Complete Guide to all 2012 MacBook Pro 15" Upgrades - A Definitive How to Upgrade Your Laptop Video

Рет қаралды 32,748

Күн бұрын

Not a guide showing you how to perform each upgrade, but a guide to all upgrades possible on this old Apple machine. This one took a lot of effort and research to make. My Patreon is $3.99 if you wish to support the channel directly. No pressure, as viewing the video helps me out anyway.
www.patreon.com/user?u=111524730
Any other upgrades greatly appreciated in the comments!
Links to help you upgrade (not created by or affiliated with me):
Display: www.ifixit.com/Guide/MacBook+...
RAM: support.apple.com/en-gb/HT201165
Storage: How to Install a Second Drive in Your 13” Mid-2012 ...MacSales.comeshop.macsales.com › blog › 36523-how-to-ins...
AirPort Card: www.intriguingindustries.co.u...
Operating System:
MacOS: www.macworld.com/article/6724...
Windows: support.apple.com/en-gb/HT201468
CPU: www.ifixit.com/Guide/MacBook+...
GPU:
Razer eGPU Box: Razer - Core X Chroma: Thunderbolt 3 External Graphics Enclosure (eGPU) for Windows 10 and Mac with RGB Chroma Lighting£379.99Amazon.co.uk30-day returns (most items)
iBoff xGPU mod: iboffrcc.com/pages/x-gpu-project
Cooling:
Thermal Pads: Thermal pad mod on a unibody MacBook Pro 15" Early 2011KZfaq · Andy Knows Tech!12 minutes, 56 seconds15 Jan 2021
Holes lol: www.reddit.com/r/mac/comments...
Battery: MacBook Pro 15" Unibody Mid 2012 Battery ReplacementiFixitwww.ifixit.com › Guide › MacBook+Pro+15-In...
Optical Drive Upgrade: Can I replace internal DVD drive with a BLU-RAY drive?iFixitwww.ifixit.com › Answers › View › Can+I+repl...
Here’s a guide to how to repaste the CPU and GPU, as this can help reduce temps, too: Repasting 2012 Macbook Pro - CoolingForums - Linus Tech Tipslinustechtips.com › ... › Cooling
TIMESTAMPS...
00:00 Intro
0:19 Display
1:12 Storage
1:50 Airport Card
2:24 OS
3:00 CPU
3:46 Graphics
4:52 Cooling & Thermals
5:34 Battery and Power Supply
6:11 Optical Drive

Пікірлер: 77

@montaguebarnabasltd 8 ай бұрын

I don’t know why I crammed so much information into such a short video, looking back on it. Like if I should re do the video in better quality going into more detail?

@gregorycollins3096 7 ай бұрын

I love my 2012 MacBook Pro. I use it everyday and run various Linux distributions using UTM.

@diesel1024 Жыл бұрын

5:47 a slightly better than factory battery is available from Other World Computing. The stock battery in the 2012 15" is 77.5Wh, while the NewerTech NuPower battery is 85Wh. I currently have the slightly upgraded battery and it works great, verified capacity with the power tab in system information. Great video!

@montaguebarnabasltd Жыл бұрын

Thanks for the tip! Had no idea there was a difference. Glad you liked the video.

@logaandm Жыл бұрын

I have Linux Mint installed on my MBP 17" 2011. Because it has older hardware there are fewer problems with WiFi and WebCam drivers than newer MacBook models which often require building your own kernel drivers due to Apple license restrictions. Linux works very well and Linux can provide better privacy, security and speed than either MacOS or Windows. Great for coders who want to test Linux programs on bare metal. Changing the thermal paste is also a good idea, but does require the logic board to be removed first. Make sure the fans are connected afterwards or you risk blowing up the GPU! If you have problems with the keyboard, it would be a good idea to replace it at the same time. The speakers disintegrate on these old models. Replacements are hard to find and fairly expensive. To repair them, take them out and cover them completely with a layer of plastic wrap. Then cut out the wrap around the disintegrating speaker cone. Use spray contact cement on the exposed speakers then put new plastic wrap on, gluing the wrap to the old speakers making a new seal for the driver cone. After the glue has dried, remove the excess plastic wrap and trim the edges. You have now repaired the speakers to almost normal.

