Should I Upgrade mid 2012 macbook pro to el capitan?

[phmoraes]

After I saw bad reviews claiming lags, battery issues, performance, overheating etc... I was wondering updating my MBP running mavericks to el capitan would give a better improvement. What do you guys think about it?

The specs are:
Macbook pro mid 2012 13"
Intel core i5
16gb ram memory
500gb SSD (Trim not enabled yet)
Running mavericks

Thanks!

 

[phmoraes]

After I saw bad reviews of El cap, claiming lags, battery issues, performance, overheating etc... I was wondering updating my MBP running mavericks to el capitan would give ot not a better improvement. What do you guys think about it?

The specs are:
Macbook pro mid 2012
Intel core i5
16gb ram memory
500gb SSD (not Trim enabled yet)
Running mavericks

Thanks!

 

[Weaselboy]

I don't think the performance will be any different at all under El Capitan. Take a look at the features in El Capitan and if you think you would use/enjoy those features, make a backup first then give it a try.

 

[randomgeeza]

On a mid 2015 rMBP I noticed a smoother, more responsive experience. Although, if you skipped Yosemite, and didn't experience some of the issues that had, YMMV.

I held off until only last week to take the plunge. Clean installed and setup as new. TBH, I'm glad that I have.

 

[Avenged110]

While El Cap has improved considerably since launch, I personally found it to be less efficient than Mavericks on my MacBook Pro. When I was (anecdotally) testing between the two versions, El Cap ran 10-15 degrees hotter under nearly all use cases and battery life decreased generally by a couple of hours. Outside of that, everything else is likely personal preference. I know for me, personally, any features added since 10.9 were either not compelling or something I really don't want, and the disgusting visual design just seals it.

 

[mikzn]

I add to the above posts - have a mid 2012 with the memory maxed at 16 and 500gb SSD - same as yours - runs like a top.

Having the updated iCloud for syncing files / folders on my phone and ipad are a big deal for me and that works really well, also contact syncing and the new notes and reminders were a things that made a difference for me as new features.

Been on El Cap since the second Beta and the only issue I had was with outlook 2011 - make sure you update to 14.6.6 if you have office 2011 and that should take care of any office hic ups.

 

[MC6800]

It also depends on which applications you use. Aperture's photo management will be seriously crippled, VMWare requires a paid update, etc.

 

[mikzn]

that is a good point - there may be some apps that are no longer supported - iPhoto changed to Photos in Yosemite - not the most impressive change IMHO ( I still use iPhoto in ElCap)

Might be good to review any special software that is important.

 

[honam1021]

If you have a high resolution non-retina screen the thinner typefaces make everything hard to read, swapping it /w Lucida Grande helps but I still prefer Mavericks for the reasons stated by @Avenaged110.

I'm not sure APFS/real dark mode in 10.13 would be convincing enough for me to upgrade.

 

[simon lefisch]

After I saw bad reviews of El cap, claiming lags, battery issues, performance, overheating etc... I was wondering updating my MBP running mavericks to el capitan would give ot not a better improvement. What do you guys think about it?

The specs are:
Macbook pro mid 2012
Intel core i5
16gb ram memory
500gb SSD (not Trim enabled yet)
Running mavericks

Thanks!

Best thing to do is to try it for yourself.

Make a clone of your current drive to an external drive. Then you can update to El Capitan and see how it runs. If you like it, you can ditch the clone. If not, you can then clone the external back to your internal and pick up where you left off from the time of the original clone.

NOTE that any files created after updating to El Cap will be deleted when cloning back, so you will want to backup all those files before reverting to your Mavericks clone.

 

[2ilent8cho]

I manage over 150 Mac's at work, we always stay 1 version behind on the last point release so they are all on 10.10.5 . With the release of 10.11.6 yesterday i've popped it on my work Macbook Pro (2013) this morning to see if any of our software starts to break and El Capitain has been smoother and quicker than Yosemite and my WiFi has performed much better.

So if you were to jump to Yosemite i think you would wish you had not as it would feel sluggish in comparison, but El Capitain seems polished now. I say do it.

 

[bbfc]

I manage over 150 Mac's at work, we always stay 1 version behind on the last point release so they are all on 10.10.5 . With the release of 10.11.6 yesterday i've popped it on my work Macbook Pro (2013) this morning to see if any of our software starts to break and El Capitain has been smoother and quicker than Yosemite and my WiFi has performed much better.

So if you were to jump to Yosemite i think you would wish you had not as it would feel sluggish in comparison, but El Capitain seems polished now. I say do it.

I had issues with wifi on Yosemite that were fixed with El Capitan. I found it a much smoother experience and comparable to Mavericks, unlike Yosemite.

 

[Tozovac]

...and the disgusting visual design just seals it.

If you have a high resolution non-retina screen the thinner typefaces make everything hard to read, swapping it /w Lucida Grande helps but I still prefer Mavericks for the reasons stated by @Avenaged110.

Battery life and the awful looking depressing-inducing UI are main reasons why I refuse to upgrade my i7 MacBook air from Mavericks. Is there anyway to force you use lucida grande if I'm ever forced to downgrade past Mavericks?

 

[Avenged110]

Battery life and the awful looking depressing-inducing UI are main reasons why I refuse to upgrade my i7 MacBook air from Mavericks. Is there anyway to force you use lucida grande if I'm ever forced to downgrade past Mavericks?

If you use 10.10-10.11, this (https://github.com/schreiberstein/lucidagrandeelcapitan) appears to be the go-to tool for changing the font to Lucida Grande. But as with any unsupported hack for fonts on OS X, it has its issues, though apparently, it was cleaner on 10.10 than 10.11. As much as I think we agree Lucida Grande is the best OS font, Sans Fran isn't that bad. I do like that Apple finally unified with their own custom font. But that is, of course, up to you whether or not it's acceptable.

 

[Tozovac]

If you use 10.10-10.11, this (https://github.com/schreiberstein/lucidagrandeelcapitan) appears to be the go-to tool for changing the font to Lucida Grande. But as with any unsupported hack for fonts on OS X, it has its issues, though apparently, it was cleaner on 10.10 than 10.11. As much as I think we agree Lucida Grande is the best OS font, Sans Fran isn't that bad. I do like that Apple finally unified with their own custom font. But that is, of course, up to you whether or not it's acceptable.

Thank you. I haven't upgraded downgraded past Mavericks. I'm having a really hard time accepting the flat UI and all the unnecessary un-Apple-like changes in OSX's past Mavericks. But should the time ever come that I'm forced to downgrade past Mavericks, I'll definitely be trying your suggestion. I probably would not be balking at the Lucida Grande so much if not for all the other changes that I just don't find palatable. Thank you, very much for the response!

 

[Avenged110]

Thank you. I haven't upgraded downgraded past Mavericks. I'm having a really hard time accepting the flat UI and all the unnecessary un-Apple-like changes in OSX's past Mavericks. But should the time ever come that I'm forced to downgrade past Mavericks, I'll definitely be trying your suggestion. I probably would not be balking at the Lucida Grande so much if not for all the other changes that I just don't find palatable. Thank you, very much for the response!

You're welcome, I'm right there with you. I'm running Mavericks on a late 2013 MBP and I have no intention of leaving...ever. I'm still using iOS 6 on all my iOS devices and that's worked out just fine so far.

 

[makinao]

Macbook pro mid 2012 15", 2.6 Intel core i7, 16gb ram memory, 1tb SSD, MacOS 10.12.3. Luckily, I don't have a critical app which hasnt been updated for El Capitan. If you don't, I don't see any downside to upgrading.