currently 2010 MBP, do I upgrade to 2012?

[adam9c1]

Currently, I have a 2010 MBP fitted with SSD and upgraded RAM.
It is running Sierra and I notice when I have few browser tabs open the scrolling is very jittery.

Is it possible that Sierra is more graphics hungry than El Capitan?

I have created another user on the machine and the issue persists. I plan on backing up my data and rolling back to El Cap.

Here is a million dollar question:
Do I upgrade the machine to a Mid-2012 model?
I would still like to run dual hard drives.

or should I forget about it as that machine is long in the tooth?


My uses are:
- web browsing
- study for Apple ACSP certification

 

[ApolloBoy]

I'd do it, you get a better CPU and graphics and USB 3.0.

 

[adam9c1]

I meant by will this 2012 be a turd when I study for High Sierra ACSP next year.

Do I wait it out and buy a Retina model when they get more affordable..

 

[JackRipper]

I say upgrade, as well. Why a model that is 5 years old? Budget? I don't know anything about ACSP, but if it requires High Sierra, I'm fairly sure you need to upgrade anyway.

Edit: The 2012 MacBook Pro models are the lowest model supported. Have you checked around? I, personally, would try to find a more recent model.

 

[kschendel]

I think that if you dig around you might be able to find a 2013 retina MBP which might be a better choice. Performance-wise the 2012 and 2013 are probably going to be pretty close, but the retina screen really is a thing of joy...

Edited to add: IMO, the retina screen is lovely, but unless you are doing heavy photos / video work, it's not essential. If it were a choice between a retina MBP and living on water and prepackaged ramen noodles for a year, I could do without the retina. But I've had my rMBP since mid 2013 and it still makes me smile when I look at the screen. (Maybe I'm easily amused!) 2012 and 2013 MBP's have very similar CPU specs; the SSD might be faster in the 2013, but if you are looking for a serious speed bump over the 2012 I think you need to move to the 2015 models. My opinion only.

 

[JackRipper]

... but if you are looking for a serious speed bump over the 2012 I think you need to move to the 2015 models. My opinion only.

I second that

 

[adam9c1]

I think what I'll do for now is downgrade the OS to El Cap as my daily usage, as I use another drive for Sierra ACSP study.
The network studies really don't tax the system at all. It just needs to run the OS. You are not pushing the hardware at all.

In regards to only 2012 supporting High Sierra... all machines capable of Sierra will run High Sierra.

What I'm trying to gauge is if I upgrade from the 2010 C2D to non retina 2012 i5 will I be shooting myself in the foot down the line. From what I read retina and non retina models have the same video adapter, so the speed improvements would be CPU bumps and SSD jumps.

 

[JackRipper]

In regards to only 2012 supporting High Sierra... all machines capable of Sierra will run High Sierra.

I was going by Apple's page on Sierra. It said 2012 or newer MBP.

Edit: You're right. I see now. I was looking at the features page. Some require 2012 MBP or newer. Carry on.

 

[kschendel]

"shooting myself in the foot" in what respect? the 2012 i5 (9,1 13 inch, 9,2 15 inch) is an Ivy Bridge machine with SATA 3, reasonable graphics, USB 3.0. If you move your existing SSD to the new MBP that takes care of the storage end of things. You don't get into Haswell CPU's until late 2013 (11,2) (11,3) machines and there's not a gigantic leap from Ivy Bridge to Haswell. While I personally think that the retina screen is worth the premium, as far as the rest of the machine is concerned I think you have to get to the 2015 later i7 Haswell machines to see a real bump.

If you are concerned about longevity, only Apple can answer that question, but given the minimal differences I'd suggest that the 2012 MBP won't be obsoleted until OS/X goes to Skylake / Kaby Lake as the earliest supported CPU, and that won't be for some years now.

tl;dr is that the 2012 will be just fine. A retina 2013 or later will be even finer.

 

[JackRipper]

If you move your existing SSD to the new MBP that takes care of the storage end of things.

I'm pretty sure the SSD isn't swappable in a 2015 MBP. Isn't everything soldered on?

Edit: I learn something everyday. It IS swappable, but only with the blade connector. I doubt his 2010 MBP SSD has that.

 

[kschendel]

I admit to not knowing whether one can swap an SSD from a 2010 to a 2012. I'm assuming that the 2010 originally had a SATA HDD, so if the target machine has a SATA peripheral then the SSD can be plugged in in its place. If the 2012 has soldered-in SATA (wtf?) or is non-SATA, then not so much.

 

[adam9c1]

I removed the optical drive in the 2010 and run dual (SSD) hard drives.
They would transfer just fine into the non retina 2012 model.