@montaguebarnabasltd Жыл бұрын

I adore the 17” models, but unfortunately fear the GPU issues strongly. I hope you see many years out of your machine yet. I realised a little late that I forgot the thermal paste replacement. It’s probably a good idea on most of these since they’re all rather old. Brilliant tip about the speakers. I had no idea such a fix existed! I appreciate the comment, and in future I might end up documenting your advice into a video lol.

@jceggbert5 Жыл бұрын

I'm sure dosdude can add a couple to your list

@montaguebarnabasltd Жыл бұрын

That’s true. I should have mentioned the micro soldering possibilities for the really advanced lol

@ScottLynn-gz2hl Жыл бұрын

@@montaguebarnabasltd I've been talking with him "dosdude" and getting some tips. I've procured a solder reflow station and the tools and plan soon to make some modifications. I would love to know if it's possible to upgrade the video ram by soldering the proper chips. I know that you can swap a processor on these with little to no issues at all. The battery that are being sold by NuPower are EXPENSIVE. 100.00 for the battery alone

@montaguebarnabasltd Жыл бұрын

@@ScottLynn-gz2hl cool! Yeah I don’t currently have the space or money to get into mobo level repairs, but have wanted to for a while now. I’d absolutely love it if you could reach out if you get any results on the 2012! Also, 100 bucks for a battery is far more than I’d pay for sure… considering they’re hard to find working now though it might sadly be worth it.

@25_26 Жыл бұрын

actually i realized dosdude is very familiar with russian tech forums :)

@johnross8939 9 ай бұрын

@ScottLynn-gz2hl I'm told one should target their VRAM capacity to be 1/4 the size of the system RAM. But Colin can advise you about that issue.

@ninline2000 Жыл бұрын

I really need to look into the screen upgrade for mine. I added an SSD years ago, that's a must have.

@montaguebarnabasltd Жыл бұрын

I agree. The screen isn’t a massive upgrade in quality, but I find anti glare is brilliant.

@Strangeuseoftime Жыл бұрын

Properly useful. Thanks.

@montaguebarnabasltd Жыл бұрын

Any time

@DacMan777 Жыл бұрын

Luke Miani Covered this including High Res displayupgrade. I have 2 of these machines fully spec with High Res displays and Twin EVO SSD's. They are great fun. Run ventura on mine.

@montaguebarnabasltd Жыл бұрын

Yeah, his vids are great. I love the whole dual ssd compatibility

@robpower3356 4 ай бұрын

still running my maxxed out 2012 no probs.

@faryallmuhyuddin7045 6 ай бұрын

Great information 😅

@Rafael-ys4hw Жыл бұрын

Muito bom o vídeo, bem explicado e detalhado, uma obra prima da edição e de apego aos detalhes, mesmo entendo 80% do que diz (pelo meu entendimento do idioma), ficou claro pra mim how to upgrade. Ótimo em muitos sentidos. Abraços do Brasil!

@montaguebarnabasltd Жыл бұрын

Muito obrigado meu amigo! Your comment means a lot, thank you :)

@Literature_for_Aliens 9 ай бұрын

I still use a 2012 MacBook Pro 9,1 to edit my videos, I think it is undoubtedly the best MacBook ever created by Apple. If I wanted to install a Blu-ray player instead of a DVD, what would you recommend?

@montaguebarnabasltd 9 ай бұрын

Thanks for the comment! Agreed. For Blu-Ray I’d suggest getting one of these www.ebay.co.uk/itm/191895629657?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=SlcC6ghiRSe&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=hJ_-LATyTsm&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY They can be very tricky to find, and this is the only one I could find on eBay that states in the listing it works on MacOS. What you essentially need is a ‘slot loading’ SATA internal laptop Blu-Ray drive, but one that supports MacOS. Also be careful to avoid tray loading ones, and those that might be too thick or wide. Hope this helps.

@mrmartywaring Жыл бұрын

I really like uaing these older MacBooks. I do have an M1 MacBook Air (and a Samsung Galaxy Book 3 360 Ultra). Yet I find myself going back to the older MacBook Pro 2012 that I added a 1TB SSD, 16GB of memory & a new battery as my go-to laptop

@montaguebarnabasltd Жыл бұрын

There’s something lovely about them. They seem so solid.

@TheMASSARIE 2 ай бұрын

Did you replace the original HD with the 1TB SSD or add the 1TB SSD as second storage in place of the DVD Drive?

