I see tons of posts day in and day out about patching unsupported machines for Catalina asking for help for various issues. I also see lots of people who say "search for it" or "read the thread". Even I have trouble finding what I am looking for in a thread containing over 500+ pages of posts. I thought it might be easier to break it down into specific series, and I'm starting with the A1278 series, as that is the most straightforward (in my experience) to get working with @dosdude1 AMAZING patcher.
I'm going to try to list the common issues and their solutions, with a link back to the original post where possible and an easy to locate download if needed. Perhaps we can alleviate some of the redundant posts in the main Unsupported Catalina thread AND make things easier for everyone at the same time. That being said, here goes...
The A1278 is the 13" MacBook / MacBook Pro Series that ran from Late 2008 to Mid 2012. They are aluminum unibody chassis with rounded corners and all but the 2008 models have a single piece bottom cover. The Late 2008 models has a two piece bottom cover, with easy access to the battery / sata hard drive with the split design. Here are the specs for the models :
Every A1278 Model looks like this inside, narrow strips flanking the keyboard with NO grille cutouts for the speakers like on the 15" models. There are a few different keyboard layouts for different parts of the world, but the basic layout for the inside of the laptop will be the same.
I'm going to try to list the common issues and their solutions, with a link back to the original post where possible and an easy to locate download if needed. Perhaps we can alleviate some of the redundant posts in the main Unsupported Catalina thread AND make things easier for everyone at the same time. That being said, here goes...
The A1278 is the 13" MacBook / MacBook Pro Series that ran from Late 2008 to Mid 2012. They are aluminum unibody chassis with rounded corners and all but the 2008 models have a single piece bottom cover. The Late 2008 models has a two piece bottom cover, with easy access to the battery / sata hard drive with the split design. Here are the specs for the models :
Every A1278 Model looks like this inside, narrow strips flanking the keyboard with NO grille cutouts for the speakers like on the 15" models. There are a few different keyboard layouts for different parts of the world, but the basic layout for the inside of the laptop will be the same.
2008 13.3” MacBook Aluminum Unibody w/Removable Battery / SATA Hard Drive cover
Identifier MacBook5,1 Model A1278 EMC 2254
CPU Variants :
P7350 Core 2 Duo 2.0Ghz Dual Core Passmark Score 686
P8600 Core 2 Duo 2.4Ghz Dual Core Passmark Score 824
2.0Ghz version does NOT have a backlit keyboard, 2.4Ghz version DOES.
2.0 Version is 2GB / 160GB Sata / DVD+RW
2.4 Version is 2GB / 250GB Sata / DVD+RW
Neither has an SD Slot. Ports include 2x USB 2.0, Mini DP, Gigabit Ethernet, Optical Digital Audio In/Out.
Bluetooth 2.1 and Airport 802.11n
Integrated Nvidia 9400M Video 256MB Shared Memory
Does NOT natively support APFS booting
Maximum ram on this model is 8GB PC8500 DDR3 (2 slots, 4GB max in each slot)
Fairly picky on ram, common configuration on these is 1x2GB plus 1x4GB module for 6GB total.
As long as 1 ram module is PC8500, it will automatically down-clock the second stick to match. This does NOT happen if both modules are rated higher than PC8500.
ANY size SATA hard drive will fit, as long as it is 12.5MM or less in height. You can use mechanical, rotating disk SATA drive, hybrid SSHD SATA drives, or any SATA SSD drive. Please note that the SATA controller on these is capable of SATA II (300MBPS) speeds, but occasionally a SATA SSD will fail to link at SATA-II and fallback to SATA-I (150MBPS). This will greatly affect the speed of your machine, so choose wisely. Mechanical SATA drives typically do not saturate even a SATA – I link, so it does not matter for those types of drives. Typical transfer speeds on original drives are around 30-40MBPS, with pretty much ANY SATA SSD drive maxing out the SATA-III connection at around 250MBPS (accounting for system losses, 265MBPS is approximately the maximum achievable with SATA-II).
Battery is model A1280 – Silver in Color and Replaceable in 10 seconds or so via removable cover on bottom of laptop. OEM Batteries are 45wh 4680mAh and is rated for 5 hours. Replacement Non-OEM batteries are typically lower mAh ratings, some as low as 3800mAh, and last significantly less time, as low as 2 hours even when new. A decent used OEM battery will typically give 2.5-3 hours while a decent brand new Non-OEM should give about the same run time. These batteries are getting harder to find and the prices have gone up accordingly.
As of 10-1-2020, multiple 120GB SSD options are available under $20, while 240GB SSD’s are under $30. If you are going to spend money on one of these MacBooks, this is where you should start. It will make a HUGE, immediate, VERY noticeable difference in everyday usage.
PDF Manual : http://manuals.info.apple.com/en_US/MacBook_13inch_Aluminum_Late2008.pdf
Identifier MacBook5,1 Model A1278 EMC 2254
CPU Variants :
P7350 Core 2 Duo 2.0Ghz Dual Core Passmark Score 686
P8600 Core 2 Duo 2.4Ghz Dual Core Passmark Score 824
2.0Ghz version does NOT have a backlit keyboard, 2.4Ghz version DOES.
2.0 Version is 2GB / 160GB Sata / DVD+RW
2.4 Version is 2GB / 250GB Sata / DVD+RW
Neither has an SD Slot. Ports include 2x USB 2.0, Mini DP, Gigabit Ethernet, Optical Digital Audio In/Out.
