Upgrading my 13" Mid-2012 Macbook Pro

[dioggi]

Hi all,

Been doing some reading and searched around a bit for answers, but since I only got a few threads from <2014, I figure I'll ask anyway...

I've got a mid-2012 13" Macbook Pro with the following specs:

• 2.9 GHz i7 processor
• 8 GB Ram
• 750 GB SATA Disk HD
• Running Sierra v10.12.X

From my reading, I've gathered that the two best upgrades I can do are

1. 16 GB Ram from OWC
2. Solid-state HD

I'm guessing that my HD isn't a SSD, so I'll probably do that pretty quickly along with the Ram upgrade. I plan to run Traktor for a while until I get my sea legs back, then switch back to Ableton since I used to DJ using Live 6 and would like to do some production down the road too.

Am I on track here? I don't want to throw money away, but I do want something fast and efficient. Ultimately, I DJ for the love of the music and creating an awesome energy for people, so I don't necessarily need something that an international touring DJ would use, but I do want the best I can get out of the computer without blowing a grand on it.

Thanks in advance for your help!

-dioggi

[astromech]

RAM prices are very high these days due to the manufacturers cartelling like shitbags. You should be OK getting buy on 8GB if it's just for DJing. At least for now. It will also give you another avenue for upgrade later.

Get a decent SSD and you'll see a big change in performance. Apps opening much faster, saving files will be faster, boot times will be 10x faster.

[dioggi]

I don't know what baseline pricing for RAM would be, but you're saying $158 for 16 GB is too high?

Get a decent SSD and you'll see a big change in performance. Apps opening much faster, saving files will be faster, boot times will be 10x faster.

That'd be nice... Any recommendations? I can google reviews if need be.

Thanks!

[astromech]

I don't know what baseline pricing for RAM would be, but you're saying $158 for 16 GB is too high?

That'd be nice... Any recommendations? I can google reviews if need be.

Thanks!

If you want top-of-the-range, Samsung EVO SSDs are it, I believe. I'm no expert though.

Regarding RAM, here's the historical prices for various RAM.

https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/trends/price/memory/

[mostapha]

RAM prices are very high these days due to the manufacturers cartelling like shitbags. You should be OK getting buy on 8GB if it's just for DJing. At least for now. It will also give you another avenue for upgrade later.

Get a decent SSD and you'll see a big change in performance. Apps opening much faster, saving files will be faster, boot times will be 10x faster.

What you're saying is true, but the scale matters. It's only about $30 more for a 16GB kit for a MBP than when I last did it in 2011. Yes, it's kind of ridiculous. But, it is also faster ram IIRC (1600 vs 1333). The issue is not that the prices have gone up from carteling, it's that they haven't gone down because there haven't been any improvments in manufacturing in years.

Kind of like how processors haven't really gotten faster for a long time, just more energy efficient. There are technical reasons for that, and you can be sure that companies are pouring untold amounts of money into getting over them despite the fact that it may not be possible without some huge breakthrough (which is going to be expensive as hell).

[deevey]

I got 2x Crucial MX300's for my iMac and Windows machines and they fly.

Some of the best bang for buck and reliable as you would imagine with Crucial.

If you don't use the CD drive for anything, get a hard disk caddy and use that 750gb for music storage and the SSD as your boot/program drive.

https://www.amazon.com/ZXUY-Unibody-.../dp/B0058AH2US

[dioggi]

If you don't use the CD drive for anything, get a hard disk caddy and use that 750gb for music storage and the SSD as your boot/program drive.

https://www.amazon.com/ZXUY-Unibody-.../dp/B0058AH2US

I had no idea things like this existed! My CD drive is useless anyway, so this'll be a perfect replacement. Brilliant idea!

Thank you all for your input! Doesn't hurt to keep this discussion going as I'm sure there are others with similar questions too. Now I just need to decide on a controller or two lol... Plenty of threads already on that though.

Edit: another question: my mac runs hot sometimes. Any idea if there's a way to keep it cooler?

[deevey]

Edit: another question: my mac runs hot sometimes. Any idea if there's a way to keep it cooler?

Macs run hot as a rule, I use the Macs Fan Control App to run the fans higher than normal at all times seeing as i have an extra HDD installed. A little extra noise, but peace of mind that your hard disk will probably not experience heat damage.

[mostapha]

SMCFanControl was what I used. Or something like that.

[deevey]

[BEATPORT_PRO][/BEATPORT_PRO]

SMCFanControl was what I used. Or something like that.

I remember there was a significant reason why I stopped using SMC Fan Control - what that reason was however