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KriStellar26

macrumors member
Original poster
Sep 10, 2015
90
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Hey everyone. So I ordered one of the older model MacBook pros off amazon and I get it tonight. I got this one so I can upgrade the memory and storage on my own while staying within a reasonable $$ amount. Currently I have a Windows laptop where all my photos and things are stored. I also have an external hard drive where my iTunes library is stored. I am here to see if there is an easy way to get my photos and music from the Windows environment over to my new MacBook?? Any advice about this or just general advice would be very appreciated! Thanks in advance!
 
Hey everyone. So I ordered one of the older model MacBook pros off amazon and I get it tonight. I got this one so I can upgrade the memory and storage on my own while staying within a reasonable $$ amount. Currently I have a Windows laptop where all my photos and things are stored. I also have an external hard drive where my iTunes library is stored. I am here to see if there is an easy way to get my photos and music from the Windows environment over to my new MacBook?? Any advice about this or just general advice would be very appreciated! Thanks in advance!

Ugh, the cMBP …

Anyway, you can use Migration Assistant to transfer your stuff from your Windows laptop.

With regards to general advice, I'd return the thing, wait for WWDC next Monday, and buy a new 13" Retina if one is released.
 
I apologize but what does the c in cMBP stand for? And the reason I went this route is I can't afford to spend a fortune on something that new. This is my first MacBook so if I become hooked we'll see about newer models in the future. I'll look into migration assistant. Thanks.
 
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I apologize but what does the c in cMBP stand for? And the reason I went this route is I can't afford to spend a fortune on something that new. This is my first MacBook so if I become hooked we'll see about newer models in the future. I'll look into migration assistant. Thanks.
The c = classic (non-retina screen).
Here is an Apple Support articles that should help with Migration Assistant (the article references older OS, but it is still valid information):
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204350
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204087
 
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Newtons Apple - the ports and dvd drive were a big part of it for me too. That and price. I am new to the MacBook so I didn't want to go crazy quite yet. Later maybe when I can afford it :) Thanks everyone for the replies. Going to work on the upgrades this morning. I'm pretty excited because I've never been comfortable enough to do it on my own before. I think it'll be a good learning experience!
 
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Newtons Apple - the ports and dvd drive were a big part of it for me too. That and price. I am new to the MacBook so I didn't want to go crazy quite yet. Later maybe when I can afford it :) Thanks everyone for the replies. Going to work on the upgrades this morning. I'm pretty excited because I've never been comfortable enough to do it on my own before. I think it'll be a good learning experience!

Just follow the instructions on the screen and you will be fine. Apple products are great like that and will let you know when they need attention.

Hope you enjoy as much as I am.
 
With regards to general advice, I'd return the thing, wait for WWDC next Monday, and buy a new 13" Retina if one is released.
While that is solid advice, it appears that OP's values upgradability over many of the other metrics, so a newer machine will be just as sealed as the the current model.
 
you bought a macbook pro on the eve of potentially new MacBooks........

no deal.... I am riding this out either way.
 
You're opinion. Which isn't really "advice."

It's a 4 year old computer. It doesn't matter how much money you throw at it, it will always be mediocre compared with retina models. No reason at all to overpay for outdated hardware.
 
Once more - I do not want to spend a fortune on new hardware that likely will not be upgradable. I could have waited, still wouldn't have bought it. Is this the type of forum that this is? I was looking for constructive advice - not to be shot down for my "bad decision."
 
wow people, way to be a bunch of dicks about someones new purchase. The cMBP is a great computer.. upgradable and ports.. the display is outdated.. but whatever. If they want to speed it up, just add a SSD.. and some ram which can go up to 16 i believe.. it's still a perfectly good computer..
 
wow people, way to be a bunch of dicks about someones new purchase. The cMBP is a great computer.. upgradable and ports.. the display is outdated.. but whatever. If they want to speed it up, just add a SSD.. and some ram which can go up to 16 i believe.. it's still a perfectly good computer..