Bluetooth 2.1 and Airport 802.11n
Integrated Nvidia 9400M Video 256MB Shared Memory
Does NOT natively support APFS booting
Maximum ram on this model is 8GB PC8500 DDR3 (2 slots, 4GB max in each slot)
Fairly picky on ram, common configuration on these is 1x2GB plus 1x4GB module for 6GB total.
As long as 1 ram module is PC8500, it will automatically down-clock the second stick to match. This does NOT happen if both modules are rated higher than PC8500.
ANY size SATA hard drive will fit, as long as it is 12.5MM or less in height. You can use mechanical, rotating disk SATA drive, hybrid SSHD SATA drives, or any SATA SSD drive. Please note that the SATA controller on these is capable of SATA II (300MBPS) speeds, but occasionally a SATA SSD will fail to link at SATA-II and fallback to SATA-I (150MBPS). This will greatly affect the speed of your machine, so choose wisely. Mechanical SATA drives typically do not saturate even a SATA – I link, so it does not matter for those types of drives. Typical transfer speeds on original drives are around 30-40MBPS, with pretty much ANY SATA SSD drive maxing out the SATA-III connection at around 250MBPS (accounting for system losses, 265MBPS is approximately the maximum achievable with SATA-II).
Battery is model A1280 – Silver in Color and Replaceable in 10 seconds or so via removable cover on bottom of laptop. OEM Batteries are 45wh 4680mAh and is rated for 5 hours. Replacement Non-OEM batteries are typically lower mAh ratings, some as low as 3800mAh, and last significantly less time, as low as 2 hours even when new. A decent used OEM battery will typically give 2.5-3 hours while a decent brand new Non-OEM should give about the same run time. These batteries are getting harder to find and the prices have gone up accordingly.
As of 10-1-2020, multiple 120GB SSD options are available under $20, while 240GB SSD’s are under $30. If you are going to spend money on one of these MacBooks, this is where you should start. It will make a HUGE, immediate, VERY noticeable difference in everyday usage.
PDF Manual : http://manuals.info.apple.com/en_US/MacBook_13inch_Aluminum_Late2008.pdf
2009 13.3” MacBook Pro Aluminum Unibody
Identifier MacBookPro5,5
Model A1278 EMC 2326
CPU Variants :
P7550 or P8400 Core 2 Duo 2.26Ghz Dual Core Passmark Score 900 or 840
P8700 Core 2 Duo 2.53Ghz Dual Core Passmark Score 918
All versions have Backlit Keyboards
2.26 Version is 2GB / 160GB Sata / DVD+RW
2.53 Version is 4GB / 250GB Sata / DVD+RW
Ports include 2x USB 2.0, Mini DP, Gigabit Ethernet, Audio In/Out. Also has Firewire 800 and an SD Slot. No longer has Digital Optical Audio In, only Analog Audio In
Bluetooth 2.1 and Airport 802.11n
Integrated Nvidia 9400M Video 256MB Shared Memory
Does NOT natively support APFS booting
Maximum ram on this model is 8GB PC8500 DDR3 (2 slots, 4GB max in each slot)
Fairly picky on ram, common configuration on these is 1x2GB plus 1x4GB module for 6GB total.
As long as 1 ram module is PC8500, it will automatically down-clock the second stick to match. This does NOT happen if both modules are rated higher than PC8500.
ANY size SATA hard drive will fit, as long as it is 12.5MM or less in height. You can use mechanical, rotating disk SATA drive, hybrid SSHD SATA drives, or any SATA SSD drive. Please note that the SATA controller on these is capable of SATA II (300MBPS) speeds, but occasionally a SATA SSD will fail to link at SATA-II and fallback to SATA-I (150MBPS). This will greatly affect the speed of your machine, so choose wisely. Mechanical SATA drives typically do not saturate even a SATA – I link, so it does not matter for those types of drives. Typical transfer speeds on original drives are around 30-40MBPS, with pretty much ANY SATA SSD drive maxing out the SATA-III connection at around 250MBPS (accounting for system losses, 265MBPS is approximately the maximum achievable with SATA-II).
Battery is model A1322 – Black in Color and Replaceable 10 minutes or so via removable bottom plate (10 screws). OEM Batteries are 58wh *rare (There are also 60wh and 63.5wh OEM A1322 batteries from 2009-2012 models that all work on these 2009 models) and is rated for 7 hours. Replacement Non-OEM batteries are typically lower mAh ratings, some as low as 4500mAh, and last significantly less time, as low as 2 hours even when new. A decent used OEM battery will typically give 3-4 hours while a decent brand new Non-OEM should give about the same run time. These batteries are getting harder to find and the prices have gone up accordingly. 58wh ??? 60wh 020-6381-A 63.5wh 020-6765-A
As of 10-1-2020, multiple 120GB SSD options are available under $20, while 240GB SSD’s are under $30. If you are going to spend money on one of these MacBooks, this is where you should start. It will make a HUGE, immediate, VERY noticeable difference in everyday usage.
PDF Manual : http://manuals.info.apple.com/en_US/MacBook_Pro_13inch_Mid2009.pdf
Identifier MacBookPro5,5
Model A1278 EMC 2326
CPU Variants :
P7550 or P8400 Core 2 Duo 2.26Ghz Dual Core Passmark Score 900 or 840
P8700 Core 2 Duo 2.53Ghz Dual Core Passmark Score 918
All versions have Backlit Keyboards
2.26 Version is 2GB / 160GB Sata / DVD+RW
2.53 Version is 4GB / 250GB Sata / DVD+RW
Ports include 2x USB 2.0, Mini DP, Gigabit Ethernet, Audio In/Out. Also has Firewire 800 and an SD Slot. No longer has Digital Optical Audio In, only Analog Audio In
Bluetooth 2.1 and Airport 802.11n
Integrated Nvidia 9400M Video 256MB Shared Memory
Does NOT natively support APFS booting
Maximum ram on this model is 8GB PC8500 DDR3 (2 slots, 4GB max in each slot)
Fairly picky on ram, common configuration on these is 1x2GB plus 1x4GB module for 6GB total.
