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mikebjammin

macrumors newbie
Original poster
May 23, 2020
29
5
Screen Shot 2020-06-12 at 4.26.30 PM.png


I also have a 1 TB SSD. I mainly do basic web browsing and light work with Logic Pro X. If I could get another 1-2 years out of it I would be very happy.
 
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calliex

macrumors 6502
Aug 16, 2018
473
225
Pittsburgh, Pa
I have one two. It still does a fine job for me. Battery needs replaced. I looked into getting battery replaced. Seem getting new replacement is crap shoot. Battery shuts off around 50% now. I get about 1.5 hours out of it. May pickup a 16 in later this month after developers conference. I do not think I can wait till 2021. I will keep it an run the few 32 bit apps I have on it. I run Sierra to keep those apps alive.
 
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mikebjammin

macrumors newbie
Original poster
May 23, 2020
29
5
I have one two. It still does a fine job for me. Battery needs replaced. I looked into getting battery replaced. Seem getting new replacement is crap shoot. Battery shuts off around 50% now. I get about 1.5 hours out of it. May pickup a 16 in later this month after developers conference. I do not think I can wait till 2021. I will keep it an run the few 32 bit apps I have on it. I run Sierra to keep those apps alive.

I got one from OWC and it has been fine. I mainly leave my MBP plugged in.
 

glenthompson

macrumors demi-god
Apr 27, 2011
2,983
844
Virginia
Should work ok until it can no longer get OS upgrades. That’s my situation with my 2011. Thinking about upgrading later this year.
 

mikebjammin

macrumors newbie
Original poster
May 23, 2020
29
5
Should work ok until it can no longer get OS upgrades. That’s my situation with my 2011. Thinking about upgrading later this year.

Personally I'm trying to put off Catalina until I really need to; I don't want to lose my 32 bit apps. It seems like Mojave will be supported until fall 2021 which would be cool with me. At that time I would probably buy a new MacBook.
 

matram

macrumors 6502a
Sep 18, 2011
781
416
Sweden
Your MBP is currently ”vintage” next year it is likely to be ”obsolete”. So one way to answer this is that you could continue to use it as long as it works, but you cannot get it repaired by Apple.
 
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Ish

macrumors 68020
Nov 30, 2004
2,241
795
UK
I have a mid-2012 MBP and a mid-2011 11" MBA. Although the MBP needs a new battery, it's the MBA I have problems with, even for browsing, so I've been waiting until the new keyboard comes out to replace them both with a new 13" MBP. I have one on the way now but I'm going to miss Aperture and Pages. I've stayed with Sierra to run my 32 bit apps and have mixed feelings about moving over.

I'd say that as long as you can cope with the battery, maybe mostly use it plugged in, and it's not causing you any problems, you can use it until it stops working.
 

glenthompson

macrumors demi-god
Apr 27, 2011
2,983
844
Virginia
Personally I'm trying to put off Catalina until I really need to; I don't want to lose my 32 bit apps. It seems like Mojave will be supported until fall 2021 which would be cool with me. At that time I would probably buy a new MacBook.
I agree with you on Catalina. Would like at least Mojave As some apps won’t upgrade on High Sierra such as Numbers. Latest BBEdit doesn’t run on HS either. I’m not running any 32 bit apps that are critical to me.
 

calliex

macrumors 6502
Aug 16, 2018
473
225
Pittsburgh, Pa
Problem with some of my 32 bit apps is the 64 bit version of them are now subscription. I do not use them enough to make that leap. I will keep 2012 MBP for that reason as long as it lasts.
 
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mikzn

macrumors 68040
Sep 2, 2013
3,005
2,293
North Vancouver
If I could get another 1-2 years out of it I would be very happy.

I have mid-2012 MBP - best "Laptop" I ever purchased - still runs like a top - got it running Catalina on On a 512g SSD and have my previous Mojave 512g SSD in an external enclosure - in case I want to swap the drives or boot from the external back into the Mojave version. I have been lucky with the battery still works well and I get about 3 hours if not connected to power.

My 2015 rMBP needs a new battery already and since it is glued in that is a PITA

Who knows what the next OS will bring but these 2012 MBP continue to work really well for Catalina
 

mikebjammin

macrumors newbie
Original poster
May 23, 2020
29
5
Problem with some of my 32 bit apps is the 64 bit version of them are now subscription. I do not use them enough to make that leap. I will keep 2012 MBP for that reason as long as it lasts.

