range (I bought mine for $230 with the SSD installed and RAM already upgraded), and it's built like a tank for hands-on classes. The only place it really suffers is the battery life. I can get around 3.5 to 4 hours of battery life with a newly replaced battery.
Ironically I got mine for doing school stuff (composing music with Logic, word processing etc.) and I honestly havent had many issues with it other than the screen resolution not being as high as I'd like considering how large individual tracks are in GarageBand/Logic, but other than that, I love the thing. I mostly chose this model since I know them from primary school since I used them back then. I personally use a Windows PC and a Samsung S9 so I'm nowhere near Apple's ecosystem.
I just ordered a used one off of eBay ! Wish I watched this video beforehand but the laptop is on the way from California!! All for $99 !!!! What a deal !
Mid-2012 MBP, 15", 2.7 GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i7, 16GB RAM, 1TB OWC SSD. I just swapped out the optical drive for a spare 250GB SSD that was sitting around unused. I cannot express enough how awesome and solid this machine is. I have a hot-rod 2018 MBP, so fragile, cost $800 to replace a broken screen. I also have a great HP laptop for Windows applications. My 2012 totally holds up and is my everyday non-work computer although I do video encoding on it as an overflow workstation. I just breaths a little heavy on the h.264 video. I'm convinced this 2012 body could stop a 9mm bullet. Hope I never have to find out.
Until last fall, I used a MacBook Pro Mid 2012 for browser work as a QA engineer. I changed the hard drive to an SSD and the 8GB of RAM to 16GB, and it was perfect for browser work! I never had problems when I used many tabs in Chrome. About gaming, I lauched Warhammer 40 000 Dawn of War 2 and Mount and Blade Warband. Yes, coolers were working at that moment as engines on airplane but I did not have problems in these games. And maybe the best part of this Mac is the screen. The screen is far superior to that of low-level laptops and comparable to that of middle-level laptops. It's really great Mac even for 2023!
Did you upgrade to Catalina on that machine? I just took the leap to Mojave today (I know…). Mid-2012 MB Pro with 16GB ram/500GB SSD. And I am researching pros and cons of upgrading to Catalina. Would you recommend it or shoul I stay with Mojave?
I was really considering finally giving in and getting a new Macbook Pro. Figured it was finally time for an upgrade after 12 years. I've upgraded its internals and thought I had finally hit a wall after the OS was no longer supported. After seeing this video and seeing that I can upgrade my MBP to the latest OS with good functionality using OpenCore Legacy Pro, looks like i can hold off a bit more longer :)! Thank you for making this video!
This laptop is Amazing, I still have mine. Just use it from time to time because the battery is damaged. but I just don't want to throw it away. I am so grateful about this laptop that I just don't want to split apart from "her".
Great video! I've given this a go in the past with mid-2012, trying to combine the OCLP boot patches with Kryptonite for eGPU support and it kinda worked but had major issues with video playback above 480p (yes that's correct, and even UA-cam videos were failing to play), this was a couple months back and OCLP has since been updated to appear more stable. I ended up rolling back to Monterey and managed to get full eGPU support back with no issues - looks like it might be worth another go! I created OS partitions and have two internal SSDs so not worried about losing data or having to roll back again. I'm using a Blackmagic eGPU (AMD Radeon 580 8GB) and seems to give me the best of both worlds (or at least as much juice as a mid-2012 can give!). Your videos have been an inspiration!
Also just a note - with the eGPU support and running Big Sur/Monterey, I've been able to use two of these mid-2012 MacBook Pro laptops to achieve some pretty weighty video projects & audio multitracks etc. Still blown away by the power although you do run into throttling with HEVC iPhone footage transcoding (but I've managed 6K ProRes RAW/BRAW timelines in FCPX or Davinci Resolve with no issues), not forgetting some reasonably high graphic specs on games like Skyrim, unless 50 enemies spawn suddenly...
My machine is a 2012 macbook pro exactly as yours. I installed the Ventura latest software using your instructions and it works pretty well. The only different thing is that my macbook has 480 ssd and 8 gb of RAM instead of 16 as your machine. This leads to some apps quitting while using them especially Safari when I have other apps open in the background. Overall I am happy with the user experience considering a 11 year old laptop the update really solved the problem I had with the software installation and updates I had on the Catalina. I think it is a really decent machine for photo editing on photoshop even in 2023 didn't encounter any lagging. I am going to update the RAM to 16 gb as quick as possible because I believe I will a have a smoother experience and the trouble with the apps crushing will be solved.
You have the latest Ventura,but do you have the latest OCLP? If you initially upgraded a while ago you may want to download the latest OCLP and run just the post install scripts. I've seen just updating that make a huge difference in the past. Although I definitely recommend 16 GB, try the post install update first. If it works for you then you can save that money. 😉
@@Eevnos just checked that and I apparently have the latest OCLP and the post installation updates. I think I will go for the 16 RAM and it's not that expensive :) Plus maybe I could sell the laptop for a better price in the future if i want to having these cool stuff on it.
@@aliemirhamitoglu8920 that's awesome, I would definitely go for it. I try to give options,before spending money, because I never know a person's financial situation. 😉
Hey so i have a macbook pro with the i5 and 10gb of ram and it runs awsome i was just wonder if i put a i7mb in it if i will be able to use it normally also how to i chech for the latest oclp
If anyone is wondering how to get Mac apps to work on older machines: sign in with an Apple ID that has once downloaded the app in the past on, for example another device > go to account > downloads / purchases > click on the cloud download icon > its gonna say: the newest version of "app name" isn't supported by your OS anymore, do you wanna download the latest compatible version? > click yes / download
I'm using 3x 15" Mid 2012 Unibody MBPs (2.3, 2.3, 2.6) 16GB of ram on all of them, and only 1 of 3 is running an SSD currently, for personal and work. They've worked great besides my main one that occasionally had ram issues after a drop (ram slots are surface amount rather than through put), so eventually I'll get that fixed, but they're great machines for the price. They hold up really well. I run 10.13 High Sierra on all of them.
Glad I found your video! I was looking at getting a newer imac and then remembered I had a 2012 macbook pro i upgraded but haven't used in years. I dusted it off and found that in clamshell mode I can connect and run two apple thunderbolt displays daisy chained to it. That is two 27" 2k GORGEOUS apple monitors that really are giving this thing new life. I want to do a fresh macOS install and get it in as best shape as possible. But I am actually really excited to get it to it's max potential and start playing with it again!
Thank you. Your video convinced me to buy it. I have an M1 but hate the lack of ports and lack of storage. I found one of these for $167 and with a 1TB HDD.
I have the early 2011 MacBook Pro 13 inch with i7 processor and 16gb ram. I had two hdd hard drives inside. It needs a battery but works well while plugged in. I had it on offer up for $99 and changed my mind from selling it. I had an extra 250 gb ssd drive in my 2012 Mac Pro and decided to pull it out and install it in my MacBook Pro. The ssd drive makes a huge difference in speed. Glad I kept it. They don’t make upgradable quality MacBook pros like they use too.
