Mid-2012 MBP Retina - obsolete?

[workerbee]

If there's ever been a thread here that has piqued my curiosity, it's this one.
Wondering what horrible things I'd have to to my mid-2012 Retina MBP with 354 cycles, 87.9% battery capacity remaining, for it to somehow qualify for a rMBP 2017 replacement
(besides re-replacing the jet drive with the original Apple SSD of course).

 

[Jamalogo10]

Yep. You should check out Reddit. Threads go back go back about a month now. A lot of people who have brought their laptops in mostly get a new refurbished 2015 model or a 2016 touch bar model. A select few got the 2017.

If I owned the 2012 model, I wouldn't hesisitate to take it in. But you would need the battery to be 80% or below.

I have a mid 2012 15in MBP. About how many cycle should my computer read in order to bring it in?

Additional info: I dropped my computer a while back and the unibody got dented but I believe it's only cosmetic. Do you think this would void my opportunity to receive the 2015? And therefore should I get the body fixed then send it in a second time for the battery? I attached an image below

 

[TonyK]

If there's ever been a thread here that has piqued my curiosity, it's this one.
Wondering what horrible things I'd have to to my mid-2012 Retina MBP with 354 cycles, 87.9% battery capacity remaining, for it to somehow qualify for a rMBP 2017 replacement
(besides re-replacing the jet drive with the original Apple SSD of course).

My perspective is to tell you how to "abuse" your system would be wrong because you are only looking for a free upgrade, not to get a failing system repaired. That is the intent of the Apple program, to replace bad and failing batteries. If people abuse the program then Apple may not do such things in the future. It would be a loss for all Apple users.

I have a mid 2012 15in MBP. About how many cycle should my computer read in order to bring it in?

Additional info: I dropped my computer a while back and the unibody got dented but I believe it's only cosmetic. Do you think this would void my opportunity to receive the 2015? And therefore should I get the body fixed then send it in a second time for the battery? I attached an image below

That looks like a serious fall. It might be cosmetic but it could certainly put a wrinkle in trying to qualify. How is your battery holding out? How may charge cycles has it had and what is the current maximum charge it can take and hold?

 

[workerbee]

My perspective is to tell you how to "abuse" your system would be wrong because you are only looking for a free upgrade, not to get a failing system repaired.

Don't worry, that was not really meant seriously.

I had a pretty bad experience with Apple with my wife's 2012 Retina MBP, where the battery was in fact failing, and which had a pretty bad case of the screen coating problem. When I called Apple to ask about what to do, I unfortunately was three days out the halfway secret or quite hard-to-find repair program, and Apple did not budge. They didn't even have the courtesy of calling me back to say "no", after I spent more than two hours on the phone with them, and documented it all extensively by mail.
At a local Apple reseller two days later, they took one look at the screen and had it exchanged for free right away.

So I'm not really expecting Apple to do this kind of repair/upgrade over here in Europe at all anyway.

(But I'd be lying if I said I wouldn't like a 2017 MBP in exchange for my old one)

 

[anthony13]

got my replacement machine today. still can not believe I ended up with this when all I wanted was a new battery. Apple customer for life. 2017 2.8mhz i7 16GB"s RAM 512GB HD 555 Radeon

 

[TonyK]

Don't worry, that was not really meant seriously.

I had a pretty bad experience with Apple with my wife's 2012 Retina MBP, where the battery was in fact failing, and which had a pretty bad case of the screen coating problem. When I called Apple to ask about what to do, I unfortunately was three days out the halfway secret or quite hard-to-find repair program, and Apple did not budge. They didn't even have the courtesy of calling me back to say "no", after I spent more than two hours on the phone with them, and documented it all extensively by mail.
At a local Apple reseller two days later, they took one look at the screen and had it exchanged for free right away.

So I'm not really expecting Apple to do this kind of repair/upgrade over here in Europe at all anyway.

(But I'd be lying if I said I wouldn't like a 2017 MBP in exchange for my old one)

Glad it was in jest.

