Breathe new life into an old MacBook with THIS upgrade

[@lukemiani]

Do you think modern Macs can be this long lasting in 12 years time? Also, check out my new merch if you enjoyed the video and want to support the channel! crowdmade.com/collections/lukemiani

[@FireAngelZero]

I have a 2010 MBP 17” with the anti glare screen. Outside of the fact it only runs High Sierra it’s still a really good, sturdy and solid machine. I now have a 2021 16” MBP, but I will still use my 2010 MBP when I need to play around with some apps that still don’t work on my M1 Pro.

[@johnnyboy55]

Guess we’ll know once 2034 arrives. 😊

[@TeamixlYT]

In order to boost performance i advise using toothpaste that has been recommended by 10/10 doctors as thermal paste.

[@vanCaldenborgh]

Yes, the low-end users will be content with the M1 max. Of course they will have to settle for low-res 8k videos. ;)

[@CommodoreFan64]

I have a recycle center rescued 13in Mid-2012 MacBook Pro, and as much as I don't like Apple because of their closed ecosystem, and anti-consumer right to repair stance, it's still a good machine with a new battery, 8GB of RAM, HDD cable, 120GB SSD, and Solus Budgie Linux installed on it, and it does nearly everything at 720p I could want of a daily non gaming machine if I ever need it, I just can't get the damn fan to spin correctly to keep it cool as I would like, so I don't use it for things like video editing. So yes IMHO you are correct about how machines are able to last so much longer now if you are not doing high end gaming, or high end work. Also yes even after Apples stops supporting the new M1/M2/etc.. machines I think there will be a lot of life in them with the fact the Linux community is doing some fantastic work, and even with the early results in some cases they are already making them faster than with Mac OS on them.

[@ordinaryalan]

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, you are one of the few tech reviewers who continuously explore the used Apple device market and consistently show that you don’t have to buy the newest and most expensive machines every time they come out. Mad respect to you Luke.

[@dimakonstanta1868]

Yes, absolutely!

[@dimakonstanta1868]

This is also why we love this channel

[@karcinor]

Totally, Luke is the better MKBHD!

[@ArulIrudayam]

The reason I keep coming back because this channel sets itself apart from the rest , good for the earth and good for my pocket.

[@IbuyMicrowaves]

Fr why are you wasting 2k pounds just for something that you can make yourself (2012 MacBook Pro Unibody) Obviously it's not as fast but it's still very capable

[@poker.4203]

Luke you are one of the few KZbinrs who encourage buying the old Macs. I still have my stock mid 2012 13 inch Pro base model. Got it from my dad a few years ago. It's amazing though it's starting to lag now. Either I'll get a ssd and ram upgrade or just buy the base model M1 Air. Great machines nonetheless

[@Wanted797]

Ssd will make that like new.

[@clorofilaazul]

You should definitely upgrade to an SSD. It will make a huge difference.

[@crawdaddy1600]

id get the base m1 air

[@chromaticvisuelle]

Or old thinkpads, they are excellent!

[@yuvrajharod5249]

Hey buddy, got your M1 then? or still working on the older 13inch? would you like to give it away by any chance?

[@fd3s7]

Luke, I'd love to see a video comparing everyday use on older versus newer Macs. Like time to boot up, time to get around in Safari, working with email, working with the basic Photos app, etc. - stuff lots of people do. Would be interesting to see the difference between the modern Macs and 8-12 year old models, especially with upgrades. I think it's provable that an older Mac is really just fine for MANY users that just want to do day-to-day usage, not doing video editing or 3D rendering.

[@SpencerYonce]

Dude, you are the only guy I know who is still showing us these awesome tricks for using our old laptops. I’m still using my 2012 MacBook Air 13”, I’ve replaced the battery, but it’s got flash storage and I use it literally everyday.

[@pythoneerssADOFAI]

what's flash storage?

[@dgpsf]

One more suggestion: Installing Linux on a decade plus old Mac can do wonders for speed. Modern mac OS is pretty painful on one of these, and old mac OS versions have started to lose things like support for current browsers. I actually installed Debian on one that I was thinking of scrapping and I run it 24/7 as a home server, mainly for Home Assistant! The CPU temps never go over 50 on it. When it was running mac OS the fans would spin frequently.

[@arekplewa599]

That's true, I use KDE Neon with the mtrack touchpad driver and it's fantastic, only thing I miss are gestures

[@bibasik7]

Fun fact: The RAM in 2010 15" and 17" MacBook Pros can only be upgraded to 8GB, while the RAM in the 2010 13" MacBook Pro can be upgraded to 16GB.

[@Thiccies]

Same with the 2010 unibody MacBook

[@TheTalonts]

Yes, since the 13 used a different GPU, sometime in the past that firmware was updated and it allowed 16GB, while the 15/17 was never updated in a like manner. I upgraded my mid-2010 13" MBP to 16GB not long after that was discovered, and that made that system usable far longer than it would have been with 8GB.

[@ibobeko4309]

I dont know how it is with Macs but Windows with 8gb ram is not enough.

[@TheTalonts]

@@ibobeko4309 - Just like any other systems, it entirely depends on what programs you run. I've got 4gb systems running Windows 7 and 10 just fine. But 16gb isn't enough for my daily laptop. Because I load it up with multiple memory hog apps. The new laptop will have 32gb.

[@mattnorton23]

I have the MacBook Pro (13-inch, Mid 2012) A1278 - can this handle the 16GB too? Or should I stick with the 8GB

[@gavinitka5759]

Hey Luke, I just did the same SSD upgrade with a free one from micro center to my 2011 15 inch macbook pro. Now it runs like a new computer! I love your videos.

