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Upgrade from mid 2012 15' rMBP

zonazolazia

zonazolazia

macrumors member
Original poster
Jan 10, 2016
74
23
Hi,

I have the first generation mid 2012 15' rMBP 16GB/750GB which seems a little bit slow now.

I'm looking to upgrade to the latest force touch capable rMBP. The SSD is definitely going to be faster and I can drive 4K external monitor which I currently only partially can. But is there going to be a huge performance difference in terms of CPU/GPU?

Or should I wait for the next gen? I'm planning to do a clean OS install first to see if there's an improvement.
 
At this point, I'd wait. I'm not sure you'll see a huge jump in performance in CPU horsepower between the 2012 rMBP and the current 2015 rMBP.

As a point of reference, I have a 2015 iMac running the latest skylake chipset the performance improvement is not huge. Its nice, but its my mind is blown by the massive speed of the iMac :)
 
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zonazolazia said:
Hi,

I have the first generation mid 2012 15' rMBP 16GB/750GB which seems a little bit slow now.

I'm looking to upgrade to the latest force touch capable rMBP. The SSD is definitely going to be faster and I can drive 4K external monitor which I currently only partially can. But is there going to be a huge performance difference in terms of CPU/GPU?

Or should I wait for the next gen? I'm planning to do a clean OS install first to see if there's an improvement.
Click to expand...


take a look at everymac.com (excellent data base for comparisons and other questions) for both models:
http://www.everymac.com/systems/apple/macbook_pro/index-macbookpro.html
The newest 15" MBP has at max. only 10-20% more performance than the 2012 model. That is nearly nothing.

Do you still have a HDD or a SSD in your 2012 model? If yes, replace it for a prime 3rd party 1 TB SSD.
If you have the original apple-SSD, it might still be for example the Kingston SSD, which was only a SATA II SSD.
Write/READ transfer is max 250MB/s in SATAII.
BUT your 2012 MBP has already SATA III connection. SATA III has double the transfer-rate of SATA II.

If you have a SSD in it, you could perhaps upgrade just the SSD.
apple started in 2012 to put as much obstacles as possible for their customers to change storage media, but there was still a chance to do it:

http://www.everymac.com/systems/app...etina-display-how-to-upgrade-ssd-storage.html

Before doing all this, first do a PRAM/NVRAM reset (takes just 1 minute).
After that run the free EtreCheck software choosing the "slow performance" check.
And have a look at its report.

Slow performance might also be OS/software related.
 
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MrAverigeUser said:
take a look at everymac.com (excellent data base for comparisons and other questions) for both models:
http://www.everymac.com/systems/apple/macbook_pro/index-macbookpro.html
The newest 15" MBP has at max. only 10-20% more performance than the 2012 model. That is nearly nothing.

Do you still have a HDD or a SSD in your 2012 model? If yes, replace it for a prime 3rd party 1 TB SSD.
If you have the original apple-SSD, it might still be for example the Kingston SSD, which was only a SATA II SSD.
Write/READ transfer is max 250MB/s in SATAII.
BUT your 2012 MBP has already SATA III connection. SATA III has double the transfer-rate of SATA II.

If you have a SSD in it, you could perhaps upgrade just the SSD.
apple started in 2012 to put as much obstacles as possible for their customers to change storage media, but ether was still a chance to do it:

http://www.everymac.com/systems/app...etina-display-how-to-upgrade-ssd-storage.html

Before doing all this, first do a PRAM/NVRAM reset (takes just 1 minute).
After that run the free EtreCheck software choosing the "slow performance" check.

Slow performance might also be OS/software related.
Click to expand...


This ! With 2015 rMBP you will gain very little performance.
 
andreyush said:
This ! With 2015 rMBP you will gain very little performance.
Click to expand...

I made the same jump this year! To be honest, I miss my 2012 machine. Power management was so much more reliable. The GPU wasn't a heat hog. My 2015 revs up the fans at the slightest task.

The new trackpad is nice, but I'd wait. At least until a new GPU is available.
 
