My mid-2012 MacBook Pro can be super slow. Is it RAM or HD?

Question

CcTheMonkey Author

Level 1

4 points

My mid-2012 MacBook Pro can be super slow. Is it RAM or HD?

Current Specs:

MacOS Sierra V. 10.12.6

MacBook Pro (15-inch, Mid 2012)

Processor: 2.3 GHz Internal Core 7

Memory: 4GB 1600 MHz DDR3

Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M 512 MB

Intel HD Graphics 4000 1536 MB

Hard Drive: 1TB SATA Disk (about 730GB still free) 5400 Rotation Rate

Background:

When I originally bought my computer, I got it with a 250GB SSD (solid state drive). Well, I ran out of space pretty quickly. So I decided to follow some online walk-throughs and bought and installed my own new 1TB Seagate Drive (this one) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00B99JUBQ/ref=tnp_emaildp_2

That was about 2 years ago. And it worked just fine. I feel like only more recently has it really struggled with running things. I'm not sure if that is because I've got a newer operating system going on it, or if it is because I'm running some of the latest cloud apps for Adobe programs, but it can just really get sluggish where it can't even keep up with typing and it can be the wheel of death non-stop. It seems especially bad after it has been asleep for while. I definitely see a huge improvement after restarting. But, even booting up takes some time. (I know, it's probably the hard drive there).

Anyway I'm wondering what I can do to keep this computer running top-notch without spending a ton of money, because I'm not interested in getting a new one any time soon. I was wondering if anyone recommends upgrading just the RAM? I noticed from poking around I have two 2GB modules in my two memory slots, and thought maybe I should buy 4GB each to make it 8GB instead of only 4GB. Can I buy and install it myself? Any tips / links as to where I can get that?

Thanks in advance for any advice!

MacBook Pro, macOS Sierra (10.12.6), 15-inch, Mid 2012

Posted on Nov 12, 2017 6:40 PM

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Answer 1

babowa

Level 9

78,097 points

Nov 12, 2017 6:47 PM in response to CcTheMonkey

You are running Mac OS Sierra with a) an absolute minimum 4 GB RAM and b) a super slow 5400 rpm hard drive. The hard drive is 33% slower than a 27" iMac's 7200 rpm drive (which is still slow compared to an SSD); however, it is much faster than the 5400 rpm. I won't have one of those as they are just too slow for me. As well, at least double your RAM - that'll improve things as well. I have a mid 2012 and the first thing I did was put an SSD in it and upped the RAM to 12 GB. No problem whatsoever.

Additionally, you may or may not have software installed which causes problems such as "cleaning", AV, etc software or any other third party app which interferes with the OS and/or hogs the resources.

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