[@erickondratieff4770]

There are few things more satisfying than taking an outmoded piece of electronic gear and restoring it to a high level of functionality. That’s why I love watching your videos, because I can’t spend as much time as you do doing these kinds of things, but I really enjoy them. Thanks for another awesome video!

[@pcc678]

I have a mid-2009 MacBook Pro, which has a Core 2 Duo processor. I paid $5 for it at a garage sale a couple years ago. It had no power supply so the guy didn't know if it worked or not. I bought a aftermarket PS for $15, and it worked. I then put in a 250GB SSD, which I bought at MicroCenter for $28. It had 4 GB RAM, and I didn't bother upgrading that. Now for the best part: I loaded Linux Mint ver 20.3 on it. It loaded and worked perfectly. It runs great, and is a perfect setup for web browsing, word processing, watching movies, and doing Arduino programming.

[@bazwillrun]

Was given a mid 2012 MBP , upgraded to Big sur ,16GB ram, 2 SSD and use it for everything ...only thing it struggles with is 4k vid editing which i hardly ever bother with anyway...no reason to ditch it whatsoever...

[@joe28753]

This is really amazing how usable these old Macs are, and for not much you can breathe some new life into them. That said, if you're really going this route, I would argue to break the budget a bit and splurge.. a 12 year old laptop, you're going to want or need a new battery. That alone would be about 100 bucks. Otherwise I agree - SSD and maybe a little RAM, you're good to go.

[@Mikenopolis]

I still love those generations of MBPs. Swap in an SSD, remove the CD/DVD drive and replace that space with a 2nd SSD or HDD.

[@平和-v1z]

This perfectly shows why upgradeability and repairability is very important!

[@erickmagnus]

I love this kind of video! I love shiny new things but I also love making sure we don't waste usable hardware.

[@STNKbone]

I bought a 2012 MBP with the hi-res anti-glare screen a few years back, and just recently upgraded to Monterey using the OpenCore patcher. Runs great, and that display holds up well. I do like the silver bezels on mine.

[@aarav4390]

I have the same thing , except I still run native Catalina

[@ramikii3762]

Is It Safe Cause I have an imac 2011 and i was thinking about doing it

[@aarav4390]

@@ramikii3762 I tried patching Big Sur on my Mac , and I accidentally clicked the restart button during the update . I lost all my files but the Mac still works (had to reinstall Catalina )

[@STNKbone]

@@ramikii3762 The whole process went surprisingly smoothly for me, and I've had no issues so far. But the OpenCore site mentions that older Macs without native Metal support have to jump through a few more hoops during install to get graphics working properly, so you may want to check first. The site has a chart showing which models are compatible and explains what extra steps are needed.

[@NicksLocker]

does it have an ssd? I had one of those, it was a 2009 17 inch one though with a core 2 duo, it still looked very sleek in 2019. i ended up switching to using windows 10 on it for a little while until i sold it.

[@gregordiseth6651]

Speaking of leveraging older Mac hardware, I'm running Monterey via OpenCore on my late 2013 MPB 15 with 8GB of RAM. It runs flawlessly, no load spikes or mad fan action, it's totally smooth! The machine is obviously slow by today's standards, but it is perfectly useable for 99% of everyday use. I didn't notice any slowdown after installing Monterey. If you don't plan on doing any video editing, or heavy photo editing, this is an option to explore to upgrade an older Mac without even opening it up.

[@rabbitofdeth]

I've been watching this channel for a couple of years now, and growing up primarily a windows kid, I wanted a mac. I love exploring old hardware and giving it new life. My first mac was one that you recommended. Now I'm onto an m1 mini, but these videos never fail to excite me. There's just something about old macs that gets me super excited. Longevity is important these days; it seems like each year that passes makes the previous systems obselete. Keep up the good work.

[@InTeCredo]

That's why I am still holding onto my Mid-2010 17" Macbook Pro and 27" iMac to this day...

[@DaciaSandero_1.5DCi]

Mate, I'm still rocking an i5-4590 (GPU is the iGPU) I'm just a Windows kid wanting an older Mac.

[@rajanipatil34]

There is a reason why it's called "Old Is Gold"

[@100sons]

the anti glare screen is indeed one of the best choice i did when ordering my 2011 unibody! It is the reason i still use my MB today for most of my tasks except for video editing and 3D. I really wish they would propose again this coating for the new ones!

[@martinlebl631]

Love that screen. But hard to find replacement, as all the replacement the shiny ones, so if you break it you are sort of screwed. (Edit: At least trying to find the 17 inch anti glare display.)

[@szatanica1]

Is the screen really that good? It seems that my 2011 original one is still great…

[@martinlebl631]

@@szatanica1 It is a very nice 1900 by 1200, so nice resolution, and good aspect ration, and the anti-glare makes it work well under variety of lighting conditions, which is useful in a laptop. If it wasn't for the dodgy graphics cards these 2011 17 inchers would be great machines still.

[@JohnSmith-ds7oi]

@@martinlebl631 That's the same resolution.

[@greylawson6352]

Would love to see some side-by-side comparisons at the end where you compare a startup test and normal use cases between the machine before any upgrades and after. That way we could really experience the full effect of the nicer screen, faster SSD, and better wifi in how it reshapes the experience. Great video though

[@GOML_Redd]

I have seen a few of these types of videos from you now and I think they are pretty valuable. I think the missing component is looking at things from a software perspective. Make a list of the top 5-10 apps that are still relevant in 2022 that would run on these machines. That would be a very interesting series.

[@ifiwantyoutofeel]

Probably none 💀 dual core ain't running shit

[@GOML_Redd]

@@ifiwantyoutofeel Objectively untrue. I was using a dual core 2013 MBP to start my video editing career and it made me enough money for me to buy an M1 last year. A LOT can be done on a dual core and MacOS. It’s got more legs than you think.

