Apple Macbook Pro A1278 – 13″ Laptop

2022-11-03
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Macbook Pro 2012 - 01 - picture

Hardware >

(on Wikipedia)
https://support.apple.com/en-us/111958 [ 1 ]

A entry-level mid-2012 Apple laptop.

Great keyboard, easy to repair, good ports; an all-around winner since it has been upgraded and can be upgraded further, including the OS.



–

Macbook Pro 2012 - 01 - picture
Macbook Pro 2012 - 02 - keyboard
Macbook Pro 2012 - 03 - keyboard middle zoomed
Left (ports)
Left (ports)
Right (optical drive)
Right (optical drive)
Macbook Pro 2012 - 06 - almost-closed
Macbook Pro 2012 - 07 - lid, above
front-right
front-right
Table of Contents [hide]

Hardware ∞

  • MacBook Pro A1278 – 13″, Mid-2012

    • TODO – confirm that model number
  • Second generation (Unibody)
  • Size: 0.95″, 12.78″, 8.94″ (height, width, depth) when closed (2.41 cm, 32.5 cm, 22.7 cm).

  • Weight: 4.5 lbs (2.06 kg) [ 2 ]

Inside ∞

  • CPU: i5-3210M 2.50 GHz 2-core 4-thread 64-bit.

  • GPU: Intel HD 4000

    • Ivy Bridge – Gen 7
    • Shared memory.
    • On-panel is 1280×800 native resolution, and alternatively:
      — 1152×720, 1024×640, 800×500 at 16:10 aspect ratio
      — 1024×768, 800×600, 640×480 pixels at 4:3 aspect ratio
      — 1024×768, 800×600, 640×480 pixels at 4:3 aspect ratio stretched
      — 720×480 pixels at 3:2 aspect ratio
      — 720×480 pixels at 3:2 aspect ratio stretched
    • External up to 1920×1080 (1080p, 16:9) @ TODO Hz with a Mini DisplayPort adapter.
      — TODO, determine the refresh rate with System Preferences > Displays
    • External up to 2560×1600 (WQXGA (Widescreen Quad eXtended Graphics Array), 16:10) @ 60 Hz with a Mini DisplayPort to Dual-link DVI adapter.
  • Bluetooth – 4.0

  • Wi-Fi – 802.11a/b/g/n

    • TODO/confirm – This model unofficially supports 450 Mbit/sec 802.11n Wi-Fi using MIMO.

  • Battery – 63.5-watt-hour lithium-polymer

    • Up to 7 hours wireless web surfing at 50% brightness.

  • RAM: 16 GB (as 2x 8 GB)

    • TODO – speed, likely 1600MHz DDR3 SDRAM SO-DIMMs (204-pin).
    • TODO – are they matched?

  • HDD: 1 TB

    • Supports a single SATA III (6 Gb/s) 2.5″ HDD or SSD that is up to 9.5 mm thick.
    • TODO: likely 5400-rpm

Screen ∞

Macbook Pro 2012 - 01 - picture

Speakers ∞

Macbook Pro 2012 - 02 - keyboard

Stereo speakers with subwoofer

These are hidden by the lid hinge.

The subwoofer is closer to the optical drive.

Top (keyboard side) ∞

Macbook Pro 2012 - 02 - keyboard
Macbook Pro 2012 - 03 - keyboard middle zoomed

  • Keyboard: 78-key (US)

  • Touchpad – “Trackpad”

    • Glass
    • Multi-gesture/multi-touch, with inertial scrolling, pinch, rotate, swipe, three-finger swipe, four-finger swipe, tap, double-tap, and drag.
      — FIXME – I’ve been having issues..

  • Microphone – Omnidirectional

    • At the top-left.

Left (ports) ∞

Left (ports)
Left (ports)

Identify the ports on your Mac
about various cables/plugs

From left-to-right, which is: back (monitor) to front (user):

  1. MagSafe power port

  2. Ethernet – Gigabit
  3. 1x Firewire 800 (800 Mbps)

  4. 1x Thunderbolt 1 (10 Gbps)

    • Interoperable with DP-1.1a. Backwards-compatible with Mini DisplayPort-equipped displays as well as adapters that are compatible with Mini DisplayPort (DVI, VGA, HDMI) for up to 1920×1200 @ 60 Hz.
    • Dual-link DVI output using a Mini DisplayPort to Dual-Link DVI Adapter for up to 2560×1600 @ 60 Hz. [ 4 ]
    • For external displays, seee GPU/External
    • No this cannot be adapted to USB.