As long as 1 ram module is PC8500, it will automatically down-clock the second stick to match. This does NOT happen if both modules are rated higher than PC8500.
ANY size SATA hard drive will fit, as long as it is 12.5MM or less in height. You can use mechanical, rotating disk SATA drive, hybrid SSHD SATA drives, or any SATA SSD drive. Please note that the SATA controller on these is capable of SATA II (300MBPS) speeds, but occasionally a SATA SSD will fail to link at SATA-II and fallback to SATA-I (150MBPS). This will greatly affect the speed of your machine, so choose wisely. Mechanical SATA drives typically do not saturate even a SATA – I link, so it does not matter for those types of drives. Typical transfer speeds on original drives are around 30-40MBPS, with pretty much ANY SATA SSD drive maxing out the SATA-III connection at around 250MBPS (accounting for system losses, 265MBPS is approximately the maximum achievable with SATA-II).
Battery is model A1322 – Black in Color and Replaceable 10 minutes or so via removable bottom plate (10 screws). OEM Batteries are 58wh *rare (There are also 60wh and 63.5wh OEM A1322 batteries from 2009-2012 models that all work on these 2009 models) and is rated for 7 hours. Replacement Non-OEM batteries are typically lower mAh ratings, some as low as 4500mAh, and last significantly less time, as low as 2 hours even when new. A decent used OEM battery will typically give 3-4 hours while a decent brand new Non-OEM should give about the same run time. These batteries are getting harder to find and the prices have gone up accordingly. 58wh ??? 60wh 020-6381-A 63.5wh 020-6765-A
As of 10-1-2020, multiple 120GB SSD options are available under $20, while 240GB SSD’s are under $30. If you are going to spend money on one of these MacBooks, this is where you should start. It will make a HUGE, immediate, VERY noticeable difference in everyday usage.
PDF Manual : http://manuals.info.apple.com/en_US/MacBook_Pro_13inch_Mid2009.pdf
2010 13.3” MacBook Pro Aluminum Unibody
Identifier MacBookPro7,1
Model A1278 EMC 2351
CPU Variants :
P8600 Core 2 Duo 2.4Ghz Dual Core Passmark Score 824
P8800 Core 2 Duo 2.66Ghz Dual Core Passmark Score 839
All versions have Backlit Keyboards
2.4 Version is 4GB / 250GB Sata / DVD+RW
2.66 Version is 4GB / 320GB Sata / DVD+RW
Ports include 2x USB 2.0, Mini DP with Audio Pass through, Gigabit Ethernet, Audio In/Out. Also has Firewire 800 and an SD Slot. No longer has Digital Optical Audio In, only Analog Audio In
Bluetooth 2.1 and Airport 802.11n
Integrated Nvidia 320M Video 256MB Shared Memory
DOES natively support APFS booting
Maximum ram on this model is 16GB PC8500 DDR3 (2 slots, 8GB max in each slot)
Way less picky on ram, PC10600 will often work in dual channel mode on these models. Again if you used mismatched ram,
as long as 1 ram module is PC8500, it will automatically down-clock the second stick to match. This does NOT happen if both modules are rated higher than PC8500, which may or may not work. If it does not try 1 original stick and one new one.
ANY size SATA hard drive will fit, as long as it is 12.5MM or less in height. You can use mechanical, rotating disk SATA drive, hybrid SSHD SATA drives, or any SATA SSD drive. Please note that the SATA controller on these is capable of SATA II (300MBPS) speeds, but occasionally a SATA SSD will fail to link at SATA-II and fallback to SATA-I (150MBPS). This will greatly affect the speed of your machine, so choose wisely. Mechanical SATA drives typically do not saturate even a SATA – I link, so it does not matter for those types of drives. Typical transfer speeds on original drives are around 30-40MBPS, with pretty much ANY SATA SSD drive maxing out the SATA-III connection at around 250MBPS (accounting for system losses, 265MBPS is approximately the maximum achievable with SATA-II).
Battery is model A1322 – Black in Color and Replaceable 10 minutes or so via removable bottom plate (10 screws). OEM Batteries are 60wh *rare (There are also 63.5wh OEM A1322 batteries from 2011-2012 models that all work on these 2010 models) and is rated for 10 hours. Replacement Non-OEM batteries are typically lower mAh ratings, some as low as 4500mAh, and last significantly less time, as low as 2 hours even when new. A decent used OEM battery will typically give 4-5 hours while a decent brand new Non-OEM should give about the same run time. These batteries are getting harder to find and the prices have gone up accordingly. 58wh ??? 60wh 020-6381-A 63.5wh 020-6765-A
As of 10-1-2020, multiple 120GB SSD options are available under $20, while 240GB SSD’s are under $30. If you are going to spend money on one of these MacBooks, this is where you should start. It will make a HUGE, immediate, VERY noticeable difference in everyday usage.
