MacBook Pro mid 2012 speed issues

Question

Hi, I am currently using a MacBook Pro Mid 2012. Here are the full specs..OS High Sierra 10.12.1MacBook Pro (13-inch, Mid 2012)2.5 GHz Intel Core i58 GB 1600 MHz DDR3 (has been upgraded from the standard 4GB)Intel HD Graphics 4000 1536500GB SATA DiskAbout 6 months ago I noticed my laptop starting to run slower. It has now got to the point where it is practically unusable. I recently upgraded the RAM to 8GB hoping this might help however I have noticed no improvement what-so-ever. I have tried everything to get my laptop running at a usable speed again, updated OS, erased HDD, reinstalled OS, deleted Caches, reset SMC, reset NVRAM, etc. I have considered installing an older OS but I use my laptop mainly for music production and having the latest version of Logic Pro is very helpful for me. I have also considered installing an SSD (does anyone has a suggestion for a good one that may help?) however I have read that in some cases they have not improved performance (also these can be expensive). I am a student and I haven&#x27;t got much money and need my laptop for work so this is extremely frustrating for me. I have contacted apple support but none of their advice has helped. I bought the MacBook just over 2 years ago refurbished from Apple but unfortunately the warranty has run out so I am afraid to take it to a Mac store as I know their repair prices can be extortionate. If anyone has any suggestions I would love to hear them. This whole experience has made me feel completely disillusioned with Apple as a company. Thanks for any help you can offer.

KdOfThePast · Answer

EtreCheck version: 3.4.6 (460)Report generated 2017-11-15 22:44:29Download EtreCheck from https://etrecheck.comRuntime: 21:21Performance: PoorClick the [Lookup] links for more information from Apple Support Communities.Click the [Details] links for more information about that line.Problem: Computer is too slowHardware Information: ⓘ    MacBook Pro (13-inch, Mid 2012)     [Technical Specifications] - [User Guide] - [Warranty &amp; Service]    MacBook Pro - model: MacBookPro9,2    1 2.5 GHz Intel Core i5 (i5-3210M) CPU: 2-core    8 GB RAM Upgradeable - [Instructions]        BANK 0/DIMM0            4 GB DDR3 1600 MHz ok        BANK 1/DIMM0            4 GB DDR3 1600 MHz ok    Handoff/Airdrop2: supported    Wireless:  en1: 802.11 a/b/g/n    Battery: Health &#x3D; Normal - Cycle count &#x3D; 665Video Information: ⓘ    Intel HD Graphics 4000 - VRAM: 1536 MB        Color LCD 1280 x 800Disk Information: ⓘ    APPLE HDD HTS545050A7E362 disk0: (500.11 GB) (Rotational)    [Show SMART report]        EFI (disk0s1 - MS-DOS FAT32) &lt;not mounted&gt;  [EFI]: 210 MB         (disk0s2) &lt;not mounted&gt;  [CoreStorage Container]: 499.25 GB        Recovery HD (disk0s3 - Journaled HFS+) /Volumes/Recovery HD  [Recovery]: 650 MB (84 MB free)    HL-DT-ST DVDRW  GS41N  ()USB Information: ⓘ     USB20Bus          hub_device              hub_device                 Apple Inc. Apple Internal Keyboard / Trackpad                 Apple Computer, Inc. IR Receiver                 Apple Inc. BRCM20702 Hub                     Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller      USB20Bus          hub_device             Apple Inc. FaceTime HD Camera (Built-in)      USB30Bus Thunderbolt Information: ⓘ    Apple Inc. thunderbolt_busVirtual disks: ⓘ    Internal HDD (disk1 - Journaled HFS+) /  [Startup]: 498.89 GB (483.47 GB free)        Physical disk: disk0s2 499.25 GB OnlineSystem Software: ⓘ    macOS High Sierra  10.13.1 (17B48) - Time since boot: about one hourGatekeeper: ⓘ    Mac App Store and identified developersSystem Launch Agents: ⓘ    [not loaded]    7 Apple tasks    [loaded]    188 Apple tasks    [running]    93 Apple tasksSystem Launch Daemons: ⓘ    [not loaded]    37 Apple tasks    [loaded]    182 Apple tasks    [running]    110 Apple tasksInternet Plug-ins: ⓘ    QuickTime Plugin: 7.7.3 (installed 2017-10-25)3rd Party Preference Panes: ⓘ    NoneTime Machine: ⓘ    Time Machine not configured!Top Processes by CPU: ⓘ       332%   kernel_task         8%   WindowServer         0%   System Information         0%   com.apple.WebKit.Networking         0%   deletedTop Processes by Memory: ⓘ    699 MB    kernel_task    635 MB    softwareupdated    553 MB    com.apple.WebKit.WebContent    485 MB    com.apple.WebKit.WebContent    365 MB    com.apple.WebKit.WebContentTop Processes by Network Use: ⓘ    Input     Output    Process name    663 KB    15 KB     mDNSResponder    445 KB    144 KB    com.apple.WebKit.Networking    4 KB      2 KB      apsd    4 KB      2 KB      netbiosd    0 B       256 B     SystemUIServerTop Processes by Energy Use: ⓘ      7.70 WindowServer      7.34 com.apple.WebKit.WebContent      0.84 com.apple.WebKit.Networking      0.38 SafariVirtual Memory Information: ⓘ    3.36 GB   Available RAM    987 MB    Free RAM    4.64 GB   Used RAM    2.39 GB   Cached files    0 B       Swap UsedDiagnostics Events (last 3 days for minor events): ⓘ    2017-11-15 22:19:33    EtreCheck.app Crash [Open]        Cause:        dyld: launch, loading dependent libraries

