wrangler5 Loc: Missouri

I have a mid-2012 Macbook Pro. I upgraded it to 16GB of RAM when I bought it (on sale at Micro Center - got it to see why one of my kids was raving about Macs) and put a SSD in it a few years later. It has worked without issue since, and is running under Catalina, the most recent OS it will take.

It has mostly lived connected to its charger, and the battery no longer lasts very long - I know the general advice is to mostly run it off the battery and recharge only when low, but sometimes I want just pick it up and go and don't want to find it's practically out of juice, so I just left it plugged in.

Anyway, it is used almost entirely for email and web browsing, and as one of several daily image backup devices on trips. I haven't really done any image processing on it since I added a Mac Mini a year or two after I got it - that's where all the images end up, and processing and printing happen with Lightroom.

I've been inside the case several times, and understand I can replace the battery for <$100 (third party only, no Apple factory batteries left anywhere for this model). And while I'd pay $100 for this computer knowing its history, I'm wondering if there are things I'm not thinking about the keeping and using of an ever-ageing Mac laptop that should make me consider replacing it with a newer (or even new) model rather than spending even $100 on an update? I did not win the big lottery (I did have all but 6 of the winning numbers on my ticket) so money is something of an object, but I can figure out a way to save some up for a new laptop while I chug along with the old one and a weak battery for a while longer, if that makes more sense.

NMGal Loc: NE NM

One thing to consider is the lack of a cd drive and several ports on the newer machines.

wrangler5 Loc: Missouri

The CD isn't an issue any more, but the ports might be. Thanks for that.

BebuLamar

I would replace the battery.

wjones8637 Loc: Burleson, TX

Check out Other World Computing (OWC) (Mac Sales) they sell replacement nd upgrade part for Mac. They have good videos showing the steps for your specific machine. I have purchased several hard drive replacements and upgrades from them.

Bill

wrangler5 Loc: Missouri

OWC is one of the suppliers I found when I was looking to see if batteries were even available, once I found out Apple didn't have 'em any more. Lots of favorable reviews, but I did note that in one of their responses to a review complaining about short battery life they said that their batteries were only designed to last 12-18 months.

My original battery has 600 cycles, according to the computer's stats, and still works OK although it's not nearly as long-lasting as when new. But if a new one can only be expected to last up to 18 months, I may just wait until mine is more visibly closer to its last legs.

SteveR Loc: Michigan

That can be rectified for not much money at all with an external cd drive.

tcthome Loc: NJ

If it does what you need & want &, can get a replacement battery??? Why switch up. If the new M1 macs catch your fancy & you can afford them. Your choice. Anew M1 is pretty fast according to reviews & way longer lasting battery hours per charge if you need or want that. Your choice

ORpilot Loc: Prineville, Or

I had a MacBook Pro vintage 2009. I have gone through 2 batteries and one hard drive during it's lifetime. Battery replacement is easy. This past year the 2009 finally up and totally died. I felt it was well worth the $100 for replacement batteries. It was much easier spending the $100 for a battery that a thousand or more for a new MacBook. Although I would love a new M powered MacBook. But the stars have not aligned yet.

BurghByrd Loc: Pittsburgh

In addition to other comments made I'd only add the following. You have an intel CPU machine which is a high power consumption machine compared to the new M1 MacBooks. One of the advantages of the newer M1 MacBooks is much lower power consumption due to the RISC archetecture of the chip. This means much better battery performance and much less heat than the prior models. There are other refinements as well of course but unless you're having other problems with yours or the performance otherwise is no longer satisfactory I'd say the extra investment is probably not worth it but that's your call of course. Congratulations on developing the skils to maintain you own machine, you can install a new battery for much less moolah!

One last thought, you can buy a new one any time so the $100 battery would hardly be wasted if you only got another year. Look into third party Windows compatibility problems with the M1 archetecture if that applies to you.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

It may have use as an Intel Mac capable of running obsolete 32-bit versions of MacOS and software. We have one like yours we keep for such needs. But for daily use:

Get any Apple Silicon machine with 16 GB memory and 1TB storage for best results. You’ll need a few new peripherals, but it will AMAZE you. Watch MaxTech reviews on YouTube for details.

napabob Loc: Napa CA

I have one similar age. I replaced the battery with a ifixit battery and tool kit, but like burkphoto states, it's old technology so like he did, I purchased a new MacBook, it runs circles around the old one

Just Shoot Me Loc: Ithaca, NY

New MacBook pro as above with M1 chip. $2500.00.
New battery $100.00
Sure nice having the new MacBook.
Sure nice having $2400.00
You have to decide.

Ron

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

My 2020 M1 MacBook Air with 1 TB Storage and 16 GB Memory is plenty fast enough for Lightroom Classic, Photoshop, Final Cut Pro X, Office, and everything else I run. It was $1400 in the Apple Refurbished online store.

You don’t need the high end machines unless you make money with them daily. I’m a completely satisfied customer. 144 full size top quality JPEGs from 16.05 MP raw files in under a minute? Yep. Flawless render of 4K 44-minute ProRes video to H.264? Yep. Run Mail, Safari, Word, Lightroom Classic, Photoshop and Final Cut all at the same time? Yep.

It has no fans, so it’s silent. It got a wee bit warm exporting that video, but that’s the only time. No more Intel space heater!

Editing a slide show in Final Cut Pro X

(Download)