[@manufilms29]

I just got an early 2011 13” mbp. I’m totally delighted with it. Perfect for what I need. Speed is flawless, won’t do the 4k 10bit video editing I do with my M1, but except that battery goes for 5h, I got it already with 16gb ram, 240gb ssd, it’s amazing. I totally agree they are already good enough for most things, I never wanted the latest and greatest but what I needed for me. Same with the phone, just switched from a great xiaomi note 8 pro to iPhone 11. I don’t know, even they are so criticized, apple does things well, every detail. I,m a videographer, I can tell even though iPhones don’t have the most colorful images from camera, they have the best image, everyone else it’s just software improvement.

[@kyleboss]

I agree with everything he said but if you can afford it I would get the 2012 only because it has USB 3.0 and it should have a faster Wi-Fi card to begin with. If you can get it for the same price it is definitely worth the upgrade

[@sweettooth5962]

Is not more easy to get a USB wifi adapter instead change the whole antenna?

[@carsorsomethingidk]

I have an M1 iMac and I had a 2019 base 16 inch MacBook Pro. I sold the MacBook as I hardly touched it at all and used some of the funds to get my business further along. However I realized that having a laptop might be helpful when I go out of town and on vacation although that’s rather infrequent. Therefore since it would be sitting around unused most of the time I didn’t really feel like spending $2500 on a new 16 inch Pro. I bought a Mid-2010 17 Inch with a Core i7, 8GB of RAM and a 500GB HDD on eBay for around $330. I wasn’t sure if would work out as it’s a 12 year old computer, it actually is much more respectable than I expected. I normally just browse safari and do basic tasks (which if Miani’s video about a 15 inch MacBook Air does come into fruition, I would likely buy one instead of the 16 inch Pro, just as he stated in that video I bought it not because I needed the power, but I want a larger display) and this Pro does that honestly marginally slower it seems than the 9 year newer Pro did. Sure, it takes longer to start up but most of the time I don’t even power it off. It’s plugged in and in sleep mode on my desk. It honestly really made me realize how overkill that 16 inch was for what I was doing. I don’t feel the need any more at all to get the new 16 inch; this 17 inch does everything I want for about 85% off, it has a DVD drive if I need it, and much more ports. It also has the anti-glare display. In order to get the max out of it, I probably would put an SSD in it, but I’m not rushing to do that. I’m satisfied with it as it is.

[@Dogsnark]

I have a mid-2010 MBP and have already upped the RAM to 8g and replaced the HD with an SSD. It works just fine for my needs. But I’m very excited about the possibility of replacing the display! Mine is a 13inch so I hope that 13” replacement displays are also available. I wonder if the camera on the new display is also better than the original. I do a lot of Zoom, and the camera on this old machine is so poor. Thanks for doing this video.

[@maugarciag]

were you able to find the screen shown in this video? I cant find it for my 13" mpb 2010

[@lucasjuliancarballeira6392]

My mid 2012 13.3 inch mac is still going strong. Only updated the ssd and battery

[@skesinis]

I really liked this project Luke! Keep up with these, they’re really interesting! My take on my 2015 15 inch retina MacBook Pro was to repaste the CPU first, which made a 5 to 10 degrees C difference. Then a couple of years ago, I replaced the SSD with a high end at the time, 2TB Seagate Firecuda 510, which gave it a 2900MB/s read/write (or even more in some other benchmarks). This is on par with the 2019 16 inch Core i9 SSD, and it can still run Monterey! It had already 16GB of RAM (although not a discrete graphics card), so this makes it still a current machine for most of the work that I do, including software development. The difference with the 2014 15 inch retina MacBook Pro was at the PCIe lanes for the SSD, and also in the EFI: The 2015 model uses 4 PCIe lanes for the SSD, while the 2014 is using only 2, limiting the SSD performance to about 1650MB/s. Also when I used the 2TB Seagate Firecuda 510, I couldn’t install Windows 10 because the EFI wouldn’t boot from that SSD, but there was a solution for that: You can export the NVMe driver from the EFI of the 2015 model and import it to the 2014, allowing it to boot even from the Seagate. However, since it wasn’t going to use the extra speed, I replaced the Seagate SSD with a 2TB Crucial P2 NVMe 2280, which was supported by the existing EFI driver, so I could use Bootcamp for Windows 10 without modifications! Finally, last year I changed the batteries on both models in an Apple store, because, although they were still keeping more than 4~5 hours of juice, they were swelling, making them a potential fire hazard. Even though it’s not a cheap upgrade if done by Apple, they change the whole top part of the unibody, giving you a new keyboard, touchpad, along with an obviously unscratched unibody! I’d like to see if you could think of any other upgrade to the 2014 or 2015 model.

[@AKRover77]

I just sent my mid-2009 MacBook Pro 2.8GHz Duo Core with anti glare display to my mom who needed a computer. I maxed out the memory (8GB), replaced the original HDD with 500 GB SSD and added a second 1TB HDD in place of the optical drive as well as replaced the battery. I also used a patcher to upgrade the OS to Catalina. The computer is never going to set any speed records but for an 14 year old machine it does great and will handle everything mom needs from a computer. I upgraded to an early 2013 MacBook Pro (2.7 quad core i7, 16GB and 1TB SSD)

[@dcotai2902]

.... I followed your instructions and kept my 2011 macbook.. Works fine no need to by M1... Can skip M1 for now... Thank you so much..

[@zaclaramay]

Still daily driving a 2012 15" MacBook Pro with an upgraded screen, 16GB of RAM, and the duel hard drive mod. Honestly it's probably the best Apple laptop of all time.

