Macbook Pro mid-2012 mavericks to sierra

[STC1709]

hey guys right now i have a mid 2012 mbp 8gb ram 120gb ssd with 2.5 i5 processor. Right now I'm running mavericks and it runs smoothly, no issues with anything.

Does anyone have sierra on a 2012 mbp and if so what performances problems do you have if you have any at all. Maybe its a performance increase? If no one has this installed can anyone give me an insights on how sierra will perform on this model mbp?

Thanks in advance folks

 

[chrfr]

hey guys right now i have a mid 2012 mbp 8gb ram 120gb ssd with 2.5 i5 processor. Right now I'm running mavericks and it runs smoothly, no issues with anything.

Does anyone have sierra on a 2012 mbp and if so what performances problems do you have if you have any at all. Maybe its a performance increase? If no one has this installed can anyone give me an insights on how sierra will perform on this model mbp?

Thanks in advance folks

It'll work fine. You should be sure you have a backup, but that applies whether or not you're updating the operating system.

 

[treekram]

I have a mid-2012 13" MBP which I just (about a month ago) upgraded from El Capitan to Sierra. But it's a secondary computer. I use it to watch videos when I want to relax away from my desk and do some geeky computer stuff where I want to isolate what's being done from my other computers and some light browser use related to the geeky computer stuff. It also has RAID-0. So far, for my limited use, no issues. Some quirks in QuickTime (remember my usage) from El Capitan have been fixed but there's a new one in Sierra (moving the cursor will sometimes stop playback for a split second). (This is a secondary computer, haven't taken the time to try other media players on this computer.)

One thing I have noticed (noticed this when doing another Sierra upgrade) is that the Apple apps take substantially less disk space (a lot of times 50%) than El Capitan. I don't recall this being mentioned, but then again, I don't pay close attention to things like this in the tech press. If I wasn't doing a disk usage analysis, I wouldn't have known there was a difference.

Since Sierra has come out, I don't recall anybody in either the Sierra forum or the MBP forum having an issue (performance or otherwise) specific to Sierra on the mid-2012 MBP. In doing my other Sierra upgrade, I noticed fewer 3rd-party software upgrade issues than going from Mountain Lion to Yosemite or from Yosemite to El Capitan. But going from Mavericks to Sierra may pose an issue depending on what software you use.

 

[STC1709]

I have a mid-2012 13" MBP which I just (about a month ago) upgraded from El Capitan to Sierra. But it's a secondary computer. I use it to watch videos when I want to relax away from my desk and do some geeky computer stuff where I want to isolate what's being done from my other computers and some light browser use related to the geeky computer stuff. It also has RAID-0. So far, for my limited use, no issues. Some quirks in QuickTime (remember my usage) from El Capitan have been fixed but there's a new one in Sierra (moving the cursor will sometimes stop playback for a split second). (This is a secondary computer, haven't taken the time to try other media players on this computer.)

One thing I have noticed (noticed this when doing another Sierra upgrade) is that the Apple apps take substantially less disk space (a lot of times 50%) than El Capitan. I don't recall this being mentioned, but then again, I don't pay close attention to things like this in the tech press. If I wasn't doing a disk usage analysis, I wouldn't have known there was a difference.

Since Sierra has come out, I don't recall anybody in either the Sierra forum or the MBP forum having an issue (performance or otherwise) specific to Sierra on the mid-2012 MBP. In doing my other Sierra upgrade, I noticed fewer 3rd-party software upgrade issues than going from Mountain Lion to Yosemite or from Yosemite to El Capitan. But going from Mavericks to Sierra may pose an issue depending on what software you use.

very good information here, thank you

only thing I'm worried about is sierra making the mbp slower than mavericks. It is very snappy with mavericks and it being 5 years old wasn't sure if it could be a drag

i have mavericks on my 2009 iMac and i know if i go to sierra on that thing then forget it

 

[New_Mac_Smell]

It should be okay. I ran it on a 2011 MBP and was fine.