McBeresford said:
I made the same jump this year! To be honest, I miss my 2012 machine. Power management was so much more reliable. The GPU wasn't a heat hog. My 2015 revs up the fans at the slightest task.

The new trackpad is nice, but I'd wait. At least until a new GPU is available.
Click to expand...


YES!

People don´t realize that there is a law:
More GPU-performance = more electric consumption = more heat = more danger in Notebooks for GPU-failure in long-term (ROHS-problem).

Again:If you are not a hardcore-gamer GPUs with "more performance" will be nearly useless. But most people believe in apple´s marketing tricks…. as for marketing, they are still a world-leading company getting more and more like a religious movement… (look at their temples around the world and their pope-like public sacral audiences once a year - and: there are believers and NON-believers)…. :D
 
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Interesting. I just ordered a 2015 MBPr (MJLT2LL/A 512GB) from amazon.com... I'm selling my 2012 MBPr via iGotOffer.

My 2012 only had 256GB and 8GB or RAM, which was a mistake from the get-go. 8GB of RAM is nothing.

But my main workhorse is a 2013 iMac... I use my MBPr when I want to work from the sofa or traveling.
 
appstate said:
Interesting. I just ordered a 2015 MBPr (MJLT2LL/A 512GB) from amazon.com... I'm selling my 2012 MBPr via iGotOffer.

My 2012 only had 256GB and 8GB or RAM, which was a mistake from the get-go. 8GB of RAM is nothing.

But my main workhorse is a 2013 iMac... I use my MBPr when I want to work from the sofa or traveling.
Click to expand...
You will enjoy the RAM increase for sure.
 
appstate said:
Interesting. I just ordered a 2015 MBPr (MJLT2LL/A 512GB) from amazon.com... I'm selling my 2012 MBPr via iGotOffer.

My 2012 only had 256GB and 8GB or RAM, which was a mistake from the get-go. 8GB of RAM is nothing.

But my main workhorse is a 2013 iMac... I use my MBPr when I want to work from the sofa or traveling.
Click to expand...


Do you not think that its a little bit overpriced to be forced to change the MBP or even purchase a new one instead of just 16BB Ram for 100 USD?
 
appstate said:
Interesting. I just ordered a 2015 MBPr (MJLT2LL/A 512GB) from amazon.com... I'm selling my 2012 MBPr via iGotOffer.

My 2012 only had 256GB and 8GB or RAM, which was a mistake from the get-go. 8GB of RAM is nothing.

But my main workhorse is a 2013 iMac... I use my MBPr when I want to work from the sofa or traveling.
Click to expand...


Why do you need 16GB RAM ? I'm just curious. Are you mastering music or rendering videos ?
 
At this point I would wait for a new generation of MBP to come out and then decide.
 
I never game on my mac, but I open a lot of apps and multitask between those apps alot.

For now I'll probably just wait for next generation. I've done a clean install on my mac last night, lets see how it goes.
 
zonazolazia said:
I never game on my mac, but I open a lot of apps and multitask between those apps alot.

For now I'll probably just wait for next generation. I've done a clean install on my mac last night, lets see how it goes.
Click to expand...

That´s no challenge for classic MBP at all. If you upgrade on SSD (prime SSD with 1 TB = about 300-350 USD) you will feel like working with a new machine. The 16 GB update is already done, as I see...
 
MrAverigeUser said:
That´s no challenge for classic MBP at all. If you upgrade on SSD (prime SSD with 1 TB = about 300-350 USD) you will feel like working with a new machine. The 16 GB update is already done, as I see...
Click to expand...

As stated in title and in my OP, I'm using the retina MBP, which means I'm already on SSD.
 
zonazolazia said:
Hi,

I have the first generation mid 2012 15' rMBP 16GB/750GB which seems a little bit slow now.

I'm looking to upgrade to the latest force touch capable rMBP. The SSD is definitely going to be faster and I can drive 4K external monitor which I currently only partially can. But is there going to be a huge performance difference in terms of CPU/GPU?

Or should I wait for the next gen? I'm planning to do a clean OS install first to see if there's an improvement.
Click to expand...


