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tpcollins

macrumors regular
Original poster
Sep 17, 2012
171
19
My MacBook Pro is a mid-2012 model and it’s been running slow for some time now. I’m constantly waiting on that spinning color wheel all the time.

I’ve seen the free ad for MyCleanPC.com but I’m not sure if it’s a scam or not - it is not listed in the top 10 repair programs. Right now the PCTuneUp PRO is #1 on my 1st search for $20.

Are these all a scam as well or are they helpful? Thanks.
 
If you take some time to clean your system of junk you will never need these apps. It is possible that some of your slowdowns are a result of having a mechanical spinning hard drive. Is your MacBook Pro a Retina? Easiest way to tell if you don't know, if the MacBook Pro name is under the display on the black bezel it's a non-retina. Mechanical hard drives are very slow on newer operating systems, especially when you do upgrades instead of fresh installs. That software will not fix the speed of the HDD.

The best thing I can recommend is doing a fresh install of the operating system. If you're willing to get a bit more hands-on, an SSD upgrade and maybe some RAM along with a fresh install will make your system feel new. I would not recommend using those softwares, some are not scams but they don't really do much to help so they aren't worth the asking price.
 
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Assume those are generally scams. Sounds like you're not running a SSD so a SSD upgrade is what you want.
If you must use these kind of apps, i would recommend CC cleaner (the free version) but honestly you probably dont need to use it.
 
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I had it in a year or 2 ago to the Apple store because my iPhoto wasn’t working very well and they upgraded me to OS Sierra 10.12.6 and they said that was as far as I could go with my present MacBook.

I just checked and it said no updates available. My MacBook Pro works, it’s just getting slow and I’m not wanting to cough up 4 figures for a new one.

I would think there’s a cleaning app somewhere on my laptop now but not sure where to look.
 
Hoax.

Is your 2012 MBP a retina or NON-retina model?
(non-retina has the DVD/CD drive on right)

This question is important because if it's a non-retina, and still has the original platter-based drive inside, you can swap that out with a 2.5" SATA SSD and make EVERYTHING faster.

It's easy and ANYONE can do this.
But you have to answer the question first.
 
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I would avoid both. Onyx and AppCleaner are very reputable apps and both are free. That said, there can be other causes to why a Mac slows down and Macs are generally pretty efficient at self-maintenance...major slowdowns that make a Mac nearly unusable generally don't happen from 'junk' accumulation. For example, if your Mac has a HDD and not a SSD, and especially if that HDD is the original one that Mac was sold with, physical hard drive failure could be a possibility and a SSD upgrade will make a night and day difference. Alternatively, it could also be a bad SATA cable, especially if you have a 13-inch that is yet to have the SATA cable replaced. If you are running a more modern OS like Catalina and only have 4 GB of RAM, that could also be an issue.

Any app that claims to do Mac cleaning and vastly "speed up" the system should be viewed with caution.
 
Hoax.

Is your 2012 MBP a retina or NON-retina model?
(non-retina has the DVD/CD drive on right)

This question is important because if it's a non-retina, and still has the original platter-based drive inside, you can swap that out with a 2.5" SATA SSD and make EVERYTHING faster.

It's easy and ANYONE can do this.
But you have to answer the question first.
I have the non-retina with the DVD/CD drive on the right.

Tell me more.
 
This looks like a piece of cake.

If I have a formatting issue my boy is a computer geek and can do it if I can’t.

 
OP wrote:
"I have the non-retina with the DVD/CD drive on the right.
Tell me more."


First, PRINT OUT THIS MSG and save it for future reference.

You probably have the original platter-based hard drive inside.
If so, THAT'S what's "slowing things down".

You can VERY EASILY replace it with an SSD, and speed things up considerably.
This is cheap and ANYONE can do this in about 15 minutes.
Even you.
The hardest part is removing the screws and taking off the rear cover, then replacing the cover and re-installing the screws.

What you need:
A "bare" 2.5" SATA SSD. I'd get one the same size as your internal drive is now.
THE RIGHT TOOLS:
- Phillips #00 driver
- TORX T-6 driver
(these are available at hardware stores, or online, cheap)

A good set of instructions:
Go to ifixit.com and they have a detailed guide showing you the procedure.
Again, IT'S EASY.

