I have this same laptop and it's working perfectly well after upgrading both the RAM and the SSD. Upgrading to an SSD will greatly decrease the boot time of the laptop and adding more RAM will help to make the laptop snappier overall. The first step I would take would be to put an SSD in the laptop, especially considering the horribly long boot times you're experiencing, but both will

Adding RAM will be the easiest change for your laptop, as it doesn't require any transferring of files. I personally have 16 GB of ram in my laptop (2 x 8GB) but in the interest of saving money, you may want to get one 8GB stick of RAM and upgrade again down the line if you desire. When shopping for RAM, you want to make sure that you have a SODIMM sized stick, and that it's running at 1600 MHz speed. Here is an option from Amazon, but you may be able to find other options for cheaper (this was just the first thing I found). You just want to ensure that the RAM you buy is a SODIMM module and is running at 1600 MHz. Assuming the 4GB is in the form of 2 x 2GB sticks, you will have 10 GB of RAM total after installing the new module.

You can easily find videos on how to install RAM on the internet, but as a quick explanation:

• Turn your computer off
  
• Remove all the screws from the bottom of the MacBook, there should be 10 and they're all Phillips.
  
• Pull off the back of the laptop
  
• You should see RAM modules above the battery at the bottom of the laptop
  
• There are two tabs that you can pull on to release the RAM from its socket, it should pop up at an angle and you can pull it out. There will most likely be another stick of RAM under it, you should leave it be.
  
• You want to put the new stick of RAM in at the same angle that the old one came out at, aligning the notch of the slot to the notched hole in the RAM stick, and then push it down so it's sitting as the original RAM stick was.
  
• Put the back cover on and rescrew the screws. Note that the 3 long screws go in the part of the back nearest to the screen hinge.
  
  You should now be able to go to "About the Mac" then to Memory, and see a 2GB and 8GB (if you get an 8GB stick) module show up.
  
  
  As for the SSD, it can be a bit more complicated depending on how you want to go about doing it. If you care about all of the data on your old drive, you can clone it using a cloning software. If not, you can copy important files onto a flash drive or external hard drive to paste back into the new installation of macOS.
  
  But first, you need to get the SSD itself. The Samsung 850 Evo is very well liked across the internet and the drive that I personally used. You can get it in whatever capacity you need. That being said, there are other options of SSDs that will be less expensive while still being a massive upgrade over the spinning disk drive that you likely already have. If you do searching around the internet, the only thing you need to be careful of is that the SSD has a SATA connector and isn't a m.2 drive. You'll also need a SATA to USB cable like This
  
  The way I would recommend replacing the drive would be to do a fresh install of macOS, keeping a backup of your important files.
  
  You want to start by plugging the SSD into the SATA to USB cable and the cable into your laptop. Then, open Disk Utility (either by using a spotlight search or finding it in the "Other" folder of the application display (hit the F4 function key)) Once you have disk utility open, you want to find the SSD on the left drop-down menu and erase it. This will format it to be usable as a boot disk for macOS. Note: it's possible that it will work without doing this but I am unsure and think it would be good to be safe here to save the time of having to change it.
  
  As with the RAM, you can probably easily find a video showing how to do it, but I will also list the rest of the steps as I remember them.
  
• Turn the laptop off
  
• Unscrew the screws of the back cover
  
• Take off the back cover. The hard drive should be beside the battery at the bottom and held in by black brackets on the top and bottom. To unscrew them, you just need a small Phillips screwdriver.
  
• Once you've unscrewed them, you can pull off the top of both black brackets and pull out the drive. Be careful not to damage the ribbon cables!
  
• Disconnect the SATA power and SATA data connectors at the end of the ribbon cable on the drive.
  
• Unscrew the four screws holding the drive in the bracket.
  
• Pull the drive out and put the new drive in and screw it back in like the old one was
  
• Do the steps taken to remove the old drive in reverse to secure the new drive into place.
  
  Once the new drive is in, you can reboot the laptop and hit the Option key to bring up a boot menu. You should see something that says "Choose a Network" and you can sign into your WiFi to continue. From there you will able to use network recovery to reinstall macOS.
  
  
  I hope this is helpful and good luck! I'm glad I'm not the only one still using a 2012 MBP :)
  
  edit: formatting, a word
  

I was pretty nervous too about the upgrade, but just take your time watch a bunch of youtube how-to's and I would suggest taking a look at this walk through: https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/MacBook+Pro+15-Inch+Unibody+Early+2011+Hard+Drive+Replacement/5895

Things you'll need that aren't on that page are one of these, SATA III Hard Drive Adapter Cable

the tools I bought this one. Comes in a nice case and has everything you need

the hard drive. I already linked to the one I chose, but there are other options

and if you want to keep the old drive as a back up, you'll need one of these

I got my ram a while back so I don't have a direct link, but make sure you're getting the kind that will work with her machine. There are plenty of online guides and the question has been asked/answered here more than a couple times, but if you get overwhelmed just throw up another post. People here are generally great.

Not really endorsing any of these things over the competition, just trying to be helpful. Good luck. It's an AMAZING improvement once it's done!

Awesome—thanks! Regarding the sudden motion detection, since I already replaced my HDD with an SSD, would you recommend putting the SSD (boot drive) in where the optical/CD drive is right now, and then moving the new HDD back to the original drive-that-came-with-the-Mac location (so, where the SSD is now – so aka switch the two)? (Haha, let me know if that was hard to understand.) Edit: Based on this video, apparently the optical bay has to have an HDD in it—SSD won't work/won't let you partition it. In the comments someone said an SSD works in there with a 2012 Mac, but didn't work with the video uploader's 2011 Mac. Since mine's mid-2010, I'm assuming it won't work—since it's older than 2011 in which that also doesn't work.

From what I've read and making assumptions based on that, did you mean a 9.5mm height drive, as opposed to 9mm?

That's smart to use symlinks... I'll be sure to do that! Thanks for the suggestion of the WD Blue. Do you know how it runs compared to the WD Black or Green?

Finally, does the type of caddy/tray matter? The one that fits in the optical bay with the hard drive in place of the CD drive, that is. Someone else recommended this one... looks fine, I think? Thank you so much!

1. As long as it's in decent condition, you could sell it for $200-350 I'd say, depending on whether or not you upgrade the ram.
   
   
2. No - an SSD would make even Mountain Lion incredibly zippy, even on that computer. The main bottleneck with computers, even one that old, is the HD read/write speed. Upgrading the ram AND an ssd would definitely not be cancelled out by ML.
   
   
3. Honestly, replacing the battery isn't worth it in my opinion. They're pretty expensive (I strongly advise against getting a non-apple one) and you're probably not gonna get more than 4-5 hours with a new one.
   
