Macbook Pro screen glitches, 3 beeps, NOT THE RAM

I'm using a mid 2012 13" Macbook Pro which I bought in April 2016 after my 2009 model finally died.
I immediately upgraded the 4GB memory to 8GB with two sticks from the 2009 & added the 250GB SSD, making sure to reinstall the system. Everything was great until literally two weeks after it was out of warranty I was getting the 'barcode' & three beep crashes. I'd find myself opening up my Macbook & reseating the RAM several times a day!

A visit to the Genius bar could find nothing wrong with the computer, but the crashes persisted despite numerous RAM reseats SMC & PRAM resets. Finally I tried the very simple advice about just using one RAM stick in bank 0 & since then there have been no crashes when using a single 4GB module. After reading that the Macbook could accept an 8GB module I upgraded though it's slightly annoying to have to spend $80 & discard two perfectly good 4GB modules. I'm a long term user of Apple products, with a Macintosh LCII & iMac DV that still work & G4 & 2009 MacBooks that don't. Yet it does seem a little odd that the Genius bar staff were completely unaware of the barcode RAM issue or how simple the fix is. It's also strange to me that this computer can support 16GB of RAM but the technical documentation only says 8GB. I do like Apple products, but I feel they should be doing more about this issue which seems quite common.

You have the correct info on the 2012; here are the specs for the 2009 which clearly show a different speed:

https://support.apple.com/kb/sp649?locale=en_US

As for the RAM, here is the information that it does allow more than 8 GB RAM as do quite a few Macs:

from here:

http://www.everymac.com/systems/apple/macbook_pro/specs/macbook-pro-core-i5-2.5- 13-mid-2012-unibody-usb3-specs.html

Thanks for the tip Pokeaang - after multiple crashes & having to open up my Mac & reseat the RAM several times a day, I followed your advice, bought an 8GB RAM module & my Macbook is running better than ever!
It would be nice to able to put 16GB in, but as Apple say 8GB is the limit, I'm not complaining!

Thanks again!

I had the same problem (3 beeps, horizontal colored lines) with my 13" MacBook Pro (A1278 mid-2012) and it manifested itself a few minutes, sometimes an hour, after the computer was turned on. Then, after it happened once, it would restart, and then happen again right away.

I tried replacing the RAM, I tried switching the RAM around in the different slots in various combinations. Then, it came down to me replacing the logic board. I ordered the right part online (661-6159), I followed all the instructions step-by-step (MacBook Pro 13" Unibody Mid 2012 Logic Board Replacement - iFixit). Meanwhile, I noticed a ton of dust in the fan vent and under the logic board, so I cleaned all of that up. Also, I noticed that on the original part, there was basically no thermal paste left between the copper heat sink and the processor. When I tried to turn on the MacBook, nothing happened. I think the part was DOA, so I am sending that back for a refund now. Then, it occurred to me that the issue might actually be due to the MacBook overheating. I cleaned up all the crusted thermal paste, removed all the caked-on dust from underneath the logic board, in the fan and in the heat sink venting slots. I put everything back together with a fresh layer of thermal paste, closed everything up, and.... like magic, everything works now.

I have a MBP 15" early 2011, had the logic board replaced in the apple program for the video chip, after that, i started to get kernel errors once in a while, all was pointing to RAM, but never could actually find the defective stick tried many, after a while of seating and reseating the sticks and a fresh install os the macOs it stopped for almost a year with no problems i thought i was done; only to begin crashing, powering off and beeping this week.

i've been reading forums and watching this video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xpagfXra...

and having exactly the same problem as this.

So I took it apart again, and what did i find... apparently, as i said, and for everyones happines it migh not be the soldering at all!!

It seem the CLIPS that hold the stick closest to the keyboard are worn and do not have enough pressure so they do not hold the ram in place all the time, a little bump and the stick spings up like half a milimeter and the problem appears.

What did i do? Got a 1.5mm (.60 cal) piece of flat styrene about 3mm wide and 7 or 8 mm tall, put BOTH RAM sticks in place and with a little plastic tip/spudger push down the stick closest to the keyboard so the clip can make its full travel inward and insert the styrene pieces one in each side in the slots between the clip and where the screws for the backet are and then push them towards the RAM contacts to make pressure inward so the clips are pressed firmly agasint the sticks (you wont be able to remove the sticks without removing this styrene pieces).

