Used Macs Worth It?

I'm thinking of making the switch to a MAC. I would never buy a pc used because they just seem to run miserably, but are used Macs decent? I'd be looking around the $600 price point and if it works out we'll I'd just buy a new one, and use the older one for my office staff.

 

Not at that price point. Macs tend to retain resale value better. A $600 one will be 5-7 years old and most likely have spinning disk hard drive that needs replacement and or battery replacement.

 

If you can find a clean one sure. Most of the used macs I have seen are ones that have "been through the war". lots of dents, scratches and so on. I think it's because the younger crowd gravitate to apple and they don't treat their devices with the same respect us older folk do.

 

Spoiler: Wanton harm comes to a "used" MBP, be warned...

Worth it? Yup

But, if you have a TB2/3 MBP, maybe try upgrading it with this instead...

Mantiz Venus: an eGPU box + docking station for MacBook Pro


Or, this...

AKITIO NODE Pro eGPU + 2016 MacBook Pro at Computex 2017

 

Any Mac made after 2006 is an Intel-based x86 computer, just like a system that runs Windows. You would want to buy a Mac to run the operating system, not because the hardware is any better or worse. MacBooks were part of the major recall that affected the old GeForce 8600M GT GPUs and Apple had to issue an extended repair warranty for its entire 2011 MacBook Pro lineup and many of the early 2012 models because faulty solder would cause the discrete GPU to separate from the logic board, resulting in failure.

Unless you have a specific reason for wanting the operating system, there are plenty of good, new Windows-based machines in that price range that will perform better than a used Mac.

And I say all this as someone who had a MacBook Pro as his daily driver for more than 4 years.

 

At 600$, you're probably looking at a MBP from 2010 or 2011, both of which are extremely old, likely have 4GB of ram and a weak video card, plus a worn out battery and a 5400RPM HDD.

I'm gonna flat out say it: You're crazy if you spend that kind of money on that kind of computer with performance like that, not to mention the motherboard defects in the 2011 MBP 15/17 and 2012 MBP 15. If you're hell bent on a mac for whatever reason ( can't think of any.....not in today's environment at least), you're far better putting that money towards a new macbook "pro"

Otherwise, go out and buy a thinkpad and be done with it. Used macs are hardly worth the amount of money people ask for them. That being said, if you can find a 2015/2016 MBP for 600$ then that would be an OK deal.

 

To add to the responses above (seriously, $600 for 5-7 year old hardware??), note that no computer is 100% maintenance-free. If your primary motivation for switching is because you believe that OSX/macOS is completely hands-off in terms of maintenance, I have some bad news for you...

 

$600 today gets you much newer than what some people are suggesting. You can get a 2014 Macbook Air with i5/8GB RAM/128GB or 256GB SSD for that amount if you look hard enough. No point buying anything older than a 2013 model.

 

I agree.

People in Scandinavia change Apple products as often as some change pants in other regions.

The resell value drops an absolutely staggering amount and you can get previous-gen Apple devices for great prices. The secondhand market for Apple products is well and alive here!

 

Not around my area. A previous Gen MBA is going for 800 dollars. The apple tax is high here. The initial buy in for apple here is not worth the price of admission either. You can get a WAY better spec'ed Windows based PC device for hundreds less. I know, I had to buy my son a MBA this year for university, I wanted to get him a new Dell xps with maxed out specs...but he wanted the MBA...I was shocked at the price for what you get. NOT worth it at all.

 

Yeah in the States anyways, MacBooks retain most of their value. My 2012 one really can't be picked up as clean as mine is, for under $900. Retarded. But even so there is a reason why I would buy a super clean used over new... ESPECIALLY if I am getting a new unregistered one I can retain an Apple Care warranty on (it can happen!).

Specifications... Sure the newer ones have Retina displays and some upgraded hardware, but things like your HDD and memory are integral now to the motherboard. You can't change them out. A 2.5ghz machine with 16gb of RAM will outperform a faster processor with only 4gb of RAM. Especially how I abuse it with 5 browser pages, with multiple tabs in each, and 2-3 desktops with multiple applications open.