   
4. Yes - it did for me when I did a clean install, then restored from a time machine backup.
   
   
5. I don't think your computer will take 16GB - use the link I provided above to find out.
   
   
6. About the same as ML
   
   
7. Crucial has some great memory for a good price with an excellent warranty. How big is your HD? I recommend the Crucial M4 ssd, you can get the 256GB model for as low as $170 on Amazon depending on the day. Here's a link, it goes on sale all the time.

I know this does not directly answer either one of your questions, but it will address both of the concerns you have.

Just use something like SuperDuper to copy your current drive onto the drive you want to replace. The free version should do the job just fine.

This way, when you install the new drive it will be like nothing has changed. It's the least amount of hassle.

In order to be able to write to the SSD before you physically install it, you will need either a disk enclosure, or a SATA to USB cable. Should not cost more than $15.

1. Plug the SSD to your Macbook using the cable mentioned above or an enclosure.
   
2. Format your SSD using Disk Utilities to match the same settings as your current drive.
   
3. Use super duper to copy your current HD contents onto the SSD.
   
4. Power off the Macbook and replace the HD with the SSD.
   
   Let me know if that makes sense and if you need any help with any of the steps.

That'll work fine. Brands don't matter much - they're all going to be a big step up.

For installation you'll need a small (P1) phillips screw driver, and a Torx T6 driver. I'd also recommend a can of Compressed Air Duster - if you're in there, clean it up. Any semi-good multi-bit precision screw driver set will have both. If you want to keep your data, you'll also want to have a USB SATA cable (something like this: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Sabrent-2-5-Inch-Adapter-Optimized-EC-SSHD-USB-3-0-SSD-SATA-2-5/dp/B011M8YACM/ref=pd_sbs_23_3/258-6658474-5826456?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B011M8YACM&pd_rd_r=bb016fd2-3304-11e9-88d3-9bfb40e6fdf8&pd_rd_w=OEqZv&pd_rd_wg=5R3O5&pf_rd_p=18edf98b-139a-41ee-bb40-d725dd59d1d3&pf_rd_r=HSN8B74MBPD7Z1J2SCSJ&psc=1&refRID=HSN8B74MBPD7Z1J2SCSJ) which will let you migrate your data back after you install your new drive.

On a clean surface shut down the machine and flip it over, undoing the 8 screws on the bottom (3 will be longer, and 5 will be short) on the bottom case. Should just pop off then. On the right-hand side of the device closest to you is the battery - a short cable with a black plastic cap on the top right is the battery connector. Disconnect the battery. (Not absolutely required, but safer).

Once open, give the inside a dusting, then look for the hard drive in the lower left hand corner. Right above it will be a small plastic holding bar, held in with two locking Phillips screws. Remove them and the bar and set aside.

Slide the drive out of the IR bracket on the opposite side and disconnect from the Hard Drive Flex SATA Cable. Be careful - break this cable, and you're adding another 25$ cable to your repair.

Remove the 4 T6 Torx screws from the original drive and put them into the matching holes on your new drive. Attach to the flex cable and reseat into the IR bracket and settle in. Replace the holding bar and screw it back in, making sure it's secure. Reconnect the battery.

Replace the bottom case and replace the screws. The 3 long ones are on the top right as it's sitting in front of you. The short screws you might need to angle slightly - they should sit flush.

If you have an OS install disk you're good - if not, reboot holding Command and R to get to Internet Recovery to install a fresh copy of mOS. It will let you connect to wifi (or auto-connect to your Wired network if you have an ethernet connection). When it boots (it will take a while, it's downloading most of an OS) open Disk Utility, format your new SSD (choose Mac OS Extended Journaled for the format) and you'l be able to then install mac OS.

Once installed, if you have a SATA cable you should then be able to go into macOS setup and use Migration assistant to copy your data - if it gives an error saying it was created on a newer version of macOS, you can back to the point, create a temporary user called Administrator or Update or something like that, then update your system. With a Mid-2012 with an SSD there's no reason not to be on 10.14 Mojave, so create a temporary user, update your system using the App Store to Mojave, and then you can go into Migration Assistant again (it's in the Applications/Utilities folder).

I hope this helps you out!

If you are regularly using Photoshop and Lightroom adding memory will definitely help. The SSD will help speed up opening programs/boot times/saving files/etc. The additional RAM will allow you to work on larger image files in PS and LR without slowing down. You can adjust the amount of RAM they use but honestly the more you can allocate the merrier.

I have my 2009 MBP setup in a similar fashion. 120GB SSD in main slot and 500GB 7200RPM HDD in an optical disc adapter. Basically anything I'm working on I move to the SSD and archive on the HDD when finished. I backup both via a USB HDD on my AirPort Extreme.

For $200 you can definitely do a decent upgrade.

SSD
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00OAJ412U/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1458022514&sr=8-1&pi=SX200_QL40&keywords=250gb+ssd&dpPl=1&dpID=319X5owiyFL&ref=plSrch

RAM
http://www.amazon.com/Crucial-DDR3L-1600-SODIMM-Memory-CT2K8G3S160BM/dp/B008LTBJFW

Optical adapter for mine was ~$10 and required electrical tape to hold in place. Probably a little more expensive/better option. lol.

It is possible... but not for cheap.

While going from miniDisplay port to HDMI can be done with an extremely cheap adaptor, the reverse is not as easy. MiniDisplay inputs only accept MiniDisplay outputs, and thus you have to use an active adaptor. Something like this should do the trick.

You can try to find something cheaper, but I don't think you'll get much cheaper than that. Just be sure when you're searching that the description clearly states HDMI to miniDisplay (or Thunderbolt... it's the same thing). Anything that says the reverse, miniDP/Thunderbolt to HDMI will not work*.

Also when you search, check the resolution in the description. The one I linked supports 1920x1080 @ 60Hz... you don't want any less than that.

Thats looks to be the right part, i got something similar as well but different brand for my 2011 pro (http://amzn.com/B004PR6DAA). If it interest you for about the same price, get a Crucial M500 240GB Solid State Drive instead it dramatically improves the performance of the laptop. I have it and love it, anyone i know that has an older ish macbook pro has it. http://amzn.com/B00BQ8RM1A, this as well http://amzn.com/B00G57BN1M

This one for example. It's available at different sizes, but if 250 GB were ok for you, this one should have a great price/performance ratio.

I've got the 512 GB version of the predecessor and it's great.

Don't pay to clean it up. If you have the OS X disc, you can perform a clean install yourself. Boot into the disc, wipe the HDD with Disk Utility, and then reinstall OS. Just make sure you back up your necessary files.

