Resolved Extremely Slow Mid 2012 Macbook Pro

[TiredTechnique]

I'm trying to repair a mid 2012 13 inch i5 macbook pro for a family member. He was mainly complaining about two things: It was running extremely slowly and after a while stopped working altogether, instead just booting him back to a weird looking login screen every time he logged in.

This mac has never been used much. The only third party software on the machine is teamviewer, he doesn't even have chrome on it, it's running Catalina 10.15.7. It was having these problems a couple years ago so I installed an SSD, which temporarily solved the problems but they eventually came back. The only files he has on it are 30GB of photos. I managed to get past the broken login problems by resetting the SMC, but after I got through, the computer is outrageously slow or completely broken depending on the task. For example, it will take 60+ seconds to open time machine, if I try to start a time machine backup to an external harddrive, it will prepare to do it then just not do it. Safari does not even open at all. When I try to click a menu item it takes at least 5 seconds for the click to register.

Here is all the things I've tried so far:

• Reset PRM/NVRM. Did nothing.
• Reset SMC. Allowed me into the OS but the computer is still crippled.
• Tried a time machine backup from inside the OS, nothing happens when I try this.
• Tried to reinstall OS from internet recovery. The main drive does not show up when it comes time to pick a drive to install on.
• Verify/repair disk from internet recovery. All checks passed.
• Checked activity monitor, cpu usage hovers around 10%, memory usage around 75%, hdd usage very low.
• Tried to download etrecheck, but safari will not even open at all.

I'm out of ideas of what to do to fix this, I've tried basically everything I know how to do. I have access to an M1 mac mini if I need to, I'm not sure if the target disk stuff works from m1 to intel.

Any ideas on what I could do next?

 

[TiredTechnique]

I just ran the Apple Hardware Test, no issues found.

 

[justashooter]

This series of MBP's (2009 thru 2012 MBP 13) is known to have the SATA cable fail. My test for this is to remove the SSD, install it in a USB3 enclosure (you can buy them for as little as $10) and boot from the enclosure. If it runs as normal, then your SATA cable is bad. They are fairly easy to replace and cost about $15.

Apple Hard Drive Cable for 13-inch MacBook Pro (Mid 2012)

Replacement hard drive cable for Apple P/N(s): 923-0104, 923-0741, 821-1480-A, and 821-2049-A

eshop.macsales.com

Video to replace SATA cable:

 

[MBAir2010]

check the cable to the hard drive,
hopefully that is the problem
the other problem could be the 15" have known GPU issues as well
lets hope for the chord!

 

[TiredTechnique]

This series of MBP's (2009 thru 2012 MBP 13) is known to have the SATA cable fail. My test for this is to remove the SSD, install it in a USB3 enclosure (you can buy them for as little as $10) and boot from the enclosure. If it runs as normal, then your SATA cable is bad. They are fairly easy to replace and cost about $15.

Apple Hard Drive Cable for 13-inch MacBook Pro (Mid 2012)

Replacement hard drive cable for Apple P/N(s): 923-0104, 923-0741, 821-1480-A, and 821-2049-A

eshop.macsales.com

Video to replace SATA cable:

I pulled the SSD and plugged into my external enclosure via usb 2.0. Doesn't seem to have helped at all unfortunately, a 2 minute update is taking upwards of a full hour to complete, photos app taking multiple minutes to open. I suppose while I have it in my enclosure I could try to run other tests on it to make sure that the drive itself isn't toast. I'm not sure if I could run windows tests on it though.

I have never seen a machine as slow as this in my life. Even early 2000s computers were exponentially faster.

 

[justashooter]

USB 2 is to slow of an interface for this test. Here are the various theoretical throughputs:
USB 2 is 60MB/s, USB 3.1 is 500MB/s and SATA 3 runs at 600MB/s.

It could very well be something else wrong with the MPB, I would just like to see it tried with USB3

 

[profcutter]

How much RAM is in the machine? Is it all showing up? Have you tried booting from another drive entirely? And yeah, the internal drive cable is pretty delicate on these.

