Any Luck Downgrading/Trading a 2016/17 Model for a 2015 Model?

[Silverjerk]

I've been trying for several months to downgrade a near fully spec'd 2016 15" MacBook Pro with Touchbar to a 15" 2015 model. Having very little luck, sadly. Has anyone had any positive experiences making this trade, and if so what method did you use (Craigslist, OfferUp, social media, etc.)?

I have the 2.9/16gb/4gb 460/1TB model (the $3799 config at launch) and was looking for a fully spec'd 2015 model. I've had a few offers on Craigslist but they never seem to pan out.

Selling my MBP before I get the replacement in hand is not an option unfortunately, as it's likely that's going to be the popular suggestion here.

 

[jerryk]

With the reputation the 2016 and 2017, but especially the 2016 has developed, a trade is going to be hard. You might be better off seeing what a 2016 sells for (completed sales on ebay), buying a 2015, and then selling your 2016. Best of luck.

 

[Ma2k5]

Your best bet is to sell it and then buy it separately.

I think the idea of "trading" puts a lot of people off and worried about the underlying condition of a product. On top of that, by only looking for trades, you are greatly reducing the pool of available people to get rid of your laptop with.

 

[Maxx Power]

There are a lot of these 2016s floating around new with discounts (like BHphoto) and refurbished (like on Woot) that are decently priced, but very few well-specified 2015s, which leads me to conclude that your proposition may potentially be difficult.

 

[Nbd1790]

Believe me I understand your pain. Unfortunately I'm in a similar situation and my 2016 model has a 2tb hard drive. The average selling price for mine is around 2300/2400 on ebay. (B&H is currently selling my current config for $3000... which is $1400 off the MSRP)

You're going to take a hit on it regardless. Aside from the selling price, ebay is going to take a nice chunk of your money too. If you can get someone on craigslist to take it for a decent amount I'd say go for it. But ultimately, you might be better off just hanging on to it (seems that is what I will be doing unless I can get somewhere in the neighborhood of $2500/2600)

Best of luck

 

[Silverjerk]

Thanks for the replies. Was starting to feel the "buy, then sell" option was probably going to be the only way to go. It's also been a real pain finding fully spec'd 2015 models. When I have this thing docked, I have no issues with it -- but as I travel more and more frequently for work, the nauseating keyboard has become exponentially more frustrating. I'd gladly lose the extra VRAM (and even go for a 512 SSD on a 2015 model) just to avoid using these damned keys ever again.

Seriously, seriously considering moving my development workload back to a PC, especially with the new Linux Subsystem. The Razer Blade I use to game on the road got the low-profile chiclet keys right with this last round of hardware.

Just, Windows...ugh.

Likes all around. Thanks for the help, disheartening as it may be to hear!

 

[csurfr]

Thanks for the replies. Was starting to feel the "buy, then sell" option was probably going to be the only way to go. It's also been a real pain finding fully spec'd 2015 models. When I have this thing docked, I have no issues with it -- but as I travel more and more frequently for work, the nauseating keyboard has become exponentially more frustrating. I'd gladly lose the extra VRAM (and even go for a 512 SSD on a 2015 model) just to avoid using these damned keys ever again.

Seriously, seriously considering moving my development workload back to a PC, especially with the new Linux Subsystem. The Razer Blade I use to game on the road got the low-profile chiclet keys right with this last round of hardware.

Just, Windows...ugh.

Likes all around. Thanks for the help, disheartening as it may be to hear!

Don’t get discouraged. I have a 2015 15” and have been trying to go the other direction!

It’s not as easy to get rid of a 2015 as you might think.

 

[jerryk]

Thanks for the replies. Was starting to feel the "buy, then sell" option was probably going to be the only way to go. It's also been a real pain finding fully spec'd 2015 models. When I have this thing docked, I have no issues with it -- but as I travel more and more frequently for work, the nauseating keyboard has become exponentially more frustrating. I'd gladly lose the extra VRAM (and even go for a 512 SSD on a 2015 model) just to avoid using these damned keys ever again.

Seriously, seriously considering moving my development workload back to a PC, especially with the new Linux Subsystem. The Razer Blade I use to game on the road got the low-profile chiclet keys right with this last round of hardware.

