Recently widowed neighbor wants me to fix her Macbook Pro 15

[chopper]

Well, ok. I almost told her to recycle it but glad I didn't.

It is a conventional hard drive. I'll see if she has dough for a new SSD. She had to think about the $89 battery from OWC.

I tried to just run app store app but it says it cant connect. It will get online with a browser.

Is there a simple link to download and install Mojave? On Safari it simply won't load the page from a google link. I installed Chrome and tried again the page loads but no download button.

Thanks much.

[chopper]

<>

Not really.
Also, reasonably certain my wife would not approve

[Forrest]

Crucial MX500 500GB SSD Is $59 at Amazon

[chopper]

Cripes! Thanks for the Amazon tip.

[Lew Zealand]

Yes! Backup drive, clone to that Crucial. Revel in the ease of replacing that drive with the SSD in a modular Mac.

That's a real gem of a computer.

[davester]

Before going to Catalina, look at System Info/Software and see how many 32 bit apps are on there. If there are any important ones, only upgrade to Mojave, not Catalina. Go here for older MacOS versions: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT211683

"wants me to fix her Macbook Pro 15". Is that what the kids are calling it these days?

[Ombligo]

Upgrade the SSD, don't worry about the RAM. I'd take the OS to Mojave unless she has 32-bit programs that can't be upgraded, in that case stop at High Sierra

But check the keyboard first, go through every key, both upper and lowercase. The keyboard going bad was the death of both my mid-2012's. The other weak point is the Hard Drive Cable https://www.ifixit.com/Store/Mac/MacBook...63-041?o=1

[btfc]

Yes, use davester’s link. Generally I would max out the memory while I had the back off, but 8 gigs is fine; absolutely do the SSD.

[Racer X]

I've got the same machine. 16 gigs of RAM and a SSD. I'm on Sierra 10.12 Runs REALLY nice, especially for a decade old machine.

[Rolando]

I have a 9,1. I'm typing on it right now.

When I got it, I was disappointed with it. I replaced the HD with a SSD. It screamed.

Still going strong.

Slap in the SSD and will feel new!