MacBook advice

TheWanderer

TheWanderer

Striker
Bairn is looking at buying a reconditioned MacBook, and has asked my advice, but I haven’t a clue what and where to buy.

Probably looking to spend £500-£700.

Are they like iPhones where the ***** at apple start slowing down the older ones forcing you to buy newer?

What’s the modelling like, I think she’s looking at an Air model?
 


you'll be looking at the last generation air for that price, which to be honest was well past it's best. They redesigned it in 2018 and made it far better, better screen, processors ect, but I think you'd be struggling to get one for that price.

Another option is the 2017 bottom spec macbook pro 13, something like this maybe Apple Macbook Pro - Core i5 13" 2.3GHz MPXQ2LL/A (Mid 2017) 8GB 128GB - Silver | eBay but you aren't getting much storage space.
 
TheWanderer said:
Bairn is looking at buying a reconditioned MacBook, and has asked my advice, but I haven’t a clue what and where to buy.

Probably looking to spend £500-£700.

Are they like iPhones where the ***** at apple start slowing down the older ones forcing you to buy newer?

What’s the modelling like, I think she’s looking at an Air model?
Click to expand...
I have a MacBook Pro 2015 model, and performance wise they’re spot on. It’s still as fast as the day I got it, it’s been bashed about a fair bit as well. I do however think you could spend less and get a better spec’d laptop.
 
I have a MacBook Pro that I've had for five years. Use it every day and not noticed it slow down. I have writing and editing software on it and also Photoshop.
I also have an iPhone 6s which I've had for four years that hasn't slowed down either so I'm not sure at what point they get slowed down.
There was an issue with keyboards at some point so read up on that and avoid those models but apart from that I'd just say buy the biggest spec you can get for your budget.
I use the newer model for work. It's smaller and lighter and has the Touch Bar albeit I don't use the Touch Bar.
 
I moved from Windows to Mac about 12 years ago and would never, ever consider going back (I still have a Windows PC and hate the OS).

Every PC slows down in time (both Windows and Mac) but that's due to the amount of stuff that ends up on the hard drives and I've never heard the same criticism levelled at Apple computers about slowdown you read about their phones so I wouldn't worry about that.

As for the price range and model it depends on what she will be using it for (I won't pretend Apple machines are great gaming computers mind). The Air model's are light, relatively powerful and will be absolutely fine for everyday use.
 
RestlessNatives said:
I have a MacBook Pro that I've had for five years. Use it every day and not noticed it slow down. I have writing and editing software on it and also Photoshop.
I also have an iPhone 6s which I've had for four years that hasn't slowed down either so I'm not sure at what point they get slowed down.
There was an issue with keyboards at some point so read up on that and avoid those models but apart from that I'd just say buy the biggest spec you can get for your budget.
I use the newer model for work. It's smaller and lighter and has the Touch Bar albeit I don't use the Touch Bar.
Click to expand...

its battery dependent, as batteries age they cant, supplied the required power for the CPU to boost its speed as high, hence the performance drop.
 
anth said:
you'll be looking at the last generation air for that price, which to be honest was well past it's best. They redesigned it in 2018 and made it far better, better screen, processors ect, but I think you'd be struggling to get one for that price.

Another option is the 2017 bottom spec macbook pro 13, something like this maybe Apple Macbook Pro - Core i5 13" 2.3GHz MPXQ2LL/A (Mid 2017) 8GB 128GB - Silver | eBay but you aren't getting much storage space.
Click to expand...

I wouldn’t worry about storage space tbh, the iCloud sync is so seamless these days you can get away with minimal storage.

Music magpie is a good shout, 1 year warranty with them as well.
 
anth said:
you'll be looking at the last generation air for that price, which to be honest was well past it's best. They redesigned it in 2018 and made it far better, better screen, processors ect, but I think you'd be struggling to get one for that price.

Another option is the 2017 bottom spec macbook pro 13, something like this maybe Apple Macbook Pro - Core i5 13" 2.3GHz MPXQ2LL/A (Mid 2017) 8GB 128GB - Silver | eBay but you aren't getting much storage space.
Click to expand...
Cheers all, she’s managed to squeeze another £100 out of somewhere and looking at a few 2018 MacBook Airs on eBay for around £750 now!
 
TheWanderer said:
Bairn is looking at buying a reconditioned MacBook, and has asked my advice, but I haven’t a clue what and where to buy.

Probably looking to spend £500-£700.

Are they like iPhones where the ***** at apple start slowing down the older ones forcing you to buy newer?

What’s the modelling like, I think she’s looking at an Air model?
Click to expand...
My MacBook Air is about six years old and going fine. I’m looking at it getting me to the end of the year at least. Not mentioning this because it’s for sale (it’s not) but to show they do last.
 
I love my Macs but the problem I've come across with aging equipment is that you get to a stage where you cannot update to the current version of the operating system which means you cannot update the browsers and many websites will not support the older versions so your access becomes limited. When I say aging I'm talking many years but it's something to be aware of.
 
I'm just about to replace a 2013 Macbook Pro but only because it's taken such a physical beating the keyboard's fucked, and the battery only lasts about an hour and it's not worth spending what it would cost to replace rather than putting it towards a new one. Runs just as well as it did when I first got it, and I spilled coffee all over the keyboard in the first week and thought it would never see 2014.
 
The King of Um said:
I'm just about to replace a 2013 Macbook Pro but only because it's taken such a physical beating the keyboard's fucked, and the battery only lasts about an hour and it's not worth spending what it would cost to replace rather than putting it towards a new one. Runs just as well as it did when I first got it, and I spilled coffee all over the keyboard in the first week and thought it would never see 2014.
Click to expand...
I’ve had MacBooks for 15 years now. I’ve been through two in that time and both seemed to start to bf o after about 7 years - same as you, not really Slowing down, mainly the battery starting to drain really quickly. Although the last one (2012 Air) wouldn’t update to the latest OS. Just got my third at Christmas and it’s brilliant. It’ll last me another 7 probably.
 
rokerexile said:
I love my Macs but the problem I've come across with aging equipment is that you get to a stage where you cannot update to the current version of the operating system which means you cannot update the browsers and many websites will not support the older versions so your access becomes limited. When I say aging I'm talking many years but it's something to be aware of.
Click to expand...

Apple does this, usually for good reason. So for example when MacOS became 64bit only it dropped support for those with a 32bit CPU. Microsoft doesn't do this with windows but you can bet if you try to use a really old machine with the latest OS you'll be in for a bad time. Apple just stops you from doing it because they know its a bad experience.
 
PC every time. My wife has one for her writing - and has gone back to to her PC. Totally agree with her.

They do slow down - massively. My Dell laptop has been superb for 4 years however.
 
I bought a MacBook after getting pissed off with Windows laptops slowing down so badly after a couple of years. I've had it now for about eight years and it still boots in no time and there's no noticable slowness in performance.

I still prefer Windows to Mac O/S mind but that's because I still use it daily for work.
 

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