Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

RAM + SSD + HDD upgrade

N

N808AN

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Apr 20, 2015
5
0
Melbourne, Australia
Hi guys, I'm looking to give my Macbook Pro a whole upgrade after having it for a few years now.

According to about this mac I'm running a MacBook Pro (13-inch, Mid 2012). I want to max out my RAM, anyone have suggestions as to which RAM to get for best performance? I assume 16GB is the max I can add?

I'm going to add a DVD/CD drive to HDD adaptor in order to add a SSD to the mac, any suggestions for the best performing SSD for a reasonable price that'll work well?

Thanks in advance
 
An SSD upgrade is good no matter what you use case is. But what do you use the machine for, and how much RAM does it have currently? You may not need to upgrade it.
 
T'hain Esh Kelch said:
An SSD upgrade is good no matter what you use case is. But what do you use the machine for, and how much RAM does it have currently? You may not need to upgrade it.
Click to expand...

I currently have 4GB of RAM in this machine, I use it mainly for photo editing - I do sports photography and I need the speed to get photos out to clients at events.
 
I did exactly this upgrade to my Mid 2012 MBPc.

I upgraded the RAM to 16GB, replaced the hard drive with an SSD, removed the DVD Drive and replaced it with a SATA HDD caddy to take the original 750GB HDD.
 
  • Like
Reactions: TheGenerous
I used Crucial RAM in mine. I only added 1 8GB stick and it plays nicely with the stock RAM. For your editing, I would definitely recommend maxing out the RAM. There are lots of great SSDs out there, if you stick to Crucial or Samsung, you will get something reliable and performs true to expectations. With some other manufacturers the consumer models may underperform compared to models that were used for benchmarking.

You will love the machine after upgrades!
 
As an Amazon Associate, MacRumors earns a commission from qualifying purchases made through links in this post.
I have a 512 gb ssd in the main drive, a 256gb ssd in the optibay, and 16gb of 1866 ddr3 ram on a 2012 13" MBP. It's pretty fast, but I'm sure I will still buy a retina MBP in the next few months.
 
N808AN said:
I currently have 4GB of RAM in this machine, I use it mainly for photo editing - I do sports photography and I need the speed to get photos out to clients at events.
Click to expand...
My guess is you won't gain much from more RAM. An SSD would make a major difference though. But RAM is pretty cheap these days, so I suggest upgrading both.
 
OP:

By the time you do all those things, you'll have spent upwards of $400-500 or so.

Why not just put that money towards a new retina MBPro....? ;)
 
Fishrrman said:
OP:

By the time you do all those things, you'll have spent upwards of $400-500 or so.

Why not just put that money towards a new retina MBPro....? ;)
Click to expand...

$400-500? Not quite... Especially if he just swaps the hard drive for an SSD, forgets about the optibay, and does a modest ram upgrade.

I recently upgraded our 2011 15"... Picked up a 480GB Sandisk Extreme Pro (I seem to be just about the only one recommending that model over the standard Samsung/Crucial line) for $189 and a single 8GB ram stick for another $40.

If he went with a 240-256GB model, he could easily knock another $100 off the price. The performance boost is well worth it.

Buying a new machine isn't always the best answer.
 
  • Like
Reactions: ApolloBoy and TheGenerous
N808AN said:
Hi guys, I'm looking to give my Macbook Pro a whole upgrade after having it for a few years now.

According to about this mac I'm running a MacBook Pro (13-inch, Mid 2012). I want to max out my RAM, anyone have suggestions as to which RAM to get for best performance? I assume 16GB is the max I can add?

I'm going to add a DVD/CD drive to HDD adaptor in order to add a SSD to the mac, any suggestions for the best performing SSD for a reasonable price that'll work well?

Thanks in advance
Click to expand...
RAM is RAM, "performance" RAM is marketing gimmick. So long as it's compatible, it'll work and that's that.

If you're not running out of RAM in your normal usage, more RAM will be of exactly zero benefit to you.

As far as the SSD goes, Crucial Samsung or Intel and your best bets. It won't speed up your photo editing though. The file'll open faster and that's about it.

Photo editing is somewhat RAM heavy, and very CPU/GPU heavy. If you're looking to speed up effects and rendering time, nothing short of a better CPU with an actual GPU will do anything for you. Seeing as those aren't upgradable in just about 99.999% of laptops built in the last 10 years, you're going to need a new computer to bring more performance to the table. A 15" with the AMD GPU would run circles(backwards, on one foot) around your current machine.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Weaselboy and TheGenerous
upgrade to SSD and you'll get the same performance i have.

Untitled.jpg
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back