Thinking about buying an older Macbook pro— is that a terrible idea?

August 12, 2015 9:53 AM

I’m thinking about finally making the switch to a Macbook, but an older version. Is there any reason why this is a bad idea?

Reasons I'm considering the switch:

-my most recent PC laptop is pretty awful (it has a quad-core processor and 6 GB of RAM but is still miserably slow most of the time)
-I dislike Windows 8 (even basic applications like the calculator are suddenly harder to use), and a member of my household is currently in the midst of the nightmare of upgrading to 10.
-My job has me working on a Mac since last year, which means I’m in Yosemite all day anyway, so the transition period is over and done with.
-Using iMovie and Garageband for work has made me want to mess around with them on my own time.

Now, every mac-savvy source I can find says getting the 2012 MBP (like, say, this one) is a bad idea, because it is so old, because support is going to run out on it soon, or because the new ones are so much better. But most of the reasons given for why buying an older model is a bad idea are based on factors that I don’t really care about.

-I am not an early adopter. I was happily using an iPhone 3G until last year, when I finally (begrudgingly) upgraded (but only to a deeply discounted 5).
-I am not a power user. Most of my work is in an online system or in Office, with a minimal amount in PS and Illustrator.
-I don’t care about the Retina display.
-I don’t want to have no usb ports.
-My current laptop is six pounds, and going down to 4.5 or 5 seems fine to me.
-I like having a CD-drive.

So is thinking about getting a new or refurbished Macbook Pro still a terrible idea that I will regret in short order? What other factors should I be considering?

posted by a fiendish thingy to Computers & Internet (19 answers total)

You sound like a perfect candidate for an older Mac. The one you linked to comes with Mountain Lion installed, which will do great with 4GB of RAM. If you want to run Yosemite on it, that will feel less responsive with 4GB but probably still workable given your usage/needs.
posted by kalapierson at 10:00 AM on August 12, 2015

Only issue I see: you say you like having a CD drive. I do think the Mac laptops with a CD drive are too vintage now to be a good buy in your case, so you'll need a small external CD drive (they're $50 or less).
posted by kalapierson at 10:02 AM on August 12, 2015

I'm still using my 2011 MBP 15" (with the nice screen), and a 2012 13" that I bought when I had a problem with the 15". They both work fine for me: my workload is word processing, internet research and small software development. I put 16GB and an SSD in each, and they're both running Mavericks and a VM program (one VMWare, one Parallels). I use BootCamp and Win7 occasionally on the 13".

I dunno if I'd buy a new (old stock) MBP of that vintage, but a refurb from Apple ought to be fine. (I might buy replacements of that vintage if I ever need to -- I don't like not being able to swap memory or hard disks myself.)
posted by spacewrench at 10:09 AM on August 12, 2015

I'm assuming here that by "older" you mean "pre-retina."

* The Retina MBP line has been around for years, and at this point it really isn't "early adopter" at all. It's pretty dang solid.
* You may not be a "power user" but the older models really are a fair bit slower; Even relatively light PS/Illustrator work can be pretty intensive and modern websites are increasingly leaning on client-side processor power with complex javascript applications.
* You won't have no USB ports. The older models have 2 USB 2.0 ports; newer ones have 2 USB 3.0.
* Do you need an optical drive on you at all times? There are external ones available for the new ones, assuming you really do have a regular need to access optical discs.
* iMovie is video processing and as a rule, that eats up all the processor power you can possibly find.

Short version: You may not need all the features of the Retina line, but intentionally going with a 3+ year old model really is going to leave you with an unsupported, aging machine much sooner than you may want, and I don't think it'll actually get you anything - other than maybe some saved dollars, but your list doesn't mention cost, so I'll assume you're more focused on other factors. Buying a last-revision model as a refurb is a great way to save a few bucks without sacrificing much performance, but I wouldn't advise going all the way back to the Unibody pre-retina line if you can help it.
posted by Tomorrowful at 10:16 AM on August 12, 2015 [1 favorite]

If you can find a good price on an older MBP, I don't think there are any significant drawback that you're missing. it will run fine. The only problem is actually finding a good deal on one. I tried to buy one on craigslist a few times and have noticed that it's hard to get a really good deal one one, and I broke down and bought a refurb straight from Apple instead. Apple reburbs are great, you don't get a huge discount, but it is guaranteed to perform exactly as well as a new machine.
posted by skewed at 10:35 AM on August 12, 2015

it has a quad-core processor and 6 GB of RAM but is still miserably slow most of the time

Then there is something wrong with the software installed on it. Maybe OEM bloatware, maybe malware, maybe Norton or Trend or McAfee or AVG antivirus, but something. Getting a 6GiB quad core to run Windows 7 nicely is perfectly doable.

