MBP 13" for $799.99 brand new!

[JoeRito]

Anybody jumping on the Blutek sale on eBay for brand new in sealed box MBP for 799.99? Its the non retina 2012 model but, for those who love it, has the dvd superdrive and 500gb hard drive. For me, i want the dvd drive and dont mind a little more bulk and slightly older tech for such a great price. Others out there agree?

 

[Phil A.]

Personally, I wouldn't go near one of the non-retina MBPs - they're not just "slightly older tech", they're ancient in computer terms

 

[T5BRICK]

That's a good deal if you're interested in the upgradeability of the older model. Personally I'd spend the extra and buy a rMBP.

 

[tubeexperience]

Anybody jumping on the Blutek sale on eBay for brand new in sealed box MBP for 799.99? Its the non retina 2012 model but, for those who love it, has the dvd superdrive and 500gb hard drive. For me, i want the dvd drive and dont mind a little more bulk and slightly older tech for such a great price. Others out there agree?

A 4 years old computer for $799.99? No thanks.

If I can only spend $799.99, I would get a base model Dell XPS 13 which is at least a modern laptop.

 

[David58117]

These were old in 2012, when the retinas came out right beside them. Back then it made some sense to get and upgrade them, but since the price of the retinas has come down considerably......these are a waste of money for most people.

 

[MasturB]

These were old in 2012, when the retinas came out right beside them. Back then it made some sense to get and upgrade them, but since the price of the retinas has come down considerably......these are a waste of money for most people.

I thought the retinas were not upgradeable though compared to the older non-retina? I figured upgradeability is one thing that appeals to those who want the non-retina.

 

[tubeexperience]

I thought the retinas were not upgradeable though compared to the older non-retina? I figured upgradeability is one thing that appeals to those who want the non-retina.

Problem is, the non-Retina has super outdated CPU and GPU and those cannot be upgraded.

If Apple has at least upgraded the CPU and GPU every year, then it might have been a good deal.

 

[David58117]

I thought the retinas were not upgradeable though compared to the older non-retina? I figured upgradeability is one thing that appeals to those who want the non-retina.

The price of SSD's and RAM has come down significantly since 2012 though. At one point it made sense to get the cheaper one and upgrade it yourself, but not now.

If you want to put an SSD/more ram in these, you're going to be paying near the retinas price anyway. Getting the older cpu/ram/display makes no sense. Also, you absolutely won't be able to resell it for near as much as you paid, in a few years.

You're essentially throwing your money away, and settling for older tech that you won't be able to resell, by buying this now.

 

[JackieInCo]

To date, the 2012 is still Apples best selling MBP because it is so cheap. That is why Apple still continues to sell it today. This is perfect for people who still want to upgrade the HD and RAM and they get a CD/DVD drive built in.

Cult of Mac and a few other sites did a write up on this MBP a few months back stating that it was still the best selling MBP today. I can't remember who they get the info from on sales but it's still a huge profit maker for Apple. Look at the BestBuy site for the reviews for the MBP and you will see at least 10 new reviews a day from people still buying it.

 

[nStyle]

New or not...not worth it...there's literally zero utility in a CD/DVD drive nowadays. Not to mention the extra bulk/weight you'll have when you finally stop using it. And that screen...It's not just non-"retiny"...it's downright washed out compared to a retina model.

 

[btbam91]

That would be a good deal for like $400.

 

[JackieInCo]

New or not...not worth it...there's literally zero utility in a CD/DVD drive nowadays. Not to mention the extra bulk/weight you'll have when you finally stop using it. And that screen...It's not just non-"retiny"...it's downright washed out compared to a retina model.

I don't know about washed out. Other then one being much more sharper due to higher PPI, they look about the same. Here is a 2015 15" retina next to the 2012 non retina.

 

[JoeRito]

To date, the 2012 is still Apples best selling MBP because it is so cheap. That is why Apple still continues to sell it today. This is perfect for people who still want to upgrade the HD and RAM and they get a CD/DVD drive built in.

Exactly... And for $53 you can buy 16 gb of ram (Crucial brand). Not looking to play video games on this, its mostly for work (spreadsheets, playing music, writing doc's, etc). Seems a great deal to me.
[doublepost=1463441749][/doublepost]Thanks for the comparison photo. Half the price for a few compromisess?? Yup, its for me.

 

[JackieInCo]

Exactly... And for $53 you can buy 16 gb of ram (Crucial brand). Not looking to play video games on this, its mostly for work (spreadsheets, playing music, writing doc's, etc). Seems a great deal to me.

They come with the latest OS installed which is El Capitan and the build dates on these machines are in recent months. I bought mine last July and the manufactured date was in May.

Apple just doesn't tell people that they are 4 years old. They see the manufactured date and assume they are the most current.

 

[JoeRito]

New or not...not worth it...there's literally zero utility in a CD/DVD drive nowadays. Not to mention the extra bulk/weight you'll have when you finally stop using it. And that screen...It's not just non-"retiny"...it's downright washed out compared to a retina model.