Just ordered a 16GB 512 GB SSD Macbook pro 2012 from ebay apple certified refurbished for $250 to replace a previous one that was performing great, but left out of town in a rush lol. These are really good cheap computers and I refuse to spend thousands on a newer one. I'll look into upgrading it from Catalina if it isn't too much of a pain, if not I'll roll with what's on there. Thanks for the video...good to know I'm not the only one that still rocks with these old computers ;)
Thanks for the video, well done. I have a 13 and a 15 inch MacBook Pro running Ventura and I always reference installation video from the Monterey install. That video was very well done and helped me a lot. Thanks.
Both of my MacBook pros are 2012s, I7 processor’s , and I can’t get the Continuity camera to work either with my iPhone. That was the biggest feature I was hoping to get out of this upgrade.
I wanted to add one more thing, my MacBook Pro, 2012. 13 inch model, I upgraded to a 1 TB SSD and 16 GB of RAM. My old ladies, 2012 MacBook Pro, I upgraded the hard drive to an SSD 500 GB, and is still running 4 GB RAM. Amazingly per 15 inch model with 4 giga ram Runs Ventura just as well as mine that has 16 giga ram. I literally can tell no difference.
Using a 2013 13” here. I’ve stuck to Mojave on my machine. As a writer, I don’t have a terribly intensive workflow, leaning primarily on Scrivener and web browsers for research. Love the machine and just can’t stand to move on when it does everything I need to do without any issues.
Agreed I am still using El Capitan. I really dont trust new upgrades too scared of loosing something that's already working just fine, I mean you never know right! 😆
These are such great machines. I use a 2011 iMac, upgraded cpu (i7-2700k) & SSD. Brilliant ! I prefer the retina MacBooks for running Ventura, but I found Catalina runs well on the Unibody macs
You can’t run time-critical apps. So Logic just hates OpenCore, as does Final Cut. Virtually everything else I’ve tried, runs perfectly. The GPU is clearly behind, but is made to work via some clever kexts, installed via OCP. So far, graphics have not been an issue.
I have 2 2012 MacBook pros. 1 with 16 gigs of ram, 250gig SSD running Kali Linux and it works great! The other I have gutted and am using a HDMI controller to run the screen and connect a cell phone to that with USB C lol.
Just got one of these as a retro gaming Bootcamp laptop + scanning laptop because Big Sur doesn't support my CanoScan 600F. I was shocked to find just how thick these things used to be. I've gotten so used to my mid 2015 Pro, to the point of rewriting my own memories, thinking they were always this thin. I remember buying one of these brand new in store early 2012, and it was the most luxurious piece of tech I'd ever held. State of the art, now retro.
I pre-ordered a 15" fully specd mid 2012 MBP back in the day and fast forward today its literally my favorite machine. Dual SSDs, maxed out ram, triple boot and on the windows boot it still plays GRID Racing on a 40" screen with fairly high graphics settings with no hiccups. Of course I do have a gaming PC for that but it still fun seeing an old laptop shrug off modern life. I also paid extra for the upgraded screen option and it's just great. Still on its original battery too.
i still using this machine, the best macbookpro ever i think. bought new back then for about 1500$, 10 years ago, and never had any issues at all, at all, maximize the specs, 16GB RAM 1TB SSD and 2TB HDD in the superdrive with caddy, this machine working very, very well, been bought several newer macbookpro untill i got stuck with the butterfly disaster in 2017mbp, and thats enough for me at all to buying newer model from apple. straight back to the MD101 and life goes on.
after watching your previous video where this machine can be upgraded to Ventura using Open Core Legacy, I am planning to do so since the hardwares have been upgraded as well. going to see how mine will hold it up in 2023. 😁
i have a 2013 macbook pro 15 inch with a core i7 and 16 gb ram. its great i have no reason to upgrade. sadly the ram is soldered but 16gb is plenty enough. love it got it for $130 fully working
I'm still using the 2012 macbook pro. Although I can't use programs like Da Vinci Resolve or Xcode, Is great with programs like Final Cut or Visual Studio. I also use it for Illustration, and edition.About 2-3 years ago I changed to an SSD storage. Great choice overall. Considering that it has lasted more than 10 years, it's an awesome investment. So, probably my next computer will be a macbook as well. For now, I will keep up using this one as a desktop computer. Nowadays It's hard to find so many ports for a laptop.
I decided to get a MacBook air 2012 core i7 8gb ram & 256GB SSD. I will mainly use Google Sheet and Excel and Skype three software and Google Chrome will have 10-15 tabs open. How will this laptop work?
Well, I know my Mac could be faster, but for the time being, I'm saving up to buy at least a 500GB SSD for it. Also, I have 8GB of RAM, so for the time being, I believe an SSD is the most important upgrade for my MacBook Pro 2012. New subscriber here, keep up the good work with the videos!
Awesome, thanks so much for subscribing! Upgrading to an SSD is going to make a HUGE difference. If you're still using the original drive it'll feel like a whole new computer.
On my mid 2012 MBP 13 I upgraded the RAM and SSD (16/512), installed a new battery and, while I was poking around in there, refreshed the thermal paste. I also replaced the multidrive with a hard drive cage and added another 240GB SSD. I'll never get back what I invested in it but it's an amazing machine for its day.
If youre still using it today then you have got back what you invested and some,,...Apple would prefer if you bought new every two years at most, think what that would have cost if you had...hence why they stopped allowing upgrades and now make repair as difficult as is possible and not cost effective...screw apple
The money I saved by not having to buy a new computer when I could upgrade it instead made is worth all the money I spent. And now OCLP is keeping it on a recent OS, that is just perfect. I’m a developer and mainly do Windows during the day, but anytime I need iOS I can jump on my MacBook. Having the latest OS I can build for recent iOS.
My MBP 13in 2012 that im watching this vid with runs like new. I acquired it from a collage student who somehow managed to go through 4 years at UNC and not put a single scratch or blemish anywhere on it. I maxed the mem to 16GB, replaced the HDD with a SSD and replace the SuperDrive with a second SSD. Also installed Open Core Legacy Patcher and installed Sonoma 14.0 "23A344" and Windows 10 via Bootcamp partition and it runs perfectly. The only thing ever to be replaced because it "broke" was the MagSafe jack and the battery which I replaced for the first time 2 years ago.
I noticed the poor resolution on my iPad Pro as well from a few different models when using sidecar but I noticed it is fine when you drag something over to it .
I’m using it for front end web development, ux/ui design, web browsing, studying. It has 8gb of ram and 240gb of ssd. And it gets the job done pretty well. It definetly doesn’t feel like an old pc that’s for sure. Thank you for this and many videos about old apple hardware.