My 500gig hdd is in dire need of upgrading to a 1tb drive. I have to struggle to keep 40-50gig of space free. But, I can easily do that in an hour or so.

And comparing specs of a PC to a Mac is like comparing Apples to... well nuts or something. Not even remotely CLOSE. No PC will EVER COME CLOSE to doing media creation like a MacBook. Even Photoshop, the one program that is truly cross platform, just runs better on Macs. If your a photographer, Apple's Aperture is probably the simplest and best management software out there. And you can do 90-99% of your editing there too.

I have both. I can only afford one MacBook though. And my PC's of choice aren't cheap ones either. I have multiple ToughBooks! But I would NEVER take my MacBook into any of the environments where I use my ToughBooks. Nor would my Mac even run the software I use on my ToughBooks.

Most computers out there these days are poorly made and disposable. Sorry, but no Dell or HP or any of those will outlast a MacBook. Or ToughBook. Even with VERY careful use, your not going to get more than 2-3yrs out of them. My MacBook is 5yrs old now, and looks and functions like it is brand new. Only the polished spot on the spacebar gives anything away.

So forget about the "Apple Tax." These things are made to last, and they do. They are serious quality machines. Now if Apple were to pair up with Panasonic and make a rugged MacBook, it would cost a mint. And I would probably even sell my soul to get one!

 

Disagree. Those days are over. Your 2012 will bring in $600 at the most, assuming it's the 15". If it's a 13" model, $450 to maybe $500 if you have maxed the RAM and have a 256Gb or larger SSD.

 

Again, you can't disagree on such matters, it is not arguable; it simply is.

Some places, the culture dictates the value-presence of brands.

Apple is a highly appreciated brand in Europe, especially in Scandinavia.

 

Maybe for a beat to crap one, that is possible. I was looking for one that looked, or was, new. Not one with dents and scratches all over it. And if you look on the USA eBay, even DAMAGED ones with broken screens or even bad motherboards, command high prices. I can't buy a fixeruper, get the parts, put my own free labor in, and come out significantly ahead.

I can't buy a used MacBook and get it shiny new and operational and save more than a couple hundred tops.

IF resellers could make money rebuilding MacBooks, there would be a lot of actual resellers reconditioning them. There aren't, and there is a good reason for that. The few that are, artificially inflate the prices up to more reasonable levels (for them) by charging stupid prices for basic upgrades.

And as I posted, "Yeah in the States anyways, MacBooks retain most of their value." But forget about nitpicking he said she said and you can buy a cheap MacBook. The OP was wondering if he even SHOULD considering the minimal price difference.

And yes, there are very good reasons to buy older MacBooks. Like in my case where I need to have maxed memory or a larger hard drive than a crappy 128 or 256 gig SSD. I can barely survive with a 500 gig platter drive. Let alone those. I need 1tb space MINIMUM! And I would not want to see the price tag Apple would put on THAT upgrade...

Lets say the price tag for an older 13" 2012 MacBook was $800-1000, versus a BRAND NEW 2017 for $1000-1300, I would get the upgradable 2012. And I still have to spend $100 on memory, and $50-100 on a bigger drive. If the 2012 only costs me $400 like your suggesting, then purchasing one becomes an easier decision.

I don't know where the cutoff is, but if a 2014 memory and HDD isn't upgradable, I am not touching it. Unless I pick up one for $200-300....

 

The SF Bay Area usually sells Mac stuff pretty high, and there are some high priced units, but there are also a lot of models $500 and under...

https://sfbay.craigslist.org/search/sss?sort=pricedsc&query=2012 macbook pro

 

Well yeah, they sell a product in their own market without competition, so of course the prices will be a lot higher. Might be different if Apple reintroduced the program where they licensed out their operating system, but what chances will that happen again?

 

I love it when people on my university for sale page try to sell their 2010 macbook "pro" 13" for 500$ and people actually get suckered into buying it. Apple diehards are a strange kind of people, to the point of ignorance but it's their consumer choice on how they spend their money.