 

[TiredTechnique]

How much RAM is in the machine? Is it all showing up? Have you tried booting from another drive entirely? And yeah, the internal drive cable is pretty delicate on these.

4GB, all showing up, all passed the Apple Hardware Check. In activity monitor ram usage is usually around 75%. I haven't tried making a brand new drive to try that, but it's certainly on the table after these outrageously long tests finish.

USB 2 is to slow of an interface for this test. Here are the various theoretical throughputs:
USB 2 is 60MB/s, USB 3.1 is 500MB/s and SATA 3 runs at 600MB/s.

It could very well be something else wrong with the MPB, I would just like to see it tried with USB3

There is no way on earth that usb 2 is the limiting factor here. A 200mb update that is supposed to take a minute or two took about 4 hours. If it is the hard drive causing problems here, and it seems likely that it is, we're in kbps territory not 60mbps territory.

 

[TiredTechnique]

I managed to get etrecheck working, it only took a few solid hours to get it to complete. This SSD is most certainly toast, but it also was extremely rarely used, and worked perfectly when it was purchased and tested. This strongly implies that the sata cable is destroying my harddrives and I need to replace both, right? I really hope I don't replace both the drive and the cable only for this to happen again.

EtreCheckPro version: 6.5.6 (6F041)

Report generated: 2022-01-22 01:38:10

Download EtreCheckPro from https://etrecheck.com

Runtime: 181:59


Performance: Poor

Problem: Computer is too slow


Major Issues:
Anything that appears on this list needs immediate attention.


Failing hard drive - This computer has a hard drive that appears to be failing.


Minor Issues:
These issues do not need immediate attention but they may indicate future problems or opportunities for improvement.


No Time Machine backup - Time Machine backup not found.

Apps crashing - There have been numerous app crashes.

Limited drive access - More information may be available with Full Drive Access.

Kernel extensions present - This computer has kernel extensions that may not work in the future.


Hardware Information:
MacBook Pro Model: MacBookPro9,2
2.50 GHz i5-3210M CPU: 2-core
4 GB RAM - Not upgradeable

Drives:
disk0 - TO Exter nal USB 3.0 240.06 GB
External USB 480 Mbit/s
disk0s1 - EFI (MS-DOS FAT32) [EFI] 210 MB
disk0s2 [APFS Container] 239.71 GB
disk1 [APFS Virtual drive] 239.71 GB (Shared by 5 volumes)
disk1s1 - M********** - Data (APFS) [APFS Virtual drive] (Shared - 51.54 GB used)
disk1s2 - Preboot (APFS) [APFS Preboot] (Shared - 28 MB used)
disk1s3 - Recovery (APFS) [Recovery] (Shared - 526 MB used)
disk1s4 - VM (APFS) [APFS VM] (Shared - 2.15 GB used)
disk1s5 - M********e (APFS) (Shared - 11.27 GB used)

Mounted Volumes:
disk1s1 - M********** - Data [APFS Virtual drive]
239.71 GB (Shared - 51.54 GB used, 174.58 GB available, 174.01 GB free)
APFS
Mount point: /System/Volumes/Data
Encrypting: 1% done
disk1s4 - VM [APFS VM]
239.71 GB (Shared - 2.15 GB used, 174.01 GB free)
APFS
Mount point: /private/var/vm
disk1s5 - M********e
239.71 GB (Shared - 11.27 GB used, 174.58 GB available, 174.01 GB free)
APFS
Mount point: /
Encrypting: 1% done
Read-only: Yes

System Software:
macOS Catalina 10.15.7 (19H2)
Time since boot: About 5 hours

Security:
Gatekeeper: App Store and identified developers

System Integrity Protection: Enabled


Antivirus software: Apple


Kernel Extensions:
/Library/Extensions
[Not Loaded] hp_io_enabler_compound.kext - com.hp.kext.io.enabler.compound (HP Inc., 3.4.0)