@TheMASSARIE 2 ай бұрын

Does it support a 2 TB SSD instead of the original HD? I have a MacBook Pro 13 i7 2.9 Ghz 2012 HD 500gb 16 RAM

@mrmartywaring 26 күн бұрын

@@TheMASSARIEI replaced the HDD with the SSD. I still use the disk drive to watch old movies and listen to CDs.

@mrmartywaring 26 күн бұрын

@@TheMASSARIEIt can support a 2TB Sata SSD.

@macgamer1973 11 ай бұрын

I’m still using my 17” MacBook Pro 2.2ghz (2011)1TB SSD, eGPU Radeon Bega 56. Running Ventura . Look for blu ray drive for it. Hard to find

@montaguebarnabasltd 11 ай бұрын

That’s very impressive. A decent experience these days? Just seen one on eBay for £95 - far more than I expected

@redlinef1 4 ай бұрын

I replaced my MBP 15" 2012 display with a hi-res anti glare coming from a 2011 A1286, but i'm stuck with a blank black screen upon start up. Mac boots up and chimes, keyboard lights up, but I have no video. If I connect an HDMI monitor it works fine. Any advice? Thanks!

@montaguebarnabasltd 4 ай бұрын

Apologies for the late reply, as far as I’m aware the 2011s should be compatible. It might be that you have a broken screen on your hands? Or possibly the connector… have you tried putting the old one back on?

@cyronader Жыл бұрын

Getting decent battery replacements for this model is next to impossible. I have been through 4 replacements from ifixit all of them failed after 2-3 months of use. I am currently using the original battery which now has 2268 cycles and 3849mA capacity left. I get maybe 2 hours life.

@montaguebarnabasltd Жыл бұрын

I agree, it’s difficult as a lot of them are old when bought ‘new’. Personally I’ve had luck buying ones that are used but with few cycles.

@slalomie Жыл бұрын

Does AirDrop, Handoff, Continuity and Universal Clipboard work? My 2013 Air still feels pretty modern with these features. The base 4gb RAM is probably the most noticeable bottleneck.

@montaguebarnabasltd Жыл бұрын

Yup, they all work. Ah, yeah, that’s only gonna get worse unfortunately. Glad to hear you’re still making use of an old device though

@slalomie Жыл бұрын

@@montaguebarnabasltd I find it’s still good for media consumption and light productivity. I just got myself a base 2021 MBP 14. The Touch ID login, display and speakers are really nice quality of life upgrades. I’ll be ecstatic if I can get 10 years out of it like my old workhorse Air.

@montaguebarnabasltd Жыл бұрын

@@slalomie Solid, man, the 2021s are a massive leap. Genuinely hard to believe how good the 2019-onwards speakers are… Here’s hoping they do last eh

@slalomie Жыл бұрын

@@montaguebarnabasltd The speakers are seriously impressive. It’s terrible that Apple solders flash chips onto the board but at least the battery is replaceable. The iFixit teardown makes it look needlessly complicated though.

@montaguebarnabasltd Жыл бұрын

@@slalomie yessir. Yeah, ifixit tend to be more over careful than under. Not always a bad thing tho

@gauravsauran8260 6 ай бұрын

Guyz, I just have one query. Since I cant use the AppStore to download any app, if I upgrade my Mid 2012 13" MacBook Pro, will I still face such kind of issues? Also, what about the Apple updates? And Security Updates?

@montaguebarnabasltd 6 ай бұрын

If you’re asking if the App Store will work once the OS is updated, it should work fine. If you’re using OCLP to patch it to Ventura/Sonoma then security updates aren’t going to be easy to install. I find myself avoiding them.

@gauravsauran8260 6 ай бұрын

@@montaguebarnabasltd thank you for the reply. Although this makes me a little sceptical. If there's no Apple security, won't we face any issues in the future? I would just like to share that this is my first ever Apple product, not really in a place to make mistakes. Hope you get my point.

@TheJohnnyLucasFilmHouse 4 ай бұрын

Can you still use final cut pro on it with a patched version of macOS?

@montaguebarnabasltd 4 ай бұрын

You can. I recently switched to M1 because my 2012 was dragging its heels and holding me back. It should run half decently, though.