[@CashmereSky]

M1 Pro / Max has entered the chat

[@zaclaramay]

@@CashmereSky will see how those things are doing in ten years. To early to tell what the long term reliability is yet. The CPU and design is really nice though.

[@CashmereSky]

@@zaclaramay Haha I suppose. I had a 2011 15" MBP with the anti-glare screen like this video. It was a fantastic computer, maxed out ram and 512GB SSD too. Ran like a champ. Upgraded to Mid-2015 Retina... then just sold for a 16" M1 Pro

[@HVDynamo]

Same here, only I still kept the optical drive. It has most definitely been the best laptop I've had by a large margin. The battery even still lasts 2 hours or so an it's the original! I'm really happy I went with the "hi-rez" screen back in the day. I still don't understand why that just wasn't the standard resolution for it. The normal resolution was garbage even for the time.

[@Alex-yj9xl]

@@zaclaramay I don't think it will be as good. With terrible upgradability (non-existent), and it being even more locked down, and terrible repairability, so if anything fails it just is dead, it wont be as good :/

[@Doyle69]

I just got a 2011 Macbook pro 15" with an Anti Glare screen with speculation of faulty Logic Board for £28 ($35.44), I currently have a 2012 Macbook pro with couple issues, screen dying and a speaker blown, when it arrives i'll transfer the logic board over to the 2011 along with the wifi and Bluetooth card and I'll then have a Macbook Pro 2011-2012 15" Edition

[@Marngel]

If only the M1 Macs were this upgradeable. My MacBook Air maybe excellent right now. But if anything fails on it like the SSD or any component, it would basically become useless. Granted, the odds of that are really low, especially for models with upgraded components. But the chance is always there. SSDs are a consumable part like the battery and while you can replace the battery somewhat easily in the newer M1 Macs, you can't do that with their SSDs

[@matthewjbauer1990]

If I could swap RAM, SSD, and install x86 Windows on an M1 (dual boot), I may consider an M1 MBP or MBA. Until then, I will stick to using Thinkpads.

[@AlMarche90]

I recently bought a damaged 15" 2012 as a project, and while it's still not there (missing SSD and high-res display), it's surprising how well it holds up. It's running Monterey with OCLP.

[@ianhumphrey7218]

Hey, I watched this video on a 2010 MBP, it's the computer I have used almost daily since I bought it all those years ago. 😊

[@danaeckel5523]

Ohh wow, this is a very handy video I stumbled upon. I have a Mid-2012 model that still has the DVD drive. I have a 1TB SSD, and 16GB of ram I installed over time as prices fell. I did not know about the screen and how easy it is to replace. I know my next upgrade, and it will be VERY soon! Thank you!

[@RA10Premium]

Reminds me of a chunky MacBook Air with a better display. Does anyone remember those bezels??

[@plentyofpaper]

An upgrade I gave my mom's old 13" Macbook was swapping the DVD drive out for an extra hard drive. It required a special caddy, but if you don't use the optical drive, and happen to have a spare 2.5" hard drive laying around, I think it's a nice feature. This was especially helpful dealing with her massive photos library.

[@ReneDelfgou]

Just replaced the battery in my trusty 2012 MacBook Air. It is still working remarkably well. Slow to boot up, but once started, just don’t turn it of 😉

[@lysanatt]

May I ask where you got the battery? I take it it is not original, and it seems like hit and miss, getting one that works properly. Asking for a friend, that is my old MBAir '12.

[@allanfagerlund7112]

Thanks! Watching this episode I just remembered having a non-working 2011. I found it in the pile and sure enough it had a silver bezel. Now my cheapo typewriter 2010 has an updated high(er) res screen and better network card. Best of all, 30 min fun tinkering with free electronics on a Sunday morning 😁

[@Ashleyyyyy666]

if you want to make these old Mac's last even longer, you can install Linux on them. that way you're running an up to date OS still. i'd love to see this concept explored in a video.

[@shaocaholica]

Linux is fine for some ppl but not good if you’re going to give the machine to your mom or something.

[@Ashleyyyyy666]

@@shaocaholica what do you mean? if i set it up for my mom, like, if i installed Linux, installed chrome etc for her she'd probably have no idea that it was linux. she just clicks on the chrome icon to get on the internet.

[@andrewwojtas8486]

@@shaocaholica for most regular people who just do normal tasks, like writing doctors, browser tasks and such, most modern linux distros are fine

[@shaocaholica]

Sure that will work for that one use case. If you live with or close to your mom for support. The moment she goes to do something else or something breaks you’re on the hook for support. No one else will be realistically able to help her within her circle of reach.

[@jameslenney]

I’d love to see this, too. Can you install Linux on a Mac or is it just an idea?

[@TimJacksonOriginal]

Strangely enough I'm doing almost exactly this with a couple of old Macs at the moment. I've only gone for a RAM and SSD replacement, but even that has made them feel like new machines. The first of them is a 2007 Black polycarbonate MacBook which can't run anything newer than OSX 10.7 (Lion) so instead has been set up running Ubuntu Budgie 22.04. Given that it's already a 15 year old machine when I write this with the 22.04 release having long term support for 2 years and considering the laptop will probably still be within minimum system requirements for the next major LTS release of Ubuntu I'm thinking it may still be a usable machine for basic browsing and email tasks up to its 20th birthday! Boot time to desktop (including typing password at login screen) is now about 50 seconds... Pretty impressive for decade and a half year-old tech running an operating system released 2 months ago. The second machine is a mid 2009 MacBook Pro, the last of the Core2 Duo machines. Officially you can only take it up to 10.11 (El Capitan) due to HFS+ limitations in its architecture, but unofficially, thanks to DosDude1 (look him up) writing custom support for APFS drives you can get Catalina to run pretty flawlessly. This machine maxxes out at 8gb RAM, but a cheap 500gb SSD gives it plenty of scatchdisk headroom for the future. Another machine with a useful lifespan extension of 4 or 5 years, and then it will probably follow the Linux path to keep it running even further into the future.