Max out your RAM, but if you really want to see a performance increase you're going to need to upgrade to a SSD. Check if your specific model is compatible with SATA-2, and if it is, consider picking up one of these.

I have a late-2008 MBP (first unibody to come out), I maxed my RAM at 8GB and my HDD failed once. Apple replaced it with another HDD and within a year I noticed the same symptoms from the previous fail. I bought that 256GB SSD and my computer's running better now than fresh off the factory in 2008.

As for physically cleaning, buy the tools necessary to open the shell and get yourself a bottle of compressed air. Go slowly. You'll save yourself a nice amount of cash

iFixit is your friend. Search around and find a guide that shows you how to open it up completely.

The input on the 27" iMac is DisplayPort ONLY. It'll output whatever you want, with an adapter, but it can only process incoming signals in DisplayPort format. What you need is a converter like this one. Plug that up and you're good to go, though at 720p.

Honestly, I'd recommend just buying a 1080p monitor with built in speakers and HDMI input. Thats what my buddy did. He shopped the sales, so it only cost him $30 more than that converter.

There are still no cheap thunderbolt adaptors from what I have seen but this is probably your best bet:

http://www.amazon.com/Kanex-KTU10-Thunderbolt-eSATA-Adapter/dp/B00LOLBBQQ

EDIT: I forgot about USB 3.0. There are a lot of cheaper USB 3.0 to esata converters. Google is your friend :)

I'm a personal fan of backing up your windows partition then doing a fresh install on the new drive, but there's plenty of cloning software options so I'll leave that up to you. As for the caddy, I use this one and it works like a charm in my 13" 2011 MBP. Make sure to install the SSD in your original HDD location, as the SuperDrive slot has a slightly slower R/W speed.

There are lots of articles about replacing the optical drive with a HDD/SSD by using a special drive carrier like this one which is the original AFAIK or this one which I used to save money. You get what you pay for, and the fit was a little tricky with the less expensive one, but it worked. This link goes to some videos for the actual physical install.

I installed OS X from scratch and then used Apple's Migration Assistant to migrate my data from the old HDD to the new SSD. Smooth as silk. As for placement of the boot drive messing with the sleep function - WHAT?! That makes no sense to me and is certainly not my experience. I had read that the Sudden Motion Sensor used by the Mac to park your HDD if you drop the machine might not park a drive in the optical bay. That makes some sense to me so I put the drive with no moving parts there. It's been 2 and a half months and no issues at all.

As for web page speed - that's just an example of how the speed of everything this Mac does is improved. Yes, the big difference is a result of faster cache read/writes on the SSD. More RAM means less cacheing to begin with, so also greater speed. This is just one example, though. Google Earth has gone from a little bit slow to OMFG that's FAST! Not just with the image rendering, but just loading the app is ridiculously faster.

Coming back to your question about the scripts. I went to a friend for this. My buddy is a Unix Guru and I - well, I'm not. Because of that I will not place the scripts here. If I get something wrong in the translation, I don't want to cause you heartache. The short version is that by using diskutil (the CLI back end of Disk Utility) my buddy determined which logical volume needed to be unmounted/mounted. He then wrote the commands as a shell script to execute the action and exit Terminal. All of this is easily researched online or through the diskutil man pages, but I went to my pal because he makes my life easy.

I use and recommend a Crucial M4. I'm on my phone but here you can check it out on Amazon. You can shop around, but $210 is around what I payed. I love it. Boots up completely (applications and safari pages refreshed) in 16 seconds flat. I haven't seen the rainbow pinwheel longer than one second, which is huge considering when I updated my friends 2009 MBP and installed some apps for her I was shocked at how long it took. In reality it was really not that long, but once you go SSD, you really can't go any other.

ok, awesome. I will definitely look into that one. thanks. and yeah, I planned on ordering this if I don't get steered in any other direction. any suggestions?

I can provide some help on your second query. I have a 2011 15' MBP and had replaced my optical drive with the HDD that came with the Mac. There are a couple of things to consider.

Firstly, the optical drive (I think they call it SuperDrive) can be put in a USB enclosure and used after taking it out.

Secondly, the SATA on my optical drive bay is 3Gb/s, not 6. so I can't take full advantage of SSD speeds. Hence my decision to use a regular HDD instead. YMMV though.

And lastly, I got my HDD bracket (the thing that fits on the optical drive bay, and carries your HDD) from Amazon for about $10. The more popular, but expensive, solution would be the OptiBay. That will run you $30. From my own experience, I haven't run into any problem using the one I have [1].

Replacing the optical drive was one of the best things I've done with my mac. I have the blazing fast SSD for the OS and programs, and the 750GB HDD for my media files and backups. I highly recommend it!


[1] - http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0058AH2US/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Edit: Gb/s, not Ghz.

Thank you all for your replies. I decided to instead get the following ssd drive.

http://www.amazon.com/Crucial-2-5-Inch-Solid-State-CT512M4SSD2/dp/B004W2JL3Y/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1343337710&sr=8-4&keywords=crucial+m4

I'm assuming this drive has different garbage collection drivers, etc than the OWC. Does this change any of the information you guys gave me?

It sounds to me that I should still probably enable TRIM. I'm not extremely technical by any means but I've fiddled around with terminal commands and the like before so I'm not completely foreign to it.

Thanks again for all your help.

You can definitely do that, as that is something I did to mine, but I also took mine a step forward. Along with upgrading my HDD to a 500GB SSD, I also bought this caddy from Amazon and replaced the Optical drive with my removed HDD (I had a 1TB normal HDD). Once I changed that out, I partitioned my SSD, 300GB to a Mac partition, and 200GB to a Windows Bootcamp partition, and then with the Optical Drive removed and now replaced with a 1TB HDD, I formatted that to exFAT so that both the Mac and Windows side could access and use it as a data drive. I did this years ago, and it is still running like a champ and have had zero issues. If you do not need/use your Optical Drive, I would highly suggest doing this as well. Plus, it's easy to switch back, if you end up not liking it.

You can try pulling out the hard drive and using this but that's pretty much all you can do. Make sure you plug it into another Mac. Windows can't read the file system Mac uses unless you have a special utility.

Installing the SSD in the optical bay slot for your main drive will give you sleep/wake problems. Macs don't look for the main drive on that SATA port. Install the SSD in the default drive's location and put the HDD in the optical bay slot (which you'll be using for secondary storage).

For the Boot Camp installation, if you have enough space you can sacrifice on the SSD then go ahead and install Windows on it. It really depends on how often you'll be booting into Windows and if you want to reap the benefits of having it on the SSD. It's not necessary though, you can have OS X on the SSD and Windows on the HDD with no problems. Boot Camp takes care of partitioning whichever drive you chose during the installation process. I've done the exact same thing you're trying to do and chose to install Boot Camp/Windows on the HDD and never had any issues booting into Windows.

