Upgrading to SSD (Help me choose the right type)

[Pepss_95]

Hello guys, I have a
MacBook Pro (13-inch, Mid 2012)
2.5 GHz Intel Core i5
4 GB 1600 MHz DDR3

and recently I feel that my mac is very slow regarding apps startup and booting time, so I'm planning on upgrading to SSD, I'm getting an SSD from overseas so I want to ask if the one that I attached with this thread is suitable for my mac as it says in the description of the product not compatible which is strange
here is the product :
https://uae.souq.com/ae-en/samsung-850-evo-500gb-sata-internal-ssd-mz-75e500z-7971241/i/

 

[mikzn]

I have a 2012 MBP 15 inch i7 and upgraded a few years ago to the EVO 850 - easy upgrade and works flawlessly and have never had an issue - amazing speed increase over the HD original drive.

 

[treekram]

Depending on the OS and the apps that you use, 4GB of RAM may not be enough and that could also slow down the computer.

Make sure you have the non-Retina model of the 2012 MBP. If you have 4GB, that is the non-Retina model. If you have a hard drive, that also indicates that it's the non-Retina model and using a SSD will definitely help performance.

I think the red check mark in the screen shot you posted indicates that it is compatible. The Samsung 850 Evo will definitely work in the non-Retina 2012 MBP. I have a couple of 850 Evo's (250GB) in my 2012 MBP. Samsung has come out with a new model, the 860 Evo. Some people prefer the 850 because they have experienced problems (probably due to the 860 being new). I don't think people would notice a difference between the two. They both have 5-year manufacturer warranties. The price in the link you provided is reasonable - converted to US dollars, there's just a few dollars difference between what you have in the link and what is available on Amazon in the US.

It's very common for the hard drive cable to develop problems with age in the 2012 MBP. It might work for the hard drive but not with a SSD. So you might want to consider buying a new cable as well.

 

[Pepss_95]

Depending on the OS and the apps that you use, 4GB of RAM may not be enough and that could also slow down the computer.

Make sure you have the non-Retina model of the 2012 MBP. If you have 4GB, that is the non-Retina model. If you have a hard drive, that also indicates that it's the non-Retina model and using a SSD will definitely help performance.

I think the red check mark in the screen shot you posted indicates that it is compatible. The Samsung 850 Evo will definitely work in the non-Retina 2012 MBP. I have a couple of 850 Evo's (250GB) in my 2012 MBP. Samsung has come out with a new model, the 860 Evo. Some people prefer the 850 because they have experienced problems (probably due to the 860 being new). I don't think people would notice a difference between the two. They both have 5-year manufacturer warranties. The price in the link you provided is reasonable - converted to US dollars, there's just a few dollars difference between what you have in the link and what is available on Amazon in the US.

It's very common for the hard drive cable to develop problems with age in the 2012 MBP. It might work for the hard drive but not with a SSD. So you might want to consider buying a new cable as well.

Thank you very much treekram for explaining all of this, but can you tell me please what is the kind of cable I should buy, also I want to ask if it'd be better if I buy a SATA III SSD hardrive cause it's much faster, or won't it work with my model ? the SSD in the link is a SATA I, again thank you very much for your help
[doublepost=1523830808][/doublepost]

I have a 2012 MBP 15 inch i7 and upgraded a few years ago to the EVO 850 - easy upgrade and works flawlessly and have never had an issue - amazing speed increase over the HD original drive.

Thankk you very much, that's a relief...I watched a couple of videos and deducted that upgrading the SSD will be more significant than upgrading the ram if you can't do both at the same time.

 

[mikzn]

Thankk you very much, that's a relief...I watched a couple of videos and deducted that upgrading the SSD will be more significant than upgrading the ram if you can't do both at the same time.

Well FWIW - I did upgrade the memory before I purchased the SSD - no difference with the extra memory (went from 4g to 16g) - 15 x speed with the SSD vs HD - changing the drive is like a new computer.

memory did not cost a fortune tho . . .

 

[Pepss_95]

Well FWIW - I did upgrade the memory before I purchased the SSD - no difference with the extra memory (went from 4g to 16g) - 15 x speed with the SSD vs HD - changing the drive is like a new computer.

memory did not cost a fortune tho . . .

wooh...that's great, and did you buy a cable also ? cause I can't find it online where I live, Egypt.

 

[mikzn]

I don't think you need a cable or adaptor - I did not need it - not sure.

I did buy an enclosure and install the system onto the new drive before I installed the new harddrive on the MBP - then just replaced the drive and all was good.

 

[treekram]

You can wait and see if your cable will work but it is common that the cable has issues and it is frustrating to get a new drive only to have it not work because of the cable.

https://www.amazon.com/923-0741-Hard-Drvie-Cable-821-1480/dp/B00GJQCJWG

This link has a picture of what to look for and information on the part numbers that are used for the cable (it's only one cable but it looks like it has had multiple part numbers in the past). You can use this as a guide to get one from an online store convenient to you.

You can run Activity Monitor to see how much memory you're using. If the memory pressure graph has a lot of red and yellow, you will benefit from extra RAM. If you have only green, you don't need extra memory
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201464

 

[Pepss_95]

I don't think you need a cable or adaptor - I did not need it - not sure.

I did buy an enclosure and install the system onto the new drive before I installed the new harddrive on the MBP - then just replaced the drive and all was good.

I'll do so...thank you very much
[doublepost=1523837257][/doublepost]

You can wait and see if your cable will work but it is common that the cable has issues and it is frustrating to get a new drive only to have it not work because of the cable.

https://www.amazon.com/923-0741-Hard-Drvie-Cable-821-1480/dp/B00GJQCJWG

This link has a picture of what to look for and information on the part numbers that are used for the cable (it's only one cable but it looks like it has had multiple part numbers in the past). You can use this as a guide to get one from an online store convenient to you.