Just, Windows...ugh.

Likes all around. Thanks for the help, disheartening as it may be to hear!

I know just what you mean.

To me, most of my dev work is shell or editor based and the UI matters very little. But a good feeling easy to use keyboard is a key. If I don't have a physical escape key and good key travel and feel, forget it.

 

[Garage Battle]

I have had a 2016 13" MacBook Pro nTB since launch. Its been a good PC, and Ive had some snafus with the keyboard - but nothing thats required me to take it in for service. Been super annoyed with the dongles as I frequently need them for external monitors, ethernet, USB-A devices, etc. I bought an eGPU housing for it - and then realized that Apple is being SUPER restrictive about what GPUs get OOB support (RX480/580 and up - thats another $200 if you buy used).

So I just recently picked up a 2015 15". Good condition, a year of Apple Care left. Did a fresh install with High Sierra. Since doing so, I've been having issues with external monitors not detecting correctly, pink screens, clamshell mode still shows external monitor AND internal monitor on wake (dual display even though the lid is closed). My USB-A hub was acting really flaky, it wasn't detecting half of the ethernet adapters I was plugging in - no absolute idea what is up with it.

I thought by going back to the 2015 id get secure ports, stable performance (have twice as many cores/ram) but that just doesn't seem to be the case. The keyboard is lovely on the 2015, but I have to say from my personal experience its all downhill from there - and I'm not sure why.

So if anyones looking for a 2015 15" in B++ condition, with a year of AppleCare let me know.

 

[Ma2k5]

Thanks for the replies. Was starting to feel the "buy, then sell" option was probably going to be the only way to go. It's also been a real pain finding fully spec'd 2015 models. When I have this thing docked, I have no issues with it -- but as I travel more and more frequently for work, the nauseating keyboard has become exponentially more frustrating. I'd gladly lose the extra VRAM (and even go for a 512 SSD on a 2015 model) just to avoid using these damned keys ever again.

Seriously, seriously considering moving my development workload back to a PC, especially with the new Linux Subsystem. The Razer Blade I use to game on the road got the low-profile chiclet keys right with this last round of hardware.

Just, Windows...ugh.

Likes all around. Thanks for the help, disheartening as it may be to hear!

To be honest, the only thing about Windows that frustrates me is the auto update and restarts that take ages. You can bypass it by tricking Windows by telling it your connection is metered, but meh.

Of course there are other niggles (but so is there with macOS), but I think the user experience of Windows would be far more positive if not for the barrage of updates!

 

[erichui84]

To be honest, the only thing about Windows that frustrates me is the auto update and restarts that take ages. You can bypass it by tricking Windows by telling it your connection is metered, but meh.

Of course there are other niggles (but so is there with macOS), but I think the user experience of Windows would be far more positive if not for the barrage of updates!

Really? I'm surprised about this comment. Have been using Windows and Mac for many years (I have a mac laptop and uses Windows for my desktop at work and home) I find that the updates for Mac takes longer than my PC on average (at least that's what it feels like)

 

[jksu]

that's a terrible ad! ;-)

why don't you use your AppleCare and take it to apple to fix it. maybe your 2015's motherboard is screwed up?

I have had a 2016 13" MacBook Pro nTB since launch. Its been a good PC, and Ive had some snafus with the keyboard - but nothing thats required me to take it in for service. Been super annoyed with the dongles as I frequently need them for external monitors, ethernet, USB-A devices, etc. I bought an eGPU housing for it - and then realized that Apple is being SUPER restrictive about what GPUs get OOB support (RX480/580 and up - thats another $200 if you buy used).

So I just recently picked up a 2015 15". Good condition, a year of Apple Care left. Did a fresh install with High Sierra. Since doing so, I've been having issues with external monitors not detecting correctly, pink screens, clamshell mode still shows external monitor AND internal monitor on wake (dual display even though the lid is closed). My USB-A hub was acting really flaky, it wasn't detecting half of the ethernet adapters I was plugging in - no absolute idea what is up with it.

I thought by going back to the 2015 id get secure ports, stable performance (have twice as many cores/ram) but that just doesn't seem to be the case. The keyboard is lovely on the 2015, but I have to say from my personal experience its all downhill from there - and I'm not sure why.