Hello, how is your situation with overheating? I noticed on my MBP Late 2013 happens to sometimes overheat when looking at some Figma designs when doing web dev. I downgraded yesterday from Big Sur to Mojave and it noticeably less overheats but it's still there a little bit. Which macOS do you use on yours and are you experiencing any overheats?
@@dusanio7755 I downgraded to Big Surr from Montrey and I use Turbo Booster, replaced my thermal paste 3-4 months ago; didn’t experience any overheating. The fan gets loud on Figma though. Thinking of switching to penpot.
@@trchdctr Oh I see, how are you doing on Big Sur? It appeared to be really overheating for me my MBP. Maybe I just have to replace my thermal paste, but where do I find the screwdrivers apple uses for their macbooks?
I have 15 inch mid 2012 macbook pro. Still this day i use it for web developing and pen testing with kali on virtual box. It works all good no complaints.
I acquired a mid-2012 MacBook Pro yesterday, and installed a 1 TB SSD, 16 GB of RAM and a good battery (all drawn from a mid-2012 MacBook Pro that I spilled iced coffee on 😬). This MacBook Pro runs extremely well, and is still fast and capable. I installed Mojave on my MacBook Pro, as I believe that if your Mac can still run Mojave, you should keep it there for 32-bit application support. Photoshop CS5 and many of my favourite Mac games are 32-bit and thus don't run on modern Macs - including the Half-Life and Portal series, which I'm still angry about - so it's nice to have some Mojave Macs for legacy applications.
I'm still using my Macbook pro mid 2012 as my main work and personal machine running on MacOS 14 Sonoma with 4gb of ram it came with and boy oh boy!! It runs way faster than it did on Catalina. This machine is a beast even to this day!!
good video, i'm really happy that you are showing older tech instead then newer ones, i also have a 2012 mackbook pro but is the retina one and i installed mac os monterey instead of ventura. This metod worked with my early 2009 24' imac and i installed mac os big sur.
Here in 2024, have had the 15 inch mid 2012 from new and maxed to 16gb RAM and 1TB SSD recently. I edit videos for UA-cam and have edited over 700 videos using this laptop. I can now edit 1hr 30 vids in 4k 18gb files for UA-cam on it. ( I place a fan to blow air on the laptop when it renders) It keeps on giving. I had a 2009 27 inch imac and it lasted a couple of years, hard drive first, I replaced that then the graphics card. Question please , can I hook up the Mac mini m2 pro 32GB 1TB to it, is it worth it do you think? I've only just come across them.
These macs are insane! I have several 2011-2013 imacs, mbp 13 and 15 and they are amazing! Ive put at least 16gb of ram in every of those macs and they are insane! So fast on ventura and no issues at all! I mean 0 issues for my student use! Open core creator are genius! Only my 2009 15 inch MacBook Pro feels slow and outdated but other than that 2011 to 2013 are insane!
i stil using this in 2024, with catalina, maxed ram to 16GB, remove the superdrive and replaced with 2TB seagate, using another 2TB Samsung SSD in the main bay, and surprisingly it work like a champ for my usage ( email, youtube, web based work, documents, pdf, music editing, light photo and video editing ) everything is just works, no issues. since i bought it back then at 2013, only battery has been replaced once, after 4 years usage, and by today standart, it still works fine ( 4-5 hours in a single charge )
I use an early 2011 MacBook Pro with Logic Pro X every single day. I have upgraded RAM to 8 gigs and 256 SSD. I hope this thing lasts forever tbh. I can upgrade or replace everything of course. And it’s all inexpensive and extremely easy to do. I mean I’d probably love having the newest, most powerful Mac available. But I’m certainly not spending my money on it when the one I have functions flawlessly. It’s still running on Sierra too. I only use it for music production and a few necessary apps. But I absolutely LOVE it. Oh, and it has the light up Apple logo on the lid as well. Viva old Apples.
Are you worried that the OS is potential vulnerable security wise since it no longer receives updates? And also, how expensive on average is it to upgrade ram and hard drive if you don’t mind me asking? I’m considering getting a MBP 2012 for light to medium use. Oh and did you have to replace the battery since it’s an old device? Thanks!
Just got an amazing deal on a stock macbook pro who looks like new! No scratches, no dents, battery health is amazing, the keyboard feels so good, and yes, this is the last great Steve Jobs era macbook pro! I wacked 16gb in this thing and a samsung ssd, and this thing flies with ventura on it! I like this laptop!
I'm still using it :) When I ordered it from Apple i doubled the ram that was offered and it's still runs good. Sometimes for a day or two it get's overheated. But I just let it rest and then it works smoothly after a day or two.
Man i was searching for a video like this, i dont upgrade because i know my mbp couldn´t suport universal control but after your video i will upgrade, this is amazing a computer 11 years old and still surprise what how can they handle it
Make this little beast even better by installing Sonoma on it!
Tutorial is here: ua-cam.com/video/mFYoCppHQrg/v-deo.html
Overview is here: ua-cam.com/video/9RWTAKu9YuE/v-deo.html
These machines are unstoppable!
you could try Elementary OS in this old macbook. i think works very well, better than open core legacy patcher. Could you try it by making a video?
@@francescomonea4742 Hey, I'm actually doing a series, on my Linux channel, where I'm going to be installing and testing the top 10 Linux distros on Distrowatch on the 2012 MBP.
The first video (about MX Linux) goes live in about an hour and half.
If you're interested, here's the channel link: www.youtube.com/@EevnosLinux
YUP!!! I did installed a new battery and put a 1 TB SSD.
I need an external speaker to improve skype incoming audio for interviews for live streaming...the guests have poor quality on their computers or phones
I've just upgraded to Ventura and to be honest, I wasn't expecting much. I was expecting it to be slow and the cpu use to be intensive and the fan to be on the whole time. What I wasn't expecting was how well it worked, even with 4GB ram. I installed Ventura on the day an extra 8GB of ram was due to arrive and spent the morning with the original 4GB, and to be honest other than the odd slowdown here and there, it was useable.
When I installed the 8GB in the afternoon though, it was an absolute game changer. I was shocked at how quick and smooth everything worked. I have been actively bidding on M1 MacBooks on eBay but after this, I am totally happy staying with this MacBook for another 2-3 years, that's how good I think it is. It is mental that something I bought secondhand in 2016 for $350AUD is still my main machine in 2023.
trust me , a duo core running on SSD still works. i only upgraded my duo core at 2020 to a 3rd gen(which i regretted) then to a 10th gen bc i wanna play games, otherwise it still runs office and stuffs well.
Are you running Ventura on a mid-2012 MBP? Are you using OpenCore or something? **edit: silly me for commenting before watching the video (or looking at the video notes that have a link to @eevnos's video describing how he did it. I didn't realize this was possible even after specifically searching MR forums to see if anyone had upgraded one of these machines with OC. Cheers
I know it’s been a while, but I’d like to know, did you swap the hard drive for an SSD one and kept the 4 GB of RAM? I have one old MacBook as well and I’m planning to upgrade it both in hardware and software.
