battery and external montior issues

Zach kel wrote:

1: 15 inch mid 2012 (retina) macbook pro '4 core i7 2.6ghz, 16gb ram, dual graphics, 1tbssd.'

1 being that this laptop is sometimes very slow and sluggish and other days feels new and quick, has an upgraded 3gp/s ssd 1tb. the battery needs to be replaced as it has over 1000 cycles and unplugged will not last more than maybe 45 min t

2: mid 2012 13 inch macbook pro, (unibody) dual core i5, 16gb ram, new hdd, new battery.

this laptop has a bad keyboard, i plan on replacing the entire top case but before i do i want to make sure it is worth it to do so.

2nd issue: when opening a tab or application each tab or menu in application opens up as a new window?

issue 3: (in my opinion the worst issue)

macbook will crash/freeze when connected to any monitor INCLUDING apple thunderbolt or cinema displays.

I would not spend any time or money on any 14 year old computer.

see vintage and obsolete:

Obtaining service for your Apple product after an expired warranty - Apple Support

Obtaining service for your Apple product after an expired ...

Zach kel wrote:

[...]

before i am plauged with "go buy another macbook". or "just upgrade already" i have a newer one that works just fine however i love old technology and it is a hobby of mine to keep them working smoothly and to give them purposes to be used for. on top of that the unibody mid 2012 was free so

It's a good thing to have hobbies. 🙂👍🏽

just sayin'.

<<15 inch mid 2012 (retina) macbook pro '4 core i7 2.6ghz, 16gb ram, dual graphics, 1tbssd.'

this laptop is sometimes very slow and sluggish and other days feels new and quick>>

There are several things that can cause this such as RAM overflowing and disk full.

Etrecheck:

Consider downloading and running this little "discovery" utility, Etrecheck. It changes NOTHING. Etrecheck was developed by a senior contributor here, and uses mostly system calls and simple tests to collect often-needed information.

it contains little tests for speeds of devices, CPU utilization, memory usage, energy usage and a digest of recent problems, in one easy to use package. it does not even need to be Installed. Because less can be learned when your Mac is running great, best time to run is when your problems are actually occurring, if possible.

if you follow the directions faithfully, its report (pre-laundered of all personally-identifiable information) can be "Shared" to the System ClipBoard, then Pasted into an ‘Additional Text’ window in a reply on the forums.

Use Etrecheck Pro for free: --(current version supports macOS 10.13 and later. Slightly older version is available for 10.9 Mavericks to 10.12 Sierra)

http://Etrecheck.com

The amount of data you get can be daunting. If you POST your report, some Readers here are willing to look over those reports, and can provide valuable insights.

the start a reply on the forums, click the "additional text" link, and PASTE

Welcome to the Zoo!

...and it is a hobby of mine ...

Kindred spirit here. I get the ""hobby" aspect. love keeping old Macs in service when possible. I'll take a crack at the Retina model first. It may not be the battery. You wrote:

....has an upgraded 3gp/s ssd 1tb...

When you installed the new SSD, did you enable TRIMforce on it? Without TRIM, an SSD can give decent speed for a while but then may start to slow badly.

When I upgraded my non-Retina 13-inch Macbook Pro 2012 to SSD in 2018, I did not enable TRIM because the drive seller said it was not needed. It was.

By about 2021 it was running slowly. Grant Bennet-Alder helped me figure out the "slows." Enabling TRIM restored its old spark and it still feels fast today, five years after I turned on TRIM. Info on TRIM and how to enable it are here:

How to Execute ‘Trimforce’ Command with Your SSD

You must do a Safe Mode Boot after enabling TRIM. I'll add an important tip here. I found I had to let the Macbook Pro "soak" in Safe Mode for at least 30 minutes so it could finish its housekeeping. You may need to do Safe Mode more than once. Patience is a true virture here.

Now to the non-Retina 2012:

The non-retina 2012 13-inch Macbook Pro was as close to bulletproof of any Macs I worked on. However, it had one weak spot that tends to spring up with age: the hard drive cable.

The cable is more of a flexible printed circuit board, with painfully thin insulation. It is also routed over some sharp metal edges in the chassis. With 4-5 years of the vibrations due to normal handling and transport, the thin insulation wears off. Then the fun starts.

Turns out a worn cable can throw out a litany of oddball issues. I don't even try to diagnose odd issues in that model until I change the cable in that model. You can still get them and they are relatively cheap:

Apple Hard Drive / SSD Cable For 13-inch MacBook Pro (Mid 2012) main drive bay

Before installing a new cable I usually put a bit of electrical tape over the sharp metal edges. Belt and suspenders, ya know.

I never swapped a drive in that model without dropping in a new cable. Visual inspection too often fails to detect a flaw in the cable so for US$15, I use a new cable with a new drive.

Anyway, some things to try without spending much money.

EDIT: In the EtreCheck report that Grant requests, there is a section about drive performance. When I had the "no TRIM" issue, my Write speeds fell to half of the Read speeds then crept even slower. Before, they were about the same ±20MB/sec. EtreCheck will also show if TRIM is engaged or not.