I currently have 4GB in my MacBook Pro 13 inch, mid 2012. I want to upgrade to the max capacity of 8GB. Looking for options on what to buy and where?

Actually your MacBook Pro can support 16 GB RAM.

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

Apple specs are only 8 but that was at the time of purchase. However Mac's are very fussy about RAM, so only purchase quality modules. Crucial, and OWC are both reliable vendors.

Just as a sanity check, you're talking about the "Unibody" model? That would say A1278 on the bottom. There's also the mid-2012 MacBook Pro "Retina" with fixed RAM on the main board.

If it's A1278, then this one is probably the one that would be most recommended. It would also accept up to 16 GB. Apple officially says it only supports up to 8 GB.

Crucial 16GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR3 SDRAM Memory Module - 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) - DDR3 SDRAM - 1600 MHz DDR3-1600/PC3-12800 - 1.35 V…

Newegg does sell a lot of Mac specific memory. It's not necessarily any different than industry standard RAM modules, but the manufacturer will typically guarantee it to work with a list of compatible Mac models.

Macbook Pro RAM and Memory - Newegg.com

Best to buy RAM from reliable source with the exact specs.

Usually a lifetime guarantee on RAM from third party source like:

https://eshop.macsales.com/shop/apple/memory/

http://www.crucial.com/usa/en

If it user upgradable, Highly recommend sticking a SSD in there as well—it will be a new machine to you.

Look at the Macsales as well for storage.

MacBook Pro (15-inch Mid 2012), macOS (10.13.4), i7 480GB SSD 16GB RAM iPhoneSE iOS11.3 Parallels13.0.1, HP OfficeJet Pro 8620

I have the same MBP mid-2012 upgraded with 16gb ram and 500gb SSD.

loaded with dual boot boot camp and Sierra / Windows-10-Pro.

Has been working fine now for over 3 years. My daily driver.

My suggestions are:

If you are on a budget getting an SSD is more important than ram performance wise.

a 120gb SSD or larger.

4gb of ram is okay, 8gb is better, 16gb is just max.

I ran some tests and did not find any performance increase from 8gb to 16gb.

I use crucial ram

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B008LTBJFW/ref=sxts_sxwds-puwylo_rv_1?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIK X0DER&pf_rd_p=3534076942&pd_rd_wg=JDYQR&…

I agree about the reliability of Crucial and OWC. I have bought RAM for many of my Macs from both companies many times over the years. I'm typing this on my 2011 MacBook Pro maxed out to 16GB RAM from Crucial.

NewEgg is a good vendor in general, but as you found they are very PC focused. But since so many PC parts work with Macs, if you already know exactly what you want and NewEgg has it, they're good. I've bought hard drives and various accessories for my Macs at NewEgg. But not RAM.

Network 23 wrote:

I agree. 8GB RAM + SSD is the most productive upgrade for most people.

I have 16GB RAM because I am a heavy user of Photoshop and video editing, and I sometimes run a Windows virtual machine; 16GB RAM makes a difference there. But for most people there is not much difference between 8GB and 16GB.

However, for almost everyone, the real difference is better 4GB and 8GB, since 4GB is a little restrictive for a Mac today.

At this point it's a relatively inexpensive upgrade since the price of that type of RAM is inexpensive now. But back then when it was new (and with Apple's upgrade prices) it was something where it might be reasonable to put off any upgrade until the price went down. And the current prices of SATA SSDs just makes it extremely sensible to upgrade. And you can do it yourself with a few simple tools/instructions.

With the new Macs with permanent RAM/SSDs it's a lot harder making a decision on how much to get. The upgrades can be extremely expensive, and there's really no practical means to upgrade.

I agree. 8GB RAM + SSD is the most productive upgrade for most people.

I have 16GB RAM because I am a heavy user of Photoshop and video editing, and I sometimes run a Windows virtual machine; 16GB RAM makes a difference there. But for most people there is not much difference between 8GB and 16GB.

However, for almost everyone, the real difference is better 4GB and 8GB, since 4GB is a little restrictive for a Mac today.

alex7375 wrote:

4gb of ram is okay, 8gb is better, 16gb is just max.

I ran some tests and did not find any performance increase from 8gb to 16gb.

That really depends on how memory intensive the programs you run are. But you're right that increasing the RAM more than what you are actually using won't help performance. I'd venture that for just about anyone increasing RAM from 4GB to 6 or 8GB will make for a better user experience.