Always like for videos about old Macs
Excellent!
I love helping people keep these older computers running.
Videos about old macs are amazing
Also remember, while the design is 11 years old, they made this model until Oct. of 2016, so there are some out there that are much newer (show less wear, better battery etc.).
Mine is from 2015 :)
The design in general is 15 years old, originating from the 2008 MacBook Aluminum. But talking about just the 2012, yes it shows its time but it still holds up and looks better to even some laptops made today.
though batteries are cheap and easy to replace on these things
True, I have a 13" bought new in 2016.
@@lcheadleyes, but it’s not a 2012 model, is it? It’s got different internals. And isn’t as thick. So what you’re saying doesn’t make sense.
Are you still using one of these amazing computers?
If so, how is yours holding up?
Yeah I'm using MBP Mid 2012 now with Ventura 13.1 installed, stock RAM 4GB, and 500GB HDD . Battery health is about 85% .
⭕ I'm using it to run Eclipse IDE as of now and Arduino IDE, Easy EDA softwares are just installed on it but I'm not using. System takes 1 to 2 min to boot .
⭕ While using Eclipse IDE it takes atleast 5 to 8 mins to open it and there after it feels smooth while coding and compiling in it.
⭕ I've installed Chrome browser and it also takes 2 to 4 mins to open.
HDD has a free space of 460 GB.
⭕ I'm planning to upgrade the RAM to 8GB as of now (suggest me best budget friendly compatible RAM) and upgrade the storage later.
⭕ I want to use windows 10 in it by partitioning (please make a video)
⭕ I hope you got me. What do you suggest me to experience lag free operation.
@@jonsonby awesome, that's a great use for it!
@@SagarCh_ I would recommend replacing the HDD with an SSD, that should have a huge improvement on those load times.
If it's the original drive it's only 5400 RPM so, by today's standards, they're extremely slow.
@@Eevnoscan you please suggest me a Good 8 GB RAM and 500GB SSD 😇 . And I request you to make a video on installing windows 10 on this device
No, and neither should you - it’s a 11-years-old machine with obsolete hardware, no support channels (officials and non)….and nothing else, really.
I refuse to comment the thumbnail….worst kind of clickbait.
I love making old machines run new software… updated a 2013 iMac to Ventura and a 2007 Dell Optiplex 745 to Windows 11 a couple weeks ago
Just a tip if you have a pre retina Macbook Pro like the mid 2012 or older open it up and check the internal fan as you can buy newer drop in replacement fans that have more blades on them and help to keep the system running slightly cooler as the stock OEM fan has far few blades on them than all the replacement fans I ever buy now, its so cheap to replace the fan its one of the first think I change when working on old Macbooks.
Is that still necessary to do if I’ve already installed SSD?
who makes the drop in fans you use??
Would you give us a link or model for the fans? Thank you
what's the make and model of the fan called?
Following
I have proudly held on to mine since 2012, I swapped the DVD reader for a solid state drive and added more RAM. These mods significantly extended its life. For video editing, it's ok as long as you're not going into 4K, for everything else it's perfect. The only reason why I don't use it as much now is because the keyboard is giving up. My A S and D keys are not working properly so I usually just use it with a magic keyboard, which is kind of annoying. I'd try to clean the keys but nothing :(
Yeah, I love the longevity of these things.
Sorry to hear about the keyboard going out.
Same here, still kicking but the keyboard is going bad. Changing the keyboard implies taking the whole thing apart, even if it's due for a paste change is a lot of trouble and things can go wrong, speakers want to die as plastic gets brittle, glue doesn't glue anymore...I love it but it's slowly becoming a ticking bomb.
I wish changing the keyboard was as easy as in the first iBooks.
My E is playing up is the only issue I have had since 2012
I have this!!! Boight it second hand in 2019, it was originally bought in 2015. So 4 years old when I got it. And its still going! Solid as a rock, has never given me any major problems. ❤️❤️❤️❤️
I picked up one of these back in 2015 or 2016, right before they went off the market, and I used it until I gave it to a friend after getting my 2021 MacBook Pro last year. I maxed out the RAM and swapped out the HDD for an SSD when we were all at home during COVID, and it ran great. The main reason I got rid of it was because the low screen resolution was making it too hard to use it for work. It was a great machine, though, and it got me through that dark period where the only MacBook Pros were the horrible 2016 models with the bad keyboards and slowed-down processors.
My 2011 Pro almost made it to 2023. Kept up to date as long as possible and no major issues till the end. Amazing
im sorry for your loss
what happened to it?
@@jesuschrist8706 the last time it froze up and started back up it only showed a gray screen with a folder with question mark on it. Couldn’t do anything from there really
@@thesoftparade435same thing happened with me, you need to replace the sata cable for the drive then it’ll work like normal again
Wow, what a great vid, thanks a lot for the grounded perspective. It’s so hard to control the urge to buy the new and shiny ones sometimes, but since doing some maintenance like fixing up the battery and cleaning the fans my old machine is admittedly working very well. And it’s barely half as old as yours over there.
That's great!
Yeah, Apple are master marketers and make the desire to get a new one very strong.
It's hard to keep the NEED vs WANT separate and if your current computer does what you need, then there is no need to upgrade. 😉
I have 3 Macbooks, (#1)2014 Pro 13" 8 gig ram. 121gig SSD, (#2) 2014 Pro 15" 16 gig ram.512gig SSD. NVIDIA dedicated graphics, (#3) 2022 Pro from work. They are all awesome beasts. I paid Micro Center $50 each to replace batteries on the 2014's. If you get a chance to buy a 2012, 2013 or 2014 Pro cheap, jump on it. These machines are beasts and absolutely fantastic.
Fun fact: My older MacBooks are more reliable than the new one. The 2022 Pro has overheating issues.
Good job Eevnos
Great video. I bought a 2008 regular Macbook new before my freshman year of college and after upgrading the RAM and installing an SSD that machine lasted me until 2019. Instead of getting another new machine, I decided to find a used model of the last fully upgradable Macbook and that led me to this same 2012 model. Fully maxing out RAM and installing an SSD made it feel as snappy as a brand new machine in basically every non-graphically intensive task. It's such a shame that in the 11 years since this machine was released, Apple has completely neutered its laptops from an upgradeability standpoint; getting 11 serviceable years out of a laptop is incredible user value and a great thing for the environment when that is scaled up to hundreds of thousands of machines in the wild. I actually just recently caved and bought a different used Macbook, this time a 2020 M1 Pro, but that 2012 is still being used as a daily driver for my girlfriend in grad school. It saddens me that we'll likely never see this kind of user-upgradeability again in Apple products. People argue that soldering everything to the board allows the machines to be thinner, but I actually prefer having a thicker laptop that allows for actual i/o ports and would trade size for upgradeability any day.
followed your tutorial to install ventura.....ready to go for another 3 years......amazing classic machine
Excellent!