The installation process is straight forward, especially with so many tutorials online. I really recommend iFixit's tutorials if you're looking for any.

Also, check out this optical bay drive enclosure. It's waaaay cheaper than what iFixit or OWC sells them for, but I'm sure you could find a good deal on eBay as well.

Unless you're doing serious crunching or video editing it should be fine. I've had the same system since 2010 and have had a good experience. The only concern is the condition of the apple charger, mine frayed coming out of the power brick and needed a replacement. Don't wind the cord tightly around the brick!

You might want to switch to a SSD for more speed. I did this last month (256 g Crucial MX100) and it was easy. You can move the old HDD in place of the DVD drive using a caddie. That process is more involved than putting in the SSD but not too bad. I formatted the old HDD to ex-fat and use it for windows and mac media file storage.

Bootcamp to windows 7 and it runs games like Mass Effect just fine.

Awesome - I'll probably do that.

Last question (thanks again): I noticed a Crucial memory product that's similar to the product you recommended with higher ratings. Thoughts on this one or why the Corsair is best?

http://www.amazon.com/Crucial-PC3-12800-SODIMM-204-Pin-CT2C8G3S160BM/dp/B008LTBJFW/ref=psdc8_t1_B006ON5KZC_B008LTBJFW

I have this same machine with 16gb of ram. It's pretty damn fast. I think it's a good choice.

I also added an SSD later. One thing you might consider is setting up a small SSD (I got a 64gb SSD for $40) as your boot drive and moving your HDD to the optical drive bay using one of these.

http://www.amazon.com/Drive-Unibody-MacBook-SuperDrive-Replacement/dp/B0058AH2US/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1370287014&sr=8-1&keywords=ssd+caddy+macbook+pro

That way you can buy a cheap small SSD and get the benefit of the SSD speed for booting and launching apps, but keep your large HDD for file storage. The SSD+Optical Bay Caddy upgrade was the best ~$50 upgrade I've ever done.

Heres what I would do: get the 2.6Ghz model with 4GB of ram and the 500GB or maybe 750 (if you have lots of things youll need to store)rotating hard drive:

Upgrade the ram from a third party: you can get 16GB for around 150 bucks, or 12GB for around 120. This added memory will really help with video editing

A 120 GB SSD is only around 100 bucks on amazon.

Upgrade the memory with what you purchased from the internet, not apple.

Replace the hard drive that comes with the computer with an SSD. Then, remove your optical drive, and use something like this to hold the old rotating drive. Install your applications, operating system on this drive, and large data such as your music library on the larger, slower drive. If you have a lot of applications or games I would go for the 250GB drive.

So in total thats:

120-150 for RAM
100-170 for SSD
~10 for optical drive replacement holder

12 GB ram and a 256GB SSD is a much better use of your money than a .1GHZ processor upgrade

Intels are definitely great, and they feel nice and heavy duty, but here is the one I use that is also arguably the best on the market. I use the 250 one.

I did this on my Macbook 5.1 a year or so ago. Glorious easy install of the battery and disk drive. The hardware has been all downhill since then. =(

I backed up to external USB time machine, took out the old drive, installed the new one, did a fresh install of OSX on the new drive, and restored via Time Machine once the new OS was working.

Keep your old drive untouched for a week or two in case you need it. After that, you can wipe it or something.

If you don't use your DVD drive often, you might stick your old disk drive in there to use as more local storage:

http://www.amazon.com/Drive-Unibody-MacBook-SuperDrive-Replacement/dp/B0058AH2US/

And then stick your old DVD drive into a USB chassis, like this:

http://www.amazon.com/Super-Slim-SATA-External-Burner/dp/B005RFOJT6/

you might be better off with some super cheap audio interface, maybe even something like this?

Syba SD-CM-UAUD USB Stereo Audio Adapter, C-Media Chipset, RoHS https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001MSS6CS/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_ouAOub1Z4R01Y

It looks like a standard 2.5" hard drive. You would buy a cable like this, plug it into the new computer, and cross your fingers.

https://www.amazon.com/StarTech-com-SATA-USB-Cable-USB3S2SAT3CB/dp/B00HJZJI84/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=sata+usb&qid=1566309539&s=gateway&sr=8-3

By default, your iTunes Media folder is in your iTunes folder:

• Mac: Open a Finder window, then click Go > Home > Music > iTunes.
  
• Windows 7 or later: Go to \Users\username\Music\
  .
  
• Windows XP: Go to \Documents and Settings\username\My Documents\My Music\
  .

No, those things are pretty rare for some reason, although they're pretty easy to make if you're the do-it-yourself type.

Your cheapest bet is to get a USB sound card like this one.

The MacBook Pro 9,2 is the MacBook Pro 13” 2012 non retina. The ram can be upgraded to 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3 PC3-12800 (1600 MHz) SO-DIMMS. Crucial ram like this is what we use for our customers Macs.

I highly recommend replacing your hard drive with an SSD like the Crucial MX500 SATA 2.5” or the Samsung EVO 860 SATA 2.5”, both available on Amazon.

The iFixit guides will show you how to replace the parts https://www.ifixit.com/Device/MacBook_Pro_13%22_Unibody_Mid_2012.

Here's the one I bought on amazon

http://www.amazon.com/Drive-Unibody-MacBook-SuperDrive-Replacement/dp/B0058AH2US/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1344003218&sr=8-1&keywords=macbook+pro+optical+drive+hard+drive

I think any of them will work just fine. I haven't installed mine yet, but people on amazon give it good reviews.

thanks! i just got this, http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001H0REVK

a mini dvi to hdmi thing from amazon hopefully it works.

I replaced the 500GB HDD in my Mid 2012 MBP with an Intel SSD and I've been very happy with it. I can't remember which Intel SSD I have. Might be a 300 series, or a 500 series. Either way it is Intel, I know that.

You wont need any special mounting or brackets or anything, but it is a bit of a pain in the butt procedure. I miss the easy to access drives on some of the older MacBooks. You need to remove the bottom case, some cables, a daughterboard, and some other stuff. Lots of tiny awkward screws of varying sizes. Go slow, use a repair manual, and stay organized. I used to be a Mac Genius so here's a tip: get some large sticky labels, like shipping labels. Put them on the table sticky-side-up. Stick your screws to the label while you work in the right positions in relation to each other. That way you never forget where stuff goes, and nothing falls.