We had a bad experience many, many years ago (Apple IIe) and never did get that resolve to our liking. It kept us away from Apple for many years (decades?). Then the iPods came out. We looked at one for my wife and ended up with 2 minis. Then full sized. She then converted to a PowerMac (I'm still using the 30" Cinematic monitor) and what they did when then monitor started to fail with about 2 weeks left on AppleCare sealed our fate. They replaced the guts with the HD version. Only the case is original. It was purchased 12 years ago and still works wonderfully.

This household is now macOS through and through. If it weren't for my job I wouldn't be touching Windows.

 

[pexel]

Apple are replacing my 2012 MacBook Pro with a top of the line 2016 (Touch Bar, 2.7GHz, 16GB RAM, 512 GB SSD, Radeon 455) for the cost of a battery replacement!

I'm still in shock, if it weren't for this thread I would have sold this machine and purchased a new one...so many thanks to psynnott for starting this thread and sharing his experience.

 

[33coe]

My 2012 rMBP battery's been dying really fast and I've been meaning to take it in. It's at 860 charge cycles and has been saying "Service Battery" for a few months.

Does this count as a bad enough battery that they would possibly replace mine with a year or two old refurb or if I'm lucky like some of you guys, a newer Touch Bar Pro?!

Edit: On second thought, I'd probably prefer a 2015 and wait for USB-C to become more popular before I get one of the new ones with just USB-C. Either way, I'll be stoked with at least some hardware improvement.

Question to those who have done this: Should I just make an appointment and walk in with my MBP or should I try and talk to customer service online first? I have 2 or 3 Apple Stores near me within 20 min so it's not a big deal to make the trip down first.

Just checked, my battery life is at 72-73%, so that's definitely bad enough to get a replacement?

Also, should I have my rMBP backed up and reset and ready to turn in for an exchange?

 

[pexel]

Question to those who have done this: Should I just make an appointment and walk in with my MBP or should I try and talk to customer service online first? I have 2 or 3 Apple Stores near me within 20 min so it's not a big deal to make the trip down first.

Make an appointment, explain the issue, they'll run their diagnostic test and tell you what they find. My battery has 728 cycles and 66% of original capacity, the diagnostic test returned a big fat red exclamation mark for the battery test.

 

[33coe]

Ok just made an appointment for tomorrow, I'll provide an update in this thread.

If I'm offered a new Macbook, do they have some way to duplicate my harddrive info to the new one? I would just back up or time machine, but all of my hard drives are full right now.

 

[708692]

I posted a thread containing stats comparing the 2012 and 2017 machines for anyone that is interested
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/mbp-retina-2012-vs-mbp-2017.2055747/#post-24782620

 

[hinrgmike]

This is one of the best threads I've read on here. My 2012 15" MacBook pro retina was showing Service Battery, with 626 cycles and getting about 1.5hrs on full charge. Also had a few dings and screen scratches and my graphics card was beginning to act up.

Took it to Apple store today. where battery tested bad. They advised that the part is no longer being made to repair; informed me that model is in grey area where it about to go Vintage, which is why Apple will no longer make parts for it. But for the immediate time, it's still covered by battery replacement policy. After a lot of checking in back, they said I'd get like or better laptop, either refurbished or new. Because my 2012 was pretty maxed out (2.6/8GB Ram/512GB SSD drive), none of the refurbished models met or exceeded it. So they gave me a new 2017 15" 2.9Gz/16GB Ram/512GB SSD drive model. All said, took 30min to walk in with old and out with new laptop.

They were supposed to charge me for battery replacement but as this is first time they did one of these transactions, they accidentally put it in as an exchange, crediting full value of 2012 model against the new cost of 2017. They didn't want to keep me so they said I could have it for that price: $100. Went ahead and got the new AppleCare+ for $379 on top, so now covered for 3 years. Super good deal! Really appreciate Apple taking such good care of me!

 

[Jamalogo10]

My 2012 macbook pro reads 479 cycles and according to Coconut battery app full charge capacity is 45.1%.

So I'm eligible right? Btw I bought it off my brother 2.5 years ago... do you think that matters?

 

[alex.houston]

My 2012 macbook pro reads 479 cycles and according to Coconut battery app full charge capacity is 45.1%.

So I'm eligible right? Btw I bought it off my brother 2.5 years ago... do you think that matters?