I'm glad you found the tutorial useful!
I have the exact same MacBook Pro. I have installed an SSD, but I'm still running 10.15. It holds up very well in 2023.
That's great!
neat, i run Lion and it’s a blast!
Can you tell me what is SSD not computer literate enough to know this. Tia
Still rocking my 2010. Works great surprisingly 😂
Do it works good for gaming still?
My mom still uses her 2010 white polycarbonate MacBook. It's running High Sierra, but she only uses it for web browsing, email and some word documents. I've really impressed that a 13 year old computer can still be usable.
My friend 2006 mbp just died out completely end of last year these apple computers really last if u take care of them
Yeah, and I have a dell latitude d630 from 2007 with windows 10, crazy right??
Awesome video. I still use mine daily and am planning on sending it in to Dossdude1 to have the CPU swapped to a Quad Core i7 ua-cam.com/video/yLzzmj2c-Wk/v-deo.html . I'm curious what the performance on Ventura would be with it vs the dual core.
Yo, I love your shorts! How did the upgrade go?
The greatest technician that's ever lived ❤
I just have updated my MBP 2012 to Ventura ofcourse I follow your tutorial and it was successful. Perfomance is superb, the feel of 2023.I can now install any apps which I were not able to previously. Great and informative content.
saya berharap saya juga berhasil memasangnya sabagaimana yang anda telah lakukan
What is ventura and how much it costs.
WOW, that's the video i need to upgrade my old MBP12, thank you so much, you couldn't believe the favor you do for me!
Thanks so much. Learning that I an upgrade the OS using OpenCore was a real gem.
Proud user of macbook pro mod 2012 here, I have been using it for around 8 Years already and still going on , fully upgraded the ram to 16 gigs and swapped the hdd with ssd. Instead of updating the OS I am using browser based app for documentation and things and live boot linux for retro gaming. This laptop is awesome especially when it's running on linux it's even faster than some brand new windows 💻 🥰🥰🥰
Which linux distro you are using? (& Hardware compatibility issue on it)
I'm planning to dual boot linux on MBP 2012
So it would be great if you could share your opinion about most compatible distro with MBP 2012
Backing up the last coment here.😅
Moreover which console emulatos do you use in linux?
Im considering doing that but ive never even used linx before.
I wanted one of these so bad back in the day cause it was one of the last MacBooks with an optical drive and one of the last MacBooks with substance.
I have had this machine since launch June 2012. Still running strong Dual SSD, 8GB ram, new battery, new thermal paste, OSX , Windows 10 and Ubuntu running natively. It also served as my 24/7 Plex server from 2016 till the 2019. I have other newer pc's and apples. But the versatility of this MacBook is unmatched to this day!!!!
Upgrade your 8GB to 16GB, your baby deserves it for how much loyalty she’s shown!
This remains being my main laptop, I use it for voice over recording, video editing and 2d animation, I wish I could upgrade but it seems Apple will never offer 512gb MacBooks as their entry level model, and the prices (at least in Mexico) are insane
That is what really makes MacBooks very expensive, 512GB should be the base model because of all the HD files that MacBook and iPhones record, I always need 1TB at the minimum but because it's considered the highest the price is so much.
You just convinced me to go ahead and pick this bad boy up! I’m on a budget trying to get back into my video and photo work and found this for £180 from Cex. I was thinking of getting a Mac mini for accessibility but after reading that you’ve used it pretty much for everything I need it for. I’m sold! Cheers man!
I still have this machine, it was my first macbook ever, back in the 2012. Now my niece uses it for education and it just works! I installed SSD, 16 gigs of ram, renewed battery, thermal paste, and it works just fine. This is the best laptops Apple ever made, agree!
In terms of gaming - I used to play Knights and Merchants on it, and it was good, so, depending on what kind of games you want to play, but definitely it runs some simple stuff!
Yeah, absolutely.
As long as the game isn't too GPU intensive, they work fine.
i played FNAF Securty Breach on High settings some how on ventura again dont know how
How much it cost you to upgrade the battery
Thank you for this video. This very laptop is the one I'm using. I bought it 10 years ago and on day one I maxed out the ram as well as added an ssd. It has treated me well and am now finally considering moving to a newer machine but they are so pricey now.
I put Linux on mine and use it daily for college note taking and homework. It's exceptional. Way faster than a Chromebook, way more stable than a Windows 10 machine of the same price range (I bought mine for $230 with the SSD installed and RAM already upgraded), and it's built like a tank for hands-on classes.
The only place it really suffers is the battery life. I can get around 3.5 to 4 hours of battery life with a newly replaced battery.
Ironically I got mine for doing school stuff (composing music with Logic, word processing etc.) and I honestly havent had many issues with it other than the screen resolution not being as high as I'd like considering how large individual tracks are in GarageBand/Logic, but other than that, I love the thing. I mostly chose this model since I know them from primary school since I used them back then. I personally use a Windows PC and a Samsung S9 so I'm nowhere near Apple's ecosystem.
How do I get mine to work with Word Processing?
@@explore5130you can actually create a windows 10 os through bootcamp, or you can wipe the ssd amd install windows through that
I just ordered a used one off of eBay ! Wish I watched this video beforehand but the laptop is on the way from California!! All for $99 !!!! What a deal !
Mid-2012 MBP, 15", 2.7 GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i7, 16GB RAM, 1TB OWC SSD. I just swapped out the optical drive for a spare 250GB SSD that was sitting around unused. I cannot express enough how awesome and solid this machine is. I have a hot-rod 2018 MBP, so fragile, cost $800 to replace a broken screen. I also have a great HP laptop for Windows applications. My 2012 totally holds up and is my everyday non-work computer although I do video encoding on it as an overflow workstation. I just breaths a little heavy on the h.264 video. I'm convinced this 2012 body could stop a 9mm bullet. Hope I never have to find out.
indeed, this is the best laptop I have ever owned. it has been serving me very well MashAllah and I see no need to upgrade to a newer laptop till now
Agreed bro same for me.. i am still using El Capitan, and i dont trust new upgrades too scared of loosing something that's already working god forbid.
Until last fall, I used a MacBook Pro Mid 2012 for browser work as a QA engineer. I changed the hard drive to an SSD and the 8GB of RAM to 16GB, and it was perfect for browser work! I never had problems when I used many tabs in Chrome. About gaming, I lauched Warhammer 40 000 Dawn of War 2 and Mount and Blade Warband. Yes, coolers were working at that moment as engines on airplane but I did not have problems in these games. And maybe the best part of this Mac is the screen. The screen is far superior to that of low-level laptops and comparable to that of middle-level laptops. It's really great Mac even for 2023!
Did you upgrade to Catalina on that machine? I just took the leap to Mojave today (I know…). Mid-2012 MB Pro with 16GB ram/500GB SSD. And I am researching pros and cons of upgrading to Catalina. Would you recommend it or shoul I stay with Mojave?