@tdesu 8 ай бұрын

Worried about upgrading my mid 2012 macbook pro to Sonoma OS, anyone have experience with that?

@montaguebarnabasltd 8 ай бұрын

I’ve seen it done with smooth results. Personally I see no reason to update vs Ventura. Imo if there’s a feature you’re vying for, do it, if not, don’t bother!

@Rohn_Music Жыл бұрын

Would all these modifications be available to the 13” as well??

@montaguebarnabasltd Жыл бұрын

Other than the display, yup

@Rohn_Music Жыл бұрын

@@montaguebarnabasltd great, thank you for the reply! I’m completely new to these things but I’m very excited to attempt some of these modifications. Some look a little too complicated for me 😅

@montec4763 Жыл бұрын

Lot of effort went into this one, eh

@ProfMarijawizard 10 ай бұрын

Am I just NOT seeing the link for the storage upgrade?

@montaguebarnabasltd 10 ай бұрын

www.ifixit.com/Guide/Installing+MacBook+Pro+13-Inch+Unibody+Mid+2012+Dual+Hard+Drive/13787 Try that, apologies

@-Facu Жыл бұрын

😱

@Ragnemalm 9 ай бұрын

Replacing the DVD with an extra hard drive, I rate that upgrade 1/10. Don't! You remove the ability to make safe (non-erasable) backups! This is invaluable. However, if you can put in a Blue-Ray burner instead of the DVD, sure! Is that possible? Are they compatible? Concerning OS'es other than MacOS, Ubuntu runs very well and with the Budgie desktop a Mac user will feel pretty comfortable.

@montaguebarnabasltd 9 ай бұрын

By non erasable I assume you mean on a DVD? The speed and noise levels at which they operate ranks SATA drives more important in my mind. I do see the long term benefits to DVD usage though, so to each their own - whatever suits you best. Blu-Ray is an option for these, but it’s very difficult to find the right part these days. Not to mention probably fairly expensive! Thanks for the comment

@Ragnemalm 9 ай бұрын

@@montaguebarnabasltd My point is security. A SATA drive can be erased or encrypted by an attacker. With your most valuable files on a DVD-R or even Blue-Ray, it is safe from such attacks. Many don't think about that these days so I just had to mention it. It is good that you brought up the Blue-Ray option, and I don't think a Blue-Ray writer is super expensive these days. And you made me look it up which is good! :) Let me mention that I agree much more with other parts. The RAM upgrade is an absolute must-have as well as the SSD. What is so great with this model is that the HD/SSD, RAM and battery are all easily accessible.

@montaguebarnabasltd 9 ай бұрын

@@Ragnemalm oh I agree, but I don’t consider a second hard drive a backup drive, more an expansion of storage. For backups I’d go with a USB SATA drive, SSD or HDD, which I’d then keep cold somewhere. I just don’t find using optical discs convenient, really.

@AbdullahSiddiqi-ml5de 6 ай бұрын

What about ram can you upgrade it too??

@montaguebarnabasltd 6 ай бұрын

@00:54

@AbdullahSiddiqi-ml5de 6 ай бұрын

Ok brother my mistake

@gerardoddo 8 ай бұрын

Can this work for 13"

@montaguebarnabasltd 8 ай бұрын

Which one..?

@Mcsandwhich 4 ай бұрын

Why would you replace the dvd player, thats one of the main reasons for buying this model. Weird.

@montaguebarnabasltd 4 ай бұрын

I bought one and had absolutely no desire to play DVDs. It’s just great to have a second SATA port.

@clownstudio6133 10 ай бұрын

I planning to buy the same MacBook Pro but 2011 because I want to install Mac OS X Snow Leopard because it's my favorite operating system, and I have old apps.

@montaguebarnabasltd 10 ай бұрын

Word to the wise - it may be worth disabling your AMD gpu. The graphics problems on the 2011s are more common than you’d think. Mine died within a month of me getting it!

@cryptoponzi8059 Жыл бұрын

You forgot to mention the ram! 16gb upgrade is possible.

@montaguebarnabasltd Жыл бұрын

0:53

@OLskewL 9 ай бұрын

Imagine one day the next Apple CEO gets saved by Jesus Christ and decides to give us great products with upgrade ability and Apple becomes consumer friendly.

@montaguebarnabasltd 9 ай бұрын

Wake up babe it was just a dream