PDF Manual : http://manuals.info.apple.com/en_US/MacBook_Pro_13inch_Mid2010.pdf
Identifier MacBookPro7,1
Model A1278 EMC 2351
CPU Variants :
P8600 Core 2 Duo 2.4Ghz Dual Core Passmark Score 824
P8800 Core 2 Duo 2.66Ghz Dual Core Passmark Score 839
All versions have Backlit Keyboards
2.4 Version is 4GB / 250GB Sata / DVD+RW
2.66 Version is 4GB / 320GB Sata / DVD+RW
Ports include 2x USB 2.0, Mini DP with Audio Pass through, Gigabit Ethernet, Audio In/Out. Also has Firewire 800 and an SD Slot. No longer has Digital Optical Audio In, only Analog Audio In
Bluetooth 2.1 and Airport 802.11n
Integrated Nvidia 320M Video 256MB Shared Memory
DOES natively support APFS booting
Maximum ram on this model is 16GB PC8500 DDR3 (2 slots, 8GB max in each slot)
Way less picky on ram, PC10600 will often work in dual channel mode on these models. Again if you used mismatched ram,
as long as 1 ram module is PC8500, it will automatically down-clock the second stick to match. This does NOT happen if both modules are rated higher than PC8500, which may or may not work. If it does not try 1 original stick and one new one.
ANY size SATA hard drive will fit, as long as it is 12.5MM or less in height. You can use mechanical, rotating disk SATA drive, hybrid SSHD SATA drives, or any SATA SSD drive. Please note that the SATA controller on these is capable of SATA II (300MBPS) speeds, but occasionally a SATA SSD will fail to link at SATA-II and fallback to SATA-I (150MBPS). This will greatly affect the speed of your machine, so choose wisely. Mechanical SATA drives typically do not saturate even a SATA – I link, so it does not matter for those types of drives. Typical transfer speeds on original drives are around 30-40MBPS, with pretty much ANY SATA SSD drive maxing out the SATA-III connection at around 250MBPS (accounting for system losses, 265MBPS is approximately the maximum achievable with SATA-II).
Battery is model A1322 – Black in Color and Replaceable 10 minutes or so via removable bottom plate (10 screws). OEM Batteries are 60wh *rare (There are also 63.5wh OEM A1322 batteries from 2011-2012 models that all work on these 2010 models) and is rated for 10 hours. Replacement Non-OEM batteries are typically lower mAh ratings, some as low as 4500mAh, and last significantly less time, as low as 2 hours even when new. A decent used OEM battery will typically give 4-5 hours while a decent brand new Non-OEM should give about the same run time. These batteries are getting harder to find and the prices have gone up accordingly. 58wh ??? 60wh 020-6381-A 63.5wh 020-6765-A
As of 10-1-2020, multiple 120GB SSD options are available under $20, while 240GB SSD’s are under $30. If you are going to spend money on one of these MacBooks, this is where you should start. It will make a HUGE, immediate, VERY noticeable difference in everyday usage.
PDF Manual : http://manuals.info.apple.com/en_US/MacBook_Pro_13inch_Mid2010.pdf
2011 Early 13.3” MacBook Pro Aluminum Unibody
Identifier MacBookPro8,1
Model A1278 EMC 2419
CPU Variants :
i5-2415M 2.3Ghz Dual Core Passmark Score 2035
i7-2620M 2.7Ghz Dual Core Passmark Score 2412
All versions have Backlit Keyboards
2.3Ghz Version is 4GB / 320GB Sata / DVD+RW
2.7Ghz Version is 4GB / 500GB Sata / DVD+RW
Ports include 2x USB 2.0, Thunderbolt 1 with Audio Pass through, Gigabit Ethernet, Audio In/Out. Also has Firewire 800 and an SD Slot. No longer has Digital Optical Audio In, only Analog Audio In
Bluetooth 2.1 and Airport 802.11n
Integrated Intel HD3000 Video 384MB Shared Memory (up to 512MB shared memory on 8GB+ configurations)
DOES natively support APFS booting
Maximum ram on this model is 16GB PC10600 DDR3 (2 slots, 8GB max in each slot)
Way less picky on ram, PC10600 or even PC12800 will often work in dual channel mode on these models. Again if you used mismatched ram, as long as 1 ram module is PC8500 or PC10600, it will automatically down-clock the second stick to match.
ANY size SATA hard drive will fit, as long as it is 12.5MM or less in height. You can use mechanical, rotating disk SATA drive, hybrid SSHD SATA drives, or any SATA SSD drive. Please note that the SATA controller on these is capable of SATA III (600MBPS) speeds, but occasionally a SATA SSD will fail to link at SATA-III and fallback to SATA-II (300MBPS). This will NOT greatly affect the speed of your machine, but you may get lower performance than expected. Mechanical SATA drives typically do not saturate even a SATA – I link, so it does not matter for those types of drives. Typical transfer speeds on original drives are around 30-40MBPS, with pretty much ANY SATA SSD drive maxing out the SATA-II connection at around 250MBPS (accounting for system losses, 265MBPS is approximately the maximum achievable with SATA-II). Most SATA SSD drives at this time range from 400-500MBPS transfer rate, this model will actually see the benefit of anything over 300MBPS
Battery is model A1322 – Black in Color and Replaceable 10 minutes or so via removable bottom plate (10 screws). OEM Batteries are 60wh *rare (There are also 63.5wh OEM A1322 batteries from 2011-2012 models that all work on these 2010 models) and is rated for 10 hours. Replacement Non-OEM batteries are typically lower mAh ratings, some as low as 4500mAh, and last significantly less time, as low as 2 hours even when new. A decent used OEM battery will typically give 4-5 hours while a decent brand new Non-OEM should give about the same run time. These batteries are getting harder to find and the prices have gone up accordingly.
58wh ??? 60wh 020-6381-A 020-6457-A 63.5wh 5800mAh 020-6765-A 020-6764-A
As of 10-1-2020, multiple 120GB SSD options are available under $20, while 240GB SSD’s are under $30. If you are going to spend money on one of these MacBooks, this is where you should start. It will make a HUGE, immediate, VERY noticeable difference in everyday usage.
