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jamesjingyi

macrumors 6502a
Dec 20, 2011
840
144
UK
My 2008 black Macbook is still running strong. Just needs a new battery but I've been running it without a battery for at least a year so it's not really an issue.

My 2010 white MacBooks battery swelled forcing the trackpad to break through the case. There were two tabs that pushed through the plastic breaking it. I use it in closed mode connected to a 24" Samsung monitor. I bought the MB used almost two years ago. I poked through the pouch wrapping the battery with a pin to release the gas and it'e been running fine ever since. Others who have had the same problem did the same thing and reported no further problems with the battery for years.

I'll continue using both till they quit and then I'll buy a few more used Macs. Been thinking of buying a Mac Mini.

Swelling is replaced by Apple if I remember correctly with mine. My black 2006 MacBook's battery started swelling about a year ago and actually burst through the trackpad and the top case, spittting it. They replaced both for free no fuss at all because the battery problem was known. However I dont know based on your model.. Mine was the one where you twisted the battery out with a coin...

Apart from that, my MacBook Ok.. Few dings here and there and the fan is always running but it'll do anything I want it to do... Maybe take a while but it'll get done!
 

redrumredrum

macrumors newbie
May 23, 2014
14
14
My friends macbook survived 5 years and a few beers spilt on it only had a replaced keyboard. For months I told my friend to do a backup. It then died. He didn't have a backup. He cried and bought a new macbook air.

What is "It"? If not the HD, then just open it up and put it on an external enclosure and recover the files.
 

jav6454

macrumors Core
Nov 14, 2007
22,303
6,257
1 Geostationary Tower Plaza
Hope you backup the HDD and or have changed it in that time frame. Depending on your usage the life of the HDD is likely coming to its end. Also, I'd imagine the battery probably doesn't last too long. Make sure you are not bottlenecking your machine with low RAM. Check the number of pageouts and find out.

Either way, my Aluminum MB Unibody Late 2008 is still going strong. I recently changed the HDD though. My battery is definitely not like it used to be though.

Problem with the battery is, Apple no longer sells them. I need a new battery for my late 2008 MacBook. I think its a much better machine than the dumb touch bar thingys.
 

elf69

macrumors 68020
Jun 2, 2016
2,333
489
Cornwall UK
I have a late 2009 unibody macbook, not pro.

It is my everyday work machine and is great.
It is the 2.26GHz model so maxed the ram to 8GB (wish I had 2.4GHz model as they take 16GB).
240GB ssd and sierra.

It flies!

want upgrade though.
waiting a 2009 2.53GHz macbook pro to arrive and watching a 2.4GHz unibody on ebay.

Not used a newer mac but love the keyboard on this model.
Not a big fan of my older Pro keyboards, the ones that look like G5 laptops.
they miss keys all the time when typing.

I love older mac and as from my signature can see I got a few.
 

flappah

macrumors member
Jul 13, 2008
76
68
The Hague, The Netherlands
I bought my MacBook 5 years ago today! Best computer ive ever owned. I hope she has a few good years left in her.

Yep. Still working on a late-2008 MBP. Did change the HD though to an SSD and upgraded to 8GB but the machine's still running. Lately however the screen begins to have its issues (vertical bars and all on it but they disappear during the work day). I am planning on buying a new 15" MBP though this year as a replacement for this one.
 

neil_cm17

macrumors member
Oct 26, 2015
49
9
United Kingdom
Mine's an early 2009 15in MacBook Pro. I have upgrade the hard drive to an SSD and doubled the memory to 8GB. It does have an occasionally issue where it doesn't sleep probably but generally it's still going strong. Though I'm tempted to upgrade to a one of the new MBP's.
 

dandeco

macrumors 65816
Dec 5, 2008
1,153
965
Brockton, MA
I've got a mid-2009 13" polycarbonate MacBook that still works pretty well, but can be a little sluggish at times compared to my Mac Mini. I plan to swap out the internal hard drive with a solid state drive (for my MacBook, I may just go with a 256 GB SSD.) The RAM is already maxed out to 6 GB, and it also has an NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics chip (while it's still integrated, it's better than the old Intel graphics chips that were used on 2006-2008 MacBooks!)
The battery was falling apart on the MacBook, so I replaced it with a newer battery and it really made a difference, physically.
The DVD drive doesn't work though, but since I have an external USB Blu-Ray burner now, it doesn't matter that much. Though if I choose to replace it with a MacBook Pro, I'll probably get the 2012 "regular" 13" MacBook Pro, since it already has a drive built in.
And it can't run macOS Sierra, but since my 2012 Mac Mini runs it, it doesn't matter that much to me.
 