System Launch Daemons:
[Not Loaded] 35 Apple tasks

[Loaded] 218 Apple tasks

[Running] 83 Apple tasks

[Other] One Apple task


System Launch Agents:
[Not Loaded] 16 Apple tasks

[Loaded] 202 Apple tasks

[Running] 94 Apple tasks

[Other] One Apple task


Launch Daemons:
[Loaded] com.teamviewer.Helper.plist (TeamViewer GmbH - installed 2021-02-17)

[Not Loaded] com.teamviewer.teamviewer_service.plist (TeamViewer GmbH - installed 2021-03-16)


Launch Agents:
[Not Loaded] com.teamviewer.teamviewer.plist (TeamViewer GmbH - installed 2021-03-16)

[Not Loaded] com.teamviewer.teamviewer_desktop.plist (TeamViewer GmbH - installed 2021-03-16)


User Login Items:
[Not Loaded] TeamViewerMeetingLoginItem (TeamViewer GmbH - installed 2021-03-16)
Modern Login Item
/Applications/TeamViewer.app/Contents/Library/LoginItems/TeamViewerMeetingLoginItem.app

Backup:
Time Machine information not available without Full Drive Access.

Performance:
System Load: 1.33 (1 min ago) 1.26 (5 min ago) 1.25 (15 min ago)
Nominal I/O speed: 0.38 MB/s
File system: 123.27 seconds (timed out)
Write speed: 10 MB/s
Read speed: 14 MB/s

CPU Usage Snapshot:
Type Overall

System: 4 %

User: 6 %

Idle: 90 %


Top Processes Snapshot by CPU:
Process (count) CPU (Source - Location)

EtreCheckPro 7.50 % (Etresoft, Inc.)

system_profiler 5.00 % (Apple)

trustd (3) 3.72 % (Apple)

kernel_task 3.62 % (Apple)

WindowServer 3.40 % (Apple)


Top Processes Snapshot by Memory:
Process (count) RAM usage (Source - Location)

system_profiler 625 MB (Apple)

EtreCheckPro 522 MB (Etresoft, Inc.)

mdworker_shared (7) 167 MB (Apple)

ReportCrash 112 MB (Apple)

com.apple.WebKit.WebContent 77 MB (Apple)


Top Processes Snapshot by Network Use:
Process Input / Output (Source - Location)

mDNSResponder 187 KB / 37 KB (Apple)

netbiosd 38 KB / 5 KB (Apple)

apsd 5 KB / 4 KB (Apple)

SystemUIServer 0 B / 64 B (Apple)

NotificationCenter 0 B / 0 B (Apple)


Top Processes Snapshot by Energy Use:
Process (count) Energy (0-100) (Source - Location)

WindowServer 2 (Apple)

system_profiler 0 (Apple)

mdworker_shared (7) 0 (Apple)

trustd (3) 0 (Apple)

ReportCrash 0 (Apple)


Virtual Memory Information:
Physical RAM: 4 GB


Free RAM: 63 MB

Used RAM: 3.04 GB

Cached files: 915 MB


Available RAM: 978 MB

Swap Used: 0 B


Diagnostics Information (past 7-30 days):
2022-01-21 22:34:41 mediaanalysisd - Crash (20 times)
Executable: /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/VideoProcessing.framework/Versions/A/mediaanalysisd
Details:
dyld: launch, loading dependent libraries

2022-01-21 21:11:16 photoanalysisd - Crash (20 times)
Executable: /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/PhotoAnalysis.framework/Versions/A/Support/photoanalysisd
Details:
dyld: launch, loading dependent libraries

2022-01-21 21:11:16 callservicesd - Crash (20 times)
Executable: /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/TelephonyUtilities.framework/callservicesd
Details:
dyld: launch, loading dependent libraries

2022-01-21 21:06:29 photolibraryd - Crash (20 times)
Executable: /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/PhotoLibraryServices.framework/Versions/A/Support/photolibraryd
Details:
dyld: launch, loading dependent libraries