You can run Activity Monitor to see how much memory you're using. If the memory pressure graph has a lot of red and yellow, you will benefit from extra RAM. If you have only green, you don't need extra memory
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201464

Thank you very much for the help and the info, I will do the activity monitor thing, but only one remaining question, do you know if SATA III will work ? or it has a different cable ?

 

[treekram]

Thank you very much for the help and the info, I will do the activity monitor thing, but only one remaining question, do you know if SATA III will work ? or it has a different cable ?

The mid-2012 non-Retina MBP is SATA3, the Evo 850 is SATA3 and the hard drive cables that are sold for this MBP are meant to be SATA3.

 

[Pepss_95]

The mid-2012 non-Retina MBP is SATA3, the Evo 850 is SATA3 and the hard drive cables that are sold for this MBP are meant to be SATA3.

Thank you treekram so much, that was very helpful

 

[Fishrrman]

Just about any 2.5" SATA3 SSD will do the job.
It doesn't have to be a Samsung, in fact I usually suggest Crucial or Sandisk.

While you have the back removed for the drive install, I would also suggest you add ONE 8gb DIMM to the "top RAM slot". This will give you 10gb of installed RAM, more than enough for most situations.

I would also HIGHLY recommend that when you buy the SSD, you also buy something like this:
https://www.amazon.com/Sabrent-2-5-...478&sr=1-2-spell&keywords=sabremt+usb3+to+ssd

You can use this to connect the SSD to the MacBook and then "prep and test" it BEFORE you install it.
That way, if you encounter any problems, YOU STILL HAVE A WORKING MACBOOK and that makes it much easier to fix the problems.

How large is the hard drive that's in the MacBook now?
Is it 500gb?
And you're going to replace it with a 500gb SSD?

If the only problem now is that it's running slow because of the platter based HDD, and if there are no other problems with the software install as it is now, you could do this for a very easy transfer:
1. Download CarbonCopyCloner (FREE to download and use for 30 days):
http://www.bombich.com/download.html
2. Connect the SSD to the adapter/dongle (I referenced above)
3. Open Disk Utility and initialize the SSD to Mac OS extended with journaling enabled
4. Open CCC and clone the contents of the internal drive to the SSD. CCC will even clone over the recovery partition
5. Do a "test boot" -- you should boot right up to the SSD, and it should look EXACTLY as does the internal drive.
6. If everything looks to be OK, power down and "do the drive swap"
7. After the drives are swapped, reboot with the option key held down. Select the NEW SSD (now the internal drive) and boot from it.
8. Get a good boot? Before you do anything else, go to the startup disk preference pane and set the SSD to be the boot drive.

You can keep using the old drive as either a backup or for extra storage.
Just connect it to the dongle and leave it there.

 

[Pepss_95]

wo

Just about any 2.5" SATA3 SSD will do the job.
It doesn't have to be a Samsung, in fact I usually suggest Crucial or Sandisk.

While you have the back removed for the drive install, I would also suggest you add ONE 8gb DIMM to the "top RAM slot". This will give you 10gb of installed RAM, more than enough for most situations.

I would also HIGHLY recommend that when you buy the SSD, you also buy something like this:
https://www.amazon.com/Sabrent-2-5-...478&sr=1-2-spell&keywords=sabremt+usb3+to+ssd

You can use this to connect the SSD to the MacBook and then "prep and test" it BEFORE you install it.
That way, if you encounter any problems, YOU STILL HAVE A WORKING MACBOOK and that makes it much easier to fix the problems.

How large is the hard drive that's in the MacBook now?
Is it 500gb?
And you're going to replace it with a 500gb SSD?

If the only problem now is that it's running slow because of the platter based HDD, and if there are no other problems with the software install as it is now, you could do this for a very easy transfer:
1. Download CarbonCopyCloner (FREE to download and use for 30 days):
http://www.bombich.com/download.html
2. Connect the SSD to the adapter/dongle (I referenced above)
3. Open Disk Utility and initialize the SSD to Mac OS extended with journaling enabled
4. Open CCC and clone the contents of the internal drive to the SSD. CCC will even clone over the recovery partition
5. Do a "test boot" -- you should boot right up to the SSD, and it should look EXACTLY as does the internal drive.
6. If everything looks to be OK, power down and "do the drive swap"
7. After the drives are swapped, reboot with the option key held down. Select the NEW SSD (now the internal drive) and boot from it.
8. Get a good boot? Before you do anything else, go to the startup disk preference pane and set the SSD to be the boot drive.

You can keep using the old drive as either a backup or for extra storage.
Just connect it to the dongle and leave it there.

wowwww that was greatt thank you very much, I will get it soon and follow these steps as soon as I do, I really appreciate your help very much

 

[LarryJoe33]

You are in good hands here as these upgrades have been done many times, myself included. I did the ram first. I installed Sierra over El Capitan and found that 4GB wasn't going to cut it. I went to 16GB and I went with Crucial. I thought they had to be installed in pairs. Better make sure. Problem solved on Sierra performing poorly. That was the first time I opened the hood. It got me going. I then soon after went with a Crucial MX300 500GB SSD. I bought a self-powered USB enclosure and I tried to use Disk Utility to copy my internal HDD to the SSD. It wasn't easy or straight forward, so I downloaded a free copy of CCC and three clicks and I was off. A few hours later, swapped them and booted to the SSD and record time. Incredible system performance.

You don't need to get the more expensive and killer performing EVO. The SATA bus will limit speeds and the performance premium you pay for the EVO will not be realized.