I did this, the MBP started with no problems, i can now shake it and won't freeze and/or beep at all.

I'll try to make a video or at least a photo guide showing and post the link (it will be my first YT video so be nice hahaha) so it shows the fault and fix clearly

Csound1, I don't want sound rude but you are wrong on both counts.
The 4GB modules I took from the 2009 were upgrades from the original 1GB ones & are fully compatible with the 2012 model.

Regarding the 2012 Apple specs, look here - MacBook Pro (13-inch, Mid 2012) - Technical Specifications

and you can clearly see Apple states the limit is 8GB, not 16GB.

Super late reply but this is gold. Sure enough, the ram slot closest to the keyboard. Will taking the ram stick out make a computer run slower? And will adding one 8gb stick speed it up? Is this still working for you?

Thanks you in advance!

Well, it is now 2 months since I abandoned the slot closest to the keyboard, and a month and a half since I installed the single 8G DIMM in that slot furthest, and I have had none of the problems I had before.

Defective design...

If you read the whole exchange, you may learn that many users have found that if you take out the RAM from the slot closest to the keyboard (the "bottom slot" when you open the unit upside down) and ONLY use the "top slot" (furthest from the keyboard), the problem goes away. It means that the max ram you can have in the computer is 8G, in a single DIMM.

Well, I just had the screen glitches / 3 beeps happen to me 2 days ago, out of nowhere..

Luckily, thanks to this thread, I was able to figure out that by removing the RAM closest to the keyboard, it seems to fix the problem, as it hasn't happened since in the last 2 days..

However, I had just upgraded my total RAM to 8GB via 2x4GB a few months ago, and now find myself back to 4GB, with one 4GB stick that I paid for but can't use.. It seems I would have to buy another 8GB single stick in order to get back to 8GB, which seems unfair as this is clearly a design flaw by Apple considering the consistency of the issue with so many other users. I also have a Mid-2012 MBP, as reported by many others.

As far as I'm concerned, it feels like having bought an expensive two seater sports car, and then learning a few years later that having someone sit on your passenger seat will now suddenly start to crash your engine..

Or you could look at it this way. It's coming up on a five-year old machine. Probably way out of warranty. And instead of having to toss it, you can simply buy an 8G module and put it in there and keep using it for a few years longer.

Apple will often do a recall or free repair if there are a lot of problems, but it sounds like there aren't enough for it to be necessary for them, PR-wise.

You COULD go to an Apple Store, show how it messes up, then remove the DIMM in their presence and show how it doesn't and see what they do.

I found this thread only 2 days too late... I took my laptop to the Genius Bar 2 days ago. I just got a call from them telling me that they didn't find any solid issues so I decided to put more effort into researching for myself. I wish I never brought it in so I can start working on fixing it right now!

Mid 2012 13 inch, just started having 100% the same problem about a month ago -- random screen glitch followed by reboots, sometimes 3 beeps that can only be solved by tapping the machine, and overheats. I noticed the correlation between the occurrence of the issue and moving the machine so I suspected it would be some sort of a connectivity issue. I'm so glad I found this thread! Can't wait to try the solutions that have been proposed. As a reference, I'm a student who uses my laptop pretty heavily and I don't really take the best care of it either. I have replaced a power cable (2 years ago), a battery (last year), and a hard drive cable (did it myself last year) during the 4.5 years that I've owned my laptop.

Just to be clear, the ONLY solution that works is using ONLY the RAM slot furthest from the motherboard.tuna

Fortunately, you can put an 8G DIMM in only that slot and have, again, a highly usable machine.

If you can swing it, while you have it open, swap out your drive for an SSD if you haven't already. It will change your life.

No, you are good. If you have a DIMM in ONLY the slot furthest from the keyboard, it seems your MBP will work great.

And I am living proof that having only one 8G DIMM in that slot works perfectly even though Apple says you have to have both filled. Also, in my experience, it doesn't slow anything down in performance versus 2 4G DIMMs, contrary to the info I've seen.

So I just took out my rams today and put in an 8GB in the top slot. It seems like my computer is still overheating though (it overheats when it's sleeping). I'm just wondering if replacing rams solves the overheat problem for people too and if not how I could possibly approach this. Thanks!