I also recommend getting a mounting bracket and putting your old spindle HDD in the optical drive slot. That's also a little bit of a process but so worth it because you can do a fusion drive, or just have 2 drives. Something like this:

http://www.amazon.com/Drive-Unibody-MacBook-SuperDrive-Replacement/dp/B0058AH2US/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1373150740&sr=8-1&keywords=macbook+pro+drive+caddy

I am very happy with 2 drives in mine.

I'm actually getting ready to do this myself in a week or so. I have a Crucial M4 128gb. I picked up an optibay-type cage for the old HDD so I can keep it in the system, and an external enclosure for the superdrive when i've taken it out.

My gameplan is to pull the HDD, set it aside, and do a fresh install of Lion onto the SSD from a SD card (I'll push the Lion DMG onto the card before I get into the guts of the machine), then physically reinstall the HDD to the old optical bay. I'll copy what programs & settings I need from that drive, then delete everything I don't want to save that's still on it (i.e., leave my documents & music alone) and then fix the permissions by hand.

You can also use this NVMe adapter.
Sintech NGFF M.2 nVME SSD Adapter Card for Upgrade 2013-2015 Year Macs(Not Fit Early 2013 MacBook Pro) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01CWWAENG/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_kYa7BbE3TNJKZ


Make sure you install High Sierra or later first to get the firmware update that supports NVMe.

I would recommend an SD card that's sits flush with the MacBook Pro, you can get up to 128gb. Make sure you pick the MacBook you have. Link below. I have one of these. Not the fastest drive to write to but has good read speeds. I just store pictures, music and films on it. Things that's just stay on my Mac at all times

Transcend JetDrive Lite 330 128 GB Storage Expansion Card https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00MTHLURE/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_hgCgvb1WEQKFF
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00MTHLURE/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_hgCgvb1WEQKFF

I purchased this RAM on amazon for my 15" non-retina macbook pro. Works perfectly!

I believe on the older Macs target disk mode only works over firewire. So you'd need a firewire adapter for the new Mac if you want to connect it that way. Really the easiest way is to just get a SATA to USB adapter. But if you don't want to do that and the old Mac is working except for the screen/keyboard you could just plug in an external display and keyboard and network them together.

If you want something without an external case you could just get a cable like this: https://www.amazon.com/StarTech-com-USB3S2SAT3CB-Drive-Adapter-Cable/dp/B00HJZJI84/ref=sr_1_3?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1523015274&sr=1-3&keywords=sata+to+usb

RAM and SSD. Samsung 850 Evos are the best sata SSDs on the market that are not overpriced Intel shit. A 250 GB drives runs $90.

As for RAM, it uses DDR3 SODIMM @ 1066 Mhz, it is a little picky on this regard. RAM today runs around $5 a GB for cards compatible with your MacBook. Here is 8 GB for $40.

I would always recommend fresh install. As for transferring data from an old drive you can buy a Cradle or or 2.5" external USB drive enclosure. Cradle will cost you about 20-40 on Amazon, enclosures are about 10.

Cradle - https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0099TX7O4/ref=mp_s_a_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1473168141&sr=8-4&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=hard%2Bdrive%2Bcradle&dpPl=1&dpID=41El4Mm9svL&ref=plSrch&th=1&psc=1

Enclosure - https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00OJ3UJ2S/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1473168212&sr=8-3&pi=SY200_QL40&keywords=hard+drive+enclosure&dpPl=1&dpID=31D9U9rO8TL&ref=plSrch

Edit- added links

I think the mid-2010 was one of the last models that it was possible to replace the insides. Price is currently about $182

SSD- http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-256GB-2-5-Inch-Internal-MZ-7KE256BW/dp/B00LMXBOP4

RAM- http://www.amazon.com/Crucial-PC3-8500-204-Pin-CT2K4G3S1067M-CT2C4G3S1067M/dp/B008LTBJFM

SATA cable- http://www.amazon.com/StarTech-SATA-Drive-Adapter-Cable/dp/B00HJZJI84/ref=pd_bxgy_147_img_3?ie=UTF8&refRID=0R44VTK7S236H4M8A2MC

Crucial has a good compatibility page that shows what works in that year computer but only for their products. Its nice to compare what you will be getting and what definitely works just to make sure. But, I've had no problems with any of the things above
http://www.crucial.com/usa/en/compatible-upgrade-for//macbook-pro-%2813-inch%2C-mid-2010%29

I heard crucial is great! But I can't spot any differences between these two. Can you?

http://www.crucial.com/usa/en/mac-pro-%28mid-2012---dual-processor-systems%29/CT5789879

http://www.amazon.com/Crucial-PC3-12800-SODIMM-204-Pin-CT2K8G3S160BM/dp/B008LTBJFW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1415909639&sr=8-1&keywords=macbook+pro+9.2+ram+16gb

Thanks I'll refer to that when I change it.

Do these ones look compatible?

https://www.amazon.ca/gp/aw/d/B01EUGOZGE/ref=mp_s_a_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1523213428&sr=8-5&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=Macbook+pro+13"+unibody+%28mid+2012%29+hard+drive+cable&dpPl=1&dpID=31b0GZYiGqL&ref=plSrch

https://www.amazon.ca/gp/aw/d/B00GJQCJWG/ref=mp_s_a_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1523213517&sr=8-4&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=Macbook+pro+13"+unibody+%28mid+2012%29+hard+drive+cable

Sorry for all the questions just want to make sure I get the right thing

I just did this today. SuperDrive is now in an external case, 1TB HDD is in the optical bay. I did not use the OWC kit, as it was way more expensive.

Here's what I used:

For the external drive:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005RFOJT6/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o09_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

For the optical bay:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0058AH2US/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o09_s02?ie=UTF8&psc=1

All for less than $25. OWC is $29 for just the optical bay caddy. Both worked like a charm.

Thank you for your suggestions. As for the second part, do I need to find a specific iteration of SATA connection? Or would something like this connect to the drive?

What do you exactly mean by speeding up? Overall performance, or something else?

For performance, get a solid state drive (SSD). It will reduce boot time to mere seconds, and make your applications run smooth / open quickly.

I upgraded my 17 inch late 2010 MacBook Pro with a Samsung 840 Pro 256 GB SSD and I replaced my superdrive with a HDD caddy and a 1TB 2.5" drive. Boots faster than the macbook air we have, and has a crapton of space. Hope this helps

Totally agree with /u/fcewen00's advice to replace it with an SSD to get your Mac up and running again.

To clarify the data recovery portion, just because it won't boot doesn't mean that all data is lost.

First of all, a clicking drive can potentially do more physical damage to the data on the drive if you try to read from it. So, if the data is really important to you, the best bet is to send it off to Drive Savers right away. They will disassemble the drive, and get as much data off as possible. However, this is usually a last-resort due to the price tag.