elf69

macrumors 68020
Jun 2, 2016
2,333
489
Cornwall UK
I've got a mid-2009 13" polycarbonate MacBook that still works pretty well, but can be a little sluggish at times compared to my Mac Mini. I plan to swap out the internal hard drive with a solid state drive (for my MacBook, I may just go with a 256 GB SSD.) The RAM is already maxed out to 6 GB, and it also has an NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics chip (while it's still integrated, it's better than the old Intel graphics chips that were used on 2006-2008 MacBooks!)
The battery was falling apart on the MacBook, so I replaced it with a newer battery and it really made a difference, physically.
The DVD drive doesn't work though, but since I have an external USB Blu-Ray burner now, it doesn't matter that much. Though if I choose to replace it with a MacBook Pro, I'll probably get the 2012 "regular" 13" MacBook Pro, since it already has a drive built in.
And it can't run macOS Sierra, but since my 2012 Mac Mini runs it, it doesn't matter that much to me.

if dvd not work take it out and fit a 2nd hdd caddy, that's what I'm doing with my 2009 macbook.
If runs el capitan then it could be hacked to run sierra.
your model like my 2009 unibody are very underrated machines.

my 2009 macbook is my work everyday machine.
 

dandeco

macrumors 65816
Dec 5, 2008
1,153
965
Brockton, MA
Yes, but I don't want to take chances with the Sierra hack. Maybe once I put in the SSD.
My 2009 MacBook is what I use when I'm at my college, or when I'm on other trips or excursions.
 

elf69

macrumors 68020
Jun 2, 2016
2,333
489
Cornwall UK
el capitan works well anyway if that's what ur running.

once you upgrade to ssd try hack on hdd then you will not mess anything up as can just swap the ssd back in.
 

dandeco

macrumors 65816
Dec 5, 2008
1,153
965
Brockton, MA
OK; I ordered a 256 GB SSD and a replacement internal SuperDrive for my 2009 MacBook, to do a little upgrade project on it.
 

matt550

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jun 7, 2008
365
24
Have you made any upgrades to it to beast it up?

I bought a brand new MacBook Pro in April of 2015.

My original MacBook still worked, although it was on its last leg. I gave it to a friend. Don't know what's he's done with it.
 

dandeco

macrumors 65816
Dec 5, 2008
1,153
965
Brockton, MA
OK, I put the 256 SSD into my MacBook, and installed macOS Sierra onto it using that patch. Boy, is it speedy when starting up and booting programs!
Now I can't wait to eventually get a 1 TB SSD for my 2012 quad-core Mac Mini! It'll probably be even faster.
 

groove-agent

macrumors 68000
Jan 13, 2006
1,854
1,680
I bought my MacBook 5 years ago today! Best computer ive ever owned. I hope she has a few good years left in her.

I bought the last 2012 MacBook classic for the antiglare feature as my eyes can't handle glossy screens. I knew it would likely be my last Mac given the direction Apple was going.

I was really hoping for something great for the newest MBP, but I prefer my current cMBP. I've pulled out the optical drive and replaced it with a second hard drive. Plus I still have all my ports (no dongles), and have the option to swap out for two SSDs (the new MBP drive cannot be upgraded) plus upgrade to 16GB RAM (like the current MBP). It's still quite peppy, so it still has a lot of life left. I just can't play modern games with settings high given the GPU. If only it had thunderbolt 3, I could look into an external GPU.

They just don't make them like they used to.
 

one1

macrumors 65816
Jun 17, 2007
1,167
27
Chattanooga, TN
I have an 08 unibody and an 09 15" pro. With SSD's and a little ram they do as well as my 2015 air. Retina screens would be nice, but unnecessary. I've kept them because of the constant loss of options and ports as macs evolve.
 

