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Is it worth more to upgrade my 13" macbook pro mid 2012 or to buy a new one?

I've been considering buying one of the new mac models for better performance but friends and various sources online have all recommended I instead upgrade my mac for a fraction of the price. The fan in my mac died earlier this year and I replaced it myself with no issue so I already have the tools and understanding to open my mac and with some care not damage it in the process.


I make music with Logic Pro X, and I was experiencing problems with it, system overload messages all the time, but now I use an external soundcard which seems to have made Logic run much better with rare issues. Aside from this though my mac is still very slow sometimes. It can take 5-10 minutes to boot up, and sometimes it will boot with a screen full of static and is unresponsive, a restart fixes this but it's a little unnerving. Also the battery needs urgent replacing but I'm not too worried about it for now. The screen has a very thin crack in it from an accidental drop one year ago but it does not bother me and seems to be no problem.


I use my mac for gaming sometimes, I would like to play HOTS with my girlfriend but it's not capable of it right now, though I can run League of Legends without issue (apart from very slow loading times into game, once in i have no problem). I'm aware I cannot replace the main graphics card, and I do not want to use an external one.


Very soon I will be starting to DJ live with my mac using Traktor, it's not very intensive, but at the same time if I do happen to run into a problem live it would leave me in a very embarassing situation with a quiet dance floor, not what anyone wants haha. It should be noted I have never had any problems with Traktor at home, it has never crashed, I have never had the spinning beach ball while practicing.


My plan would be to replace my HDD with a new 1TB SSD, and also to upgrade the RAM (either add another 4GB in the empty slot so I have 8GB total, or take out my 4GB and add two 8GB modules for 16GB total). And of course to change my battery.


The only thing stopping me is that I cannot change my processor, I have the 2.5 GHz Intel Core i5, and I know that the latest models now have the new i8 quad processors, I'm worried that with an old processor I will still have problems with new software despite the changes I plan to make.


Any opinions would greatly help me, especially from anyone who has upgraded my model of mac themselves. Will the performance boost be significant if I upgrade? Should I go for 8GB or 16GB of RAM? Will I be able to play HOTS? Will my mac run reliably with Traktor in a live setting?


Thank you for your time, it's greatly appreciated!

MacBook Pro 13", macOS 10.14

Posted on Jan 8, 2020 7:59 AM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Jan 8, 2020 8:56 AM

CPLeu wrote:

Will I be able to play HOTS? Will my mac run reliably with Traktor in a live setting?

I have no idea about these in question.


SSD and 16 RAM will make a huge difference.


Best to buy RAM from reliable source with the exact specs.

Usually a lifetime guarantee on RAM from third party source like:

https://eshop.macsales.com/shop/apple/memory/

recommeded to change the SATA cable at the same time

https://eshop.macsales.com/item/Apple/8211480/%20%2013%22%20MacBook%20Pro%20SATA


OWC SSD Upgrade Kits For MacBook Pro 2012:

https://eshop.macsales.com/shop/ssd/owc/macbook-pro/2012

Similar questions

3 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Jan 8, 2020 8:56 AM in response to CPLeu

CPLeu wrote:

Will I be able to play HOTS? Will my mac run reliably with Traktor in a live setting?

I have no idea about these in question.


SSD and 16 RAM will make a huge difference.


Best to buy RAM from reliable source with the exact specs.

Usually a lifetime guarantee on RAM from third party source like:

https://eshop.macsales.com/shop/apple/memory/

recommeded to change the SATA cable at the same time

https://eshop.macsales.com/item/Apple/8211480/%20%2013%22%20MacBook%20Pro%20SATA


OWC SSD Upgrade Kits For MacBook Pro 2012:

https://eshop.macsales.com/shop/ssd/owc/macbook-pro/2012

Jan 8, 2020 5:40 PM in response to CPLeu

The mid-2012 is a real work horse, and can still run the latest Catalina.


Typically you are always better off running the most current macOS your machine will allow—especially for the built in security features.


steve359 makes a valid point about apps and holding back from Catalina and/or new machine.


Old app compatibility maybe one reason to hold back— you have to do your own homework here: https://roaringapps.com/apps


Older 32 bit apps will not be supported on Catalina. 32-bit app compatibility with macOS ... - Apple Support

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT208436



I am still quite happy with my older machine—

MacBook Pro (15-inch Mid 2012), i7 macOS (10.15.2), 1TB SSD 16GB RAM VirtulaBox Win10 iPhoneSE iOS (13.3)


Is it worth more to upgrade my 13" macbook pro mid 2012 or to buy a new one?

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