If you want to give it a shot yourself, you could attach the removed drive to a working Mac or Linux box with a USB/SATA cable (like this one), and attempt to browse and copy files. Note: if you attach it to a Mac, it may take a very long time to mount (give it at least 15 minutes).

If that's not working, you could try a free tool called ddrescue to attempt to create an image of the bad drive. A while ago, I wrote up a quick tutorial on the commands necessary. Note: for this, you will need at least as much free space on the host drive as the capacity of the failing drive (meaning you likely won't be able to run it on your shiny new ssd Mac).

I have been using one of these in my MBPr 13" and 15" for a couple years and they are great!

Sits near flush with your MacBook. So you never need to take it out.

https://www.amazon.com/Transcend-JetDrive-Storage-Expansion-TS128GJDL330/dp/B00MTHLURE/

If you are meaning to turn the internal SSD from your broken MacBook into an external SSD (kind of like a flash drive), you can simply buy an external SSD enclosure like this. Then you put the SSD in it, and done. This will allow you to boot off of the SSD (since it still does have your entire Mac operating system on it) or format it and use it as a super fast flash drive.

? On the US store I see

• Crucial 240GB
  
• SanDisk
  
• Samsung
  
  Unless you have a coupon code of some type, the prices Amazon displays include any ongoing sales, FYI.

I use this with my Mac mini and it works great. You would need a usb-c adapter

I’ve upgraded my air’s drive (2015 model) with a Samsung evo. I after trying a few adapters I found this specific adapter to work. Other than that a Ubuntu bootable flash drive was used to format the drive as the Mac cannot see it. This video was the guide I followed primarily. The job is a tad tedious but well worth it as the Samsung nvme drive is blazing fast and so much bigger

I just did this the other day with my 2009 Mac Mini. It was more needed in my case as the internal hard drive was going bad and was often really slow. I did the disk speed test before and after, and with the SSD, I was averaging speeds about 19x faster (yep, that's 1900% faster) . My boot time dropped from about 10 minutes to about 20 seconds. To open and play a movie, it now takes about a second where it used to take at least a minute. The installation was a pain, at least with the 2009 Mini, that required lots of prying and plastic-bending, and tiny parts and such. I also did a clean install of 10.6 and migrated the OS rather than cloning the drive, as there was good possibility of corrupt files and such. All-in-all, worth it. Oh, btw, I put the Crucial M4 in the Mac Mini, which I took out of my MacBook Pro, which I replaced with a Crucial M500. The M500 seems to run about 25-50% faster than the M4, it also runs cooler, and I seem to get a bit more battery life out of it. Only had it for a few days, but I really like it.

The maximum output resolution of any plastic MacBook is 1920x1200 via the mini DVI port with the appropriate adapter. Your display is 1920x1080, so it should be compatible if you buy an HDMI adapter. I found this $7 converter with an extension cable on Amazon that should do the job:

http://www.amazon.com/PTC-Mini-DVI-Adapter-6ft-Macintosh/dp/B001H0REVK

Pretty much any display you can find under the max resolution will be compatible, given the appropriate cables are used to connect it.

First of all stop using it and shut the computer down. If the drive is on the verge of failing, which it sounds like it is, you don't want to push it over the edge.

Remove the drive from the computer following this guide, put that drive into one of these and connect it to another computer. You can then pull off all of the photos, etc.

While you still have the mac open, put one of these in it. From there just install a fresh copy of Mac OS and you'll be back in action with a computer that will be noticeably faster. It's like night and day performance wise.

Get one of these flush mount SD cards and add 128GB of storage. It's not super fast but it's good enough for the music and other media type stuff. Only about $74.

Retina 13" version

Air 13" version

A few options:

• For external storage, FW/TB externals exist like /u/SheriffCahill said. In order of cost, Thunderbolt/USB3.0 drives are most expensive, followed by Firewire/USB3.0 drives, and then USB3.0 drives. Thunderbolt can cost up to 3x or more than standard USB3.0 only drives, with negligible performance improvement with standard spinning disk HDDs. Firewire drives are only at a premium because only LaCie makes them.
  
  • Transcend 2TB Thunderbolt/USB3
    
  • LaCie 1TB Thunderbolt/USB3
    
  • LaCie 1TB Firewire/USB3
    
  • GTech 1TB Thunderbolt/USB3
    
  • GTech 1TB Firewire/USB3
    
    

• For TB to USB3.0 adapters, only a couple exist and are bundled as either TB to USB3+Ethernet, or TB to USB3+eSATA. Of course the ethernet port would be redundant for you, and the eSATA port is generally for professionals with older eSATA drives. You may run into some Thunderbolt docks, but beware that most are Thunderbolt 2 only.
  
  • Kanex TB to USB3+eSATA
    
  • Kanex TB to USB3+eth

In addition to /u/frankielicious' suggestion, I believe that model has the IR sensor as well, so you could hook it up to your TV with a mini-DVI to HDMI adapter, plug the audio in the TV or a receiver, and run something like Plex or XBMC/Kodi.

Fixed your link

I hope I didn't jump the gun, but you got your link syntax backward! Don't worry bro, I fixed it, have an upvote!

• SSD
  
  
  
  ^Bot ^Comment ^- ^[ ^Stats ^& ^Feeds ^] ^- ^[ ^Charts ^] ^- ^[ ^Information ^for ^Moderators ^] ^- ^[ ^Live ^Image ^Feed ^]

I have a Macbook Pro 13" 2009, and adding "Crucial m4 512GB 2.5-Inch (9.5mm) SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Drive CT512M4SSD2" made it SO much faster. Boots in seconds. Read/write is very fast. Gave me another year of good use so far. Just waiting to upgrade after Apple announces some new products by October...

Im still hesitant to pull the trigger and buy, just dont want to over pay and get the right one. I found two but one says "notebook memory" but this one only says "Mac" which I think is what I need. Is this the right one? Thanks

I bought this one. It works flawlessly and was under 10 bucks. If I recall correctly, audio is supported through Thunderbolt to HDMI after 2009 model year MacBook Pros. It should work on your 2011. I can assume you checked the sound settings and looked for your TV via HDMI for output? It should just show up.

Yep! I am not afraid to take such risks too when it comes to my devices. At my first comment, I forgot the say that adapter is internal, so basically I am preferring the buy an adapter( https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B01CWWAENG/ref=ox_sc_act_image_1?smid=A3LUEZHQOA50VU&psc=1#) which is 17$ plus a Samsung Evo 970 SSD 250 GB for 90$ over that OWC SSD which is 180$ and when I cut off the taxes and shipping, I am saving a little more than 100$. I will take the risk. I am really appreciated for the all help man.

Someone may correct me, but I don't believe the Apple TV is capable of outputting an uncompressed 1920x1080 video stream.