So if anyones looking for a 2015 15" in B++ condition, with a year of AppleCare let me know.

 

[leman]

If you are coming to Europe any time soon, drop me a message and I’d be happy to do an exchange

 

[Ma2k5]

Really? I'm surprised about this comment. Have been using Windows and Mac for many years (I have a mac laptop and uses Windows for my desktop at work and home) I find that the updates for Mac takes longer than my PC on average (at least that's what it feels like)

With Mac, you can choose when to update.

With Windows, I'll just be rebooting my computer (or starting it up) and suddenly I see 20-30 minutes worth of Windows updates occuring out of the blue. This happens a lot at work as well which can get frustrating and affect productivity. The forced restarts are also very painful as you could have things open and it will just go into a forced restart to apply updates. This never occured with my MacBook.

I wouldn't mind it taking long if I could choose when it occured. iPhone/Apple watch updates take ages too, imagine though you just wanted to restart your iPhone because it was a little buggy and now you had to wait 10+ minutes waiting it for it to update which you hadn't initiated. Not good!

 

[StockDC2]

With Mac, you can choose when to update.

With Windows, I'll just be rebooting my computer (or starting it up) and suddenly I see 20-30 minutes worth of Windows updates occuring out of the blue. This happens a lot at work as well which can get frustrating and affect productivity. The forced restarts are also very painful as you could have things open and it will just go into a forced restart to apply updates. This never occured with my MacBook.

I wouldn't mind it taking long if I could choose when it occured. iPhone/Apple watch updates take ages too, imagine though you just wanted to restart your iPhone because it was a little buggy and now you had to wait 10+ minutes waiting it for it to update which you hadn't initiated. Not good!

You do realize that you can disable the updates? When you shut down a Windows computer, it downloads any updates and installs them the next time the OS boots.

 

[Silverjerk]

Don’t get discouraged. I have a 2015 15” and have been trying to go the other direction!

It’s not as easy to get rid of a 2015 as you might think.

I have seen a few offers for 2015 models, it's just the specific specs I'm looking for that have been a challenge. I was looking for one with the dedicated GPU, higher end i7, and 1TB drive -- essentially the comparable model to my own 2016 model.

 

[ilikewhey]

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Apple-Reti...144912?hash=item3d6a94d950:g:dvgAAOSw27FbMpTE

https://www.ebay.com/itm/2015-MacBo...694364&hash=item1cb0568db2:g:8h4AAOSw8FBbFseu

 

[Silverjerk]

I know just what you mean.

To me, most of my dev work is shell or editor based and the UI matters very little. But a good feeling easy to use keyboard is a key. If I don't have a physical escape key and good key travel and feel, forget it.

That's sort of the rock hard place situation I find myself in. Although the majority of my day involves writing code, I'm also doing UX design, writing copy, and doing a plethora of other tasks that keep me locked into the OS experience a little more tightly. If I were just doing dev work, I'd likely just install Linux on a solid ultrabook and call it a day, but I'm bouncing back and forth between IA Writer, Sketch, VSCode, Hyper, Adobe XD, Keynote, and anything else my particular day requires.

And the escape key, and physical F keys, which I use in nearly every one of my workflows, is totally...key (sorry!) to a good experience in my eyes. I also can't begin to tell you how many times the crappy palm rejection has ruined my day.
[doublepost=1530199719][/doublepost]

To be honest, the only thing about Windows that frustrates me is the auto update and restarts that take ages. You can bypass it by tricking Windows by telling it your connection is metered, but meh.

Of course there are other niggles (but so is there with macOS), but I think the user experience of Windows would be far more positive if not for the barrage of updates!

I agree! Windows 10 in its current iteration is a really solid OS. I'm close to 40, so I've been using both platforms professionally for about 20 years or so, and I sincerely believe this is the first time they've both offered an experience that makes it difficult to argue one or the other as being superior. It really comes down to ecosystem, and since most of my professional work revolves around using a string of apps that either don't have Windows counterparts, or whose Windows' solution just isn't up to speed, I've been married to MacOS for a very long time.
[doublepost=1530199807][/doublepost]

If you are coming to Europe any time soon, drop me a message and I’d be happy to do an exchange

I will be there at the end of the summer, so I might just take you up on that