2022-01-21 20:58:48 replayd - Crash (20 times)
Executable: /usr/libexec/replayd
Details:
dyld: launch, loading dependent libraries

2022-01-21 20:18:30 sharingd - Crash (19 times)
Executable: /usr/libexec/sharingd
Details:
dyld: launch, loading dependent libraries

2022-01-21 20:16:03 CommCenter - Crash (21 times)
Executable: /System/Library/Frameworks/CoreTelephony.framework/Support/CommCenter
Details:
dyld: launch, loading dependent libraries

2022-01-21 20:05:24 mds_stores - Crash (20 times)
Executable: /System/Library/Frameworks/CoreServices.framework/Versions/A/Frameworks/Metadata.framework/Versions/A/Support/mds_stores
Details:
dyld3 mode
[0x70000dcfd000] Failed to get kMDStoreAccumulatedCounts
[0x70000dcfd000] Failed to get kMDStoreAccumulatedSizes
[0x70000daf1000] Failed to get kMDStoreAccumulatedCounts
[0x70000daf1000] Failed to get kMDStoreAccumulatedSizes
[0x70000d9eb000] open meta info error 9
[0x70000d9eb000] reverseStoreUpdateState err:-1
[0x70000d9eb000] update state (1) failed err:-1 at 4253
[0x70000d9eb000] Copy file failed for reverseDirectoryStore.shadow
[0x70000d9eb000] error (2) opening reverseDirectoryStore.shadow

2022-01-21 19:58:27 CoreSpotlightService - Crash (20 times)
Executable: /System/Library/Frameworks/CoreSpotlight.framework/CoreSpotlightService
Details:
dyld: launch, loading dependent libraries

2022-01-21 19:56:39 corespotlightd - Crash (21 times)
Executable: /System/Library/Frameworks/CoreServices.framework/Versions/A/Frameworks/Metadata.framework/Versions/A/Support/corespotlightd
Details:
dyld: launch, loading dependent libraries

2022-01-21 18:49:26 SafariBookmarksSyncAgent - Crash (16 times)
Executable: /Library/Apple/*/SafariSupport.bundle/Contents/MacOS/SafariBookmarksSyncAgent
Details:
dyld: launch, loading dependent libraries
/Library/Apple/System/Library/StagedFrameworks/Safari/SafariSharedUI.f
ramework/Versions/A/SafariSharedUI

2022-01-21 16:09:27 Safari.app - Crash (2 times)
Executable: /Applications/Safari.app
Details:
dyld: launch, loading dependent libraries
/Library/Apple/System/Library/StagedFrameworks/Safari/SafariSharedUI.f
ramework/Versions/A/SafariSharedUI

2022-01-20 20:40:18 kextd - Crash
Executable: /usr/libexec/kextd
Details:
dyld3 mode
kernel kext load request: id com.apple.driver.AppleVirtIO

2022-01-20 15:39:59 accountsd - Crash
Executable: /System/Library/Frameworks/Accounts.framework/Versions/A/Support/accountsd
Details:
dyld: in dlopen()
/Library/Apple/System/Library/StagedFrameworks/Safari/WebKit.framework
/Versions/A/WebKit

2022-01-20 15:39:54 com.apple.CloudPhotosConfiguration - Crash
Executable: /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/CloudPhotoServices.framework/Versions/A/XPCServices/com.apple.CloudPhotosConfiguration.xpc/Contents/MacOS/com.apple.CloudPhotosConfiguration
Details:
dyld: launch, loading dependent libraries

2022-01-20 15:39:53 WindowServer - Crash
Executable: /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/SkyLight.framework/Versions/A/Resources/WindowServer
Details:
StartTime:2022-01-20 15:39:04
GPU:IG
MetalDevice for accelerator(0x4b33): 0x7fd3927121c8 (MTLDevice: 0x7fd3
94316000)
IOService:/AppleACPIPlatformExpert/PCI0@0/AppleACPIPCI/IGPU@2/AppleInt
elFramebuffer@0


End of report

 

[MrAverigeUser]

This series of MBP's (2009 thru 2012 MBP 13) is known to have the SATA cable fail. My test for this is to remove the SSD, install it in a USB3 enclosure (you can buy them for as little as $10) and boot from the enclosure. If it runs as normal, then your SATA cable is bad. They are fairly easy to replace and cost about $15.

