My 2012 MacBook Pro is running so slow I can barely use the computer. Just signing in takes 10 minutes. I feel like this is software but I'm not sure where to check that? What can I do to help this computer along? I tried updating the OS to see if it solved the problem and it is the same slowness.
MacBook Pro 13″, macOS 10.13
There is one weak link in the 2012 MBP 13: the hard drive cable. It suffers a circuitous routing over some sharp metal edges on the chassis and, with the vibration of normal use and transport, can begin to chafe after 3-5 years and cause intermittent shorts and/or data drops. A long boot time suggests the drive cable.
The good news is that the cable is available, cheap (about US$15), and can be installed at home in about 30 minutes by a computer novice. We recently helped a person with that model who had similar symptoms and changing the cable fixed it.
If you want speed close to newer Macs, change the hard drive to a solid-state drive (SSD). I have the same model and, with the original rotational, was a downright pain to use. After I installed the SSD, the computer feels new and I enjoy using it very much now.
There is one weak link in the 2012 MBP 13: the hard drive cable. It suffers a circuitous routing over some sharp metal edges on the chassis and, with the vibration of normal use and transport, can begin to chafe after 3-5 years and cause intermittent shorts and/or data drops. A long boot time suggests the drive cable.
The good news is that the cable is available, cheap (about US$15), and can be installed at home in about 30 minutes by a computer novice. We recently helped a person with that model who had similar symptoms and changing the cable fixed it.
If you want speed close to newer Macs, change the hard drive to a solid-state drive (SSD). I have the same model and, with the original rotational, was a downright pain to use. After I installed the SSD, the computer feels new and I enjoy using it very much now.
Hello Inle_Rabbiti,
Thank you for reaching out in Apple Support Communities. We understand that your Mac is exhibiting slow performance.
Having optimal performance on a Mac is important to complete your daily projects. We'll be happy to help.
To help isolate this behavior, we recommend to follow the steps outlined in this helpful article: If your Mac runs slowly
In addition, we suggest using Activity Monitor to see if there's an app (process) that is impacting the CPU pane at a high percentage. Here's more information and the appropriate steps to take: See how apps affect Mac performance, battery runtime, temperature, and fan activity
We look forward to hearing back from you with an update.
Kind regards.
In addition to the reasons cited in those articles, if your computer has the original rotating magnetic drive, it could be accumulating an excessive number of Bad Blocks, and indicator that the demise of that drive is approaching (or has arrived).
When a block reads Bad, the system re-reads the same block hoping to get good data on re-read. Worst case (if it comes clean on the 999th try) uses up a quarter minute of wall clock time chasing one disk block.
MacBook Pro A1278 running extremely slow