 

You are looking in the wrong places or the wrong sellers. $900 gets me a late 2013 15" retina with 2.3ghz it/16gb ram/512gb ssd/GT750M graphics on Swappa (good site to buy and sell used Macbooks).

 

The other poster claimed that his 2012 model would sell for $900 in the US. It simply is not true anymore.

 

Depends on where you are selling. Stupid students that praise kek would probably still fork over that kind of money for it.

 

Does it, price, matter even? The OP states he can get a used Mac for $600, but wants to know if it is worth it, or just buy new. Maybe where he is, he can do so. But where I am, I can't get a reasonable Mac that cheaply. Still, I made a point that I would pay almost as much for an older Mac, than for a brand new one. And I explained why.

So an argument here about how much of a Mac can you get for what price, is IRRELEVANT to the OP's question.

Lets stick to the facts. Macs can, and usually do retain high value. If I could buy an almost brand new Mac for $600 where I am, there are reasons I would consider it. And there are more reasons for me to consider an older one at similar prices to new.

Next, MacBooks retain high value because they are made MUCH higher quality built in hardware and operating system than ANY PC out there. They will outlast almost any PC by double or more, except for a Toughbook. But, flip side is a ToughBook still runs Windows, NOT OSX. An old MacBook Pro from 2012, is still perfectly relevant and fast. You show me a single PC that is just as good 5yrs later. Even a ToughBook 5yrs later, the price has gone from an unreasonable $3k plus, to a couple hundred dollars.

But again, I want to add in that there is no real world where specs on a MacBook mean ANYTHING when compared to the same specs on a PC. You put a supposedly identical spec-ed mac head to head with a PC, the Mac will run circles around the PC and "feel" 2-3 times faster. Why? Because the OS inside the Mac is optimized for the EXACT hardware and configuration of the Mac. Windows is an os of compromises from the very start.

The OP realizes this and states he wouldn't even seriously consider a used PC.

If by "other poster" your referring to me, then no I can't find a single 2012 MacBook Pro 13" that is basically brand new in the box for any signsfigant amount under $900. In my area there isn't much available locally. So I go to eBay. More than a few times I have spent hours scouring eBay for another Mac at a price I would pay so the woman can have her own. I have yet to come across one for that magic pricetag of $600 that is nice enough.

But yet again, it isn't as much about price, as SHOULD he buy a used one.

Lets go back to that. If you can repair your own computer cheaply, replace a broken LCD, keyboard, etc... Then buying a used mac can make some sense. Especially if you want the ability or flexibility to upgrade. If don't have the ability to open up your Mac and do any upgrades or repairs...

As well built as MacBooks are, they DO break parts. Or their users break them... I have put three mouse/touch pads into mine. Takes me ten minutes and costs me $25 or so for a "genuine" one. My video went out, thankfully while under Apple Care warranty. A motherboard is not cheap to purchase, or cheap labor to replace on these.

 

Not sure why you felt to make such a long post over nothing. I simply said that you can get more for your money than what you are suggesting.
And there are no like new 2012 Macbooks.

 

True, I can concede to that! Although mine is pretty darn pristine!

As said in length above. what is ends up at is, macs are not anywhere near as cheap as a comparable PC. Although there aren't many comparable PC's either... But they are expensive for a reason. They are VERY well built.

If the OP has a budget of only $600 or so for a mac, with careful shopping and a little luck, something can be found for that amount. (How good is another debate, how lucky may be more relevant.) And chances are for a little more initially, or with an upgradable Mac, you can come out ahead.

But there are two things you have to consider on a used Mac that could be tipping point. No Apple Care UNLESS (maybe?)you find one of the rare ones still in the box that was never activated. It might be possible. But chances are not at a reasonable price. Barring that, getting one on eBay and paying for the square trade warranty might be smart. Unless the buyer is confident he can carry out most repairs. I would stay away from failed motherboards.

