Bringing life back to an old Macbook PRO

In this post, I will talk about how I upgraded my old HDD to a cheap and fast SSD, and also upgraded and installed the MacOS onto the drive.

Back in 2012 I purchased an 13″ Macbook PRO, I used it heavily for many years but as time went on it got slower and slower to the point where it was replaced by a desktop PC and an array or laptops before onto my Surface Pro.

After leaving it wrapped in bubble wrap during my last 3/4 hour moves over the course of 4 years I finally decided to bring some life back to the machine and use it as a media center for my home entertainment downstairs to access my applications to download and stream, movies, tv, and music to the different systems I have set up in the house.

This guide assumes you will not be transferring data.

You will need:

Mid 2012 MacBook Pro (This will work with other macs but best to double-check)
USB to SATA connection – https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B011M8YACM/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
2.5 SSD drive – I purchased the one below as it was on offer at the time https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01N5IB20Q/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Screwdriver set including Torx T6 https://www.amazon.co.uk/Deyard-Precision-Screwdriver-Smartphone-MacBook/dp/B00DXZ5PE0/ref=sr_1_9?keywords=Torx+t6&qid=1565688617&s=gateway&sr=8-9

There are many different methods for actually installing macOS, the way I used was seemingly easiest but other alternatives are available such as by a bootable USB.

We’ll go ahead and boot up the Mac and once booted let’s plug our SSD into the adaptor and plug it.

Open disk utility and format the drive with a GUID partition map and macOS extended. Follow the onscreen instructions and once completed you can shut down the mac.

Let’s go ahead and remove the bottom of the mac. I’ll save typing this out again and just follow the removal guide posted here. Come back once you’re done. https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/MacBook+Pro+13-Inch+Unibody+Mid+2012+Hard+Drive+Replacement/10378

Now that we’ve installed the new SSD we can go ahead and boot up the Mac and we’ll need to enable trim, to do this open up terminal and enter the following