PDF Manual : https://manuals.info.apple.com/en_US/macbook_pro_13inch_early2011.pdf
Identifier MacBookPro8,1
Model A1278 EMC 2419
CPU Variants :
i5-2415M 2.3Ghz Dual Core Passmark Score 2035
i7-2620M 2.7Ghz Dual Core Passmark Score 2412
All versions have Backlit Keyboards
2.3Ghz Version is 4GB / 320GB Sata / DVD+RW
2.7Ghz Version is 4GB / 500GB Sata / DVD+RW
Ports include 2x USB 2.0, Thunderbolt 1 with Audio Pass through, Gigabit Ethernet, Audio In/Out. Also has Firewire 800 and an SD Slot. No longer has Digital Optical Audio In, only Analog Audio In
Bluetooth 2.1 and Airport 802.11n
Integrated Intel HD3000 Video 384MB Shared Memory (up to 512MB shared memory on 8GB+ configurations)
DOES natively support APFS booting
Maximum ram on this model is 16GB PC10600 DDR3 (2 slots, 8GB max in each slot)
Way less picky on ram, PC10600 or even PC12800 will often work in dual channel mode on these models. Again if you used mismatched ram, as long as 1 ram module is PC8500 or PC10600, it will automatically down-clock the second stick to match.
ANY size SATA hard drive will fit, as long as it is 12.5MM or less in height. You can use mechanical, rotating disk SATA drive, hybrid SSHD SATA drives, or any SATA SSD drive. Please note that the SATA controller on these is capable of SATA III (600MBPS) speeds, but occasionally a SATA SSD will fail to link at SATA-III and fallback to SATA-II (300MBPS). This will NOT greatly affect the speed of your machine, but you may get lower performance than expected. Mechanical SATA drives typically do not saturate even a SATA – I link, so it does not matter for those types of drives. Typical transfer speeds on original drives are around 30-40MBPS, with pretty much ANY SATA SSD drive maxing out the SATA-II connection at around 250MBPS (accounting for system losses, 265MBPS is approximately the maximum achievable with SATA-II). Most SATA SSD drives at this time range from 400-500MBPS transfer rate, this model will actually see the benefit of anything over 300MBPS
Battery is model A1322 – Black in Color and Replaceable 10 minutes or so via removable bottom plate (10 screws). OEM Batteries are 60wh *rare (There are also 63.5wh OEM A1322 batteries from 2011-2012 models that all work on these 2010 models) and is rated for 10 hours. Replacement Non-OEM batteries are typically lower mAh ratings, some as low as 4500mAh, and last significantly less time, as low as 2 hours even when new. A decent used OEM battery will typically give 4-5 hours while a decent brand new Non-OEM should give about the same run time. These batteries are getting harder to find and the prices have gone up accordingly.
58wh ??? 60wh 020-6381-A 020-6457-A 63.5wh 5800mAh 020-6765-A 020-6764-A
As of 10-1-2020, multiple 120GB SSD options are available under $20, while 240GB SSD’s are under $30. If you are going to spend money on one of these MacBooks, this is where you should start. It will make a HUGE, immediate, VERY noticeable difference in everyday usage.
PDF Manual : https://manuals.info.apple.com/en_US/macbook_pro_13inch_early2011.pdf
2011 Late 13.3” MacBook Pro Aluminum Unibody
Identifier MacBookPro8,1
Model A1278 EMC 2555
CPU Variants :
i5-2435M 2.4Ghz Dual Core Passmark Score 1738
i7-2640M 2.8Ghz Dual Core Passmark Score 2447
All versions have Backlit Keyboards
2.4Ghz Version is 4GB / 500GB Sata / DVD+RW
2.8Ghz Version is 4GB / 750GB Sata / DVD+RW
Ports include 2x USB 2.0, Thunderbolt 1 with Audio Pass through, Gigabit Ethernet, Audio In/Out. Also has Firewire 800 and an SD Slot. No longer has Digital Optical Audio In, only Analog Audio In
Bluetooth 2.1 and Airport 802.11n
Integrated Intel HD3000 Video 384MB Shared Memory (up to 512MB shared memory on 8GB+ configurations)
DOES natively support APFS booting
Maximum ram on this model is 16GB PC10600 DDR3 (2 slots, 8GB max in each slot)
Way less picky on ram, PC10600 or even PC12800 will often work in dual channel mode on these models. Again if you used mismatched ram, as long as 1 ram module is PC8500 or PC10600, it will automatically down-clock the second stick to match.
ANY size SATA hard drive will fit, as long as it is 12.5MM or less in height. You can use mechanical, rotating disk SATA drive, hybrid SSHD SATA drives, or any SATA SSD drive. Please note that the SATA controller on these is capable of SATA III (600MBPS) speeds, but occasionally a SATA SSD will fail to link at SATA-III and fallback to SATA-II (300MBPS). This will NOT greatly affect the speed of your machine, but you may get lower performance than expected. Mechanical SATA drives typically do not saturate even a SATA – I link, so it does not matter for those types of drives. Typical transfer speeds on original drives are around 30-40MBPS, with pretty much ANY SATA SSD drive maxing out the SATA-II connection at around 250MBPS (accounting for system losses, 265MBPS is approximately the maximum achievable with SATA-II). Most SATA SSD drives at this time range from 400-500MBPS transfer rate, this model will actually see the benefit of anything over 300MBPS
Battery is model A1322 – Black in Color and Replaceable 10 minutes or so via removable bottom plate (10 screws). OEM Batteries are 60wh *rare (There are also 63.5wh OEM A1322 batteries from 2011-2012 models that all work on these 2010 models) and is rated for 10 hours. Replacement Non-OEM batteries are typically lower mAh ratings, some as low as 4500mAh, and last significantly less time, as low as 2 hours even when new. A decent used OEM battery will typically give 4-5 hours while a decent brand new Non-OEM should give about the same run time. These batteries are getting harder to find and the prices have gone up accordingly.
