Buying a Used Macbook

[Shahil]

I am in the market for a Macbook. When speaking to people that use these, they love the longevity and simplicity of these.

Instead of getting a new one, I was contemplating buying a used one. There are some good suppliers (including the iStore itself) and these come tested and with limited warranties. It may be a great way to save thousands.

Do you have any suggestions what to look at when considering this purchase?

I guess the most important thing to consider is how old the laptop is. It would seem a good idea to stick to an 8th Gen processor and upwards. However, I have heard that the older processors and STILL going strong even though it's a decade old.

So what are the actual important things to consider?
What should I look for in terms of features?
What is an essential to consider with Macbooks?
What model year should be the furthest back I look at? Is this different for the MBA and MBP?

USE CASE: Will be used for watching lectures, doing assignments primarily in Word/Excel, simple video editing, and doing some simple coding.

 

[|tera|]

Can't give advice.
The novelty wears out fast.

 

[Whright]

Buying a Used Macbook


Its been Stolen.

 

[greg0205]

Look at the Pros first.

Next, the HD. 128Gb gets tight real fast. 256Gb is better... Also look at an iCloud account with extra storage.

Next the display. If you're looking at the Air, the Retina screens only started in 2018. Get a Retina Mac whatever you do.

After that, it's up to you on how much you want to spend and what the best spec machine for that price is.

Finally, I've been on a Mac since '07. "Novelty" is the most BS comment I've ever seen. The OS is fantastic and the hardware is excellent.

 

[Speedster]

Apart from the obvious, such as the specs of the machine, look at the battery cycle count. Most newish Mac's have a cycle limit of 1000 after which a new battery is recommended (due to diminishing capacity).

See here for more: https://support.apple.com/en-za/HT201585

 

[|tera|]

Look at the Pros first.

Next, the HD. 128Gb gets tight real fast. 256Gb is better... Also look at an iCloud account with extra storage.

Next the display. If you're looking at the Air, the Retina screens only started in 2018. Get a Retina Mac whatever you do.

After that, it's up to you on how much you want to spend and what the best spec machine for that price is.

Finally, I've been on a Mac since '07. "Novelty" is the most BS comment I've ever seen. The OS is fantastic and the hardware is excellent.

Your sense of of novelty is not shared by everyone out there. So your post is also BS.
If you can't accept that people differ, even on the internet, then you should stop using it.

 

[Speedster]

Your sense of of novelty is not shared by everyone out there. So your post is also BS.
If you can't accept that people differ, even on the internet, then you should stop using it.

Why does every Mac / iOS related thread have to descend into this? The guy asked for advice on a Mac, why not just give it to him?

 

[Pineapple Smurf]

my macbook air is a 2013 model and has the 128GB SSD and i agree it can get full very quickly
it is permanently connected to a 24" monitor, therefore i am not concerned about the retina
i have had no issues whatsover in the last 7 years
on a rare occasion once a year or whatever i will disconnect the power supply and take my laptop somewhere and i am surprised it lasts the entire day on the batteries

i would suggest looking at the state of the battery by clicking Apple logo, About this Mac, System Report and then check the status

heres mine now this morning

 

[backstreetboy]

What's your budget?

 

[Tman*]

What's your budget?

this

 

[Shahil]

What's your budget?

Ideally I would like to pick up a second hand MBA for around 10k. I don't think my use case requires a feature heavy machine. This being said, I don't mind spending double that if its worth it.

 

[|tera|]

Why does every Mac / iOS related thread have to descend into this? The guy asked for advice on a Mac, why not just give it to him?

I don't post in every Apple related thread and only gave my opinion regarding the novelty wearing off based on my experience dealing with other Apple users. IOS and Mac included.

To give an example. A developer I know switched from MAC to Ubuntu.
Family and friends are fed up with their iphones.

 

[SauRoNZA]

Definitely 256GB and up, don't fall for the smaller sizes as you'll just have pain.

Then depending on how old you want to go there are specific models that avoid that had odd recall type issues.

13-inch Retina MBP is what I would look at. Once you do Retina you don't go back.

 

[SauRoNZA]

Family and friends are fed up with their iphones.

Fed up or bored?

Two very different motivations.

Boredom often leads one to do silly things only to find your sensibilities and come back to what you know works.

After about 4 years on a piece of **** Windows PC I can't be happier being back on a Macbook. Fortunately I wasn't silly enough to leave of the rest of their devices behind and only did this because I was forced for work.

 

[greg0205]

I don't post in every Apple related thread and only gave my opinion regarding the novelty wearing off based on my experience dealing with other Apple users. IOS and Mac included.

To give an example. A developer I know switched from MAC to Ubuntu.
Family and friends are fed up with their iphones.

I mean, if novelty is top-of-mind when you buy a machine, I'm sure...

/checks notes

Windows is the way to go.


Imagine a world where folk buy machines for functionality as it relates to their daily lives... Imagine it.

 

[|tera|]

Novelty:
the quality of being new, original, or unusual.

 

[Inn3rs3lf]

R10K, look at Traderoute auctions on Bid Or Buy. I have purchased two from him in the past and both have been superb. Managed to get a 2015 pro with 256Gb SSD three years ago for R10K.

 

[Shahil]

Family and friends are fed up with their iphones.

Have been using iPhone since the 4. Don't think I will move away.
Haven't bought a personal laptop since about 2011 and that PC that I bought it completely unusable today.

I'm ok with the Apple ecosystem so I am ok with this purchase.
I would just like some advice prior to committing a rather large chunk of money to it.

 

[JayMaster]

3 years ago, I got a Mid 2012 MBP for like 7k on gumtree.
I took out the HDD that came with it and put 1tb Crucial SSD and also took out the 6gb rams sticks and put in two crucial 8GB = Total Ram 16GB.

Let me tell you that thing is fast!!! I have no problems whats so ever. Upgraded the MacOS to the latest still its a beast.

 

[greg0205]

Novelty:
the quality of being new, original, or unusual.

Indeed.

But you know what works for me 'tho?

After all of these years, my mind is mapped in MacOS and IOS. Everything in it's place... Keystrokes, gestures on my trackpad, spotlight, handoff, syncing, Siri, and I absolutely love the Touch Bar, 'tho I'll admit it was a... novelty... at first.

I find Windows machines clunky. I find them slow. The OS is disjointed. Their screens are dull, and why with the off-set from centre trackpads? Why?