It is a good computer, but does have a number of issues. I just gave mine to a family member. Mine had a 480 GB SSD and 16 GB of memory. My biggest issues were the display and the weight.

But, with that said, if you can get one cheap enough they are good value even when you add the $250 or so for the SSD and memory.

I am now currently with no MBP. So I hope something is announced today, but it is looking doubtful.
 
It is a good computer, but does have a number of issues. I just gave mine to a family member. Mine had a 480 GB SSD and 16 GB of memory. My biggest issues were the display and the weight.

But, with that said, if you can get one cheap enough they are good value even when you add the $250 or so for the SSD and memory.

I am now currently with no MBP. So I hope something is announced today, but it is looking doubtful.
What are the number of issues? It run the newest OS, has an i5 or i7, can do 16 gigs of ram, has SSD, has ports, can upgrade RAM and Drives.. just no retina.
 
I echo the other posters...buying a laptop from 2012 in 2016 is like buying a "new" car made in 1990. If you got a good deal on it...ie under $350 enjoy the computer. Anymore then that you could got a Retina laptop used for the same price with such better performance.
 
I echo the other posters...buying a laptop from 2012 in 2016 is like buying a "new" car made in 1990. If you got a good deal on it...ie under $350 enjoy the computer. Anymore then that you could got a Retina laptop used for the same price with such better performance.
This is coming from the same forum thats saying a 2012 MBP is no better then the ones currently on sale, which is why people are up in arms about there being 0 macbook pro announcement today at WWDC?
 
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What are the number of issues? It run the newest OS, has an i5 or i7, can do 16 gigs of ram, has SSD, has ports, can upgrade RAM and Drives.. just no retina.

Here are the issues I have with the cMBP.
  • Display resolution. It is far too low for 2012, let alone 2016. I cursed it since the day I got the 2011 cMBP 13.
  • Weight. At over 4.5 pounds the 13" cMBP weights more than a 15" rMBP.
  • Ports. Having only a single mini-DP makes it hard to connect 2 external monitors. Connecting via USB is possible, but since it is USB 2, refresh rates are slow
  • DVD drive - really. Have not used one in 6 years. When I replaced the hard drive with an SSD I also pulled the DVD drive and put it in an external enclosure. I have not ever used this enclosure.
  • SSD performance. Even a good SSDs like the Samsung EVO 850 or the Corsair 480 I had, top out at around 500 MB/s read, 410 MB/sec write in the 2011/2012 cMBPs. While much faster than an rotational drive, it is a lot slower than the 1.5 GB/sec read of the 2015 rMBP. And since my desktop Windows machine uses PCIe M.2 NVME Samsung 850 pros which read at 2.5 GB/sec and write at 1.6 GB/sec, the SSD slow down is noticeable to me. At least I had a 2011 (or later) system with the faster SSD. Earlier cMBPs are about 300 MB/sec read, 280 MB/sec write regardess of SSD speed because of their slower SATA interface.
The biggest thing I like about the cMPB is the upgradability. You can upgrade it in steps. Sure you have spend $250 or so, but that get you a 16GB system with a 500 GB SSD.

With the rMBP I can some what understand the soldered in memory because of board space saved. But, I think Apple purposely made changes to their plugs to prevent you from easily updating the SSDs. The drive module in the 2015 unit comes from Samsung, and Apple is charging a premium for it well beyond what the price difference from 256GB and 512 GB faster Samsung 850 Pro NVME modules you can buy off Amazon.
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I think people missed the main idea of my original post. I didn't ask if I made the right choice financially or any way really. I was asking about migrating my data. Just because you don't agree with my purchase doesn't mean it wasn't a good choice for myself.

If it comes down to just moving the files (and I do not use iTunes so don't know about it's structures) then as long as your external drive is Fat32, your Mac will be able to mount it, see it, and read and write files. If the external drive is formatted as NTFS I am pretty sure you can read it from the Mac, but not write to it. There are 3rd party utilities that let you read and write to NTFS partitions from El Captain.
 