KdOfThePast · Answer

here is an etrecheck report:EtreCheck version: 3.4.6 (460)Report generated 2017-11-15 22:44:29Download EtreCheck from https://etrecheck.comRuntime: 21:21Performance: PoorClick the [Lookup] links for more information from Apple Support Communities.Click the [Details] links for more information about that line.Problem: Computer is too slowHardware Information: ⓘ    MacBook Pro (13-inch, Mid 2012)     [Technical Specifications] - [User Guide] - [Warranty &amp; Service]    MacBook Pro - model: MacBookPro9,2    1 2.5 GHz Intel Core i5 (i5-3210M) CPU: 2-core    8 GB RAM Upgradeable - [Instructions]        BANK 0/DIMM0            4 GB DDR3 1600 MHz ok        BANK 1/DIMM0            4 GB DDR3 1600 MHz ok    Handoff/Airdrop2: supported    Wireless:  en1: 802.11 a/b/g/n    Battery: Health &#x3D; Normal - Cycle count &#x3D; 665Video Information: ⓘ    Intel HD Graphics 4000 - VRAM: 1536 MB        Color LCD 1280 x 800Disk Information: ⓘ    APPLE HDD HTS545050A7E362 disk0: (500.11 GB) (Rotational)    [Show SMART report]        EFI (disk0s1 - MS-DOS FAT32) &lt;not mounted&gt;  [EFI]: 210 MB         (disk0s2) &lt;not mounted&gt;  [CoreStorage Container]: 499.25 GB        Recovery HD (disk0s3 - Journaled HFS+) /Volumes/Recovery HD  [Recovery]: 650 MB (84 MB free)    HL-DT-ST DVDRW  GS41N  ()USB Information: ⓘ     USB20Bus          hub_device              hub_device                 Apple Inc. Apple Internal Keyboard / Trackpad                 Apple Computer, Inc. IR Receiver                 Apple Inc. BRCM20702 Hub                     Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller      USB20Bus          hub_device             Apple Inc. FaceTime HD Camera (Built-in)      USB30Bus Thunderbolt Information: ⓘ    Apple Inc. thunderbolt_busVirtual disks: ⓘ    Internal HDD (disk1 - Journaled HFS+) /  [Startup]: 498.89 GB (483.47 GB free)        Physical disk: disk0s2 499.25 GB OnlineSystem Software: ⓘ    macOS High Sierra  10.13.1 (17B48) - Time since boot: about one hourGatekeeper: ⓘ    Mac App Store and identified developersSystem Launch Agents: ⓘ    [not loaded]    7 Apple tasks    [loaded]    188 Apple tasks    [running]    93 Apple tasksSystem Launch Daemons: ⓘ    [not loaded]    37 Apple tasks    [loaded]    182 Apple tasks    [running]    110 Apple tasksInternet Plug-ins: ⓘ    QuickTime Plugin: 7.7.3 (installed 2017-10-25)3rd Party Preference Panes: ⓘ    NoneTime Machine: ⓘ    Time Machine not configured!Top Processes by CPU: ⓘ       332%   kernel_task         8%   WindowServer         0%   System Information         0%   com.apple.WebKit.Networking         0%   deletedTop Processes by Memory: ⓘ    699 MB    kernel_task    635 MB    softwareupdated    553 MB    com.apple.WebKit.WebContent    485 MB    com.apple.WebKit.WebContent    365 MB    com.apple.WebKit.WebContentTop Processes by Network Use: ⓘ    Input     Output    Process name    663 KB    15 KB     mDNSResponder    445 KB    144 KB    com.apple.WebKit.Networking    4 KB      2 KB      apsd    4 KB      2 KB      netbiosd    0 B       256 B     SystemUIServerTop Processes by Energy Use: ⓘ      7.70 WindowServer      7.34 com.apple.WebKit.WebContent      0.84 com.apple.WebKit.Networking      0.38 SafariVirtual Memory Information: ⓘ    3.36 GB   Available RAM    987 MB    Free RAM    4.64 GB   Used RAM    2.39 GB   Cached files    0 B       Swap UsedDiagnostics Events (last 3 days for minor events): ⓘ    2017-11-15 22:19:33    EtreCheck.app Crash [Open]        Cause:        dyld: launch, loading dependent libraries

Tesserax · Answer

To help troubleshoot your Mac, I would suggest that you consider using EtreCheck and posting the resultant report for us to review.You can download EtreCheck from here.Start EtreCheck from a normal user account. Optionally, you can run it from a user account with Administrator privileges.Select OptionsVerify that the two options: "Ignore expected failures in Apple tasks" and "Hide Apple tasks" are enabled." Note: They should be by default. You can skip this step the next time your run EtreCheck.Select a problem from the drop-down menu to enable the "Start EtreCheck" button. Optionally, you can add comments on what issues your Mac is experiencing, especially to aide others with similar Mac issues.Click on Start EtreCheckAllow the program to run to completion.When done, you should get a results report.Select the "Share Report" icon.Select Copy ReportPaste the report to your reply post.

Tesserax · Answer

If kernel_task is using a large percentage of your Mac CPU - Apple Support

BobTheFisherman · Answer

Given it took over 21 minutes to run etrecheck which normally takes less than 5 minutes I suspect you have a failing hard drive.

KdOfThePast · Answer

Another issue is that the fan is always on and very loud.

KdOfThePast · Answer

Thank you for the advice, do you know specifically what kind of hard drive will fit in this laptop? I don&#x27;t think I have the budget for an SSD but a fast and reliable hard drive should work fine.

BobTheFisherman · Answer

You can check for available drives at OWC or Crucial.