Apple Hard Drive Cable for 13-inch MacBook Pro (Mid 2012)

Replacement hard drive cable for Apple P/N(s): 923-0104, 923-0741, 821-1480-A, and 821-2049-A

eshop.macsales.com

Video to replace SATA cable:

I had exactly the same problem some years ago.
A new SATA cable solved the problem.

IMPORTANT recommendation:

The weak point for the SATA cable in Unibody MBP is NOT the "fat" cable you branch to the SSD or HDD !
Someone found out the real reason:
Although for us the inner side óf the bottom part of the Unibody MBP seems for us extremely well polished, it is NOT !! In fact it is has micro-abrasive potential!

IYou can even feel this with your finger. So, the extremely thin second cable (the small/thin one) can get loose with time and lose the extremely thin isolation step by step by this abrasive potential. Mostly the thin cable, but in some cases the bigger Pcable with the SATA-connection might get a "Short cut" as well since it is folded half "around" the corner of the HDD/SSD and thus has contact as well with the abrasive inner surface of the Unibody MBPs..
Further problem can be that the micro movements of the HDD or SSD will rub over years as well from the upper side of the cable.

NOT every new cable has adhesives on the small cable part to fix it well onto the backside.

So, there is a good reason to save the small cable (but nothing else than only the small cable !) with just large adhesive taper from above with single-sided very adhesive non-conductant taper to fix it even more on the backside of the unibody case AND thus adding a reliable second protection and at the same time ISOLATION of this extremely thin cable with extremely (too) thin isolation - so even a HDD or SSD with micro movements cannot rub off the isolation of the small cable.

Did this about 6 years ago and did the same with my second MBP (which had no problem) to protect the small part of the SATA cable in a protective and prophylactic sense.

Neither of my MBPs had any problem with its SATA cable since then.

So - this cots nothing and takes just 1 minute more while you are installing the new SATA cable.

BTW:

-SSD and HDD get very slow when nearly full. Some of them (specially older ones) even already when 10% space are still available.

- upgrading the RAM to 8 or 16 GB (the latter not documented, but possible without any problem) will give the MBP a big kick - and are nowadays very cheap.

cheers

 

[Fishrrman]

As mentioned above, the ribbon cable that connects the drive to the motherboard can go bad on the 2012-design models.

When this cable goes flaky, it can interfere with proper communications between the drive and the motherboard. This can be particularly noticeable with SSDs.

The cable is cheap -- go to ifixit.com to get the part number.

The internal drive could be getting flaky, as well.
But I'd try replacing the cable first.

The 2012 Unibody is a solid MacBook, but at 10 years old, perhaps it's time to start considering a replacement...

 

[etresoft]

The only thing that EtreCheck report says is that USB 2.0 is really slow.

 

[MrAverigeUser]

would be simple to exchange the SSD for a test by a other one (for example that of a griend) and look if this will solve the problem. If it does, just reinstall your system frommground up using a backup.

"Failing hard drive - This computer has a hard drive that appears to be failing"

But the most probable reason will be the SATA cable, which vosts near to nothing and will be easy to buy and easy to exchange (10-15 min).

While waiting for the arrival of the SATA cable you can just open the Mac, disconnect the SSD and put just a little piece of paper between the Small cable and the bigger cable and between the inner surface of the body and both cables - and another between the small cable and the SSD or HDD. This will perhaps stop the crashes in the meantime if there is a shortcut in the data line. Then connect again the SSD and try to start your MBP...
Nevertheless, install a new SATA cable anyway, this will at least prevent a failing SATA cable.

cheers

 

[DeltaMac]

What brand and model of SSD do you have?

I am curious why EtreCheck states that the RAM is not upgradeable from 4GB (?)
That 13-inch 2012 MBPro works very nicely when upgraded to 16GB.

