Should I upgrade my current mac or buy a new one?

[AppleAnt]

I currently own a mac book pro from mid 2012 13" 8gb ram and 1tb hard drive 2.9 GHz intel core i7.

I was wondering if I should upgrade to 16gb and a 256 gb or 512 gb ssd rather than buying a whole new computer?

I want to make a future proof choice, I'm just torn so any suggestions or recommendations will be highly appreciated and thanks in advance.

I mainly use this MAC Book for audio engineering on the go, school, work, and streaming. (Any upgrades that can optimize it's performance would be greatly appreciated)

p.s. if there are any other upgrades for this model please list them

 

[polkenhunt]

If I were you, I would upgrade to a 256GB SSD (or 512 if you have the money, and need the space), but be aware, once you get a ssd, theres no going back... 8gb ram is fine for the average user, but it depends on what your uses are.

 

[duervo]

Get an SSD. Base the SSD size on the amount of used space on your current 1TB drive. For example, you won't be able to restore your data on the SSD if it's 256GB but you're using 700GB of space on your current disk.

If that's not possible due to budget, then free up the used space on your current disk before doing the upgrade, so that what you have on it will fit on whatever SSD you go with.

I'd leave the ram as is, unless you can get a good deal somewhere, like < $100 for 2*8GB.

 

[snaky69]

[SNIP]

I mainly use this MAC Book for audio engineering on the go[SNIP]

That is the only thing in your listed usage where an upgrade MAY improve performance.

RAM is upgradable to 16GB in your model, and you can stick a SATA SSD in there. Whether you would see any benefits to more RAM depends on how much memory you truly need.

A SSD would definitely make general, day to day use snappier, but would not impact your audio engineering performance.

 

[Fishrrman]

polkenhunt had it right above.

Upgrade the drive first.

See how you do with the RAM that's already installed.

If you find you need more RAM, then, buy more RAM.

You should enjoy at least 3-4 more years of use out of it...

 

[c8rlo]

If I were you, I would upgrade to a 256GB SSD (or 512 if you have the money, and need the space), but be aware, once you get a ssd, theres no going back...

256gb SSD's have gone down in price and you can get one on sale for around $75-$90. 512gb will cost just under $200.

 

[supaman]

I have a 2012 i5 13" and have upgraded the hdd to an 128 ssd in the past and just upgraded ram from 4 to 16. Very snappy. I would think upgrading to a ssd would probably be sufficient for what you want to do.

 

[Weaselboy]

I was wondering if I should upgrade to 16gb and a 256 gb or 512 gb ssd rather than buying a whole new computer?

Reboot your Mac then use if for a while like you normally do with whatever apps you use, then open Activity Monitor and go to the memory tab. Look at the bottom where is says memory pressure. If that is in the green, you do not need more memory.

I agree with the others on the SSD.... great upgrade and you can really feel the difference. With the CPU you have on that machine there would be very little perceivable difference moving to a new Mac.

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201464

 

[ApolloBoy]

I've got the same MBP as you (albeit mine has an i5) and an SSD alone will practically turn it into a new computer. I've also got 8 GB of RAM in mine and haven't needed any more as my RAM usage typically hovers around 5 GB.

 

[Samuelsan2001]

Up to you there's nothing nicer than a new mac but an SSD will make yours feel like a new computer (better than new probably). I would go SSD first and then worry about RAM if you find you need it, I am guessing you won't.

 

[AppleAnt]

Thanks again everyone I'm going to upgrade to an SSD and maybe ram later on since I don't consume more than 6gb I'll stay with 8gb for now.

 

[Weaselboy]

Thanks again everyone I'm going to upgrade to an SSD and maybe ram later on since I don't consume more than 6gb I'll stay with 8gb for now.

I think you will be very happy with the SSD upgrade. Be sure and let us know how it went.