[@inspirationtoday7550]

Hey Luke . the MacBook pros from 2011 , do you notice a difference in performance compared to one from 2013 . I'm asking because I heard the 2011 models still didn't have hyper threading technology , but the ones just two years later around 2013 did.

[@ultraviolettp3446]

Once again, you prove why your channel is the best when it comes to covering Fruit company content. You don't just act breathlessly over rumors and speculation about new Fruit. You cover and respect older (and better) Fruit company products and show how to use them in the modern world. I have acquired and upgraded 2, mid 2012 13 inch MacBook Pros with dual SSD's (one OS and one data) along with 16 gb of ram. Both are remarkable in how they are nearly brand new looking and are still good computers to do daily things. I became interested because of you and I want to thank you for your continued coverage of older Fruit hardware. Kudos to you!

[@iCaveDave]

Silver bezels makes it look like the ultimate MacBook Air from the time!

[@rbstorms]

My personal MBP I use is this same model, with the same upgrades you suggest here. Works great. I work for a school district that used to be an Apple shop, but has gone Chromebook and Windows. There are still users of 8-12 year-old iMacs, MacBooks, and MBPs that we are having to forcibly remove them from the users, only because they have been deemed security risks due to not running current OS and security software. Because of software (Renewed Vision's ProPresenter) I've purchased in the past running on my personal machine, I'll bring it in for special programs. I ran our Baccalaureate program, and the 12 year-old MBP ran flawlessly.

[@alialo2529]

It would be interesting to see a video like this on the 2006-2007 MacBooks; so many of them were made, which are now sitting in closets due to the limited knowledge on what can be done to bring them back to life/making them usable.

[@BengtRonning]

Likewise, I have a macbook from 2006, the black plastic machine, with a beautiful keyboard I would love to bring back to life.

[@05Forenza]

12:19 I have a 2010 MacBook Pro with the anti-glare display. I am a HUGE proponent that when you buy tech, buy the absolute best you can buy. It helps to future proof yourself to some extent. I still use my MacBook Pro at least a few times a month. Nothing intense anymore (I used to game on it). I upgraded the HDD to an SSD which made it lightyears better. Still boots quick, very minimal lag on anything normal. I think I spent $75 on a 256gb SSD 5 years ago.

[@johnb.wessels2115]

This is exactly the reason why I bought a mid 2013 MacBook Air with an i7 and 8Gb ram. I paid in total €170,- including the upgrade. I upgraded it with an 256 GB M2 apple ssd and divided it in two. One partition with MacOs big sur, the other with windows 10 via boot camp. So I have the best of both worlds

[@johnb.wessels2115]

I also have an 15 inch MBP with the matte screen. Unfortunately I can only install windows 7 with boot camp. Not sure if I'll replace the superdrive with an ssd bay.

[@Andreas_Straub]

I also still use and love my mid 2012 15" Retina MacBook Pro. Upgraded the WiFi/Bluetooth card to 802.11ac and Bluetooth 4LE a while ago. It has 16GB of RAM and a SSD, which I upgraded many years ago to 1TB (transcend). It is powered by a 2.6GHz Core i7. This machine runs everything I need it for as good as when it was "new". Even the battery still works for a few hours(!). Absolutely no need to upgrade to a new machine.

[@DodoKing187]

I would've easily paid a 1000 bucks more on the new MBP if it had the anti glare coating on the XDR display. I miss the times when Apple was actually thinking of professionals and giving options to the screens.

[@damianbergreen]

I have a MacBook Pro from 2010 That I upgraded with 10GB of RAM, a 120GB Samsung SSD, and I installed MacOS Big Sur on it. It runs AMAZING

[@adenovirus.]

Russian expansionism? NATO expansionism may be more appropriate.

[@Core-Truth]

Hi Luke, I just upgraded to a new MacBook M1 Max 16GB but I did not get rid of my (Mid 2010) 15-inch Macbook Pro with the dual-core Intel i7 2.66GHz processor. It not for the fact that we expanded our business to produce media content I would have milked it for 12 more years! I going to keep it to use the CD-ROM drive to rip music CDs into my Roon library but now I see it being useful for other things in the home. It runs High Sierra macOS and I upgraded it some years ago to a 1TB SATA SSD. It has 8GB of DDR3 memory and I originally ordered it from apple in 2010 with the non-glare screen (I love the silver bezel look). The only upgrade I need is the wireless card you mentioned. It runs a bit hot so I'll be doing the thermal paste upgrade as well.

[@Gonzalez_Films]

We seen this video 1000 times luke

[@alexpieyt]

this is why you subscribe to Luke Miani

[@Gonzalez_Films]

@@alexpieyt his videos were different back then now it’s almost like a repeat of same stuff in a different way lol

[@jameslenney]

Chill, babe.

[@szatanica1]

I absolutely agree that they pass the test of time and are still fabulous. I actually have just bought a new Mac mini m1 a month ago or so and till then I was using my 2011 MacBook Pro. Ive done all the upgrades to id - ssd, old hd instead of cd rom, 16Gb, new thermal paste, speakers, fixed a broken fan (which was seriously the ONlY thing that ever broke). I havent done the screen. Didnt find a need. Now im thinking of trying to install monterey on it. So Yes, lets revive! Our basic needs have not changed at all, so as soon as we can deal with this „I want new new new” tendency we’re all good with older stuff. And I actually really enjoy the upgrading process:)

[@MikeBeeTV]

I'm still using a 2014 MacBook Pro and a 2012 Mac Mini. The MacBook Pro is my daily driver for Ruby on Rails development and my Mac Mini is an i7 quad-core, 8 thread, 32GB, 1TB SSD beast. The upgrades on the Mini I installed myself of course. With the MacBook Pro I use an awesome 100% mechanical keyboard with blue Gateron switches and a logitech MX master 3S mouse (trackpads suck).