SOMETHING ELSE I RECOMMEND for the job:
Get one of these:

When you get the SSD, put it into the enclosure FIRST.
Now, you can prepare and test it BEFORE you open up the MacBook.
This way, if something goes amiss, YOU STILL HAVE A WORKING COMPUTER.

My suggestions:
a. Put the drive into the enclosure
b. Connect it to the Mac (it's probably not formatted yet, so...)
c. Open disk utility.
d. You should see it on the list in the left.
e. Click on it's name ONE TIME. Now choose "erase"
f. Since you're using 10.12 "Low Sierra", erase the drive to "Mac OS extended with journaling enabled, GUID partition format"
g. Erase should take only a few moments
h. Now it should appear on the desktop (but it's still "empty", nothing on it)
i. Open CarbonCopyCloner and accept all the "defaults" for now
j. You'll see "3 boxes" in CCC, waiting for input
k. On the left, put your "source" (the internal drive)
l. In the middle, put your "target" (the SSD)
m. Don't bother with the box on the right -- not needed
n. Click "clone" and follow through
o. CCC may ask if you wish to clone the recovery partition. YES, you want to do this.
p. Cloning will take a while, it's copying the entire internal drive to the SSD
q. When done, quit CCC. Now it's time for a "test boot"
r. REBOOT, and IMMEDIATELY hold down the option key and KEEP HOLDING IT DOWN until the startup manager appears
s. Do you see the icon for the SSD? If so, that's good, click on it with the pointer and hit return
t. Now... the moment of truth... do you get "a good boot" from the SSD?
u. If you do, it will look exactly like it did booting from the internal drive. Go to "about this Mac" to be sure you're booted from the SSD.
v. Take a "look around". Try an app or two. Is everything OK?
w. If so, now it's time to "power down" and do the drive swap.
x. Referring to the ifixit guide, get to work. I didn't bother with the step about disconnecting the battery. Nothing went wrong.
y. When you get the drive replaced, IMPORTANT... do the "option key trick" boot again as in "r" above. Do you get a good boot from the SSD now that it's inside?
z. If so, good, but ONE MORE STEP: Open system preferences and go to "startup disk". Click the lock and enter your password, then select the SSD as the boot drive. Close system preferences and reboot ONE MORE TIME to see that the Macbook boots up and you get to the login display.

Sounds like a lot, but just check things off one-at-a-time and it will go quickly.

Finally, take the old HDD and put it into the enclosure.
It can now become your backup drive.

Did I "tell you enough" ???
 
OP wrote:
"I have the non-retina with the DVD/CD drive on the right.
Tell me more."


First, PRINT OUT THIS MSG and save it for future reference.


Did I "tell you enough" ???

Thanks fisherman, had a chat with OWC and they said this SSD is compatible with my MacBook Pro.

Does this mean I’m replacing my 4 GB hard drive with a 240 GB SSD? Thanks.


 
If you take some time to clean your system of junk you will never need these apps.
This 100%. When uninstalling apps, I recommend using a lightweight tool like AppDelete, which lets you drag any app you want to delete it into its "dragspace", and then it does a "deep system scan" to see all related files of that app, mostly in the ~/Library/ folder, and lets you delete all of them at once.

Apple has long boasted that on its platform, unlike Windows, you don't need to do "deep uninstalls" -- simply drag any app you want to remove into your Trash. This however is *not* true. I know from years of using AppDelete how many Mac apps have their tentacles spread throughout the system, and you need a real deep cleaning to get them truly off your machine. Doing this over time will keep your system spry and fast for a while.

TLDR: These "cleaners" are a hoax!
 
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OP:

What size is the HDD that is currently inside the MacBook Pro?

You don't have to buy from OWC.
I'd suggest amazon.com.
You need a 2.5" SATA SSD. It doesn't have to be "the fastest".
I'd recommend Crucial or Sandisk.

Something else to be aware of with the non-retina 2012 MacBook Pro:
These have a history of having faulty ribbon cables that connect the drive to the motherboard.
When the cable gets flaky, it can seem like the drive is going bad, but it's NOT the drive.
Rather, it's the "connection" between the drive and the motherboard that is fading in and out.
The cable is cheap and easy to replace.
I'm not saying that this is your problem, it's just something to be aware of with the MBP you have.
 
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