But do ask yourself, if it's not broke don't fix it... You said everything worked fine and smoothly after all. If the potential benefits outweigh the potential performance issues then it's a decision you'll have to make. Otherwise I'd leave it.

 

[MrGuder]

I have a Late 2012 Mac Mini still on Mavericks and it's been rock solid since day 1, I know my system will handle Sierra I've I upgraded it to a 16/512 but the only reason I have not updated is once you do you will never be able to go back to a signed Mavericks version of MacOS. So if for some unknown reason I didn't like how Sierra was running I'd be stuck on it forever. I would think the same would apply to a Macbook as well. Mavericks is my first MacOS and I really love it.

 

[treekram]

One can make a clone of the Mavericks 2012 MBP and if Sierra doesn't work out, go back to Mavericks. (Make sure to test that your clone is bootable and whatever cloning software you have is on the clone.) It's interesting that Sierra is officially supported on the late 2009 iMac but not the early 2009 iMac. I'm going to have to look into that one (just for curiosity sake). I should mention I have 16GB on the MBP, but if that's the issue, no big deal upgrading (I was just doing some geeky computer stuff on the MBP and with Terminal and TextEdit running, memory usage is just over 2GB, so I wouldn't think 8GB would be an issue).

I have a Late 2012 Mac Mini still on Mavericks and it's been rock solid since day 1, I know my system will handle Sierra I've I upgraded it to a 16/512 but the only reason I have not updated is once you do you will never be able to go back to a signed Mavericks version of MacOS. So if for some unknown reason I didn't like how Sierra was running I'd be stuck on it forever. I would think the same would apply to a Macbook as well. Mavericks is my first MacOS and I really love it.

You must be thinking of iOS. You should be able to install older OS's, provided you have a bootable installer, or if you have a clone, just clone it back.

 

[windows4ever]

My research showed that Sierra is indeed noticeably "slower" than its predecessors which is why I am still on El Capitan with my 2013 MBP. Siri is the main new feature and I don't need or want it.

The final security update for Mavericks was last Fall but I don't think there's much danger with having Mavericks connected to the internet in 2017.

I'm running Mavericks on my 2010 Macbook Pro and that's the latest OS I will use for that machine. As someone else said, if it's not broke, don' fix it.

 

[treekram]

On my mid-2012 MBP, I can't tell any difference in the feel and responsiveness between El Capitan and Sierra. But my MBP is very clean - no kernel extensions, the 3rd-party software I've installed doesn't run daemons or other processes in the background (except for update checks, probably). My 2012 MBP is relatively new (manufactured in Nov. 2015) and I've only used El Capitan and Sierra on it so I can't speak for how it compares to Mavericks on the MBP.

I have also recently installed Sierra on another computer but in this case, it's a hardware upgrade from the computer I was using previously and I've kept the older computer on El Capitan - just in case. Sierra works fine on this computer as well but it's more difficult to state comparisons because the GPU is quite a bit more powerful on the new computer.

That's not to say that you're not going to have problems in moving to Sierra. But what I'm saying is that the OS itself, minus whatever 3rd party software or cloud connectivity options you install, is OK on the 2012 MBP.

 

[STC1709]

It should be okay. I ran it on a 2011 MBP and was fine.

But do ask yourself, if it's not broke don't fix it... You said everything worked fine and smoothly after all. If the potential benefits outweigh the potential performance issues then it's a decision you'll have to make. Otherwise I'd leave it.

Yea thats a good point and something I think about as well

My research showed that Sierra is indeed noticeably "slower" than its predecessors which is why I am still on El Capitan with my 2013 MBP. Siri is the main new feature and I don't need or want it.

The final security update for Mavericks was last Fall but I don't think there's much danger with having Mavericks connected to the internet in 2017.

I'm running Mavericks on my 2010 Macbook Pro and that's the latest OS I will use for that machine. As someone else said, if it's not broke, don' fix it.

thats good to know, i had no idea, yikes, how much longer do you think we can go? I have mavericks on my iMac as well

On my mid-2012 MBP, I can't tell any difference in the feel and responsiveness between El Capitan and Sierra. But my MBP is very clean - no kernel extensions, the 3rd-party software I've installed doesn't run daemons or other processes in the background (except for update checks, probably). My 2012 MBP is relatively new (manufactured in Nov. 2015) and I've only used El Capitan and Sierra on it so I can't speak for how it compares to Mavericks on the MBP.