[@jojomon5]

I'm running a 2011 iMac on the sales counter of my wife's flower shop. Only upgrade is the RAM from 4GB to 12GB. The Mac runs smoothly as a POS and all the admin tasks. I won't do photo nor video editing on this iMac, but most of what we do is web based and both Safari and Chrome browsers on this machine keep up just fine. So my iMac is not quite 12 years, but almost there! Great content Luke!

[@marvruona1453]

I upgraded my 2012 15" 2.6 GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i7 unibody MacBook Pro with the matte high-resolution screen and I love it! This is my daily use computer and it handles everything I need it to do, including Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator and lots of web surfing. I actually bought this computer based on Luke's recommendation about the unibody MBPs. Thank you Luke for your continuing support for the older MacBook Pros!

[@WarriorsPhoto]

I would say knowing how good that screen is. That it is the number one upgrade. Good work on making this old computer useful again. (:

[@Fallout75]

Prior to my 16” M1 Pro MacBook Pro, I was and still use my non-retina 2012 MBP with maxed out ram and SSD, haven’t tried to patch it or upgrade Airport… Hmmm 🤔

[@maxklein2057]

Bought a 2012 Retina 15'' used and it still runs beautifully even after 10 years! I love It!!! ❤

[@WhittyPics]

I had a 2009 and a 2012 MBP and I put SSDs in both of them and while a SSD will drastically shorten bootup time and program load times, they don't speed up the actual speed of the computer, unless you are running a program thats uses a lot of disc access. I had DVD ROM drives in both of mine and the main reason I sold my 2009 and went to the 2012 was to get 16GB of RAM.

[@The_Hero_Is_Back]

I've a 2012 13" MBP - gave it a 16GB and a 1TB ssd upgrade over the years. It runs 10.15.7 and it got a security and browser update in Feb this year so still just about supported. I'd agree: buying an SSD and 8GB of RAM will do a lot more for performance than pairing 16GB of RAM with a hard disk drive. I wish I'd bought the SSD earlier. What will we have in 12 years time? Don't know, but 12 years ago, I was still using a 2004 G4 iBook with a 2006 Intel iMac, so maybe Intel Macs will still be useful. (And there will still be a few G5 users somewhere!).

[@ramikii3762]

I have an 2011 imac and im still happy while using it

[@hypergl6974]

Just resuscitated my mid2012 15 inch macbook pro with AG screen... The chip delivering power to the discrete graphics died and after disabling the graphics I can use this machine for quite some serious work for the 10th year... Battery still good for 1 hour of browsing, the keyboard is enjoyable, the screen more than adequate, fast enough to process most things I throw at it (of course no video editing in real time). One of the best buy of my life... 10 years and still going!

[@QUANTUMJOKER]

I have a Late 2012 Retina Macbook Pro. While it's not as user-serviceable as its predecessors (the RAM is soldered onto the motherboard), it can still take aftermarket SSDs using a simple adapter, and it feels extremely fast and capable. Even my 2008 first-gen Macbook Pro feels snappy, and I love the case design and huge assortment of ports. I actually installed dual SSDs in my 2008 Macbook Pro: a 500 GB 850 EVO SSD in the hard-drive bay, and a 480 GB Intel SSD in the optical drive bay using a disassembled SATA-to-PATA adapter (I had to take it apart so that the PCB would fit).

[@ToddEvans1964]

This is a fun video, and I love the silver bezels! They are my favorite thing about the mid-2010's generation of MacBook Airs.

[@mikhaillastname8719]

Thermal paste lasts a long time, but if it hasn't been changed, it definitely should be. It takes around 7-10 years for it to degrade. If your Mac runs slow, check the CPU load in Activity Monitor. There will be a process called kernel_task or something similar. In case of overheating, it throttles the CPU by grabbing processor time to do nothing. So, if you see high activity from this process, that's a good signal to reapply thermal paste. You could also install a fan and temperature monitoring app like Fanny to confirm the situation, though it may lag behind due to the same kernel_task process kicking in to prevent overheating.

[@Revlrt1964]

I have a 2008 MacBook aluminum. I recently had to replace the cord due to fraying. A few years ago I doubled the ram and installed an ssd. It still works pretty well but a lot of external apps now won’t work with the old hardware. However it works for what I need it to do. Amazing longevity as far as I am concerned and I’d get another Mac without question.

[@rickyt11010]

I love my 2012 15inch MBP. Maxed the ram, 512gb ssd, and installed Monterey with OCLP and it runs like a dream. I did have some problems with the auto keyboard backlight not working (would light up just not auto adjust) but what seemed to fix that was installing Catalina and then upgrading to Monterey. I want the high res screen but not a big fan of the silver bezels, makes it looks like an oversized MacBook air.

[@99Technetium]

Recently upgraded from a 2012 15” 2.6GHz. I did swap to a Hi-Res display, but mine was glossy. Also did the obligatory SSD install (a dual drive setup with a Sabrent adapter), but Apple killed Software RAID with APFS on the Unibody MacBook Pros so it was just a unified volume. Now have a maxed 2015 Retina 15 with a 2TB m.2. Paired with a Thunderbolt Display for desk work it’s a solid setup.