I certainly agree with the ideas about replacing the SATA cable. It's just too easy to swap out, and too often reported as a cure for sometimes-strange problems.

 

[bobnugget]

Hello, I've got several 2012's and 2011's and have experienced various failures on them. My guess would also be this could be one of the following things that others have mentioned:

1. Bad RAM slots. Have you tried running the machine with only one memory module in (although this will not be fun with 2 GB modules...). Try this in both slots. If you have 1 bad RAM slot it could still function, show all the RAM, but run very slowly. I've got a 15" that does this. It's new system time if this is the issue.
2. Failed SATA cable - this will cause the computer to run very slowly, but I would expect even a slow USB 2.0 boot to be quicker than uou state.
3. Corrupt / Broken SSD - although as others mentioned the machine appears to be working OK, so less likely.

I've also seen Catalina run horribly on machines with 4 GB of RAM - might be time to put 8 or 16 GB in it. Also, Catalina will re-index spotlight after install which will make your machine run hot for at least a few hours after install.

 

[TiredTechnique]

The internal drive could be getting flaky, as well.
But I'd try replacing the cable first.

It's definitely both, I couldn't even run the tests while the ssd was internal, when I booted externally it took multiple hours. The laptop is 10 years old but for what it's used for, basically occasionally browsing the web or printing stuff, it's more than enough. Family member normally uses an ipad.

would be simple to exchange the SSD for a test by a other one (for example that of a griend) and look if this will solve the problem. If it does, just reinstall your system frommground up using a backup.

I tried booting off of a 5400RPM external hdd on usb 2.0 and it was 10x faster than the internal ssd, computer is running fine like that/

I've also seen Catalina run horribly on machines with 4 GB of RAM - might be time to put 8 or 16 GB in it. Also, Catalina will re-index spotlight after install which will make your machine run hot for at least a few hours after install.

I ordered an 8gb stick as well as the cable and new SSD. I'll make sure to put some tape down to prevent the cable from breaking again and hopefully we're good to go.

 

[MrAverigeUser]

„I tried booting off of a 5400RPM external hdd on usb 2.0 and it was 10x faster than the internal ssd, computer is running fine like that“

So it can only be a overloaded or failing SSD or a failing SATA cable - or both.

You don’t have to look for a new Mac, just put the cable in and reinstall the system on the SSD by using a backup. The 2012 MBPs are very good, no need to change them.

But try to upgrade up to at least 8 GB RAM and beware of using more than 80% of the SSDs space.

Cheers

 

[TiredTechnique]

„I tried booting off of a 5400RPM external hdd on usb 2.0 and it was 10x faster than the internal ssd, computer is running fine like that“

So it can only be a overloaded or failing SSD or a failing SATA cable - or both.

You don’t have to look for a new Mac, just put the cable in and reinstall the system on the SSD by using a backup. The 2012 MBPs are very good, no need to change them.

But try to upgrade up to at least 8 GB RAM and beware of using more than 80% of the SSDs space.

Cheers

Not overloaded at all, there was 30GB of files on the thing. Not a failing SSD independently either. I believe the cable is frying drives, this is exactly what happened to the computer before.

 

[etresoft]

I am curious why EtreCheck states that the RAM is not upgradeable from 4GB (?)

For this data, EtreCheck just reports the results of "/usr/sbin/system_profiler -xml SPMemoryDataType" under the "is_memory_upgradeable" field.

 

[TiredTechnique]

For this data, EtreCheck just reports the results of "/usr/sbin/system_profiler -xml SPMemoryDataType" under the "is_memory_upgradeable" field.

That field is incorrect probably, right? I believe all unibody macbook pros support 8gb officially and 16gb unofficially.

 

[DeltaMac]

No, it's correct... "upgradeable" is for the supported type of RAM, not the size/capacity

 

[MrAverigeUser]

This video is just excellent because he explains not only how to replace the ribbon cable, he shows as well one of the (multiple) reasons why the ribbon cable fails sometimes even repetitive (which is costly) and how to pretend at least one of the reasons for ribbon cable failure.

