Upgrading hardware + OS on 2012 13" MBP

[anjanesh]

Is this upgrade-able ?

My cousin uses it mainly for using Audacity for editing dance songs etc. And then basic photo sharing stuff etc.
She would upgrade to M1/M2 if and only if the 2012 model is totally no longer capable for her personal work anymore.

1. 4BG RAM to 16GB RAM ?
2. HDD to SSD ?
3. OSX Yosemite to BigSur ?

 

[glenthompson]

Yes on items 1 and 2. Catalina is Mac OS on that model.

 

[Amethyst1]

Catalina is Mac OS on that model.

If you're not willing to patch.

 

[Fishrrman]

RAM and drive are upgradeable.
BUT... don't spend too much money on it. It's just getting a little old...

I would upgrade the RAM to 8gb.
Put either a 500gb or 1tb SSD into it.
I'd save money and use a 500gb.

BE SURE TO USE THE RIGHT TOOLS (shouting is intentional)!
- Phillips #00 driver
- Torx T-6 driver

Go to ifixit.com to see an illustrated guide of what to do.
The most time-consuming part is removing/replacing the back cover.

I would also suggest you get a 2.5" drive enclosure like this:

Inateck 2.5 Inch USB 3.0 Hard Drive Enclosure External SATA HDD and SSD Case - Optimized for 9.5mm 7mm 2.5" SSD, Tool Free (FE2002)

Attention: package contains an extra foam sticker for 7 mm thickness hard drives, you should attach the sticker to the original one inside the lid before you insert the hard drive; 12.5 mm hard drives might be incompatible with this product. 70% faster than traditional USB 3.0 With UASP transfer ...

www.amazon.com

You can use this to "prepare and test" the SSD BEFORE you open up the MBP.
After the drive swap is done, put the old drive into the enclosure. It now becomes either a backup or extra storage space.