58wh ??? 60wh 020-6381-A 020-6457-A 63.5wh 5800mAh 020-6765-A 020-6764-A
As of 10-1-2020, multiple 120GB SSD options are available under $20, while 240GB SSD’s are under $30. If you are going to spend money on one of these MacBooks, this is where you should start. It will make a HUGE, immediate, VERY noticeable difference in everyday usage.
PDF Manual : https://manuals.info.apple.com/en_US/macbook_pro_13inch_early2011.pdf
Identifier MacBookPro8,1
Model A1278 EMC 2555
CPU Variants :
i5-2435M 2.4Ghz Dual Core Passmark Score 1738
i7-2640M 2.8Ghz Dual Core Passmark Score 2447
All versions have Backlit Keyboards
2.4Ghz Version is 4GB / 500GB Sata / DVD+RW
2.8Ghz Version is 4GB / 750GB Sata / DVD+RW
Ports include 2x USB 2.0, Thunderbolt 1 with Audio Pass through, Gigabit Ethernet, Audio In/Out. Also has Firewire 800 and an SD Slot. No longer has Digital Optical Audio In, only Analog Audio In
Bluetooth 2.1 and Airport 802.11n
Integrated Intel HD3000 Video 384MB Shared Memory (up to 512MB shared memory on 8GB+ configurations)
DOES natively support APFS booting
Maximum ram on this model is 16GB PC10600 DDR3 (2 slots, 8GB max in each slot)
Way less picky on ram, PC10600 or even PC12800 will often work in dual channel mode on these models. Again if you used mismatched ram, as long as 1 ram module is PC8500 or PC10600, it will automatically down-clock the second stick to match.
ANY size SATA hard drive will fit, as long as it is 12.5MM or less in height. You can use mechanical, rotating disk SATA drive, hybrid SSHD SATA drives, or any SATA SSD drive. Please note that the SATA controller on these is capable of SATA III (600MBPS) speeds, but occasionally a SATA SSD will fail to link at SATA-III and fallback to SATA-II (300MBPS). This will NOT greatly affect the speed of your machine, but you may get lower performance than expected. Mechanical SATA drives typically do not saturate even a SATA – I link, so it does not matter for those types of drives. Typical transfer speeds on original drives are around 30-40MBPS, with pretty much ANY SATA SSD drive maxing out the SATA-II connection at around 250MBPS (accounting for system losses, 265MBPS is approximately the maximum achievable with SATA-II). Most SATA SSD drives at this time range from 400-500MBPS transfer rate, this model will actually see the benefit of anything over 300MBPS
Battery is model A1322 – Black in Color and Replaceable 10 minutes or so via removable bottom plate (10 screws). OEM Batteries are 60wh *rare (There are also 63.5wh OEM A1322 batteries from 2011-2012 models that all work on these 2010 models) and is rated for 10 hours. Replacement Non-OEM batteries are typically lower mAh ratings, some as low as 4500mAh, and last significantly less time, as low as 2 hours even when new. A decent used OEM battery will typically give 4-5 hours while a decent brand new Non-OEM should give about the same run time. These batteries are getting harder to find and the prices have gone up accordingly.
58wh ??? 60wh 020-6381-A 020-6457-A 63.5wh 5800mAh 020-6765-A 020-6764-A
As of 10-1-2020, multiple 120GB SSD options are available under $20, while 240GB SSD’s are under $30. If you are going to spend money on one of these MacBooks, this is where you should start. It will make a HUGE, immediate, VERY noticeable difference in everyday usage.
PDF Manual : https://manuals.info.apple.com/en_US/macbook_pro_13inch_early2011.pdf
2012 Mid 13.3” MacBook Pro Aluminum Unibody
Identifier MacBookPro9,2
Model A1278 EMC 2554
CPU Variants :
i5-3210M 2.5Ghz Dual Core Passmark Score 2438
i7-3520M 2.9Ghz Dual Core Passmark Score 2868
For reference, the
i5-5350U in the 2017 13" MacBook Air gets a Passmark of 2667
i5-8210Y in the 2019 13" MacBook Air gets a Passmark of 2905
I5-5257U in the 2015 13" MacBook Pro gets a Passmark of 2990
I5-6360U in the 2016 13" MacBook Pro gets a Passmark of 3259
i5-7360U in the 2017 13" MacBook Pro gets a Passmark of 4326
All versions have Backlit Keyboards
2.5Ghz Version is 4GB / 500GB Sata / DVD+RW
2.9Ghz Version is 8GB / 750GB Sata / DVD+RW
Ports include 2x USB 3.0, Thunderbolt 1 with Audio Pass through, Gigabit Ethernet, Audio In/Out. Also has Firewire 800 and an SD Slot. No longer has Digital Optical Audio In, only Analog Audio In
Bluetooth 4.0 and Airport 802.11n
Integrated Intel HD4000 Video 1536MB Shared Memory (Metal Supported Video Card)
DOES natively support APFS booting
Maximum ram on this model is 16GB PC12800 DDR3L or DDR3 (2 slots, 8GB max in each slot)
ANY size SATA hard drive will fit, as long as it is 12.5MM or less in height. You can use mechanical, rotating disk SATA drive, hybrid SSHD SATA drives, or any SATA SSD drive. Please note that the SATA controller on these is capable of SATA III (600MBps) speeds, but occasionally a SATA SSD will fail to link at SATA-III and fallback to SATA-II (300MBps). This will NOT greatly affect the speed of your machine, but you may get lower performance than expected. Mechanical SATA drives typically do not saturate even a SATA – I link, so it does not matter for those types of drives. Typical transfer speeds on original drives are around 30-40MBps, with pretty much ANY SATA SSD drive maxing out the SATA-II connection at around 250MBps (accounting for system losses, 265MBps is approximately the maximum achievable with SATA-II). Most SATA SSD drives at this time range from 400-500MBps transfer rate, this model will actually see the benefit of anything over 300MBps
Battery is model A1322 – Black in Color and Replaceable 10 minutes or so via removable bottom plate (10 screws). OEM Batteries are 60wh *rare (There are also 63.5wh OEM A1322 batteries from 2011-2012 models that all work on these 2010 models) and is rated for 10 hours. Replacement Non-OEM batteries are typically lower mAh ratings, some as low as 4500mAh, and last significantly less time, as low as 2 hours even when new. A decent used OEM battery will typically give 4-5 hours while a decent brand new Non-OEM should give about the same run time. These batteries are getting harder to find and the prices have gone up accordingly.