The point is that manufacturing the unibody includes a fine treatment of the OUTER surface of the unibody but the inner side rests rough on microscopic level, so keeping its abrasive potential forever. This is a sort of design flaw concerning the manufacturing process made by apple.

(If you ask me: This should lead to a "extended replacement program" . Apple shurely will deny any responsibility as they always do… )

The method for prevention may even serve as a short test to confirm a defective ribbon cable - if you have HDD/SSD related issues - just try the trick. If is resolves your problem, you are shure that you need only exchange the cable. But: If the issue is persistent, this does NOT exclude ribbon cable failure because the cable might already be too much damaged to work correctly.
Before replacing your ribbon cable don´t forget to protect the new cable as described in the video to prevent a second or even third failure of the cable because of the lack of finish of the inner side of the unibody surface!

I found an old posting of me from 2016... in a Thread about the same problem...
BUT:
While the author found out the cause of the problem, his démonstrated taper-solution does NOT be the best sort.

As I posted already here, for DEFINITELY prevent the same issue again IMHO you should use a BROAD taper that fills the WHOLE surface of the bottom. Then apply the small ribbon cable correctly onto it and branch it correctly. THEN a new layer of broad taper again filling the whole surface onto small cable to separate it against the SSD as well.

The solution in the video does not prevent 100% that the 2 cables are rubbing each other and it is evident that the bigger cable could nevertheless still rubb against the inner surface at places where the little taper as applied in the video does still not prevent contact between the rough surface of the metal body of the MBP.

This might serve you well...


cheers

 

[etresoft]

That field is incorrect probably, right? I believe all unibody macbook pros support 8gb officially and 16gb unofficially.

I think it is more of a question of "configurable" vs. "upgradeable". Officially, only really old machines and older iMacs are "upgradeable" because Apple designed them with a little door to be opened allowing access only to the RAM. Removing the bottom case is not something Apple considers suitable for end users.

The value could have changed in newer OS versions too. I'm pretty sure my old 2011 machine always said upgradeable, but it is also stuck at 10.13. I never owned any 2012 model of anything. But just like Apple, I'm not going to put too much effort into supporting a 10 year-old machine.

 

[TiredTechnique]

I found an old posting of me from 2016... in a Thread about the same problem...
BUT:
While the author found out the cause of the problem, his démonstrated taper-solution does NOT be the best sort.

As I posted already here, for DEFINITELY prevent the same issue again IMHO you should use a BROAD taper that fills the WHOLE surface of the bottom. Then apply the small ribbon cable correctly onto it and branch it correctly. THEN a new layer of broad taper again filling the whole surface onto small cable to separate it against the SSD as well.

The solution in the video does not prevent 100% that the 2 cables are rubbing each other and it is evident that the bigger cable could nevertheless still rubb against the inner surface at places where the little taper as applied in the video does still not prevent contact between the rough surface of the metal body of the MBP.

This might serve you well...


cheers

So you mean basically just one big wide piece of tape underneath the cable, and then on top of it as well?

I think it is more of a question of "configurable" vs. "upgradeable". Officially, only really old machines and older iMacs are "upgradeable" because Apple designed them with a little door to be opened allowing access only to the RAM. Removing the bottom case is not something Apple considers suitable for end users.

The value could have changed in newer OS versions too. I'm pretty sure my old 2011 machine always said upgradeable, but it is also stuck at 10.13. I never owned any 2012 model of anything. But just like Apple, I'm not going to put too much effort into supporting a 10 year-old machine.

Makes sense, thank you.

 

[julianps]

iFixit has the following comment on it's replacement instructions "Many fixers cover the length of the thicker cable in the pair with sections of electrical tape on both sides because it can rub the tiny ridges inside the aluminum case causing a short to the case itself or simply breaking the connection." https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/MacBook+Pro+13-Inch+Unibody+Mid+2012+Hard+Drive+Cable+Replacement/10379