Apples to apples: which secondhand iPhone and laptop to get?
August 15, 2015 11:16 AM
My iPhone 4s was stolen a few weeks ago. Last week my early 2011 MacBook Pro screen went dark and wouldn't come back on.
iPhone - Will I regret getting an iPhone 5 or 5s from swappa? The 4s was starting to get glitchy, but it wasn't horrible. Frankly I would prefer to get a cheap Android but for Reasons that probably isn't going to happen.
What will get me the most years of headache-free use per dollar? I'm not a heavy user - a few apps, some video/photos, GPS bc I get lost a lot. The 4s was my first smartphone so I'm not sure at what point the bugginess and lack of support make you want to throw it in the toilet. I wasn't quite at that point with the 4s.
Laptop
Genius Bar quotes $350.00 to replace the display, and possibly more to fix the HD connector or HD itself (apparently display needs to be fixed before they can properly dx the HD issue). It won't be much cheaper to replace the display myself. I'd hoped to keep this machine for another 3-4 solid years at least, and was planning on upgrading the RAM (currently 2GB), and maybe the hard drive down the line.
What I need from laptop:
-Normal internet/email/word processing/video streaming
-No gaming or video editing
-Some audio editing (nothing professional)
-Programming, maybe a lot (if I get into a dev bootcamp in the next year)
For the cost of repairs, I could get a new PC, but if I get into a bootcamp, I'll need to have a Mac. Also, all the PCs in my life have been a giant headache after the first 2 years so I am wary of going that route.
Does it make sense to spend the money on repairs, or am I better off getting a refurb MB Air or something? I don't need the latest and greatest, but I also don't want to spend money on repairs if my current machine is just going to keep crapping out in new expensive ways as it ages.
iPhone - Will I regret getting an iPhone 5 or 5s from swappa? The 4s was starting to get glitchy, but it wasn't horrible. Frankly I would prefer to get a cheap Android but for Reasons that probably isn't going to happen.
What will get me the most years of headache-free use per dollar? I'm not a heavy user - a few apps, some video/photos, GPS bc I get lost a lot. The 4s was my first smartphone so I'm not sure at what point the bugginess and lack of support make you want to throw it in the toilet. I wasn't quite at that point with the 4s.
Laptop
Genius Bar quotes $350.00 to replace the display, and possibly more to fix the HD connector or HD itself (apparently display needs to be fixed before they can properly dx the HD issue). It won't be much cheaper to replace the display myself. I'd hoped to keep this machine for another 3-4 solid years at least, and was planning on upgrading the RAM (currently 2GB), and maybe the hard drive down the line.
What I need from laptop:
-Normal internet/email/word processing/video streaming
-No gaming or video editing
-Some audio editing (nothing professional)
-Programming, maybe a lot (if I get into a dev bootcamp in the next year)
For the cost of repairs, I could get a new PC, but if I get into a bootcamp, I'll need to have a Mac. Also, all the PCs in my life have been a giant headache after the first 2 years so I am wary of going that route.
Does it make sense to spend the money on repairs, or am I better off getting a refurb MB Air or something? I don't need the latest and greatest, but I also don't want to spend money on repairs if my current machine is just going to keep crapping out in new expensive ways as it ages.
iPhone 5 and 5s will both be getting the iOS 9 upgrade, so will both be supported for a good while yet.
posted by chrispy108 at 11:49 AM on August 15, 2015
posted by chrispy108 at 11:49 AM on August 15, 2015
You will regret your decision. Wait until September 9th to buy the newest iPhone.
posted by oceanjesse at 11:57 AM on August 15, 2015
posted by oceanjesse at 11:57 AM on August 15, 2015
I'd personally pay the extra $50 for the 5S. It's significantly faster and includes TouchID.
The 2011 Macbook Pro is better than any refurb you can get for the cost of fixing it. I'd just fix it.
posted by General Malaise at 12:20 PM on August 15, 2015
The 2011 Macbook Pro is better than any refurb you can get for the cost of fixing it. I'd just fix it.
posted by General Malaise at 12:20 PM on August 15, 2015
Definitely go for the 5S over the 5.
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 1:20 PM on August 15, 2015
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 1:20 PM on August 15, 2015
Apple's ~$300 laptop repair is a flat rate that includes fixing any number of problems you tell them about at once. They fixed the GPU and trackpad on my early 2011. Apple also refunded that to me when they later decided to cover 2011 GPU problems.
posted by w0mbat at 1:50 PM on August 15, 2015
posted by w0mbat at 1:50 PM on August 15, 2015
I've bought 3 phones from Swappa and all experiences were very good--saved loads of money, and haven't regretted it for a moment. If you care about the appearance of the phone look for very clear crisp photos, and phones that have been in cases and with screens protectors. The metal on the 5 and 5s is delicate and gets dinged up much more easily than the 4/4s model, and can look especially bad on the black 5/5s.
posted by tula at 2:06 PM on August 15, 2015
posted by tula at 2:06 PM on August 15, 2015
Don't wait until september to buy the NEWEST phone, but wait for the new phones release to destroy the secondary market for the iphone 5s and 6.
I'm in the same boat. Lost my 6+, bought a cheap 5s, and now i'm just waiting it out because a used 6(and honestly, even the 5s) are still fairly inflated.
The correct answer of what iphone to get now is none of them. Even if you're buying new, the whole pricing structure is going to shift in less than a month.
What model of macbook pro is it? Is it the 13in? 15in? If it's the 13in, it probably isn't even worth repairing. List it on craigslist for $100 for parts and buy another used one. If it's the 15in, maaaaybe.