I was really considering finally giving in and getting a new Macbook Pro. Figured it was finally time for an upgrade after 12 years. I've upgraded its internals and thought I had finally hit a wall after the OS was no longer supported. After seeing this video and seeing that I can upgrade my MBP to the latest OS with good functionality using OpenCore Legacy Pro, looks like i can hold off a bit more longer :)! Thank you for making this video!
This laptop is Amazing, I still have mine. Just use it from time to time because the battery is damaged. but I just don't want to throw it away. I am so grateful about this laptop that I just don't want to split apart from "her".
Great video! I've given this a go in the past with mid-2012, trying to combine the OCLP boot patches with Kryptonite for eGPU support and it kinda worked but had major issues with video playback above 480p (yes that's correct, and even UA-cam videos were failing to play), this was a couple months back and OCLP has since been updated to appear more stable. I ended up rolling back to Monterey and managed to get full eGPU support back with no issues - looks like it might be worth another go! I created OS partitions and have two internal SSDs so not worried about losing data or having to roll back again. I'm using a Blackmagic eGPU (AMD Radeon 580 8GB) and seems to give me the best of both worlds (or at least as much juice as a mid-2012 can give!). Your videos have been an inspiration!
Also just a note - with the eGPU support and running Big Sur/Monterey, I've been able to use two of these mid-2012 MacBook Pro laptops to achieve some pretty weighty video projects & audio multitracks etc. Still blown away by the power although you do run into throttling with HEVC iPhone footage transcoding (but I've managed 6K ProRes RAW/BRAW timelines in FCPX or Davinci Resolve with no issues), not forgetting some reasonably high graphic specs on games like Skyrim, unless 50 enemies spawn suddenly...
I've heard Kryptonite needs AVX 2 to work properly in Ventura, which isn't supported by any CPU in any Mac made before 2013.
My machine is a 2012 macbook pro exactly as yours. I installed the Ventura latest software using your instructions and it works pretty well. The only different thing is that my macbook has 480 ssd and 8 gb of RAM instead of 16 as your machine. This leads to some apps quitting while using them especially Safari when I have other apps open in the background. Overall I am happy with the user experience considering a 11 year old laptop the update really solved the problem I had with the software installation and updates I had on the Catalina. I think it is a really decent machine for photo editing on photoshop even in 2023 didn't encounter any lagging. I am going to update the RAM to 16 gb as quick as possible because I believe I will a have a smoother experience and the trouble with the apps crushing will be solved.
You have the latest Ventura,but do you have the latest OCLP?
If you initially upgraded a while ago you may want to download the latest OCLP and run just the post install scripts.
I've seen just updating that make a huge difference in the past.
Although I definitely recommend 16 GB, try the post install update first.
If it works for you then you can save that money. 😉
@@Eevnos just checked that and I apparently have the latest OCLP and the post installation updates. I think I will go for the 16 RAM and it's not that expensive :) Plus maybe I could sell the laptop for a better price in the future if i want to having these cool stuff on it.
@@aliemirhamitoglu8920 that's awesome, I would definitely go for it.
I try to give options,before spending money, because I never know a person's financial situation. 😉
Hey so i have a macbook pro with the i5 and 10gb of ram and it runs awsome i was just wonder if i put a i7mb in it if i will be able to use it normally also how to i chech for the latest oclp
u can buy very cheap ram from china
If anyone is wondering how to get Mac apps to work on older machines: sign in with an Apple ID that has once downloaded the app in the past on, for example another device > go to account > downloads / purchases > click on the cloud download icon > its gonna say: the newest version of "app name" isn't supported by your OS anymore, do you wanna download the latest compatible version? > click yes / download
Just a note, this is only going to work if you've downloaded it / purchased it before.
Still using Macbook Pro 2012 with 512Gb SSD and 16Gb Ram in 2023. I'm using Ventura in my Mac which was installed via OpenCore and still worth it 🙌🏼
Excellent!
I'm using 3x 15" Mid 2012 Unibody MBPs (2.3, 2.3, 2.6) 16GB of ram on all of them, and only 1 of 3 is running an SSD currently, for personal and work. They've worked great besides my main one that occasionally had ram issues after a drop (ram slots are surface amount rather than through put), so eventually I'll get that fixed, but they're great machines for the price. They hold up really well. I run 10.13 High Sierra on all of them.
Glad I found your video! I was looking at getting a newer imac and then remembered I had a 2012 macbook pro i upgraded but haven't used in years. I dusted it off and found that in clamshell mode I can connect and run two apple thunderbolt displays daisy chained to it. That is two 27" 2k GORGEOUS apple monitors that really are giving this thing new life. I want to do a fresh macOS install and get it in as best shape as possible. But I am actually really excited to get it to it's max potential and start playing with it again!
I got one of these for £60 and put a SSD and 16gig in it and it now runs Sonoma great.
This macbook is literally better than my M1 is some ways
Thank you. Your video convinced me to buy it. I have an M1 but hate the lack of ports and lack of storage. I found one of these for $167 and with a 1TB HDD.
How is it in comparison to the M1, still like using it?
@@MiikaelK I love my 2012 so much I bought a second one. So yeah I really love it. I also just got a 2014 Mac Mini.
This just helped me make my choice. Thank you for being thorough.
Best EVER!! Just in upgrades it’s A BEAST!
I have the early 2011 MacBook Pro 13 inch with i7 processor and 16gb ram. I had two hdd hard drives inside. It needs a battery but works well while plugged in. I had it on offer up for $99 and changed my mind from selling it. I had an extra 250 gb ssd drive in my 2012 Mac Pro and decided to pull it out and install it in my MacBook Pro. The ssd drive makes a huge difference in speed. Glad I kept it. They don’t make upgradable quality MacBook pros like they use too.
That's for sure!
I think Ventura is the best for outdated Macs, The chance to get fan spinning is lower than Big Sur 😂
2012 Pro Army ✊🤘💻 One of the last truly great Macbook's till Steve Jobs passed & the new Regime took over & screwed everything up.
I’ve collected more than a few MacBooks over the years this is my favorite..it’s great😊
Just ordered a 16GB 512 GB SSD Macbook pro 2012 from ebay apple certified refurbished for $250 to replace a previous one that was performing great, but left out of town in a rush lol. These are really good cheap computers and I refuse to spend thousands on a newer one. I'll look into upgrading it from Catalina if it isn't too much of a pain, if not I'll roll with what's on there. Thanks for the video...good to know I'm not the only one that still rocks with these old computers ;)
Thanks for the video, well done. I have a 13 and a 15 inch MacBook Pro running Ventura and I always reference installation video from the Monterey install.
That video was very well done and helped me a lot.
Thanks.
Both of my MacBook pros are 2012s, I7 processor’s , and I can’t get the Continuity camera to work either with my iPhone. That was the biggest feature I was hoping to get out of this upgrade.
I wanted to add one more thing, my MacBook Pro, 2012. 13 inch model, I upgraded to a 1 TB SSD and 16 GB of RAM.