58wh ??? 60wh 020-6381-A 020-6457-A 63.5wh 5800mAh 020-6765-A 020-6764-A
As of 10-1-2020, multiple 120GB SSD options are available under $20, while 240GB SSD’s are under $30. If you are going to spend money on one of these MacBooks, this is where you should start. It will make a HUGE, immediate, VERY noticeable difference in everyday usage.
PDF Manual : https://manuals.info.apple.com/MANUALS/1000/MA1611/en_US/macbook-pro-13-mid2012-qs.pdf
Identifier MacBookPro9,2
Model A1278 EMC 2554
CPU Variants :
i5-3210M 2.5Ghz Dual Core Passmark Score 2438
i7-3520M 2.9Ghz Dual Core Passmark Score 2868
For reference, the
i5-5350U in the 2017 13" MacBook Air gets a Passmark of 2667
i5-8210Y in the 2019 13" MacBook Air gets a Passmark of 2905
I5-5257U in the 2015 13" MacBook Pro gets a Passmark of 2990
I5-6360U in the 2016 13" MacBook Pro gets a Passmark of 3259
i5-7360U in the 2017 13" MacBook Pro gets a Passmark of 4326
All versions have Backlit Keyboards
2.5Ghz Version is 4GB / 500GB Sata / DVD+RW
2.9Ghz Version is 8GB / 750GB Sata / DVD+RW
Ports include 2x USB 3.0, Thunderbolt 1 with Audio Pass through, Gigabit Ethernet, Audio In/Out. Also has Firewire 800 and an SD Slot. No longer has Digital Optical Audio In, only Analog Audio In
Bluetooth 4.0 and Airport 802.11n
Integrated Intel HD4000 Video 1536MB Shared Memory (Metal Supported Video Card)
DOES natively support APFS booting
Maximum ram on this model is 16GB PC12800 DDR3L or DDR3 (2 slots, 8GB max in each slot)
ANY size SATA hard drive will fit, as long as it is 12.5MM or less in height. You can use mechanical, rotating disk SATA drive, hybrid SSHD SATA drives, or any SATA SSD drive. Please note that the SATA controller on these is capable of SATA III (600MBps) speeds, but occasionally a SATA SSD will fail to link at SATA-III and fallback to SATA-II (300MBps). This will NOT greatly affect the speed of your machine, but you may get lower performance than expected. Mechanical SATA drives typically do not saturate even a SATA – I link, so it does not matter for those types of drives. Typical transfer speeds on original drives are around 30-40MBps, with pretty much ANY SATA SSD drive maxing out the SATA-II connection at around 250MBps (accounting for system losses, 265MBps is approximately the maximum achievable with SATA-II). Most SATA SSD drives at this time range from 400-500MBps transfer rate, this model will actually see the benefit of anything over 300MBps
Battery is model A1322 – Black in Color and Replaceable 10 minutes or so via removable bottom plate (10 screws). OEM Batteries are 60wh *rare (There are also 63.5wh OEM A1322 batteries from 2011-2012 models that all work on these 2010 models) and is rated for 10 hours. Replacement Non-OEM batteries are typically lower mAh ratings, some as low as 4500mAh, and last significantly less time, as low as 2 hours even when new. A decent used OEM battery will typically give 4-5 hours while a decent brand new Non-OEM should give about the same run time. These batteries are getting harder to find and the prices have gone up accordingly.
58wh ??? 60wh 020-6381-A 020-6457-A 63.5wh 5800mAh 020-6765-A 020-6764-A
As of 10-1-2020, multiple 120GB SSD options are available under $20, while 240GB SSD’s are under $30. If you are going to spend money on one of these MacBooks, this is where you should start. It will make a HUGE, immediate, VERY noticeable difference in everyday usage.
PDF Manual : https://manuals.info.apple.com/MANUALS/1000/MA1611/en_US/macbook-pro-13-mid2012-qs.pdf
ALL A1278 Aluminum 13.3” MacBooks from 2008-2012 have a 1280x800 Screen Resolution
ALL A1278 Aluminum 13.3” MacBooks from 2008-2012 use a 60W MagSafe 1 Power Adapter
You can ALSO use a Magsafe 1 45W (MacBook Air) Power Adapter OR an 85W Magsafe 1 Power Adapter. You need a working, partially charged battery to use a 45W Magsafe Charger on a 13" A1278 Model. Stick with the 60W and 85W Adapters if at all possible.
