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How to speed up a MBP Mid 2012?

memo90061

memo90061

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jan 2, 2008
560
139
Los Angeles, CA
I bought the MacBook Pro Mid 2012 with 2.5ghz i5, 4gb ram, and 500 hard drive. It feels somewhat slow and was thinking of upgrading the RAM to 8gb. Thought about 16gb, but don't know if that's too much? I really don't want to spend much on the MacBook Pro as my main computer is an iMac. I just bought the MacBook Pro to use when I have meetings with my clients, and will probably edit videos, pictures when I'm out of my house.

Would it see a big increase in speed with a 8gb RAM upgrade + SSD upgrade? What SSD do you recommend? I was reading online, and now I'm leaning towards Samsung EVO. I see the 256gb version is on sale at Best Buy for 104.99. Would want 512, but it's 249.99. What store can I buy the screwdrivers to open up the MacBook Pro?

Thank you, and sorry if these are noob questions. haha
 
Haha. I bought it used yesterday.

Thank you for the replies. :D Now I'm wondering where to buy the screws, and which ones I need. I have one to open up the MacBook.
 
memo90061 said:
Would it see a big increase in speed with a 8gb RAM upgrade + SSD upgrade?
Click to expand...

SSD is a nice speed bump on that machine. For your memory, startup and use the machine for a couple hours then look in Activity Monitor in the Memory tab. Check at the bottom to see if your memory pressure is in the green. If it is, you likely do not need more memory.

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What SSD do you recommend? I was reading online, and now I'm leaning towards Samsung EVO. I see the 256gb version is on sale at Best Buy for 104.99. Would want 512, but it's 249.99.
Click to expand...

Yep... that Samsung EVO is a good choice. Some great deals right now. Crucial MX100 is also a good deal. Just get whichever you can find cheapest.

What store can I buy the screwdrivers to open up the MacBook Pro?
Click to expand...

You need a size 00 Phillips for the case screws and a #6 Torx for the drive mounting screws. You can find both a Home Depot if you have one nearby. Or Amazon has them also.
 
It's Too bad it can't roll back to Snow Leopard. In that case, I might have left the HDD in and been perfectly content. With Mavericks and Yosemite, a HDD bogs the machine down. You will see a significant increase in performance going to the SSD. Depending on use, the ram will help. With 10GB of ram in my machine, I have way more than I need on a regular basis, but 4GB resulted in regular paging. For your use, 8GB will be welcomed addition, I'm sure.

The SSD is the biggest factor in the increase in performance. I went with the Crucial MX100 in 256GB. It's not the fastest drive out there, but plenty fast for my needs. Anything out of the Samsung EVO line or the newer Crucial drives MX100, M500, M550 will serve you well.

As for the drivers, you need Torx T5 or T6 (I don't remember which one fits). You can find them at Amazon or occasionally at a local hardware store. I ordered some with my replacement drive and ram, but they came out of China and were scheduled to take upwards of a month to arrive. Because the Torx head has hexagonal symmetry, you can get away with a small enough hex key/Allen wrench. This is what I did, make sure it goes all of the way into the head and fits snug, and you shouldn't strip the head.

Enjoy your new machine!
 
As others have stated the SSD should be your first priority. If funds aren't an issue you mine as well up the ram to 8GB while you are working under the hood. Congrats on a new Mac:)
 
I really really appreciate your replies! :D

I did go with the Samsung EVO 840 with 250gb. I have a feeling I'll want 500gb later on. -_- lol

Next buy will probably more RAM! :) I'm installing Yosemite right now!
 
depends on what you use the computer for, an SSD isn't always worth it.

I will say however to max out the memory.
 
jesusplay said:
depends on what you use the computer for, an SSD isn't always worth it.

I will say however to max out the memory.
Click to expand...
An SSD will boost performance in more situations than will boosting RAM. Most users don't fully use the RAM they have so buying more has no benefit, while all users will see performance benefits from upgrading from a HDD to a SSD.
 
jesusplay said:
depends on what you use the computer for, an SSD isn't always worth it.

I will say however to max out the memory.
Click to expand...

I think the opposite advise is better.
SSD will improve the performance of the computer where it comes to disk IO. Since OS X uses the disk quite a bit, you'll see improvements in booting up, starting apps and running the apps.

With ram, if he's not incurring any high page in/page outs, then adding ram will do nothing for him.
 
Both more ram and an SSD are a big help for editing movies and photos. Samsung 840 EVO is a good choice for an SSD. Movie editing especially eats up a lot of ram. Complex video editing will use all the ram you have, even 16gb.
 
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