Older MacBook Pros

[Stom]

So my computer died today, suddenly getting a disk error and not booting anymore.

Which means I need a new one when I have limited cash.

Most of what I see is crap so I was thinking about getting a 2012ish MacBook Pro. I thought it would hold its value better, so I could sell it on for a small loss in a year or so and get a newer model when I have more cash saved up.

Any thoughts about old Pros?

[Mikey Brown]

Not sure I’d go quite that old. I’m not letting go of my 2015 one that actually had some useful ports on it and no touch/swipe bullshit.

Not sure if that’s any help.

[Stom]

Not sure I’d go quite that old. I’m not letting go of my 2015 one that actually had some useful ports on it and no touch/swipe bullshit.

Not sure if that’s any help.

Yeah, I started looking at 2014 models and the ones with battery issues are in my price range. New batteries are around £80 as I've seen, so can change that in a couple of months.

I just thought there's no point in buying another piece if crap that'll last me a year... and instead buy a mac that I can sell on after.

[Numbers]

Not sure I’d go quite that old. I’m not letting go of my 2015 one that actually had some useful ports on it and no touch/swipe bullshit.

Not sure if that’s any help.

Yeah, I started looking at 2014 models and the ones with battery issues are in my price range. New batteries are around £80 as I've seen, so can change that in a couple of months.

I just thought there's no point in buying another piece if crap that'll last me a year... and instead buy a mac that I can sell on after.

Have you ever changed a battery on a MACBook, some of them are glued in and very dificult to access, you also need the tri-headed screw fitting for some of the models, I have one from about 2014 and the battery is fine so I'd look for one without battery probs.

If you just want to use it for browsing and iTunes then it should be fine, I would also suggest that if you want to be able to upgrade it to get a machine with an SSD, the mechanical drives won't take any builds post Sierra with any consistency, if you have specific software you want to use with it check compatibility first as Apple like to make you upgrade the software with the OSX upgrades regularly, especially the adobe suite of products.

[SerjeantWildgoose]

My son took an old 2010 MacBook Pro of mine down to the Apple Store and had them wipe it and reboot it. It runs on a pretty current OS and he is quite happy with it. That having been said, he does little more than watch video on it as far as I can make out.

[Stom]

I got a 2014 Air. He left most of his apps on it, too, so I'll be picking and choosing what to delete over the next couple of days.

But it's going to take a few weeks to revert to the Command and Control keys...pain in the arse design there from Apple.

Smooth so far and not the kind of performance I'd get from a £350 PC.

[Numbers]

I got a 2014 Air. He left most of his apps on it, too, so I'll be picking and choosing what to delete over the next couple of days.

But it's going to take a few weeks to revert to the Command and Control keys...pain in the arse design there from Apple.

Smooth so far and not the kind of performance I'd get from a £350 PC.

If I were you I'd just wipe it as removing apps from MACs is not straightforward unless you want to go in and edit plists, you can build from the apple site direct which I'm sure you are aware of, it sounds like you got a good model.

[Stom]

I got a 2014 Air. He left most of his apps on it, too, so I'll be picking and choosing what to delete over the next couple of days.

But it's going to take a few weeks to revert to the Command and Control keys...pain in the arse design there from Apple.

Smooth so far and not the kind of performance I'd get from a £350 PC.

If I were you I'd just wipe it as removing apps from MACs is not straightforward unless you want to go in and edit plists, you can build from the apple site direct which I'm sure you are aware of, it sounds like you got a good model.

Yeah, I'm thinking to do so. Though it'd be good to have Photoshop, as that's been left on here... Don't know how to save just one program, though...

[Mikey Brown]

I got a 2014 Air. He left most of his apps on it, too, so I'll be picking and choosing what to delete over the next couple of days.

But it's going to take a few weeks to revert to the Command and Control keys...pain in the arse design there from Apple.

Smooth so far and not the kind of performance I'd get from a £350 PC.

If I were you I'd just wipe it as removing apps from MACs is not straightforward unless you want to go in and edit plists, you can build from the apple site direct which I'm sure you are aware of, it sounds like you got a good model.

Is the freeware stuff like appcleaner not recommended then? I’ve found that very simple to use but perhaps it’s not comprehensive enough to clear all the data you were talking about there? It seems pretty good at finding all associated files and gives you the option of which to delete.

[Numbers]

I got a 2014 Air. He left most of his apps on it, too, so I'll be picking and choosing what to delete over the next couple of days.

But it's going to take a few weeks to revert to the Command and Control keys...pain in the arse design there from Apple.

Smooth so far and not the kind of performance I'd get from a £350 PC.

If I were you I'd just wipe it as removing apps from MACs is not straightforward unless you want to go in and edit plists, you can build from the apple site direct which I'm sure you are aware of, it sounds like you got a good model.

Is the freeware stuff like appcleaner not recommended then? I’ve found that very simple to use but perhaps it’s not comprehensive enough to clear all the data you were talking about there? It seems pretty good at finding all associated files and gives you the option of which to delete.

I've never used it tbh, taking a quick look it doesn't look like it will remove the plist entries just assicated files, the issue with that is if you try and install the product again the likelihood is that it will see the plist entry and say it's already installed.

[Stom]

I got a 2014 Air. He left most of his apps on it, too, so I'll be picking and choosing what to delete over the next couple of days.

But it's going to take a few weeks to revert to the Command and Control keys...pain in the arse design there from Apple.

Smooth so far and not the kind of performance I'd get from a £350 PC.

If I were you I'd just wipe it as removing apps from MACs is not straightforward unless you want to go in and edit plists, you can build from the apple site direct which I'm sure you are aware of, it sounds like you got a good model.

Yeah, I'm thinking to do so. Though it'd be good to have Photoshop, as that's been left on here... Don't know how to save just one program, though...

Any thoughts on this? How I can save 1/some programs yet do a fresh install?

[Mikey Brown]

I would have thought that would be difficult, hence just deleting everything else but as Numbers said that might not be that simple.

Can’t remember exactly how the old versions of the Adobe package work but it might just be a matter of finding the DMG file for it and saving elsewhere? There’s no user login to use the program? Do you know if it’s actually a legit copy?

Also I don’t know what version of the OS you’re on but might find it complicates things if/when you update that.

[Stom]

I would have thought that would be difficult, hence just deleting everything else but as Numbers said that might not be that simple.

Can’t remember exactly how the old versions of the Adobe package work but it might just be a matter of finding the DMG file for it and saving elsewhere? There’s no user login to use the program? Do you know if it’s actually a legit copy?

Also I don’t know what version of the OS you’re on but might find it complicates things if/when you update that.

well, I couldn't be arsed, I don't use Photoshop much anyway. So I saved the folder to drive and have completely reinstalled the OS. It was on Mojave, I'm just updating to that now.

Took ages, mind, with Apple's dumb ass system for IDs...

But anyway, pros outweigh the cons.

Thanks for all and any help.

Remembered my shortcuts, only really don't understand the UX behind the Command button being where it is when it just seems more useful where the control button is...

[Mikey Brown]

I mean I hate using PCs now with control/command that way round so I imagine you just get used to it. Hot corners alone make a Mac worth it. Though I imagine Windows must surely have copied that by now.