You CAN use an external USB flash / Spinning Rust / SSHD / SSD drive to boot macOS from. All the 2008-2011 A1278 Aluminum MacBook Series have a USB 2.0 Host controller, which top out at around 30-40 MBps Transfer Speed. You can never go faster than this over USB 2.0, it is simply a limitation of the controller. The 2012 A1278 is the only machine here with USB 3.0, with a maximum Transfer Speed of around 500MBps via USB3.0 – approximately the same transfer speed as most SSDs these days, which just happens to ALSO be approximately the same speed as the internal SATA III controller.
Extra patches -
Fix Native DVD Player Software Patch
Credit to @gosvamih here for the original idea on Mojave, I have updated the script to work on Catalina:
If you want to be able to play DVD disks with the built in Apple DVD player (or change the DVD drive region from within the player), you must replace the AppleGVA Frameworks on the Late 2008, Mid 2009, and Mid 2010 versions of the A1278 laptops. This is a simple fix, make sure you have a password set for your user account (you cannot use the sudo command in terminal with a blank password). Open a Terminal window, type "sudo mount -uw /" (without the quotes) and press Enter. Enter your password (it will NOT show on the screen and press enter again. Then type the word sudo followed by a space, then drag the CatPatch.sh file onto the terminal window. Press Enter. It will ask you for your password, copy the relevant file(s) and rebuild your system caches, then will automatically reboot. After reboot the DVD player should work correctly. Please note the DVD drives in these older models frequently have issues reading disks. If your drive is working properly the DVD disk will mount on your desktop with the name of the disk and then DVD player will open automatically. If this does not happen, you likely have a bad drive. Try another DVD disk or a cleaning disk and try again. You may need to replace the drive if you value being able to read CD/DVD disks.
Remove SoftwareUpdate Notification by replacing SoftwareUpdate Framework fix
Credit to @alphascorp here :
This is a simple fix, make sure you have a password set for your user account (you cannot use the sudo command in terminal with a blank password). Run the enclosed Downgrade SoftwareUpdate_framework.pkg to replace the Framework with the correct copy. Then, Open a Terminal window, type "sudo mount -uw /" and press Enter. Enter your password (it will NOT show on the screen and press enter again. Then type the word sudo followed by a space, then drag the Ignore_Big_Sur_Update_&_RemoveRedBadge.sh file onto the terminal window. Press Enter. After that completes, drag the RemoveRedBadge.sh to the Terminal window and press enter. After both have completed, restart your Mac and run the check for Software Updates again.
ALL A1278 Aluminum 13.3” MacBooks from 2008-2012 use a 60W MagSafe 1 Power Adapter
You can ALSO use a Magsafe 1 45W (MacBook Air) Power Adapter OR an 85W Magsafe 1 Power Adapter. You need a working, partially charged battery to use a 45W Magsafe Charger on a 13" A1278 Model. Stick with the 60W and 85W Adapters if at all possible.
You CAN use an external USB flash / Spinning Rust / SSHD / SSD drive to boot macOS from. All the 2008-2011 A1278 Aluminum MacBook Series have a USB 2.0 Host controller, which top out at around 30-40 MBps Transfer Speed. You can never go faster than this over USB 2.0, it is simply a limitation of the controller. The 2012 A1278 is the only machine here with USB 3.0, with a maximum Transfer Speed of around 500MBps via USB3.0 – approximately the same transfer speed as most SSDs these days, which just happens to ALSO be approximately the same speed as the internal SATA III controller.
Extra patches -
Fix Native DVD Player Software Patch
Credit to @gosvamih here for the original idea on Mojave, I have updated the script to work on Catalina:
If you want to be able to play DVD disks with the built in Apple DVD player (or change the DVD drive region from within the player), you must replace the AppleGVA Frameworks on the Late 2008, Mid 2009, and Mid 2010 versions of the A1278 laptops. This is a simple fix, make sure you have a password set for your user account (you cannot use the sudo command in terminal with a blank password). Open a Terminal window, type "sudo mount -uw /" (without the quotes) and press Enter. Enter your password (it will NOT show on the screen and press enter again. Then type the word sudo followed by a space, then drag the CatPatch.sh file onto the terminal window. Press Enter. It will ask you for your password, copy the relevant file(s) and rebuild your system caches, then will automatically reboot. After reboot the DVD player should work correctly. Please note the DVD drives in these older models frequently have issues reading disks. If your drive is working properly the DVD disk will mount on your desktop with the name of the disk and then DVD player will open automatically. If this does not happen, you likely have a bad drive. Try another DVD disk or a cleaning disk and try again. You may need to replace the drive if you value being able to read CD/DVD disks.
Remove SoftwareUpdate Notification by replacing SoftwareUpdate Framework fix
Credit to @alphascorp here :
This is a simple fix, make sure you have a password set for your user account (you cannot use the sudo command in terminal with a blank password). Run the enclosed Downgrade SoftwareUpdate_framework.pkg to replace the Framework with the correct copy. Then, Open a Terminal window, type "sudo mount -uw /" and press Enter. Enter your password (it will NOT show on the screen and press enter again. Then type the word sudo followed by a space, then drag the Ignore_Big_Sur_Update_&_RemoveRedBadge.sh file onto the terminal window. Press Enter. After that completes, drag the RemoveRedBadge.sh to the Terminal window and press enter. After both have completed, restart your Mac and run the check for Software Updates again.
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