2012 Retina MBP Inquiry

[KJB90]

Hello guys, quick question. Thinking about buying a 2012 retina MBP. Specs are good, I5, SSD, 8 GB RAM etc... my biggest concern is.. apple releases new OS each year. What do you guys think are the odds that the 2012 year MBPs will not be eligible to upgrade to whatever OS is after Mojave? Thanks.

 

[maflynn]

I have a 2012 MBP that I've refused to upgrade, just because I don't want a decent performing laptop to be bogged down. Apple has had the reputation of releasing OS upgrades that slow down older machines. I'm happy with Yosemite on my 2012 MBP, it was replaced with a 2018 machine, but my kids use it for their homework and it still works well.

 

[KJB90]

I have a 2012 MBP that I've refused to upgrade, just because I don't want a decent performing laptop to be bogged down. Apple has had the reputation of releasing OS upgrades that slow down older machines. I'm happy with Yosemite on my 2012 MBP, it was replaced with a 2018 machine, but my kids use it for their homework and it still works well.

Thanks for the reply, what’s the downside of not upgrading the OS X to latest version then?

 

[maflynn]

Thanks for the reply, what’s the downside of not upgrading the OS X to latest version then?

The only thing that comes to mind, is any possible security updates. For me the risk is really low, because I'm pretty mundane in what I go online for, plus macOS is pretty secure anyways.

 

[KJB90]

The only thing that comes to mind, is any possible security updates. For me the risk is really low, because I'm pretty mundane in what I go online for, plus macOS is pretty secure anyways.

Thanks, final push back. What about apps? Will those stop updating I’d immagine?

 

[brdeveloper]

Thanks for the reply, what’s the downside of not upgrading the OS X to latest version then?

After @maflynn let's talk about the risks of upgrading: having your peripherals unsupported anymore. Just as an example, you can use Yosemite with almost no hassles these days. I think Mojave will be good until 2021 or even later. My wife had Yosemite on her Macbook Air until recently, without needing to upgrade.
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Thanks, final push back. What about apps? Will those stop updating I’d immagine?

The most common compatibility issue is with drivers. App compatibility usually lasts longer than a couple of macOS versions. Safari get unsupported after two versions, but Safari cannot be taken seriously. I use mainly Opera and Chrome (it uses much more resources, but sometimes I need using it). Also, Apple's office suite (Pages, Numbers, etc) usually presents some issues, e.g., I had Mavericks and Pages always opened with the message "there is a newer version of Pages, do you want to update?", then I went to AppStore to update and a message was shown "your operating system doesn't support the most recently version of Pages", so I was in a deadlock.

In short: third party apps are usually supported by up to four previous macOS versions, i.e., you can install Chrome on Yosemite (macOS 10.10, 2014), but not on Mavericks (10.9, 2013) anymore.

 

[Airboy1466]

Thanks for the reply, what’s the downside of not upgrading the OS X to latest version then?

more so compatibility if you use the Mac/ios eco system things won't be as fluent such as being able to answers phone call on the Mac without wifi opening Mac with Apple Watch just minor things that tie each apple product together.

 

[calliex]

I have a mid 2012 Retina MacBook Pro. It is by far the best laptop I have had so far. I run sierra because my version of filemakerpro will not run on anything higher and I do not want to pay subscription price for it. I have been considering upgrading to 2018 air or pro. I have been an apple guy since 1986 (macplus ). The reviews on 2018 laptops on this site are very disheartening(keyboard, kernel panic, blurry screen, running hot, etc. )