My old ladies, 2012 MacBook Pro, I upgraded the hard drive to an SSD 500 GB, and is still running 4 GB RAM.
Amazingly per 15 inch model with 4 giga ram Runs Ventura just as well as mine that has 16 giga ram. I literally can tell no difference.
You're welcome!
I'm glad you're finding some of my content useful!
Considering picking one up on Facebook market. I prefer this thick design over the new 2022-2023 macbooks.
Me too.
Just bought a 2012 MBP with 8GB ram and ive fitted an ssd and Ventura all for £300 ($385) its fantastic :)
It's cool to see that the 2012 MacBook Pro is still holding up even after 11 years 🙌🏼
Using a 2013 13” here. I’ve stuck to Mojave on my machine. As a writer, I don’t have a terribly intensive workflow, leaning primarily on Scrivener and web browsers for research. Love the machine and just can’t stand to move on when it does everything I need to do without any issues.
That's exactly the attitude.. if it does what you need then no need to upgrade. 😀
Agreed I am still using El Capitan. I really dont trust new upgrades too scared of loosing something that's already working just fine, I mean you never know right! 😆
These are such great machines. I use a 2011 iMac, upgraded cpu (i7-2700k) & SSD. Brilliant !
I prefer the retina MacBooks for running Ventura, but I found Catalina runs well on the Unibody macs
Do you often encounter many limitations due to further software updates?
You can’t run time-critical apps. So Logic just hates OpenCore, as does Final Cut. Virtually everything else I’ve tried, runs perfectly.
The GPU is clearly behind, but is made to work via some clever kexts, installed via OCP.
So far, graphics have not been an issue.
im on my 2012 macbook air and it still runs pretty smoothly for a 12 year old labtop
I have 2 2012 MacBook pros. 1 with 16 gigs of ram, 250gig SSD running Kali Linux and it works great! The other I have gutted and am using a HDMI controller to run the screen and connect a cell phone to that with USB C lol.
Thanks for all your work! great explaining,appreciate 😍
Just got one of these as a retro gaming Bootcamp laptop + scanning laptop because Big Sur doesn't support my CanoScan 600F.
I was shocked to find just how thick these things used to be. I've gotten so used to my mid 2015 Pro, to the point of rewriting my own memories, thinking they were always this thin. I remember buying one of these brand new in store early 2012, and it was the most luxurious piece of tech I'd ever held. State of the art, now retro.
I pre-ordered a 15" fully specd mid 2012 MBP back in the day and fast forward today its literally my favorite machine. Dual SSDs, maxed out ram, triple boot and on the windows boot it still plays GRID Racing on a 40" screen with fairly high graphics settings with no hiccups. Of course I do have a gaming PC for that but it still fun seeing an old laptop shrug off modern life. I also paid extra for the upgraded screen option and it's just great. Still on its original battery too.
I have this same machine in the same specs, but I went with a Blu-ray burner instead of a second SSD. It’s my favorite Apple laptop by far!
16 gigs of ram ?
i still using this machine, the best macbookpro ever i think.
bought new back then for about 1500$, 10 years ago, and never had any issues at all, at all, maximize the specs, 16GB RAM 1TB SSD and 2TB HDD in the superdrive with caddy, this machine working very, very well, been bought several newer macbookpro untill i got stuck with the butterfly disaster in 2017mbp, and thats enough for me at all to buying newer model from apple.
straight back to the MD101 and life goes on.
after watching your previous video where this machine can be upgraded to Ventura using Open Core Legacy, I am planning to do so since the hardwares have been upgraded as well. going to see how mine will hold it up in 2023. 😁
Awesome, let me know how it goes!
Thanks again for making these, using your guides i'm running newer OSs on two 2012s. Still have ableton and sibelius at their most recent versions!
That's excellent!
I'm glad the content has been helpful!
how's ableton on your 2012's? tell me more about it
i have a 2013 macbook pro 15 inch with a core i7 and 16 gb ram. its great i have no reason to upgrade. sadly the ram is soldered but 16gb is plenty enough. love it got it for $130 fully working
as a person who still uses this macbook pro, i can agree with this video.
Thanks!
I'm glad you found it useful!
I'm still using the 2012 macbook pro. Although I can't use programs like Da Vinci Resolve or Xcode, Is great with programs like Final Cut or Visual Studio. I also use it for Illustration, and edition.About 2-3 years ago I changed to an SSD storage. Great choice overall. Considering that it has lasted more than 10 years, it's an awesome investment. So, probably my next computer will be a macbook as well. For now, I will keep up using this one as a desktop computer. Nowadays It's hard to find so many ports for a laptop.
how smooth is it when using visual studio
I decided to get a MacBook air 2012 core i7 8gb ram & 256GB SSD.
I will mainly use Google Sheet and Excel and Skype three software and Google Chrome will have 10-15 tabs open. How will this laptop work?
Even with Opencore you cant?
@@notsheep5723 Haven't tried that. I recently upgraded that Macbook to 16 GB of RAM. So it should run smoother.
Well, I know my Mac could be faster, but for the time being, I'm saving up to buy at least a 500GB SSD for it. Also, I have 8GB of RAM, so for the time being, I believe an SSD is the most important upgrade for my MacBook Pro 2012. New subscriber here, keep up the good work with the videos!
Awesome, thanks so much for subscribing!
Upgrading to an SSD is going to make a HUGE difference.
If you're still using the original drive it'll feel like a whole new computer.
On my mid 2012 MBP 13 I upgraded the RAM and SSD (16/512), installed a new battery and, while I was poking around in there, refreshed the thermal paste. I also replaced the multidrive with a hard drive cage and added another 240GB SSD. I'll never get back what I invested in it but it's an amazing machine for its day.
You won't get it back financially, but you get it back in the longevity of the computer.
During about 10 years I have earned about some hundred thousands of dollars so it's worth every money 🙂
If youre still using it today then you have got back what you invested and some,,...Apple would prefer if you bought new every two years at most, think what that would have cost if you had...hence why they stopped allowing upgrades and now make repair as difficult as is possible and not cost effective...screw apple
The money I saved by not having to buy a new computer when I could upgrade it instead made is worth all the money I spent. And now OCLP is keeping it on a recent OS, that is just perfect.
I’m a developer and mainly do Windows during the day, but anytime I need iOS I can jump on my MacBook. Having the latest OS I can build for recent iOS.
My MBP 13in 2012 that im watching this vid with runs like new. I acquired it from a collage student who somehow managed to go through 4 years at UNC and not put a single scratch or blemish anywhere on it. I maxed the mem to 16GB, replaced the HDD with a SSD and replace the SuperDrive with a second SSD. Also installed Open Core Legacy Patcher and installed Sonoma 14.0 "23A344" and Windows 10 via Bootcamp partition and it runs perfectly. The only thing ever to be replaced because it "broke" was the MagSafe jack and the battery which I replaced for the first time 2 years ago.