Why do you need an Apple TV between the iMac and your TV in the first place? Why not use something like this?

I'm not 100% sure, but can't you just get a temporary SATA - USB cable?

Like this http://www.amazon.com/StarTech-com-SATA-Drive-Adapter-Cable/dp/B00HJZJI84

Something like this?

Any cheaper or higher rated options?

I would agree with you that it sounds like a hardware issue with your aux port. You could always try resetting the smc for the hell of it but if that doesnt work I would maybe recommend buying usb headphones or just a usb to aux adapter as a temporary fix

Most cables should work, but be sure to read lots of reviews. If the cable isn't properly shielded, you may run into interference issues with your WiFi on your MacBook.

This is the one I use and I haven't had any issues with it. Convenient having a single cable for video and audio when plugging into my TV.

To be honest, I just use a usb sound card and then a normal PC headset.

I have two of these sound cards (one at work, one at home) they work without drivers and are recognized by the System Preferences:Sound http://www.amazon.com/Syba-SD-CM-UAUD-Adapter-C-Media-Chipset/dp/B001MSS6CS/

Another option would be the Griffin iMic which has more features (line in from pro mics as well as consumer mics)

I don't think it is the styple you want, but I prefer a one-ear headset/mic for Skype. I use the basic panasonic design with a 2.5mm to split 3.5mm adapter. http://www.amazon.com/Headset-Buddy-Adapter-01-PH25-PC35-Phone/dp/B002NQV0N0/

Woah buddy.

Or you could spend:
$11.08 + $174.99

... Just saved you $100.

The 13 inch Mid 2010 model will accept and use 16GB according to Mactracker. The 15 and 17 inch models do not.

That site you linked to is a ripoff, too. Here's a 16GB upgrade for half the price. http://www.amazon.com/Crucial-DDR3L-1600-PC3-12800-CT2K8G3S160BM-CT2C8G3S160BM/dp/B008LTBJFW/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1425875836&sr=8-4&keywords=16gb+memory+macbook+pro+mid+2010#Ask

this is the one i got for my macbook pro 13" mid 2012 (non retina): double check your model number to be sure.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00GJQCJWG?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o08_s00

Get a USB-SATA adapter like https://www.amazon.com/StarTech-SATA-Drive-Adapter-Cable/dp/B00HJZJI84, hook it up to a computer, and wipe the drive from there.

You can remove the hardrive and get something like this. Connect it to your Macbook and it transfer the data.

First off, ignore any included software that comes with a drive. Always always always. Invariably this is written for PC, is even then highly proprietary (read duff), and the tools that come with a Mac are more than good enough.

Maybe I missed it, but have you not tried installing the SSD directly in A? This would get past the problem of the enclosure not working. You should then be able to boot off the USB, and use Disk Utility to format the SSD for OS X. If Disk Utility doesn't see it (which I now see your third bullet covers) then it looks very much like a duff SSD.

Rather than banging your head off a wall, you first of all need to verify the SSD is good. Maybe get one of those SATA to USB interfaces that are a few bucks that let you run a notebook sized drive externally, yet naked, so no enclosure. They're pretty cheap and a spare one is always handy to have, and with SSDs there isn't really even any point in an enclosure as they're normally in one. But from what you've said, you've tried the enclosure and directly inside A, so I'd reckon it's just dead.

I've used this adapter in a number of situations for Macs, and it works well.

It looks just like this, but its not 6 feet. I'm sure its the same brand as mine, but only about 5 inches long. I bought mine off amazon, also.

Yep they work, even cheap generic ones such as this.

The SATA connection is standard on most drives these days. (some manufaturers, Apple....I'm looking at you....have proprietary connections)
The Connections on your drive are standard. I use a SATA drive docking station on my desk at work for data transfers, but if you're only looking to copy the data off the drive, a SATA to USB cable would be fine. This is the one that's in my tool bag for when I go on site.

I actually replaced the SATA cable a few months back so it's relatively new. With this one to be exact: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00GJQCJWG/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

It should be capable with SATA III, no?

Edit: according to another buyer it does apparently

https://www.amazon.com/forum/-/Tx284K9HKOLAP1C/1?source&asin=B00GJQCJWG

Don't pay for the owc data doubler or mce optibay, the cheap amazon/ebay versions are identical and work fine for me

Hello. Your 2011 Mac Mini actually isn’t compatible with the ram in the amazon link. That model year uses pc-10600 (1333MHz) ddr3 so-dimms.

This ram should be compatible with your computer:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B008LTBJK2/ref=mp_s_a_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1499856697&sr=8-5&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=ddr3+pc3-10600&dpPl=1&dpID=51fmWhaKmIL&ref=plSrch

amazon has a deal on them today:

http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-Electronics-EVO-Series-2-5-Inch-MZ-7TE250BW/dp/B00E3W1726/ref=dp_ob_title_ce

Without an enclosure or an external connection you're really going to be limited.

Just get one of these and you can use a trial of something like Carbon Copy Cloner to clone the drive.

If you don't want to spend $10 on the converter and if you have your Office suite installation media (or have a way to get it) then you can just pop the new drive into your computer and press CMD+R at boot time (if you have 10.9 and up) to boot to internet recovery and re-install the OS from scratch.

Save yourself the trouble.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0058AH2US/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B0058AH2US&linkCode=as2&tag=trewar-20

I think it might be the caddy, too. It should've worked because I've done it on my 2011 (sata 2 in optibay) and several 2012s (sata 3 in optibay). Can you link the optibay you got? For reference, I've used this one here on 2011+2012 units with no issues.

You're using the original cable to connect the optibay to the logic board, correct? Just wondering in case the optibay mfg threw in their own cable.

If you are planning to replace the HDD with a SSD maybe next thing is a nice option :
http://www.amazon.com/Drive-Unibody-MacBook-SuperDrive-Replacement/dp/B0058AH2US

So you can put the hybrid HD in place of the superdrive (which most people hardly use). That way you have cheap extra storage.

I don't have experience with replacing it. Maybe others know how difficult this will be.

I don't want to spend a lot: https://www.amazon.co.uk/KANEX-Thunderbolt-eSATA-USB-Adapter-x/dp/B00LOLBBQQ

I want to spend too much : "Belkin thunderbolt usb 3.0 dock"

This.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B003OC6LWM/ref=redir_mdp_mobile

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003OC6LWM/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B008LTBJFM/ref=psdc_172500_t1_B005LDLVAO
i don't think the RAM from your link is compatible. try this one

Yup. Crucial 8GB Kit (4GBx2) for $45 with same day delivery.