Like, $350-600 is a smoking hot market of sweet deals for used macs. You could maybe even get an early 13in retina macbook pro for that much, and definitely a 2012 15in regular macbook pro, 2012 13in with cash leftover, or any number of 2012/13 and maybe even 2014 macbook airs. This would net you more power, an SSD, and a fresher machine. Many of these are very lightly used. I've owned one brand new mac in my life, and i had more problems with it than any of the clearly lightly used ones i've purchased off craigslist, or the immaculate one i got on ebay(it had one scratch so tiny i was never able to photograph it on the chassis).
If you absolutely MUST have a phone right now to wait it out, there's plenty of deals like this on basic burner smartphones for every carrier. Get something like a moto G or E, or a cheapo windows phone... then flip it on craigslist for a bit less than you paid. Someone will pay $20 for that $25 phone within a couple hours. Seriously. I've "rented" phones like this more than once. You might have to throw it on ebay or swappa if you're in an area with a slow craigslist, but it'll go away and you'll get most of your money back.
I think throwing $350+(or even the $300 "oops" depot repair option, which they seem to not have offered you) at a maybe $600 max machine, and really only like $350-400 if it's the 13in, is throwing good money after bad. The 15in 2011 macbooks are considered radioactive now because of the GPU/motherboard issues, and the 13in just isn't worth all that much anymore. Junk it for cheap and upgrade to a somewhat nicer used machine.
There is no "bad" generation of macbook air after 2010, and there's no "bad" generation of the 13in macbook pro. The 15in 2012 and newer are fine(but likely, mostly out of your price range) for the most part. If you're willing to really dump money in to this, get a 2013/14/15 13in retina macbook pro from the apple refurb page and just forget about the whole problem.
posted by emptythought at 12:29 AM on August 16, 2015
I'm in the same boat. Lost my 6+, bought a cheap 5s, and now i'm just waiting it out because a used 6(and honestly, even the 5s) are still fairly inflated.
The correct answer of what iphone to get now is none of them. Even if you're buying new, the whole pricing structure is going to shift in less than a month.
What model of macbook pro is it? Is it the 13in? 15in? If it's the 13in, it probably isn't even worth repairing. List it on craigslist for $100 for parts and buy another used one. If it's the 15in, maaaaybe.
Like, $350-600 is a smoking hot market of sweet deals for used macs. You could maybe even get an early 13in retina macbook pro for that much, and definitely a 2012 15in regular macbook pro, 2012 13in with cash leftover, or any number of 2012/13 and maybe even 2014 macbook airs. This would net you more power, an SSD, and a fresher machine. Many of these are very lightly used. I've owned one brand new mac in my life, and i had more problems with it than any of the clearly lightly used ones i've purchased off craigslist, or the immaculate one i got on ebay(it had one scratch so tiny i was never able to photograph it on the chassis).
If you absolutely MUST have a phone right now to wait it out, there's plenty of deals like this on basic burner smartphones for every carrier. Get something like a moto G or E, or a cheapo windows phone... then flip it on craigslist for a bit less than you paid. Someone will pay $20 for that $25 phone within a couple hours. Seriously. I've "rented" phones like this more than once. You might have to throw it on ebay or swappa if you're in an area with a slow craigslist, but it'll go away and you'll get most of your money back.
I think throwing $350+(or even the $300 "oops" depot repair option, which they seem to not have offered you) at a maybe $600 max machine, and really only like $350-400 if it's the 13in, is throwing good money after bad. The 15in 2011 macbooks are considered radioactive now because of the GPU/motherboard issues, and the 13in just isn't worth all that much anymore. Junk it for cheap and upgrade to a somewhat nicer used machine.
There is no "bad" generation of macbook air after 2010, and there's no "bad" generation of the 13in macbook pro. The 15in 2012 and newer are fine(but likely, mostly out of your price range) for the most part. If you're willing to really dump money in to this, get a 2013/14/15 13in retina macbook pro from the apple refurb page and just forget about the whole problem.
posted by emptythought at 12:29 AM on August 16, 2015
blueberry: Unfortunately, it's not a video issue. I had hoped it was, but when I took it into the Genius Bar it turned out not to be the case.
The repair depot option was presented as an option, but I was told that if I went that route, there was a good chance I'd lose all the data on my HD. The other two options were to 1) do data recovery first (pricey), then send to the depot, or 2) fix the display first and then confirm whether it was an HD problem, or just an HD connector problem (a ~20.00 fix).
emptythought: it's a 15 in., in case that changes your recommendation.
Thanks all, very helpful! I'm going to keep an eye on the thread, so additional comments are welcome.
posted by taupe at 10:40 AM on August 16, 2015
The repair depot option was presented as an option, but I was told that if I went that route, there was a good chance I'd lose all the data on my HD. The other two options were to 1) do data recovery first (pricey), then send to the depot, or 2) fix the display first and then confirm whether it was an HD problem, or just an HD connector problem (a ~20.00 fix).
emptythought: it's a 15 in., in case that changes your recommendation.
Thanks all, very helpful! I'm going to keep an eye on the thread, so additional comments are welcome.
posted by taupe at 10:40 AM on August 16, 2015
wOmbat is absolutely correct. I have a Late 2008 dual processor MacBook Pro that died and thought oh well, time to start shopping for a new laptop, $$$. Contacted and made an appt with the Apple Shop and found that repair program and was very happy to have the old computer restored essentially to new - the required main board replacement and a hard drive connector - $300 max regardless of repair. I was more than pleased. That laptop is still a champ and wanted to retain it because it was the last model to boot 10.6.
posted by WinstonJulia at 3:38 AM on August 18, 2015
posted by WinstonJulia at 3:38 AM on August 18, 2015
« Older Help me a find a public domain version of "Rub a... | Well-known historical figures who are not the... Newer »
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by blueberry at 11:38 AM on August 15, 2015