MacBook Pro mid 2012 Ram upgrade

Allan Jones raised a valid concern, which is why you would want to do that.

It's very easy to determine if your Mac's performance is being limited by available memory. Please read Check if your Mac needs more RAM in Activity Monitor - Apple Support. If the "Memory Pressure" graph is frequently "red" your Mac will benefit from additional memory. If not, it won't. It's that simple.

John Galt wrote:

Allan Jones raised a valid concern, which is why you would want to do that.

It's very easy to determine if your Mac's performance is being limited by available memory. Please read Check if your Mac needs more RAM in Activity Monitor - Apple Support. If the "Memory Pressure" graph is frequently "red" your Mac will benefit from additional memory. If not, it won't. It's that simple.

It's something that is so cheap these days. I paid $40. I remember with the factory 4 GB I was getting some issues, but those were masked with an SSD. Even with a 7200 RPM hard drive I'd get performance issues.

However, and SSD is likely going to result in more noticeable performance gains than 16 GB of RAM.

MacBook Pro: How to remove or install memory - Apple Support

In the US, these vendors:

http://OWC.net is still the most-recommended supplier here, because they have good return policies and a lab full of Macs. They pride themselves on their service, so they do not sell stuff that is so "difficult" it needs a lot of hand-holding to get working.

OWC sells their own private-label SSD drives, which are pretty good and reasonably priced, and you know they will work in your Mac.

Look for the "My Upgrades" link on their main page, and it will lead you to parts that will work in your specific model Mac.

http://DataMemorySystems.com is less often recommended, but very close in service and real-world testing, and often a little cheaper for comparable products with the same terms.

http://crucial.com is often recommended because they have a great track record of supplying stuff that works first time, every time. Personally, I am not as fond of them because they use their database of what sales "stick" rather than a lab full of Macs to obtain their results. Their recommendations tend to be more conservative than others, and they sometimes discontinue parts for older Macs before other sites do.

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All of these vendors have a lookup program where you enter the specs of your computer, and they recommend the parts that will work under these terms:

"It works in your Mac,

or your money Back." (it costs them money to get it wrong, so they make certain they get it right.)

Also, a Lifetime Warranty is standard for RAM memory, and their added vendor stickers on the modules are all you need for proof of purchase if you ever need a return.

Agree on OWC.

The Apple official max was 8GB but, with newer, compatible RAM modules from the proper vendor created after Apple engraved the specs in stone, you can do 16GB.

⚠️ HOWEVER.....

IF you MBP13 is "slow" adding RAM will do nothing in spite of the claims of almost all RAM sellers. If you 2012 Macbook Pro is the non-Retain model (has an optical drive), "Slow" is due to the under-spec mech hard drives Apple fitted to these entry-level models. It is NOT RAM starvation.

My 2012 Macbook Pro 13 non-Retina now has a fast SATA 6G solid-state drive (SSD) and feels like a new computer. This data is very telling as I first doubled the RAM, then installed the SSD:

Base system as shipped:

4GB RAM and slow SATA 3GBps 5400rpm hard drive: Office 2008 and Photoshop Elements 12 took 15-18 seconds to be ready to use.

First upgrade, double the RAM:

8GB RAM and slow SATA 3GBps 5400rpm hard drive: Office and Photoshop Elements took 15-18 seconds to be ready to use.

Second upgrade, inexpensive solid-state drive

8GB RAM and fast SATA 6GBps SSD: Office and Photoshop Elements take under 4 seconds to be ready to use.

TIP: Due to some design issues that affect life of the hard drive CABLE in this models, ALWAYS replace the drive CABLE whenever you change the hard drive.

Not sure if yours is a "Retina" model, but your info suggests a mid-2012 Unibody. In that case, yes. I have 16 GB and it's awesome.