The ULTRA ULTRA CRITICAL issue is, getting a locked out computer will SCREW YOU. I can break into just about any PC in 5-30minutes. Very few "normal" scenarios that can't be gotten around, and quickly. But it is impossible to even get past the login screen on a Mac without the password (unless you get stupid lucky and the password is password...) with even the most lax security measures in place. Yes you can wipe the mac, recover, change out the HDD. Whatever you do, if it is connected to an apple ID and you can't put that information in, you have a paperweight. I won't swear to specifics, but I think they do it by serial number that is hard coded into the motherboard. Whatever the exact details are, Apple does not make it easy to reuse a stolen computer, iPhone, or iPad. I have an iPad mini pro that I got legitimately. It was given to me by a friend. He bought it for his son. Son lent it to a friend. Friend locked it to his account. Nobody will admit to anything. My friend can't find his original receipt, or enough information (yet) to satisfy Apple that he has legitimately given it to me.

If I sold my MacBook today, I would be in trouble. For some reason I can't even get into my Apple account. So there are simple and legitimate reasons you could get locked out.

I won't even talk about MacBooks and trying to get into them. I can tell you for sure, wiping them doesn't get you in the clear...

 

Have you compared your MBP to any business-class laptop? I'd argue about your claim of MBPs being extremely well-built. I mean, they're decent for consumer-class machines but they don't really hold a candle to Thinkpads, Elitebooks, Latitudes, Toughbooks, etc.

As for accessing a computer that isn't yours (OSX, Windows, etc.), that's trivial to do without the login screen. You can simply take the hard drive out any plug it into your computer to get the data, or if it doesn't have a removable drive, simply take a Linux USB drive (or equivalent) and boot into that OS instead of the computer's OS.

 

My personal experiences of Business Class laptops has been a couple Panasonics of the semi rugged variety, a Toshiba Tecra M5, and some Fujitsus. Even the Panasonics fell short for me there. The Fujitsus were extra nice, but didn't seem to last any longer than a normal middle of the road laptop. The Tecra lasted me a while, but I bought the on-site warranty with it. And that warranty was the only reason it survived. I killed keyboards every 3-6 months. A couple hard drives. A couple DVD drives. A Motherboard. And I forget what else. I knew the technician and his family by first names.

So what do you consider a good business class laptop of higher quality and comparable or lower price?

Now comparing my MacBook Pro to a fully rugged ToughBook, not as simple. ToughBooks are so well built... But the MacBook still outshines in many ways. Keyboards on Macs are in a whole different class of quality. There is a reason so many media creators (like writers especially) prefer the MacBook. Sure, buy an apple keyboard and plug it into a PC. Not the point lol...

Even if you can get past the front door on a MacBook with these methods, you then have to deactivate it from the previous owners account. Once in though, this could be easy enough. But if it was actually stolen (or reported stolen) and the VIN flagged, you can't load anything onto it. Or not OSX anyways.

I would love to hear more jarhead! Perhaps best taken to a PM though heh... The basic thing is that while perhaps an account locked MacBook is easier to solve than a locked iPhone or iPad, it still is not something most legit owners or average computer users wants to tackle, or has the ability to solve. It is messier than a PC. Apple did a pretty good job in this area.

Still lots of good for and against. And I am pretty sure that I am at least typing way too much info for the OP to process hahaha...

Let me throw out one last thing. I would be highly interested in a MacBook Pro 13" 2011 or newer in good shape for $200 and up to $400. So if I am truly wrong that a good choice can't be found in this low price point, prove it! Help the OP and I find some!

 

fanboi detected

 

Haha! Well I only own one MacBook. But I do have half a dozen PC's. All those are ToughBooks lol. I was a DIEHARD PC only user laughing at the Mac fanboys for years. Then I used one for a week, and got it.

For media creation, there is no better. I write a lot, use my Mac for photography, and some minor video editing. Out on the road or in the shop, I use the ToughBooks.

Anyways I have much more money and time invested in my ToughBooks. So that should balance my fandom status to more manageable levels...