In 2010 I bought such a machine, did so many things with it, so many gigs as a VJ. I almost loved this machine, it was my daily companion until it was unfortunately stolen in March 2016. The anti-reflective coating was absolutely great and also looked good.

[@deheckler]

Kool maybe I give that Screen a try on my 2012 Retina that went to BSOD on Black Friday!!

[@glennmckenzie1096]

Watched this on a 'mid-2010' 17" i5, with an upgraded 1tb SSD, and it's original 1920 x 1200 resolution. It happily runs Logic Pro 10.4.8. I'm only going to upgrade if I can work out the logistics of networking it (and my 2008 Mac Pro) to an M1 to use all my music apps/interfaces etc.

[@ElNeroDiablo]

I've got a mid-2010 Macbook A1342 (C2Q P8600 2.4GHz) that I got back in 2015, dropped 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 SO-DIMMs in, replaced the battery, and been running for about 7 years since as my daily-driver when away from my main gaming desktop. I'm just saving a bit of cash to get some decent 2.5" SSD's so I can replace the old 5400RPM HDD and the seemingly-non-functional Superdrive in it (got a mount for a 2.5" drive to sit in place of the Superdrive, using the funk connector the Superdrive uses) and rebuild it with a fresh OS as it does what I need of a laptop nowadays without the bloat that Windows has been shoving down our throats in the past 12 years.

[@user-ml8tm5bi4e]

I have been using a Mid 2011 iMac 27", 32GB - 1TB for all these years. (I also have a Mid 2011 Macbook Pro 16" 16GB 1TB). It is still a great configuration. If I were to buy a new one in Brazil, I'd spend at least USD7,780 on a MacBook Pro 16". I can't upgrade the new iMac 24" to 32GB, unfortunately. So far, the only annoying thing on my iMac is the fan sound. But it works great with Photoshop and Luminar. When you buy a new iMac in Brazil, you will give another iMac to the Brazilian Government in taxes. Not my cup of tea.

[@10cFILM]

Just found this video very informative, thanks Luke. As I have a 2011 MacBook pro 15 inch with icore 7 with a bad screen, I was contemplating whether to replace it or put the money for a new m1/m2 Macbook air. After watching this, I might try to find a 30 dollars display. The only downside of my MacBook is the speaker easily broken, changed once and it broke again. Another disadvantage is it has only usb2 ports which when transfer files it's pretty slow.

[@mariodasilva8729]

Not many people would have this one as compared to the 2012 i7 MBP 15", but I like your idea of self-service and UPGRADING existing units just to keep them away from the Junkyard, if possible. Unfortunately, I still have my 17", and my 15" Powerbooks, not to mention a white iBook... Still in their original boxes, and barely working. Love it!

[@HB-Productions]

Will say thermal paste and a good clean internally before doing any upgrades. As 12 year old paste and dust will have detrimental impacts on the system. Thermal Paste from any good brand shouldn’t need to be replaced frequently. MX-4 or MX-5 is always a strong option.

[@bfapple]

100% agree. My MacBook Pro 2012 is long overdue.

[@DinodogJr]

There’s are many times I wanted to sell off my MBA 2012, 11 inch. The Apple glows logo is too attractive and still a cool classic to me in any times I looking at it. Still keeping it in this year 2022.

[@michellek6533]

I have and old laptop with a roller ball, it still works. Since you asked I like the black bevels but the non-glare higher res screen is great. I have a 2010 MBP and will add up the SSD and such with an iFixit tool set and see if it makes sense May not bother with the screen or antenna. It's good to have to run older programs with no updates I don't need to buy new or on subcription. Thank you so much for this Luke.

[@brianhuebner8190]

Great information. Thank-you. Let’s stop throwing out perfectly usable hardware. Personally’ I have used my old Macs by installing Linux Mint. It’s like you have a super fast, brand new machine. Consider switching.

[@soothingunboxing7129]

wrt to design longevity of Apple, Diether Rams's timeless design aesthetics permeated apple via his influence on Jony Ive.

[@andrewpayne3298]

throw a nice linux distro on there and that makes a huge difference done it a few times on old macs brilliant upgrade

[@mynameisdrpat]

I get it if you need to run intensive software, especially if you make money off it. for the rest of us, upgrading your laptop again and again won't make you type faster or better, you won't be opening 100 power point windows either.

[@tomasjones3755]

Nice vid & I agree. I have 2 Macbooks; both 2012 15" w Hi-Res Matte displays. One is a 2.6 ghz and the other is the option order 2.7 ghz. They are quite amazing, especially for their age

[@Derision667]

I have the same mid-2012 15" machine, albeit *without* the matte display (honestly, 1440x900 doesn't bother me much: it's still a lot nicer than the 1280x800 of the 13", which I've also got). It has 16GB of RAM, 4TB total of SSD space (I removed the optical drive and replaced it with dual 2TB SSDs); I have a Thunderbolt PCIe expansion chassis with a USB 3.2 gen 2 card, and two Belkin Thunderbolt 3 docks. Using OpenCore and Kryptonite, I'm running Big Sur and running an external Radeon RX 580 (the funny thing is that Big Sur actually runs better, and throws better benchmarks, on this machine than Catalina does, which was the last officially supported OS). This thing drives four monitors on its own; with the eGPU and Thunderbolt expansions, it's like an entirely new machine and easily hangs with my Ryzen-powered Windows gaming rig (significantly outperforming it, in some cases). When Big Sur support is dropped next year, I'll upgrade again to Monterey, buying myself at least one more year of software support and, depending on whether they figure out the kinks of getting Ventura running well -- I am hoping by the time Monterey is dropped, that I'm happy enough with Apple's offerings that I might consider a new machine, but so far, I just can't let go of this one. It's fast, reliable, and can still do plenty of heavy lifting (I run the IT department of a not-for-profit and this is my main portable machine, and while at home and on my desk with all its Thunderbolt expansion goodness and dual Cinema displays, it does quite a bit of video and audio editing). All on a machine I got for sixty bucks off eBay. So you're absolutely right: they are quite amazing for their age. I'll keep mine chugging along, and wish you luck with yours as well!