Here are some links for the product in the above comment for different countries:

Link: this

• UK: amazon.co.uk
  
• Spain: amazon.es
  
• France: amazon.fr
  
• Germany: amazon.de
  
• Japan: amazon.co.jp
  
• Canada: amazon.ca
  
• Italy: amazon.it
  
• China: amazon.cn
  
  
  This bot is currently in testing so let me know what you think by voting (or commenting).

http://amzn.com/B008LTBJFW

Or this and this possibly?

I've been looking around and found the following:

Optical bay enclosure:

SSD option 1

SSD option 2

Would these SSDs work?

Will this also work? http://www.amazon.com/StarTech-SATA-Drive-Adapter-Cable/dp/B00HJZJI84

If you have another computer you can make an El Cap USB installer and reinstall it from there.

​

To get your data you can get a SATA-USB external adapter, pull the drive out of the Macbook, and copy your data to another computer.

​

Adapter:

​

https://www.amazon.com/StarTech-com-SATA-Drive-Adapter-Cable/dp/B00HJZJI84

​

Same thing but a full enclosure:

​

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00OJ3UJ2S/ref=s9_acsd_top_hd_bw_bAqpP1_cr_x__w?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=merchandised-search-3&pf_rd_r=CRVP86GZMSG9D9WY4W3X&pf_rd_r=CRVP86GZMSG9D9WY4W3X&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=4f3a3e36-c598-581a-bdda-6635ea8feafa&pf_rd_p=4f3a3e36-c598-581a-bdda-6635ea8feafa&pf_rd_i=160354011

​

That's a SATA drive so you need a USB to SATA cable. Something like this.

Kanex Thunderbolt to eSATA plus USB 3.0 Adapter https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00LOLBBQQ/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_TeQvzbH1C1Y06

Is that an A1502/MacBook Pro 12,1? Also who is the manufacturer of the SSD? The Amazon page I found for a Sintech adapter lists the following 3 Samsung models as incompatible:

Samsung PM981
Samsung 950 Pro
Samsung 970 Evo Plus

Those adapters are not recommended anymore for the new EVO 970 blades - this one is: M.2 PCIe SSD Adapter for Upgrade of 2013-2015 Macs

​

​

I would just reccomend taking out the DVD drive and using this adapter to put a second drive in. Also get an SSD and use the 750GB hard drive as storage. I personally have an Mid 09 MBP with a 120GB SSD and a 700GB HD as my DVD drive.

You can take out the hard drive and plug it into another machine using one of these.

What happens if you hold "option" while booting?

Thanks for the reply. I think it was good quality RAM just based on customer reviews when I purchased it in September 2013 (Crucial 16GB Kit https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008LTBJFW/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1). No problems until earlier this year after about 5 years of use, and the only problem was the pixellation stuff—no speed issues.

My bad. 'Slow' computers are usually related to a few things.

1. Hardware failures, mainly referring to failing hard drives or hard drive cables.
   
2. Software issues, usually involving putting too new an operating system on an older machine can cause it to run slowly.
   
3. Not enough RAM, as apps update with new technologies and such they require more RAM in order function. More RAM means you can run more programs at once (to a certain extent)
   
   Since you dont know how to upgrade it already, I'm assuming your machine came standard with either 2gb or 4gb of RAM. Let's assume 4gb for a 2009 model. The link below should be correct based off the information you gave me. And below that is a video on how to install it. Best of luck!
   
   http://www.amazon.com/Crucial-PC3-8500-204-Pin-CT2K4G3S1067M-CT2C4G3S1067M/dp/B008LTBJFM
   
   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Lmp_rwtJg8

There's no real straight forward way I can think of to do this without an enclosure or a USB to SATA adapter.

If you don't care about retaining your personal files or settings, why don't you just create a bootable USB OS X installer to install OS X on the SSD once it's put in the Mac Mini? Then reinstall Office from the install disk or downloaded installer (assuming you still have the license key).

It's your hard drive failing. Have it replaced with an ssd and have your data imported in from the drive going bad. I see and do this everyday. Stop messing with it before it fails completely.

Edit: It's actually easy to handle this problem with a 10 dollar part. If you are interested, let me know and I will help you. https://www.amazon.com/Sabrent-2-5-Inch-Adapter-Optimized-EC-SSHD/dp/B011M8YACM/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1521770855&sr=8-5&keywords=sata+hard+drive+cable+to+usb

They link to a disconnected product (or $550 on amazon). This other one is >$200.

I don't mind not being able to control the monitor. Just insane that there doesn't seem to be a reasonable option out there for this decent monitor!

That is a lot of money for a optical drive D: I don't have much experience with ebay but I know that ifixit has multiple guides on youtube and their website. An alternative would be buying a data doubler and maybe buying a hard-drive to put in. At least then you would have functionality back instead of a broken optical drive. Then maybe buying an external disk drive? This is the route that most people do with their Macbook Pro's, but instead of a hard-drive, they use SSD's. 10$ for the data doubler and maybe 50$ for a external disk-drive?

You can't go directly from 10.6 to 10.12. You have to make a stopover at 10.11 first. You can download that here https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/os-x-el-capitan/id1147835434?mt=12

A couple of things: even though 4 GB is technically enough it's going to be painfully slow. Over time software releases become more complex and more demanding. So I recommend at least 8 GB. Your computer can handle up to 16. http://amzn.to/2gSlKPv It's two chips that have to be swapped out. It doesn't take computer knowledge to install, just some mechanical ability and comfort with a screwdriver. You can find guides online or maybe find a friend who is comfortable with opening it up. Just be careful because the screws have to go back in exactly the same place (there are just 10 screws on the bottom side of the computer; you don't have to remove any screws once you open it up). Some of the screws look the same but there are are some subtle differences.

And if the computer is crashing a lot that's probably not because of the old software. I'm a little concerned that it's a hard drive failure. You can install the trial of this program and it will tell you if the hard drive is failing. If it is, it can be replaced for a LOT less than the cost of a new computer, but it takes some technical know-how to get that done. https://www.volitans-software.com/apps/smart-utility/

I have the exact same problem. Currently I have a MBP 15" retina late 2013. I just bought a samsung 850 evo 1TB SSD, and I am getting speeds of 50MB/s. Which I think is ridiculous. I tested the same hard drive with a windows PC and I get 100MB/s speeds. When using eSata on the windows PC I get actual expected speeds of 500MB/s. So far I found this adapter that goes from eSata to thunderbolt: http://www.amazon.com/Kanex-KTU10-Thunderbolt-eSATA-Adapter/dp/B00LOLBBQQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1427836779&sr=8-1&keywords=esata+to+thunderbolt
The downside is that its rather expensive at $78 and I'm not sure this will solve my speed problem. Any ideas as to what might be happening?