Even on a Pentium with 512MiB RAM, Windows 7 should not be miserably slow.
posted by flabdablet at 10:35 AM on August 12, 2015 [2 favorites]

I'm typing this on a rock-solid, mid-2012 MBP Retina (the first model they released). I wouldn't go for any non-retina MBP, but I'm still happy with this machine, 3+ years later. (the retina screen is very much worth it, IMHO).
posted by namewithoutwords at 10:42 AM on August 12, 2015 [1 favorite]

OS X 10.10 (Yosemite) will be fine on that Mac. I’ve run it on an even older/slower iMac with only 4 GB of RAM.

But, regarding the Amazon link, I’d not pay that much for that model now, even if it really is new with warranty support from Apple. I’d also be very cautious about unknown sellers on Amazon.

I’ve always recommended checking out Apple’s refurbs, but for older Macs that Apple doesn’t have available as a refurb you might find what you want at www.macofalltrades.com. I’ve never bought from them but a close friend (who i provide tech support for) got a 2012 MacBook (the last white plastic model) and it was fine (i set it up myself) and has been her only computer for the last two years or so. (She uses Photoshop and Illustrator, too.) Getting a refurb from Apple carries less risk, though.
posted by D.C. at 10:45 AM on August 12, 2015

The first thing to wear out on older Mac laptops is the battery, so be sure to check that the battery is fully functional - or be prepared to replace it.
posted by Jode at 11:22 AM on August 12, 2015

2012 MB Pro is perfectly fine!
My only concern is that the hard drive is 3 years old. Its no big deal to put a new drive or even a SSD int.
Just make sure you have at least 4GB or Memory (RAM) preferably 8GB or more. Again its easy to upgrade (OWC or Crucial memory nothing else please...). Just keep the cost in mind.
posted by Mac-Expert at 11:31 AM on August 12, 2015 [1 favorite]

I have a 2011 model and it's still working great. Runs Yosemite fine. Upgrading it (RAM, hard drive, replacing battery) is entirely doable -- actually this is the last Macbook model that this is true for.
posted by neckro23 at 11:40 AM on August 12, 2015

I'm still very happy with my 2012 pre-Retina MBP, but I did upgrade to 8GB of RAM a year or so ago, and I'm running Yosemite. It runs just fine for my web browsing/word processing/light gaming needs. Still, if I was buying another laptop now, I'd just go for one model back from the current or whatever was available in Apple's refurbs. I agree that the Macbook linked on that Amazon listing is not necessarily worth the price.

Or rather, it's more worth it to shell out the additional $200 or so for a refurbished MBP from Apple. When you factor in the additional cost of a RAM upgrade (which I'd say is absolutely necessary) and a hard drive upgrade (not so necessary but recommended), you might as well just buy this refurbished MBP. It's a 256 GB HD versus a 500 GB one, but I'd still say the increased cost plus having to get an external CD drive and/or external hard drive are worth it for the ~$200 price difference between the refurb and the 2012 model. When it comes to support running out, you think that doesn't matter until, like, Flash won't update and Chrome keeps giving you warnings about insecurity and you're stuck three OS updates back and a bunch of other little annoyances that pop up when you're running an older model. This hasn't happened to the 2012 MBPs yet obviously, but my mom inherited my old 2006 Macbook which still runs okay, but is limping along in terms of things just not being supported any more. For the price difference, you might as well just get the newest refurb available so you don't have to worry about it becoming obsolete sooner.
posted by yasaman at 11:53 AM on August 12, 2015

An older MBP was totally worth it for me. I bought my first one from a friend just as it was going out of the extended three year Apple Care warranty. It ran fine for a year then I sold it for slightly less than I paid for it and sprung for a brand new one. That was in mid-2010, and the 17" MBP I bought then is still going strong. I did the new battery / RAM / SSD thing 18 months ago — the only thing I did wrong there was buying a non-apple replacement battery which is barely better than the old one I replaced. Otherwise it's great. the only reason I'm getting tempted to replace it is that it weighs a ton and I fancy giving my shoulders a bit of a rest...
posted by ZipRibbons at 12:12 PM on August 12, 2015

The biggest advice I'd give is that Apple tends to only support the current operating system and one older version with security updates. If you buy a Macbook, buy one that will run the latest version of OS X and will continue to have support for future versions. Your information is not safe on an operating system without security updates.
----
In regards to the post:
my most recent PC laptop is pretty awful (it has a quad-core processor and 6 GB of RAM but is still miserably slow most of the time)

This indicates a serious problem that is not, "It's a PC." I have a Core 2 Duo PC with 2GB of RAM and an SSD that runs perfectly and is likely half the speed of your computer.

a member of my household is currently in the midst of the nightmare of upgrading to 10.