Gregintosh

macrumors 68000
Jan 29, 2008
1,914
533
Chicago
I bought the last 2012 MacBook classic for the antiglare feature as my eyes can't handle glossy screens. I knew it would likely be my last Mac given the direction Apple was going.

I was really hoping for something great for the newest MBP, but I prefer my current cMBP. I've pulled out the optical drive and replaced it with a second hard drive. Plus I still have all my ports (no dongles), and have the option to swap out for two SSDs (the new MBP drive cannot be upgraded) plus upgrade to 16GB RAM (like the current MBP). It's still quite peppy, so it still has a lot of life left. I just can't play modern games with settings high given the GPU. If only it had thunderbolt 3, I could look into an external GPU.

They just don't make them like they used to.

Despite being "Glossy" the screens on the current computers aren't very reflective at all. Its not like the earlier models where it was basically a piece of glass in the front. When you turn up the brightness its very sharp and clear. You should give them a chance.

There really aren't many options in the PC world either for matte screens, other than some really low end laptops. I haven't seen a good quality matte screen in YEARS.
[doublepost=1483654420][/doublepost]
I have an 08 unibody and an 09 15" pro. With SSD's and a little ram they do as well as my 2015 air. Retina screens would be nice, but unnecessary. I've kept them because of the constant loss of options and ports as macs evolve.

You sir are a better man than I. I tried to give a non-retina Air a chance for a bit and I couldn't look at it. After using retina for a while now there is no going back. Its just downright painful to use anything else.
 

makinao

macrumors 6502
Dec 27, 2009
296
116
I had a mid-2009 white MacBook which I passed down to my wife in 2014. I was on my third battery, maxed out the ram to 4gb, upgraded the hd to 500gb, and was on El Capitan. The screen was starting to get blotchy by late 2015 though. I was planning to upgrade it again to an SSD, but it died in an office fire on April Fools day 2016 :-(
 

elf69

macrumors 68020
Jun 2, 2016
2,333
489
Cornwall UK
sad but max ram is actually 8gb.

loved mine but the 2010 model little better with 2.4ghz cpu and max ram of 16gb.

sold my 2009 to a friend who loves it a lot.
 

iSheep5S

macrumors 6502a
Jun 4, 2013
581
288
Scotland
I somehow doubt the current lineup will last like these. Retinagate and the limped 12" with degrading battery. I would love to go back to Mac but Apple seems like it loves the dongles and making their computers less and less user serviceable... The Air is a cracking device but the screen lacks for the price.

The 12" is the most appealing as it and the new Pro are the only recent ones i haven't owned (and sold) heck, if your gonna donglegate do it right :D
 

groove-agent

macrumors 68000
Jan 13, 2006
1,854
1,680
These days Apple products can't seem to hold their own. By this I mean you need to have extra accessories around to get the job done. The hard drive too small? Carry an external drive. Low battery life? Carry your charger around with you. Don't have the right port for your I/O? Carry 5 dongles around with you or a docking station. Can't play games? Get a PC or console. I personally have higher expectations for a $3000 laptop.
 

kiranmk2

macrumors 68000
Oct 4, 2008
1,509
1,929
I don't mind the dongles so much (very rarely use the ports so a USB-A to C dongle won't be an issue) but the degrading batteries in the rMB are very concerning (and in my mind, why the terraced battery didn't carry over into the new MBP).
 

AG925

macrumors newbie
Jan 21, 2017
1
0
Great to see lots of love for the MacBook unibody line! I bought my first Macbook in 2005, it was the first model that was released. At the time it was a great improvement on the iBook, a much sleeker design (but not ridiculously thin like the Air and later notebook models).

Then 6 years ago I got the 2.4GHz (mid-2010 model), which has had considerable daily use since then. A couple of years ago I swapped out the Optical DVD drive and now have 2 x 2TB of storage. Also, I maxed out the ram to 16GB, so it handles El Capitan very well.

The only problem is the speakers, they have deteriorated quite a bit, so I'm going to get a Denon Envaya Mini bluetooth speaker and output the sound through that.

It is true, they really don't make them like they used to.
 
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