  5. 2x USB 3.0 (5 Gbps)

  6. SDXC – “SD Card”

    • Cannot be used as a boot drive. You must use a plain USB stick in one of the two USB ports.

  7. Combined headphone/microphone 2.5″ jack.

    • Support for Apple iPhone headset with remote and microphone
    • Support for audio line out (digital/analog)
  8. Battery indicator trigger button

  9. Battery indicator lights

    • Eight tiny holes on the left-hand side, nearest the user.
    • Plugging and removing the power cable will trigger it briefly.

Right (optical) ∞

Right (optical drive)
Right (optical drive)
  1. Kensington Security Slot

  2. Optical: 8x Dual-Layer DVD-RW SuperDrive

    • CD, CD-R, CD-RW, DVD±R, DVD±RW
    • Reportedly a maximum read speed of 8x DVD-R, DVD+R, DVD-ROM; 6x DVD-ROM (double layer DVD-9), DVD-R DL (double layer), DVD+R DL (double layer), DVD-RW, and DVD+RW; 24x CD.
    • Reportedly a maximum write speed of 8x DVD-R, DVD+R; 4x DVD-R DL (double layer), DVD+R DL (double layer), DVD-RW, DVD+RW; 24x CD-R; 10x CD-RW.
    • Note that the optical drive is just a regular slim drive, and so a hard drive can be put there with an adapter. See Replace the optical drive with a SATA drive (HDD or SSD)

Front, facing the user ∞

Apple Macbook Pro A1278 front right

  1. Magnetic latch

    • This actually makes it annoying to open.

  2. Sleep indicator light

    • Illuminated in the picture.
    • It strobes when the laptop is closed/asleep.

  3. Infrared sensor

    • I don’t have the means to get it working.

Accessories ∞

  • 100V-240V AC (50Hz to 60Hz), 60W MagSafe power adapter with cable management system.
  • I don’t have information about it’s infrared receiver.

  • SmartGUS will work with it.

Software ∞

Tips and tricks ∞

insert key ∞

If fn-enter does not work for you, then remap a key combination to it:

I have not researched assigning an alternate hotkey when using Windows or Linux, although I’m certain it’s possible.

Tools to use to open it ∞

Bits:

Replace the HDD with an SSD ∞

Replace an Apple Macbook Pro A1278 – 13″ Laptop HDD with an SSD

Replace the optical drive with a SATA drive (HDD or SSD) ∞

(HDD or SSD)

The optical drive is just a regular slim drive, and so a hard drive can be put there with an adapter.

  • Search your preferred stores for phrases like “hard drive caddy adapter”, “superdrive adapter” or the like.

How to:

Upgrade with an NvME ∞

Booting a Linux ISO with Ventoy on a Macbook Pro A1278 ∞

See Booting a Linux ISO with Ventoy on a Macbook Pro A1278

2022-11-22 ∞

  • It’s very heavy.
  • The aluminium body means it can get quite cold. This is why I stopped using a metal mousepad.

  • The keyboard layout is fantastic.

    • Except that Macs are strange and I have problems code-switching between what I’m used to and the screwy way Macs do things.
    • The keys are actually quite far apart, making it difficult to type because I’m so used to my Dell Inspiron 11 3180 and 3185.

  • Screen

    • The viewing angle is complete trash, which is especially bad for a laptop.
    • The shiny screen is nice, but it’s very poor with dark colors.

  • USB

    • The USB ports are so close together that two USB sticks cannot be used side-by-side. I’ll need little extension cables.
    • It can’t boot from a USB stick in a hub or an SD card. 2022-12-26 update: Maybe one port is not bootable and the other is? I re-tested and it works fine..

  • It’s hilarious to see an obsolete Thunderbolt port, but because it’s also a mini-DisplayPort I can use an adapter with it.

TODO ∞

Footnotes


  1. was https://support.apple.com/kb/sp649?locale=en_US [ ↩ ]
  2. Actual weight varies by configuration and manufacturing process. [ ↩ ]
  3. was intel.com/technology/turboboost/ [ ↩ ]
  4. e.g. https://www.apple.com/sg_smb_5200/shop/product/MB571Z/A/mini-displayport-to-dual-link-dvi-adapter [ ↩ ]
  5. redirects from https://support.apple.com/boot-camp/ [ ↩ ]
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