Some folks have data plans and would rather watch than stream videos. Also, in business, many companies still pass confidential data on dvds. You may not use a dvd drive, but MANY others do. Apple got this wrong IMO.

 

[JackieInCo]

Some folks have data plans and would rather watch than stream videos. Also, in business, many companies still pass confidential data on dvds. You may not use a dvd drive, but MANY others do. Apple got this wrong IMO.

Look at how many Windows machines still come with CD/DVD drives. Clearly there is still a want for such equipped machines.

 

[wakemac]

I actually just inherited the 2012 15" I'm typing on now. Had hardly been used and still looks brand new. Spent a total of just over $100 to replace the hdd with a 250gb SSD and 16gb of RAM, both from Crucial. Feels like a new machine. May not be the fastest available, but will be a good machine for several years.

 

[GoldfishRT]

So I purchased a 2012 cMBP 2.9 i7 from Apple and I have a fair number of reasons for doing so.

I already had a Samsung 850 Pro 512GB and 16GB of DDR3 laying around. Even considering the purchase price for both of those new, it comes out several hundreds of dollars cheaper than a similarly equipped 13" rMBP (and I understand the arguments for the faster storage, in the vast majority of cases, I don't think it's noticeable).

I also have very poor internet service. In the United States, many of us are still subjected to satellite and hotspots for our internet access. I have 15GB of data, and utilize DVD media constantly (I would go insane without Netflix). I also have a fair number of DVDs I own, and while many of them are ripped at this point, I enjoy the peace of mind.

As far as performance, I'll point out a few things. The Ivy Bridge i7 in the 2012 model is just a few percentage points off the GeekBench performance of the current rMBP's i5. Certainly GPU performance on the new model is far better but, unless you use a lot of visual applications or games the difference is pretty unremarkable in daily use. The i7 and the HD 4000 has no issue driving a 2560x1440 display and working through day to day tasks just fine. Never does the machine feel like it's struggling to do the things I do, and that includes a fair amount of encoding videos.

However, I'm not delusional. If the money is of no concern (or the DVD drive and expandability), then the rMBP is an awesome awesome machine. It's thinner, has better battery life, has HDMI out, etc. The screen might be worth it to most.

I honestly thought that it was pretty clear why the cMBP still sells. It has the build quality, the style, most of the performance, and it's relatively cheap. I do also understand why a lot of you find spending that money on "old" tech objectionable. It just didn't matter much to me once I looked at the actual performance.

 

[Trvlngnrs]

Try to find a used one....
I just purchased one on Craigslist for $350, put in a Sandisc Ultra II 480gb SSD ($130ish) and 8gb Crucial RAM ($40).

 

[JackieInCo]

Try to find a used one....
I just purchased one on Craigslist for $350, put in a Sandisc Ultra II 480gb SSD ($130ish) and 8gb Crucial RAM ($40).

But then you may not get the warranty. To some people, the ability to be covered for three years is worth the extra cost.

 

[MacInTO]

I love the 2012 MBPs. I've owned almost every 2012 model in the 13" and 15" range.

$800 is a lot, but if you're not comfortable with a used machine, it's a great deal because it comes with at least one year of warranty. You can probably find used machines under a year old that you can purchase applecare for.

There are tons of these for sale on Craigslist, eBay etc. They're pretty cheap too. A small percentage may have issues, but most will work fine. I bought one recently 'for parts' for about $300 and once I cleaned out the dust, it worked fine!

I'm not a fan of the rMBPs because it is not upgradeable. I had a rMBP but sold it because I found the size of the flash drive limiting. I like the upgradeability of the cMBPs. I don't use the optical drive very often. I like to replace them with a second SSD.

 

[squarebreathing]

$500 new would be fine.
$800 new is way too much.

A retina MBP is such a better deal for only a little bit more. You can get a 2015 model, never used, from $1050 on sites like BandH photo with no tax. The retina screen is infinitely better than the cMBP model.

People who use the disc drive - get an external LG drive for $20
If you need ethernet - get the thunderbolt adaptor for $29

Also, there is no guarantee that the new operating systems (10.12, 10.13) will support the old macbook pro.

 

[lowendlinux]

I don't think it's a bad deal if it serves your purpose and you can still get Apple care, I wouldn't however call it a good deal either

 

[RiverOak]

Some folks have data plans and would rather watch than stream videos. Also, in business, many companies still pass confidential data on dvds. You may not use a dvd drive, but MANY others do. Apple got this wrong IMO.

I dont think they got it wrong. Lots of people still used floppy disks when Apple decided to get rid of them, but it was an excellent decision to move forward and make way for improvements. The same thing with Flash on iOS devices. It was a bold move but it was for the better.
You can always get an external DVD reader. Though, I do like the ability to put a hard drive in its place.

 

[ultra7k]

I'm still using mine from 2012, albeit with the upgrades listed in my signature. Still runs fine, and does every day tasks without issues. They day it starts having issues streaming to my TV is the day I will look at getting a new MacBook or iMac.