Yeah I still have Microsoft 2011 and I don't want to drop $150 to own the new one or pay $7 per month or whatever just yet.
 

edubfromktown

macrumors 6502a
Sep 14, 2010
815
688
East Coast, USA
I agree with you on Catalina. Would like at least Mojave As some apps won’t upgrade on High Sierra such as Numbers. Latest BBEdit doesn’t run on HS either. I’m not running any 32 bit apps that are critical to me.

I've got Mojave running on a mid-2012 Retina 15" and its been doing quite well. Catalina would tax that hardware platform a bit too hard in my opinion...
 
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Flurin

macrumors newbie
Apr 16, 2020
8
7
Sience Caltalina is supported until October of 2022, you can keep it at least until then. Catalina runs on my Mid 2012 very smooth (probably better than on some newer Macs…). Nevertheless I hope we will get 10.16.
 
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edubfromktown

macrumors 6502a
Sep 14, 2010
815
688
East Coast, USA
FWIW - I am running Catalina on my MBP 2012 and it it every bit as fast as it was on Mojave - and also can't tell the difference in performance between my MBP2012 and MBP2015


View attachment 924075

That may be the case- no idea. Catalina does other things like serialize hardware so that if a component fails, a replacement may not work.
FWIW - I am running Catalina on my MBP 2012 and it it every bit as fast as it was on Mojave - and also can't tell the difference in performance between my MBP2012 and MBP2015


View attachment 924075

There's quite a bit going on under the hood with Catalina... from a security perspective, hardware component serializing/signing (which can render swapped-in components like replacement a Wifi module useless), boot volume group, time machine nuances, etc.

I'd think 4x before upgrading 2012-ish hardware from Mojave for the above and other reasons.
 
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edubfromktown

macrumors 6502a
Sep 14, 2010
815
688
East Coast, USA
Yeah I still have Microsoft 2011 and I don't want to drop $150 to own the new one or pay $7 per month or whatever just yet.

I'm still running Office 2016 "perpetual" and quite happy not paying a monthly subscription (or running resource sapping "phone home" processes in their product, Adobe's (five CC background app piggies) or other cloud-based offerings) or others.
 

glenthompson

macrumors demi-god
Apr 27, 2011
2,983
844
Virginia
I'd think 4x before upgrading 2012-ish hardware from Mojave for the above and other reasons.
My wife’s 2017 iMac is the only Mac we have that can run Catalina and we have not upgraded for all those reasons. Don’t want just one machine totally out of sync. When I’m forced to go to Catalina with a new Mac then we might consider upgrades.
 
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maflynn

macrumors Haswell
May 3, 2009
73,682
43,734
I've given up on my 2012 rMBP about 3, maybe 4 years ago. Its a great machine but time finally caught up to it. Even now, its barely able to work for my kids needs during lockdown.
 

greenmeanie

macrumors 65816
Jan 22, 2005
1,422
615
AmigaWarez
I just used the program from DosDude1.com on a 2010 MID IMAC I found in the Junk Yard and I am running Catalina no problems so far.
His program applied a few patches and I was ready to go.
 

jasonp99

macrumors member
Sep 11, 2007
49
10
I've given up on my 2012 rMBP about 3, maybe 4 years ago. Its a great machine but time finally caught up to it. Even now, its barely able to work for my kids needs during lockdown.

That seems surprising to me. I have an early-2011 MBP, quad-core i7, 8gb ram, 512gb ssd and it still seems as fast to me as it ever was. Upgraded to High Sierra (highest OS it can take). The dGPU died last Fall so I had to do the software fix to disable it. My kids use their Chromebooks (from school) at home and the Mac is just lightning speed compared to those things.

I don't do video editing, that would probably be slow on this machine, especially with the dGPU non-working. The battery is not great, about 1.5 hours at most when doing Zoom sessions (I replaced a few years back).

Probably would have upgraded in recent years but nothing seemed that appealing. A retina display would have been nice, but I use an external most of the time anyway (not now since dGPU failed). I think the 16" is just too big, I like the lightness of my work 14" Dell laptop. Was hoping a new 14" MBP would be coming this year but looks like not until next Spring, hope my Mac will last until then . . .
 
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