It doesn't matter if you bought it from your brother. But, judging by your pic, I think yours is not retina 2012 model. I think these upgrades to 2015 or newer models only apply to rMBP 2012.

 

[Jamalogo10]

It doesn't matter if you bought it from your brother. But, judging by your pic, I think yours is not retina 2012 model. I think these upgrades to 2015 or newer models only apply to rMBP 2012.

Why would it only pertain to the rMBP?

 

[alex.houston]

Why would it only pertain to the rMBP?

Apparently, Apple doesn't currently have spare top parts for 2012 rMBP.

The top case on those mid 2012 rMBPs is currently constrained, if your battery is below 80% you can pay for the battery repair and Apple will give you a 2015 MBP refurbished machine. They did it for me and I've heard of at least a dozen others.

 

[33coe]

Damn, mine's the base model, so I feel like I won't be getting a Touch Bar (if I get this replacement like you guys have!). Those who have gotten the 2017 ones from this, did you guys have a specced out 2012?

Also, are there a lot of people who didn't get offered a replacement? It seems like the few that have said they didn't get offered one came back a bit later with an edit saying they ended up getting a replacement.

 

[hallux]

Why would it only pertain to the rMBP?

Apparently, Apple doesn't currently have spare top parts for 2012 rMBP.

Correct, the retina models require full topcase replacement to replace the battery as it's glued into the topcase. The non-retina has a couple screws and the battery comes right out, MUCH easier to repair.

 

[33coe]

Update: They offered a 2015 refurb! I have the 2012 base model so I'm not surprised. It would have been nice to get the 2016 or 2017 one and argued for free dongles since I've been using the same design for the last 5 years, but I'm happy with a 2015. I won't have to get a new Mac for another few years, maybe by then, USB-C will be more prevalent and dongles won't be necessary.

Also they say it'll take up to 2 weeks... is that normal? I've seen people get theirs after a few days.

 

[708692]

Yes, two weeks is normal. I was offered the 2015 refurb and two weeks later was told they couldn't get it and therefore upped the offer to a 2017.

 

[33coe]

Yes, two weeks is normal. I was offered the 2015 refurb and two weeks later was told they couldn't get it and therefore upped the offer to a 2017.

Knowing my luck I'll actually get the 2015, but if I don't, that'll be a pleasant surprise!

 

[cstm]

has anyone gotten one replaced in a country where there are no official apple stores?

 

[TonyK]

Update: They offered a 2015 refurb! I have the 2012 base model so I'm not surprised. It would have been nice to get the 2016 or 2017 one and argued for free dongles since I've been using the same design for the last 5 years, but I'm happy with a 2015. I won't have to get a new Mac for another few years, maybe by then, USB-C will be more prevalent and dongles won't be necessary.

Also they say it'll take up to 2 weeks... is that normal? I've seen people get theirs after a few days.

You might consider a TB2 dock. That is what I use on my 2015 MBP 15" and it works great. One cable and I have USB3, network (wired) and even my monitor.

 

[pingloss]

After reading this thread I decided to pop into the local Apple Store as I've got the same battery issue with my 2012 rMBP. No messing about they said due to the current restriction on parts I'd be getting a replacement laptop. Just had it confirmed today that a brand new 2017 TB model is on it's way from China. 2.8GHz i7, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD. Totally amazed by this and I doubt you'd get this kind of service anywhere else to be honest.

 

[Vancouvermac]

They didn't offer me any other alternative except to leave and come back in September. Should I try another Apple store or are they just going to see my past history and tell me the same thing?

This mirrors my experience. The genius ran the diagnostics and my battery is borderline (81.5% at 470 cycles). He said I had to wait until Sept. 15, at which point the battery replacement would be free. No refurb replacement nor discount on a new laptop was offered. I didn't want to push it, so I just left it at that. He tried to console me saying that the free battery was worth $400, which makes no sense since the Canadian pricing is supposed to be $259.

That said, my battery is definitely in bad shape. Capacity aside, the computer dies and goes into red flashing battery mode when under moderate load, even when there's 60% charge remaining. I plan to go back today and be a bit more insistent about needing a replacement quickly.