[@weyoun6535]

I have an old 2011 macbook pro 17" i7 & it makes an excellent batocera machine, sound, wifi, Bluetooth all work whereas they don’t on my 2017. The 2011 does have radeon failure issues though so maybe go for the 2012 unless it has had the chip replaced. I paid a shop to replace the one in mine years ago.

[@cnapoli]

I had one of these with the antiglare display as my main Mac until last year! One thing to look out for with MBPs of this vintage is the discrete NVidia video cards could start to fail and cause kernel panics and the Mac will randomly reboot. Apple had a program to replace the logic boards in affected MBPs, and my Mac was fine until it wasn't. Unfortunately Apple was out of replacement logic boards so I wasn't able to have mine replaced. A workaround is to pin the Mac to its integrated graphics card using a third party utility; my Mac creeped along in this state for another few years, then kernel panics started happening during reboots and I decided it was finally time to replace the old girl with a M1 Macbook Air.

[@agusorellana5551]

I think I got an absolute score with a late 2011 with the graphics issue solved by gmux bypass, 8gb of ram and 240gb ssd and a charger, for 180 dollars as my secondary machine. And it’s in great shape

[@mattives29]

I've built a couple hackintoshes but it was your channel and how well you encourage the used apple market that this last February I bought a 2012 macbook pro off ebay for $250. The thing is in amazing condition, all I have done so far is clean the logicboard and upgrade from 8 to 16 gb of ram. It came with a 256 gb ssd. I was an adamant anti-apple person but this macbook without a doubt is the best computer I have ever owned or made...and I have made a lot. I'm going to look into the screen upgrade, I didn't know it could be done. I am also looking at getting my wife a 2015 or 2017 (depends on price) Imac. Thank you for the nice videos and help.

[@icsunonove72]

Yes, it's a good idea, I'm still watching your vids on a MBP mid 2009 with a SSD and 8 gigs of RAM. It's good enough for what I'm doing. But I will take big leap forward any month soon and buy me some M-chipped macbook and hope that that one will last at least 10 years as well.

[@SwingingChoke]

Great video. I have a 09 13” 11 17” and 12 13” all have ssds and max ram 16gb on 11 17” and 12 13” display upgrade on 11 17” these machines out lasted all my retinas MacBooks. My retina MacBooks all died with motherboard failure from overheating. I’ll never ever by another MacBook again. But I’ll keep my 09-12 for as long as they still function.

[@BlaxkRaven02]

going on 15 years of being a tech savvy guy. Back then being a 13 yr old until I turned 20 last phone was Huawei Nexus 6p. Along as my current device still works to perfect. No need to upgrade until it breaks or has more issues back to back.

[@jesusangelaguinaga4044]

Well, I had a dual core from 2008 til 2 years ago. And the only reason I got rid of it was because the logic board died. Now, not a mac but I still have a Dell Latitude 6540 from 2014 and still running like a charm with windows 11. The only upgrade I have done to it is the replacement of the hdd to ssd. Just mention it to confirm what you have just presented here. Computers have become a lot more long lasting.

[@ChickenBG7]

I’m still using a 2004 17” PowerBook G4 as my main laptop mainly for web browsing and it works fine

[@ElohAraphel]

My MacBook Pro is from mid-2012, i still use it to this day as my primary and only computer. I had the disk drive removed and replaced with an SSD, i also maximised the RAM, it works great considering i’m a graphic designer (a very poor one) and i use very heavy apps sometimes together, i never had a problem with apps freezing or force quitting, the battery lasts about 2 hours, which is fine but I really hope to be able to buy a new one soon though, i don’t know how long it will survive, it’s 10 years old, and i would like to be able to upgrade to the new macos, i’m stuck on Catalina.

[@lewisw.6768]

Hi, and I’ve just inherited a 27” 2013 iMac, 3.2 Ghz, 16/1TB (Mojave) and it works perfect . - . My normal daily workhorse is a 13” 2015 Retina MacBook Pro, 2.9 Ghz, 16/256 (Big Sur) - and it works perfect, too. The questions: which of these machines should I use as my daily desktop driver? And is it worth keeping them both?

[@kingneutron1]

If you don't want to replace the internal drive, you can buy a Samsung T5, use Carbon Copy Cloner to clone your OS to it, and boot right off the USB2.0 port. It's a little slower due to being limited to ~30MB/sec but still quite usable, I did that on a 2008 iMac that had a bad internal 320GB drive. The good feeling you get when rescuing older equipment like this from recycling is great, Core i5 is "good enough" for the average mom-n-pop user.

[@Dave-jj3fk]

I bought an early 2015 MacBook Air, I was looking to upgrade it to a 2.2ghz core i7, 8gb of ram logic board and a 1tb ssd from the sorry excuse of specs that apple released my model with. I added the price of those upgrades against buying the same spec model from online from either people or a company. It would cost $700 (this is including how much I paid for the MacBook from Facebook marketplace) compared to 750+ for what people are trying to sell the specced up model at so either way I’d either save money or pay about what I would’ve paid if I bought it and honestly using it stock isn’t even that bad as people say I’ve been stressing the heck out of it

[@gangsterboy81]

15 inch mid 2010 MacBook Pro was my first MacBook that I bought. of course second hand.. I had only installed an ssd and 8gb ram on it.. with the antiglare display, it looks so beautiful, I want to buy it again and do all the upgrades by myself 😂