bad serial nummbers of MBpros to buy 2011-2017

[mookee]

hi.

i wanna spent 300-500 bucks on a used Macbook pro and was wondering if there are any serial number that should be avoided of modells between 2010-2017


i have a macbook 6.1 unibody 1rst version. want to improve BTW.

(nevermind, but i am looking for it in austria, vienna @ www.willhaben.at btw.)

 

[ZapNZs]

More than SNs, certain models seem more prone to issues than others. If you are on a $500 limit, IMO the MacBook Pro for you is an early 2011, late 2011, or mid-2012 13-inch - lacking the dGPU that had issues, this model(s) has one of the core i-series CPUs (a huge upgrade over the Core 2 Duo model it replaced from 2010), has proven itself to be extremely solid, and can often be found in your price-range (as least in the US - I'm not sure about used pricing in Austria.)

Upgrade the RAM to 8GB if it does not have it already, and pop in a SSD and you've got yourself a solid running machine, in my opinion.

 

[mookee]

hi,

thanks for your answer!

what do you mean with "lacking the dGPU that had issues" - only the 2012 modell or also the 2011 s?

also i think the 2012 has an nvidia hd 4000 with 1gb - right? and the 2011 modells much less graphik power than 2012- right?

or is this relative?



many thanks

best, christoph
[doublepost=1511942635][/doublepost]aja, and isnt there a 2012 with 15' ? or is this a bad version??)


lg c

 

[maerz001]

The 15" 2011 also had problems with dGPU.
There was a 15" 2012 rMBP without. But u won't find it for under 500€. More like 800€

 

[Samuelsan2001]

hi,

thanks for your answer!

what do you mean with "lacking the dGPU that had issues" - only the 2012 modell or also the 2011 s?

also i think the 2012 has an nvidia hd 4000 with 1gb - right? and the 2011 modells much less graphik power than 2012- right?

or is this relative?



many thanks

best, christoph
[doublepost=1511942635][/doublepost]aja, and isnt there a 2012 with 15' ? or is this a bad version??)


lg c

I doubt you'll get a 15 inch 2012 for $500, if you can get a good one at that price go for it, the NVIDIA 650M in that machine is great as is the quad core CPU. DO NOT buy a 15 inch machine from 2011 it will die on you due to the dGPU.

However, as mentioned above, you are more likely to be looking at a 2011 - 2012 13 inch in that price range. They are both great machines with only the HDD sata cable being a widespread issue and its a very cheap and easy fix. Also as mentioned above try and budget for replacing any HDD with an SSD disk drive it will transform that vintage of machine.

 

[ZapNZs]

hi,

thanks for your answer!

what do you mean with "lacking the dGPU that had issues" - only the 2012 modell or also the 2011 s?

also i think the 2012 has an nvidia hd 4000 with 1gb - right? and the 2011 modells much less graphik power than 2012- right?

or is this relative?



many thanks

best, christoph
[doublepost=1511942635][/doublepost]aja, and isnt there a 2012 with 15' ? or is this a bad version??)


lg c

It's early so I apologize if I misunderstood your question!

The dGPU means discrete GPU. Many of the 15-inch(and former 17-inch) models are dual graphics models. They have a dGPU for higher performance, and an iGPU for battery life. The dGPU in some older models are notorious for having premature failures. The 2010 and 2011 15-inch models are notorious for this, and the 2012-early 2013 models are known to be affected (although at much, much, much lesser frequency.) Some 15-inch models, such as the 2015 15-inch, were available in an iGPU-only version, as well as a dGPU+iGPU configuration (but this is way out of the price range.)

Sticking with the 2011-2012 Unibody 13-inch means you get the core i5/i7 CPU that makes major gains over the previous Core2Duo processor, you have the ability to upgrade the RAM and hard drive when the budget permits, you are opting for models with proven reliability, and you are shooting for something within the budget. (On the downside, the iGPU in these models are very outdated, the 2011 may have only several years of mainstream macOS software support left, their screens are far inferior to the retina, and they are dual core CPUs in a world that is preparing to shift to greater than dual core in many devices - but, again, this is probably the best you will find in this price range.**)

Do not purchase a 2010 or 2011 15-inch/17-inch!

**Alternatively, a 2011-2013 MacBook Air may also be in your pricerange. However, the RAM on these is not upgradable, and SSD upgrades are pricier.

 

[Fishrrman]

Get at least a 2012 MBPro with USB3.

AVOID 2011 MBPro's in 15" and 17" configurations.
2010 models (15" and 17") also seem to have GPU problems.

Actually, ANY one WITHOUT a discrete GPU is likely to last longer.

 

[mookee]

thanks to all of you. it seems that i will figure my way through used mac market with your infos. THANKS.)

one more thing for now. is there a nvidia modell within the good 2011-2012 modells we mentioned, or intel HD only??


best, christoph