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@jerryk at least get your issues correct the 2012 has USB 3, and Sequential read write speeds on SATA 3 have little impact on general use its random I/0 that counts and that's very similar.

OP migrating data is very easy on your new machine you can connect with an Ethernet cable to you old machine and use migration assistant to move your files accross.
 
You could easily swap out the dvd drive and put in your original hdd from your Windows laptop. Just need to buy the relevant kit.

Ignore the hate, the cMBP is still a good laptop. It might be slower and heavier but it still gets the job done for casual users. My college friends picked up the cMBP new over the retina models as they wanted more ports and the dvd drive built in.
 
Yeah the cMBP is still a great machine... probably just as fast and faster then a lot of windows notebooks. Such a shame to see a laptop thats user serviceable and upgradeable to 16GB w/ a SSD, even 2 SSD's if you remove the disk drive that gets so much hate on here. Really scratching my head at this one and surprised at all the people that feel it's not a good computer anymore.
 
Yeah the cMBP is still a great machine... probably just as fast and faster then a lot of windows notebooks. Such a shame to see a laptop thats user serviceable and upgradeable to 16GB w/ a SSD, even 2 SSD's if you remove the disk drive that gets so much hate on here. Really scratching my head at this one and surprised at all the people that feel it's not a good computer anymore.

Still capable, yea. Great machine, not a chance. Apple is selling a computer that was made in 2012 for $1100 with a standard hdd at 5400 rpm with 4 GB of Ram, a dated dual core cpu, crappy graphics, and a screen resolution from the 1990's. After making the upgrades your talking about even if you do them yourself your talking $1250-$1400...for that price or less you could get a brand new or refurbished Macbook or 13" Macbook Pro Retina that will have better performance in every category. If you need a dvd drive that bad you can get an external for $20.

To each his own, but this machine is a mega-rip off at the price Apple is selling it. I could maybe justify it if they dropped the price to $799 and targeted the education sector. "eBook Pro"

To say it's faster then a lot of Windows notebooks is a ridiculous thing to say...sure it's faster then a $300 Windows notebook but you put that kind of money ($1100) into a Windows computer your getting for example a Dell XPS 13 with a 1080p screen, brand new i5 cpu and much better graphics. 8 GB of ram, 256 SSD, and ~14 hour battery life.
 
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Still capable, yea. Great machine, not a chance. Apple is selling a computer that was made in 2012 for $1100 with a standard hdd at 5400 rpm with 4 GB of Ram, a dated dual core cpu, crappy graphics, and a screen resolution from the 1990's. After making the upgrades your talking about even if you do them yourself your talking $1250-$1400...for that price or less you could get a brand new or refurbished Macbook or 13" Macbook Pro Retina that will have better performance in every category. If you need a dvd drive that bad you can get an external for $20.

To each his own, but this machine is a mega-rip off at the price Apple is selling it. I could maybe justify it if they dropped the price to $799 and targeted the education sector. "eBook Pro"

To say it's faster then a lot of Windows notebooks is a ridiculous thing to say...sure it's faster then a $300 Windows notebook but you put that kind of money ($1100) into a Windows computer your getting for example a Dell XPS 13 with a 1080p screen, brand new i5 cpu and much better graphics. 8 GB of ram, 256 SSD, and ~14 hour battery life.

At the price you're speaking of right now - I guess I see your point. I am coming from the point where I have a 2.9 i7 cMBP that I just put a SSD in and upgraded the ram to 16GB because I noticed last month it was starting to feel slow - I even tested a Macbook (the new one) and it felt super quick. After putting an SSD in it and upgrading the ram, it's super quick. Thats why I am defending it. I use it for Word, Excel, Adobe Photoshop, Audio Editing.. ETC and have not had any issues with speed since upgrading the Ram.

I did purchase the computer in 2012 however and just did the updates.. so if you're buying it new, I do understand your point in how it could be outdated.
 
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