If you don't game and you did a fresh install of the OS which you said you'll wait and see how things work out, why are you looking at new systems? Just for a faster load time of the applications you use? which are not graphically intense?

Just asking, if it aint broke and still runs great why purchase another one? Also what are you going to do with the old one if your purchasing or thinking of purchasing a new one? Maybe get a feeler on what your old system is worth?
 
MrAverigeUser said:
ok, sorry for not realizing it.
Click to expand...

It's ok, I'm just clarifying in case it causes confusion.

michaelsviews said:
If you don't game and you did a fresh install of the OS which you said you'll wait and see how things work out, why are you looking at new systems? Just for a faster load time of the applications you use? which are not graphically intense?

Just asking, if it aint broke and still runs great why purchase another one? Also what are you going to do with the old one if your purchasing or thinking of purchasing a new one? Maybe get a feeler on what your old system is worth?
Click to expand...

My main reason was because it started to feel a little bit slow. I'm a software developer and I usually open few apps on few different desktop. Switching between those apps is choppy and not as smooth as it used to be.

I have reinstalled El Capitan and under high workload it's still the same. I'm not saying it's not usable, it's still way smoother than my friends Windows laptop, just I really admire the smoothness of OS X when I first bought my rMBP and wondering whether my current CPU, GPU, SSD has aged to the new OS requirements.

Anyway, thanks for the response guys. I'm sticking for my current machine till Apple announce next Mac.
 
zonazolazia said:
It's ok, I'm just clarifying in case it causes confusion.



My main reason was because it started to feel a little bit slow. I'm a software developer and I usually open few apps on few different desktop. Switching between those apps is choppy and not as smooth as it used to be.

I have reinstalled El Capitan and under high workload it's still the same. I'm not saying it's not usable, it's still way smoother than my friends Windows laptop, just I really admire the smoothness of OS X when I first bought my rMBP and wondering whether my current CPU, GPU, SSD has aged to the new OS requirements.

Anyway, thanks for the response guys. I'm sticking for my current machine till Apple announce next Mac.
Click to expand...


If you still have Apple Care on it , maybe have them take a look at it? And since your a developer are there any packages your using that may not play well with the latest OS, I know a few guys locally that are 2 versions behind because of problems
 
michaelsviews said:
If you still have Apple Care on it , maybe have them take a look at it?
Click to expand...

My Apple Care has just expired last September I think. I'm quite sure the hardware is all right. Just a little bit slow and choppy and not used to keep my older Windows laptop for more than 3 years. First world problem lol
 
zonazolazia said:
Hi,

I have the first generation mid 2012 15' rMBP 16GB/750GB which seems a little bit slow now.

I'm looking to upgrade to the latest force touch capable rMBP. The SSD is definitely going to be faster and I can drive 4K external monitor which I currently only partially can. But is there going to be a huge performance difference in terms of CPU/GPU?

Or should I wait for the next gen? I'm planning to do a clean OS install first to see if there's an improvement.
Click to expand...

The processor in the current 2015 15" is Haswell, which came out in late 2013. So, you're upgrading by one generation of processor. Not going to be a big improvement.

The 650M GPU is also the exact same GPU as the 750M in the 2013-2014 models, just with 2gb of GDDR5 instead of 1GB. The 2015 model uses an AMD GPU. It's a little faster, but it runs hotter; so, it's not a large improvement.

4K - I'd stick with what you have and try to run it in MST mode. Or, you can get a 4K running at 50hz.
 
As for performance: Look at everymac.com:

The latest and most powerful nMBP (2015) is only performing max. 14,6% "better" than the best classic 2012 model. and shurely even less different in comparison to the rMBP of 2012...
Not really worth a new purchase, I think…
 
McBeresford said:
I made the same jump this year! To be honest, I miss my 2012 machine. Power management was so much more reliable. The GPU wasn't a heat hog. My 2015 revs up the fans at the slightest task.

The new trackpad is nice, but I'd wait. At least until a new GPU is available.
Click to expand...


Well you will be waiting years for it then because they just updated the GPU inside in the 2015 model. The previous one had a Nvidia 750M which was 3 generations behind so it was released at least 3-4 years ago.
 
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