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Question about upgrading

Soulflower

Soulflower

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jul 17, 2011
186
29
I have the MBP Retina, 13" Late 2012. 2.9 GHz i7, 8 GB memory and 500 GB Flash Storage.

I'm considering upgrading to a newer MBP. Possibly this:
  • 2.5GHz dual-core 7th-generation Intel Core i7 processor, Turbo Boost up to 4.0GHz
  • 16GB 2133MHz LPDDR3 memory
  • 512GB SSD storage
Any opinions or suggestions? Will I notice much difference in this machine and my old one? Thank you in advance.
 
What SSD are you running?

Consider adding 16gb RAM?

My wife's is the some configuration as your and I added 16gb and a Samsung SSD and it runs really great.
 
I'm not sure what kind of SSD I have. It's what came in the computer. It says APPLE SSD SM512E
 
Soulflower said:
I have the MBP Retina, 13" Late 2012. 2.9 GHz i7, 8 GB memory and 500 GB Flash Storage.

I'm considering upgrading to a newer MBP. Possibly this:
  • 2.5GHz dual-core 7th-generation Intel Core i7 processor, Turbo Boost up to 4.0GHz
  • 16GB 2133MHz LPDDR3 memory
  • 512GB SSD storage
Any opinions or suggestions? Will I notice much difference in this machine and my old one? Thank you in advance.
Click to expand...
I think it would only be marginally faster. Although the 2017 is newer, it is a i5 processor. Your 2012 is an i7. It's a better processor than the i5. There are other factors that make your i7 Mac better, one which is the bus speed, how fast data moves between components, ssd, cpu, ram, etc.

However, if your experiencing a slowdown for certain apps, more ram might make the newer Mac faster.

I'm an old-timer with a 2012 MBP so maybe someone that has upgraded would have better information for you.
[doublepost=1508022994][/doublepost]
djdownhill said:
What SSD are you running?

Consider adding 16gb RAM?

My wife's is the some configuration as your and I added 16gb and a Samsung SSD and it runs really great.
Click to expand...
It's a retina so the upgrade is a new Mac.
 
The truth of the matter is that I loved this computer! BUT, when I upgraded to High Sierra I had an issue. I took it to the authorized Apple repair place and they said I needed to have my OS reinstalled clean. They did that for me and backed up most of my information. It was not a great experience and I'm having to do a lot of work to get it back to what it was.

Meanwhile, somehow I accidentally have a user account but no admin account on the computer so I'm pretty much locked out! I talked to Apple by phone last night and this morning and we couldn't get it fixed. I'm going to have to take it two hours away to the Genius Bar and hope they can help me. So, I started wondering if once I got it fixed I'd rather just sell it and be working on adding everything to a newer MBP. UGH
 
Thank you. I'll just work toward getting it fixed and set back up with all my programs.
 
With my situation I don't have an Admin account at all. I don't have a User name or a password.
[doublepost=1508025570][/doublepost]I can't reset the Admin account when the computer has never had an Admin. I just have a standard user with no admin.
[doublepost=1508025799][/doublepost]When I talked to Apple today we tried that with the Recovery Mode but when we got to 6. Select the volume containing the account (normally this will be your Main hard drive) - it should have shown the main drive but it didn't show anything! She said she had never seen that before.
 
I did not think OS X allowed one to not have an admin account.

Interesting.

Can you erase and install through internet recovery?
 
Soulflower said:
With my situation I don't have an Admin account at all. I don't have a User name or a password.
[doublepost=1508025570][/doublepost]I can't reset the Admin account when the computer has never had an Admin. I just have a standard user with no admin.
[doublepost=1508025799][/doublepost]When I talked to Apple today we tried that with the Recovery Mode but when we got to 6. Select the volume containing the account (normally this will be your Main hard drive) - it should have shown the main drive but it didn't show anything! She said she had never seen that before.
Click to expand...
That's crazy and so un-Apple-like!

When in recovery mode at step 6, if you can't see the drive you need to go back a step (or few) and go into disk utility to reinitialize and format the drive.

If you are able to do this, be aware that you will be permanently deleting existing information from the SSD so backup before.

Or internet recovery as Naimfan started.

If not, you will have to reinstall from USB. But then you will still need to see the drive to install it to.
 
In not sure why people are saying it will only be marginally faster, it will actually be significantly faster. Regaurdless of weather you choose to upgrade to a i5 or i7, you will be upgrading to a Kaby Lake chip which blows the doors off its predecessors, particularly Ivy Bridge (which is what came in the 2012's). I actually just upgraded recently to a 13' Touch Bar 2017 from a 2012 2.6gz 15inch MacBook Pro (which was quad core) and my new 13' is just as fast if not faster. Now, if I was to do some serious video rendering maybe the 2012 15' would win, but I doubt it and if it did it would not be by much. The 2017 MacBook pros are far superior in processing power to any of the 2012 models and the reason is the advancement in Intels CPU technology, its that simple.
 
MacInTO said:
That's crazy and so un-Apple-like!