 

Well, I'd rather have my Thinkpads or my Elitebook if I wanted something durable. Just my personal experiences, but I've never had any issues abusing the hell out of those things (usually in terms or dropping them on concrete/asphalt/etc from chest height and up at an angle, sometimes while they're powered up), whereas while I was at college (where I saw MBPs a lot), they seem to bend too easily and I've seen my fair share of physical damage, especially to the displays (cracked glass, damaged LCDs, etc). Worst damage I have on any of my business laptops is purely cosmetic (for example, an edge on my Elitebook is scratched to hell because of a parking lot).

I don't have to get through anything in order to get to your data; if I have physical access to your machine, I can grab your files, simple as that. OSX's, Windows', Linux's, etc login screens are only secure against the lowest common denominator. Now, you can protect your data if you encrypt it, but encryption tools exist on all major operating systems so which OS you run is moot (my favorite tool is Veracrypt, and previously TrueCrypt). However, any security an OS environment offers is not going to be set up out of the box, so if you forget to do that (for example, whatever Apple is selling off as their LoJack equivalent) as well as take basic precautions (like writing down the laptop's serial number), it would be trivial to resell a stolen MBP (or other laptop) once the thief is done stealing your unprotected, sensitive data.

Regarding keyboards, personally I don't really like the keyboard on the MBP, or really most laptops keyboards. The key travel is too shallow and flat keys aren't all that comfortable to type on (this is as much a complaint on my Elitebook as it is any Apple laptop). My favorite laptop keyboard would be on my Thinkpad W520 (or any --20 and earlier) and X61t; key travel was decent and curved keys are pretty nice (the back/forward keys near the arrow keys are a nice bonus). But, if you're a serious writer or anyone who uses a keyboard for a living (like me, a software dev), a separate keyboard will be far better than a laptop keyboard, and on top of that a mechanical keyboard is far nicer than any membrane keyboard. I currently use a Das keyboard with Cherry MX Blues (thoughnid recommend Browns if you're using a mechanical keyboard at work), but I'd rather use my previous keyboard (Logitech K120) over any MBP/Elitebook/etc keyboard.

You claim that MBPs are best at media creation, but make no mention of workstation laptops with Quadro/FirePro GPUs? Uh-huh.....

VINs are for cars.

------------------

Personally though, I don't want to get sucked further into an Apple vs XYZ discussion. People who fetishize operating systems or companies are just odd in my book. There are reasons to buy a MBP (mainly if you use OSX/macOS-only software, or want to play with UNIX/BSD without having to install the OS yourself), though none of the reasons you've listed are all that convincing.

 

This thread has derailed. Lol

 

Very

 

So, people, where can I pick up a used MBP 15" that can run OS high sierra for LOW bills? If I can get my other mac running correctly again, I can sell that to offset the costs. I would not mind owning one but I don't want to pay an arm and leg for it!

 

/r/hardwareswap

 

I will check that out...thanks!

 

screw it, build a hackintosh. it's embarrassingly funny to crush macbooks at their own game with a hackbook. as far as I know a T61P with the nvidia FX 570M will is the longest running hackbook of all time, being upgradeable from 10.5 all the way up to 10.12.

as for the build quality debate, I have to say, I really adore the milled aluminum chassis of the Macbooks. It is so wonderfully well built and gives a really nice solid feel without creaks/squeaks more so than any laptop I have ever handled, bar the razer blade.

That being said, aluminum has its own problems. Easily dented, if you have acidic sweat, it will start actually eat away at the aluminum and cause pitting corrosion. I cannot comment on knew thinkpads, but classic thinkpads such as the T30/T4x/T6x/T4xx/T5xx/W5xx have excellent build quality and keyboard comfort.

 

I'll sell him a good condition late 2011 13" with i5, 8GB RAM, 500GB HDD and brand new battery for $350.

 

what is the newest OS that a 2009 MBP 13 can run? I can get one for 150.00 bucks close by.

 

macOS X 10.11.x, with limitations.

Reference:
http://www.everymac.com/systems/app...3-mid-2009-sd-firewire-800-unibody-specs.html

http://www.everymac.com/systems/by_capability/maximum-macos-supported.html

 

Thanks!