yeah that

 

what about what @statik said?

 

he's confirming that what i said is correct, just in a different way

 

I have retina version of 2012 but i can't upgrade it, now it's tricky to use tons of plugs

 

that's the problem with retina versions and now also the normal pro's, since 2016 (if i remember correctly) everything is soldered, rather sucks

 

So I get a 500GB SSD and a 16GB RAM for now and I should be set?

 

Depending on the amount of space you need for SSD and RAM, yes.

 

I already have an external 2 TB HDD. So I think 500GB SSD internal should suffice. Right?

 

That depends completely of what you want to do with it. For several smaller drums, bass, guitar libraries this can be enough, but for a single big orchestral library probably not.
And before you ask, fx like compressors and eqs don't need a lot of space, mainly in the lower MB range.

 

how much space do you have internally now and is it enough?

 

I do have MacBook Pro 13 mid-2012 with 16GB ram, running rock-solid as main recording rig in studio for whole bands,
I can take a look what exact sticks are inside,
I also have optical drive removed, replaced with another drive - it has 500GB SSD and 1TB HDD,
I already bought it maxed up at eBay, very usable workhorse!

 

I can't say to be honest because i first installed the SSD drive, then once I saw how much of a difference that had made in how my computer was running before and after.. thats when I went all in and got the 16 gb as well. I think if you could only afford upgrading the Ram right now, I would still do it because everybody I talked to said it makes a big difference.. I know your concerns are about music production too, and with my old macbook before upgrading anything there were times where i was literally waiting 20+ minutes for a Logic pro x session to load up.. plus there were times where i was working on something important and would get the "Your computer has no more CPU room, please clear up space before proceeding" so i was willing to do whatever it took to eliminate both those things from happening.. i'll tell you what after getting so used to sessions taking 10+ minutes to load up... its really a treat watching it load up in less than a minute now with all the upgrades.. and the biggest thing is that there hasnt been one plugin ive had trouble loading up in the DAW now.. everything works great.. I say go for it.. you cant lose either way.

 

I got rid of the Machine & got newer Mac but some MBPs during 2011-12 had Graphic card issues, Apple changed the Motherboard until 2015. I sent my mac & got new Mother board then I sold my Mac in 2017 & got new MBP ... as far as I know This Mac will have Graphic issue soon

 

this applies to 15" models with dedicated graphics cards (nVidia 650 and 750 series especially),
13" models which have only intergrated graphics within processor chip don't have such problems

 

Good said...then all of above not applied