When in recovery mode at step 6, if you can't see the drive you need to go back a step (or few) and go into disk utility to reinitialize and format the drive.

If you are able to do this, be aware that you will be permanently deleting existing information from the SSD so backup before.

Or internet recovery as Naimfan started.

If not, you will have to reinstall from USB. But then you will still need to see the drive to install it to.
Click to expand...
Thanks. Not sure how to do Internet Recovery. I'm so exhausted with this computer for now that I'm going to drive the 2 hours to the Apple store on Tuesday.
 
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Depending on what you do, the difference in performance could range from insignificant to tremendous IMO. What do you use the system for?

For example, the SSD in the new 2017 model is about 10 times the speed of the SSD in your current system - it's a difference of fast versus stupid fast, and there would be a very noticeable difference if you work frequently with large files, use virtual machines, or are exhausting the 8 GB of RAM you currently have. The CPU in the new system is a reasonably significant improvement, and GPU is a huge improvement, but neither of these improvements would be very noticeable with something such as Office or iWork, where as they would be drastically apparent with photo editing, video editing, streaming UHD content, running virtual machine, etc.

Other things that may or may not be of value to you include: slightly lighter weight when carrying, likely twice your current battery runtimes, much faster battery charging times, improved speakers, the capability of leveraging extremely fast external SSDs using USB 3.1 gen 2, enhanced productivity with the Force Touch trackpad, improved speakers, and a slightly improved screen that is brighter when working in very well lit areas with better anti-glare tech.

On the other hand, there is also subjectivity regarding the keyboard-some love it, some despise it, and some just consider it to be a keyboard. Additionally, you may or may not want to transfer to all USB-C (the benefits outweigh the frustrations for me, personally - but for someone who must frequently use USB-A, Thunderbolt 2, and/or SD cards, this can certainly be a source of more frustration than it is benefit.)
 
The gentleman above me makes a very good and legit point, it really depends on what you use it for. All in, the 2017's are great machines and I love the improvements they made since 2012, especially the SSD as noted in the post above.
 
Thank you for that. What are the benefits of all USB-C since it requires so many adaptors?

I use my computer for movies, photos, embroidery software, software for cutting vinyl, lots of different things. A big issue for me is the amount of storage and battery life.
 
OP wrote:
"I can't reset the Admin account when the computer has never had an Admin. I just have a standard user with no admin."

You NEED TO have at least one "administrative account" on the MacBook that you can use for.... well.... administration.

That doesn't mean you have to -use it- all the time, but it still should be there if you need it.

There are some folks who will tell you that you should not run OS X in "day-to-day usage" while using an administrative account. I consider this to be... nonsense.

I've been running OS as an administrator since I first booted it in 2004.
No problems yet for having done so.

Now... insofar as upgrading the MacBook.

You don't really need High Sierra, in fact, I wouldn't mess with it yet if Sierra is doing good for you.

What, specifically, has "gone wrong" with your current MacBook Pro?
Won't boot? Something else?
Do you have your essential data backed up to another drive?

If so, and you're befuddled with what to do next, perhaps the best thing to do is take it to a brick-n-mortar Apple Store genius bar (if one is close), and have them "get it bootable" for you again.

And this time, make sure there's an administrative account on it (with a username and password that's KNOWN TO YOU), so you can log into it if you have to.

Get bootable with an admin account so you can get to the finder and manage things.
Then we can talk about what to do next.

But you need to be "bootable to the finder" first.
 
Soulflower said:
Thank you for that. What are the benefits of all USB-C since it requires so many adaptors?

I use my computer for movies, photos, embroidery software, software for cutting vinyl, lots of different things. A big issue for me is the amount of storage and battery life.
Click to expand...

USB-C on the MacBook Pro supports USB 3.1 gen 2 - where as USB-A on the 2012-2015 MacBook Pro only supports legacy USB 3.1 gen 1. The advantage here is twice the bandwidth allowing one to take advantage of faster SSDs without having to pay for expensive, bulky, and often DC-powered Thunderbolt storage. USB-C is also reversible and more durable - which sounds simple but is a nice plus. Finally, USB-C can carry significantly more power - for the first time, one cable can be used for data, power, and video - for example, some monitors with built in hubs can connect to the MacBook Pro with a single cable supplying everything, as can many hubs. There are quite a few improvements (although depending on your personal needs, the improvements may or may not be justifiable at this point given the USB-A connector and microSD cards are still common, and having those ports built-in is nice for those who use them often.)

If battery life is a big issue, the new MacBook Pro would likely be a huge improvement. The 10 hour rating is, if anything, reasonably conservative with proper power settings. If your battery is the original one, you would probably get twice the runtime or more.

If storage is an issue, it might be worth considering the base 2.3 GHz i5 (this is a plenty capable processor that is still an upgrade over your current i7) and the 1TB SSD option.

It's also worth noting that your 2012 still has good value on the secondary resale market - the same will hold true for the 2017, so selling the 2012 could knock out a nice chunk of the upgrade price.
 
Thank you so much. How much do you think mine would be worth please?
 
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