I noticed the poor resolution on my iPad Pro as well from a few different models when using sidecar but I noticed it is fine when you drag something over to it .
I’m using it for front end web development, ux/ui design, web browsing, studying. It has 8gb of ram and 240gb of ssd. And it gets the job done pretty well. It definetly doesn’t feel like an old pc that’s for sure. Thank you for this and many videos about old apple hardware.
You're welcome!
Thank you for watching and letting us know how you're using yours!
Hello, how is your situation with overheating? I noticed on my MBP Late 2013 happens to sometimes overheat when looking at some Figma designs when doing web dev. I downgraded yesterday from Big Sur to Mojave and it noticeably less overheats but it's still there a little bit. Which macOS do you use on yours and are you experiencing any overheats?
@@dusanio7755 I downgraded to Big Surr from Montrey and I use Turbo Booster, replaced my thermal paste 3-4 months ago; didn’t experience any overheating. The fan gets loud on Figma though. Thinking of switching to penpot.
@@dusanio7755 Forgot to greet you sorry, HI! :D
@@trchdctr Oh I see, how are you doing on Big Sur? It appeared to be really overheating for me my MBP. Maybe I just have to replace my thermal paste, but where do I find the screwdrivers apple uses for their macbooks?
I am using a mid 2012 MBP 13 inch i5. I upgraded to 16 GB RAM, SSD and a new battery. I recently installed Monterey and it runs great.
I have 15 inch mid 2012 macbook pro. Still this day i use it for web developing and pen testing with kali on virtual box. It works all good no complaints.
I had a 2008 original unibody MacBook. Amazing machine.
I acquired a mid-2012 MacBook Pro yesterday, and installed a 1 TB SSD, 16 GB of RAM and a good battery (all drawn from a mid-2012 MacBook Pro that I spilled iced coffee on 😬).
This MacBook Pro runs extremely well, and is still fast and capable. I installed Mojave on my MacBook Pro, as I believe that if your Mac can still run Mojave, you should keep it there for 32-bit application support. Photoshop CS5 and many of my favourite Mac games are 32-bit and thus don't run on modern Macs - including the Half-Life and Portal series, which I'm still angry about - so it's nice to have some Mojave Macs for legacy applications.
When I see a new movie on your channel and see it's my MacBook Pro 2012 I go and see it!
That's great!
Thanks so much for watching!
Best laptop i have ever owned.
+1
I'm still using my Macbook pro mid 2012 as my main work and personal machine running on MacOS 14 Sonoma with 4gb of ram it came with and boy oh boy!! It runs way faster than it did on Catalina. This machine is a beast even to this day!!
good video, i'm really happy that you are showing older tech instead then newer ones, i also have a 2012 mackbook pro but is the retina one and i installed mac os monterey instead of ventura. This metod worked with my early 2009 24' imac and i installed mac os big sur.
Here in 2024, have had the 15 inch mid 2012 from new and maxed to 16gb RAM and 1TB SSD recently. I edit videos for UA-cam and have edited over 700 videos using this laptop. I can now edit 1hr 30 vids in 4k 18gb files for UA-cam on it. ( I place a fan to blow air on the laptop when it renders) It keeps on giving. I had a 2009 27 inch imac and it lasted a couple of years, hard drive first, I replaced that then the graphics card. Question please , can I hook up the Mac mini m2 pro 32GB 1TB to it, is it worth it do you think? I've only just come across them.
Mine is still running! The battery is shot, so it doesn't last more than 45 minutes, but when connected to power, you never know the difference!
I still use Mid 2012 MBP with 16GB RAM and 1TB SSD upgrade, and latest Ventura with OpenCore!
Excellent!
Thank you for these videos. I was able to update my mid 2012 13 inch macbook pro.
Great!
How's it working so far?
Keeping my fleet of 16 GB, SSDed 2012 Mac Mini, MB Pro 13 & 15 going well
Excellent!
You are absolute correct with this machine. But the 15inch is better than the 13inch, just because of the screen options.
i have MacBook Air 2012 and I'am so happy the laptop is so great. And I used your video how to install on unsupported MacBook macOS Monterey
That's great!
These macs are insane! I have several 2011-2013 imacs, mbp 13 and 15 and they are amazing! Ive put at least 16gb of ram in every of those macs and they are insane! So fast on ventura and no issues at all! I mean 0 issues for my student use! Open core creator are genius! Only my 2009 15 inch MacBook Pro feels slow and outdated but other than that 2011 to 2013 are insane!
That's so great.
I agree, OCLP is amazing!
I love mine. Use it primarily for design. Works great. Running Mojave. I should upgrade but I have no performance issues at all
i stil using this in 2024, with catalina, maxed ram to 16GB, remove the superdrive and replaced with 2TB seagate, using another 2TB Samsung SSD in the main bay, and surprisingly it work like a champ for my usage ( email, youtube, web based work, documents, pdf, music editing, light photo and video editing ) everything is just works, no issues.
since i bought it back then at 2013, only battery has been replaced once, after 4 years usage, and by today standart, it still works fine ( 4-5 hours in a single charge )
I use an early 2011 MacBook Pro with Logic Pro X every single day. I have upgraded RAM to 8 gigs and 256 SSD. I hope this thing lasts forever tbh. I can upgrade or replace everything of course. And it’s all inexpensive and extremely easy to do. I mean I’d probably love having the newest, most powerful Mac available. But I’m certainly not spending my money on it when the one I have functions flawlessly. It’s still running on Sierra too. I only use it for music production and a few necessary apps. But I absolutely LOVE it. Oh, and it has the light up Apple logo on the lid as well. Viva old Apples.
Are you worried that the OS is potential vulnerable security wise since it no longer receives updates? And also, how expensive on average is it to upgrade ram and hard drive if you don’t mind me asking? I’m considering getting a MBP 2012 for light to medium use. Oh and did you have to replace the battery since it’s an old device? Thanks!
Just got an amazing deal on a stock macbook pro who looks like new! No scratches, no dents, battery health is amazing, the keyboard feels so good, and yes, this is the last great Steve Jobs era macbook pro! I wacked 16gb in this thing and a samsung ssd, and this thing flies with ventura on it! I like this laptop!
If it wasn’t for the limited resolution in the display, I would continue using this macbook
Yeah, that is a downside.
I have accidentally beat my 2012 Macbook to heel and back and the sturdy little thing is still going strong
I'm still using it :)
When I ordered it from Apple i doubled the ram that was offered and it's still runs good. Sometimes for a day or two it get's overheated. But I just let it rest and then it works smoothly after a day or two.
Man i was searching for a video like this, i dont upgrade because i know my mbp couldn´t suport universal control but after your video i will upgrade, this is amazing a computer 11 years old and still surprise what how can they handle it
I’ve got the 2012 MacBook Pro,it’s amazing never misses a beat
This is my MacBook - happy to hear it’s great