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tpcollins

macrumors regular
Original poster
Sep 17, 2012
171
19
I’ve been having trouble uploading pics on my 13” MacBook Pro mid-2012. Probably 2-3 years ago the SD card input slot quit working and I took it into the Apple store and they said a new mother board would run about $300, but I could get an inexpensive card reader and plug it into the USB port. This worked ok.

But now I can’t even upload thru that card reader, or even a direct connect with my Nikon point n’ shoot nor can I upload pics now from my iPhone 7.

A new 13” MacBook Pro runs about $1160 with tax at Best Buy and I can probably string out the payments for a year or so with 0% interest. I like the operating system I have now which is El Capitan.

Is it worth $300 to get a new mother board or is my MacBook becoming an antique and I’m better off just biting the bullet and replacing it? Thanks.
 
Given it's 7 years old, it might be better to upgrade to a new MBP. Unless you're running 32bit app's, there's no reason to avoid macOS Mojave or Catalina when it's released
 
I’ve been having trouble uploading pics on my 13” MacBook Pro mid-2012. Probably 2-3 years ago the SD card input slot quit working and I took it into the Apple store and they said a new mother board would run about $300, but I could get an inexpensive card reader and plug it into the USB port. This worked ok.

But now I can’t even upload thru that card reader, or even a direct connect with my Nikon point n’ shoot nor can I upload pics now from my iPhone 7.

A new 13” MacBook Pro runs about $1160 with tax at Best Buy and I can probably string out the payments for a year or so with 0% interest. I like the operating system I have now which is El Capitan.

Is it worth $300 to get a new mother board or is my MacBook becoming an antique and I’m better off just biting the bullet and replacing it? Thanks.
Probably time to but the bullet. I to have a mid 2012. I use it everyday and back it up everyday. I have one 32 bit app I use and I can't upgrade because it went subscription. I hope the keyboard issue get resolved soon but I am ready to buy a new one if this 2012 goes belly up.
 
Depends how many years you think you can continue to use your current MBP. If you think it will hold out for at least another 3 years or so, then go for the $300 investment. If you plan on changing it in a year or two then I would just get a new one. Calculate whatever works best for you.

To me, putting $300 into your current MBP doesn't really make sense. That's 3 months of payments on a new MBP, which is 1/4 of the entire value. Again, calculate whatever works best for you.
 
If your $300 quote is 2-3 years old, there's a good chance that Apple is no longer going to service your 2012 computer.
 
Do the USB ports work for other things, like connecting a USB flash drive?

Could the external USB card reader you have be the problem (and not the MBP)?

How much space is left on the internal drive?
Could be just about "filled up"?
(If it is, then things aren't going to be "copied over" because there's no room for them on the internal drive).

Answer these questions, and we can go further.
 
Do the USB ports work for other things, like connecting a USB flash drive?

Could the external USB card reader you have be the problem (and not the MBP)?

How much space is left on the internal drive?
Could be just about "filled up"?
(If it is, then things aren't going to be "copied over" because there's no room for them on the internal drive).

Answer these questions, and we can go further.

Yes, USB works fine with the wireless mouse, but neither the Nikon or my iPhone can upload t\pics in that same port.

Here’s a screen print of my storage. It says 400.24 GB free of 498.88GB, but it looks like it’s used 400 GB so far.

Also, it says I have 381.62 GB tied up in apps but the 2nd pic is all that I’m aware of. I’d like to delete some of them but can’t.


The new MBP start out with only 128 GB flash drive so I don’t know how that works versus what I am using now
Screen Shot 2019-07-25 at 9.52.05 AM.jpg
Screen Shot 2019-07-25 at 11.30.03 AM.jpg
. There’s no USB ports so I have to get some plug in converter. Also, there’s no DVD/CD slot so I’d have to but an external device for that.

From what I see
 
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