This is rare, though it does happen. It also can happen with OS X upgrades, for various reasons.
posted by cnc at 12:56 PM on August 12, 2015

If you're looking at a 2011-2013 vintage MacBook Pro, you may run into machines that had some graphics chip issues. You'll specifically want to be careful about the ones on this list. nVidia had some issues producing graphics chips that were long-lasting for a while, and some of these models have those in them. (Notably, the lower-specced Retina models there don't but the upscale versions do.) Even if it's gone through the recall, it may still fail in the future. That said, if the machine does not have an nVidia graphics chip in it, or was manufactured outside those dates, it's not affected.

Additionally: if you get a MacBook Air or a Retina machine, try to get one with as much memory as possible in it, as it's not upgradable. Newer versions of OS X do better with 4-8GB systems but more memory is always better. (Note that except for the very latest couple of Retina generations you can upgrade the SSD - Other World Computing sells replacements, just not for the Late 2014 or this year's model right yet.)

That said, the only Apple system I've got that's old and has just now finally started to show its age is my 2008-era MacBook, which will be 4 major versions behind once El Capitan (OS X 10.11) comes out. My year-older iMac runs it fine. However, unless you're really, really budget-conscious, you're probably not looking at machines this old anyway. Also you should totally get the Retina one, though I may be biased because I'm spoiled by mine.
posted by mrg at 1:02 PM on August 12, 2015

Response by poster: Thanks for all the insights so far!

One thing I foolishly forgot to mention, in case if affects the advice you would give: I am eligible for the education discount. (I keep forgetting about it because all of the units I've looked at from the apple store are refurbs.) So, there's that too.
posted by a fiendish thingy at 1:07 PM on August 12, 2015

I think if you're going to buy an older apple laptop, get a 2010 or newer macbook air, not a pro.

The older macbook pros with normal hard drives feel SO SLOW now. The older macbook airs, with their SSDs, still feel very fast. Even the 5 year old ones, yes, seriously.

a 2011 or 2012 macbook air is a freaking great buy now. I've even seen some 2013 models for cheap, which are basically specs-current(the 2014 was a minor refresh of the 2013, not a totally new CPU and such)

If you really want an optical drive, buy the cheapest external slim drive on newegg for like $20-25. It'll work perfectly fine, you don't need the $80 apple one. I agree with the recommendation to find one with at least 4gb of ram.

I have a 2012 retina macbook pro, and i wouldn't buy one of these. They're a good deal now, but the integrated graphics make scrolling really stuttery and although they're otherwise fast, they just feel kind of janky. Even the 2013 models were a huge immediate upgrade.(but not the "early 2013", those are just the same as the 2012).

The air was good after 2010, and still holds up well if it isn't a bottom of the line 2gb ram model.

I recently got a friend a top of the line i7, large ssd, max ram 2012 11in macbook air for like... $400? There's huge deals out there on craigslist.
posted by emptythought at 2:57 PM on August 12, 2015 [1 favorite]

If you get an old refurb or third-party refurb and swap in an SSD and maybe more RAM, you'll be okay if you're willing to keep extra programs and tabs closed. I owned a 2008 MBP until 2014 (screen broke) and a 2009 since. Using an external drive has been fine.

However, if the money meant little to me, I'd probably have a newer machine by now since faster definitely is better.
posted by michaelh at 5:30 PM on August 12, 2015

I have a 15" MBP purchased in 2012, which is basically an update of the 2010 model. Non-Retina.

I'm not sure what people are on about here with regard to slowness. It has a 2.6 gHz i7, 16GB of RAM, a discrete nVidia GPU and it's not driving a crazy hi-res screen. I replaced the factory HDD with a 500GB SSD and if I wanted to I could remove the optical drive and install another SSD, or a large HDD for media storage, backups, VMs, etc.

These are still great power user machines if you don't care about the onboard display resolution. And the GPU can easily drive outboard displays. Processors haven't changed much in recent years. The advantages of the recent models are the Retina display and lighter weight.

There is the recalled hardware to worry about, but on the other hand Apple's build quality has sort of declined across the board in recent years as well and the recent models aren't user serviceable or upgradable.
posted by snuffleupagus at 10:13 PM on August 13, 2015