I have also recently installed Sierra on another computer but in this case, it's a hardware upgrade from the computer I was using previously and I've kept the older computer on El Capitan - just in case. Sierra works fine on this computer as well but it's more difficult to state comparisons because the GPU is quite a bit more powerful on the new computer.

That's not to say that you're not going to have problems in moving to Sierra. But what I'm saying is that the OS itself, minus whatever 3rd party software or cloud connectivity options you install, is OK on the 2012 MBP.

yea mine as well, i have no garbage on either on my computers, maybe thats why my 09 iMac is still going at it. good info here as well, thank you

 

[treekram]

For Mavericks, at some point (sooner than later), they will stop doing security updates (I see an iTunes one released on March 21, 2017). I wouldn't use the Mavericks Safari. Mavericks is the oldest OS you can use with the current Firefox. So, to be secure, I wouldn't use a browser that isn't updated, I wouldn't download software except from a very trusted source and I wouldn't download media or get messages on a Mavericks computer. One should also use router hardware firewall to prevent access to incoming communication ports and not rely on the OS firewall in Mavericks.

This may all sound a bit paranoid, but consider the iTunes update. Apple doesn't go into great detail about exactly what security vulnerability is addressed. However, the security update updated the SQL software and the XML parser library. Considering that iTunes plays media and is considered fairly safe (vs. something like finding and using a torrent), that should give one pause.

 

[treekram]

Somebody in the Mac Mini forum just put Sierra on their 2011 Mini and has found it very usable. Since 2010, the Mini's had used mobile CPU's and it's common to find a Mini and MBP from the same year using the same CPU. The 2011 Mini uses a CPU a generation behind the CPU in the mid-2012 MBP. The OP there is using an external SSD, but the 2011 Mini only had USB2. I'm a bit surprised that Sierra seems to work as well as it does on that computer.

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/my-experience-mac-mini-mid-2011.2051001/

 

[duervo]

It runs just fine on a mid-2012 non-retina. High Serria dev beta runs fine as well, and the migration to APFS went fine as well with no issues.

Mine has an SSD in it, and I didn't see any noticeable impacts to performance in storage, either positive or negative. Is still just as speedy as it's been since I put the SSD in it a few years ago.

It did reboot about 4 times during the upgrade to High Serria dev beta, with the final reboot taking it back into a GUI, but that's in part due to the migration to APFS.

 

[STC1709]

For Mavericks, at some point (sooner than later), they will stop doing security updates (I see an iTunes one released on March 21, 2017). I wouldn't use the Mavericks Safari. Mavericks is the oldest OS you can use with the current Firefox. So, to be secure, I wouldn't use a browser that isn't updated, I wouldn't download software except from a very trusted source and I wouldn't download media or get messages on a Mavericks computer. One should also use router hardware firewall to prevent access to incoming communication ports and not rely on the OS firewall in Mavericks.

This may all sound a bit paranoid, but consider the iTunes update. Apple doesn't go into great detail about exactly what security vulnerability is addressed. However, the security update updated the SQL software and the XML parser library. Considering that iTunes plays media and is considered fairly safe (vs. something like finding and using a torrent), that should give one pause.

that is deff some good things to know which i didn't know before, i appreciate the input. Better safe than sorry to say the least. I'll probably update the mbp, as far as the 09 iMac goes I'm going to be getting a new one soon so that'll solve that issue. But right at some point you have to do away with old OS.

It runs just fine on a mid-2012 non-retina. High Serria dev beta runs fine as well, and the migration to APFS went fine as well with no issues.

Mine has an SSD in it, and I didn't see any noticeable impacts to performance in storage, either positive or negative. Is still just as speedy as it's been since I put the SSD in it a few years ago.

It did reboot about 4 times during the upgrade to High Serria dev beta, with the final reboot taking it back into a GUI, but that's in part due to the migration to APFS.

good to know as well, seems as if the ssd would really solve any problems one could potentially have if they kept the 5400 spinner that came with the 2012mbp

 

[AZhappyjack]

I'm running Sierra (10.12.5) on all of my Macs... 2010 iMac (21.5"), 2015 iMac (27"), 2010 Mini, 2012 Mini, 2014 Mini and 2012 rMBP... no problems driving that version of macOS on any of them...

 

[STC1709]

I'm running Sierra (10.12.5) on all of my Macs... 2010 iMac (21.5"), 2015 iMac (27"), 2010 Mini, 2012 Mini, 2014 Mini and 2012 rMBP... no problems driving that version of macOS on any of them...

good to know, thank you!

 

[redheeler]

hey guys right now i have a mid 2012 mbp 8gb ram 120gb ssd with 2.5 i5 processor. Right now I'm running mavericks and it runs smoothly, no issues with anything.

Does anyone have sierra on a 2012 mbp and if so what performances problems do you have if you have any at all. Maybe its a performance increase? If no one has this installed can anyone give me an insights on how sierra will perform on this model mbp?

Thanks in advance folks

With an SSD and 8 GB RAM, nothing to worry about. Even my Mid 2010 MacBook with both those things runs MacOS Sierra perfectly fine.

 

[STC1709]

With an SSD and 8 GB RAM, nothing to worry about. Even my Mid 2010 MacBook with both those things runs MacOS Sierra perfectly fine.

wow thats really good to hear, i think ill do a clean install and get this mbp to sierra this weekend, been pondering it this week

 

[Deathstroke]

I got a 2012 non-retina, 8gb ram and 250GB SSD i5 and 2.5 GHz, and I run Sierra without any issues. Nothing lags or is slow. Performace is great. I had sierra on my 2011 MBA with 4gb ram and it also was great, except the 4gb ram was ***** and did hinder performance a bit.

 

[STC1709]

Need some help guys, i created a bootable sierra disk on my external hd, i restarted the computer and held down the option key, i then selected the sierra boot logo, the apple logo appears and sierra begins to load, when it finishes loading it gives me this no action icon thing, anyone know what the problem is? I have to turn it off then turn it back on again, to get back to my ssd. my mbp has mavericks installed on it right now. I'm attaching a picture to the thread. thanks in advance

 

[redheeler]

Need some help guys, i created a bootable sierra disk on my external hd, i restarted the computer and held down the option key, i then selected the sierra boot logo, the apple logo appears and sierra begins to load, when it finishes loading it gives me this no action icon thing, anyone know what the problem is? I have to turn it off then turn it back on again, to get back to my ssd. my mbp has mavericks installed on it right now. I'm attaching a picture to the thread. thanks in advance

Try repairing the volume in Disk Utility.

 

[STC1709]

got it to work using a flash drive, the external hd wouldn't, but redheeler thats something i forgot to do maybe that would have worked. noted for next time if needed. thanks

 

[WarthogARJ]

One can make a clone of the Mavericks 2012 MBP and if Sierra doesn't work out, go back to Mavericks. (Make sure to test that your clone is bootable and whatever cloning software you have is on the clone.) It's interesting that Sierra is officially supported on the late 2009 iMac but not the early 2009 iMac. I'm going to have to look into that one (just for curiosity sake). I should mention I have 16GB on the MBP, but if that's the issue, no big deal upgrading (I was just doing some geeky computer stuff on the MBP and with Terminal and TextEdit running, memory usage is just over 2GB, so I wouldn't think 8GB would be an issue).



You must be thinking of iOS. You should be able to install older OS's, provided you have a bootable installer, or if you have a clone, just clone it back.

From my experience you sometimes have issues going back: depends on your backup/clone. In principle you always can as long as you don’t update that clone/backup with the newer system. Especially if it is Time Machine. Some OSX updates/upgrades also change TimeMachine on the first backup of the new system