Buying a 2011 Macbook pro 17" worth it in 2021 ?

[SevenOFF]

Hi everyone ! soooo i want to buy a macbook, and i'm fond of the 17 inch i7 anti-glare screen but i don't know if it's still good for like web browsing watching youtube netflix and stuff, like if the screen quality is still good for 2021

and second question, is there a big difference between the i7 2,4ghz model and the 2.5ghz, because i'm pretty sure that it's not only the GHZ that are changing

because i can either buy a 2.5ghz gloss screen or a 2.4ghz anti-glare screen

all of these for around 300€

Sooo if someone can answer me that would be really nice thanks y'all !

 

[BeatCrazy]

I have a 2010 17" with the anti-glare screen and the 2.66GHz i7. I don't think the differences in CPU will lead to any performance concerns.

Yes, it's fine for web browsing and media consumption. But without some hackery (and some glitches) going to Big Sur, you're stuck with High Sierra. Another thing, battery life was/is never going to be great. That's a big screen and power hungry CPU/GPU, so be sure and keep a charger handy.

Is it worth the 300€? Maybe. I'd almost consider it a "desktop", because it's not very easy to carry or travel since it weighs 3kg. Be sure and upgrade to an SSD, and at least 8GB of RAM.

 

[DeltaMac]

The 2.4Ghz i7 has 6 MB of L3 cache, the 2.5 Ghz i7 comes with 8MB of L3 cache.
(That's the main difference, other than the speed, I'm not getting drawn into a discussion about which is "better", just that the 2.5 Ghz was a custom configuration.)
I think 300€ is a lot of money for a 2011, that STILL is highly likely to be affected by "radeongate" (Look it up!)

I've been working with a Late 2011, 15-inch for the last couple of days. It gets REALLY hot, suddenly goes into a boot loop, then reboots very slow. I have to let it cool down for several hours. Then boot again, when it may suddenly fill the screen with blue dots, which requires a force shut down. Then, it heats up again. Not very usable. Set up a new system on a 2.5-inch SSD, from a different Mac, then installed the built-up SSD in the 2011. No help at all. Have to tell the customer tomorrow that his "pawn-shop special" is not worth much - unless you want a new hobby...

Logic board is not original, so I suspect that somebody has tried to fix this in the past, and like many of these, the issue returns.

 

[feelingsupersonic]

Weren't these the models that had GPU issues? There was some issue where the GPU eventually dies and you can't really fix it.

With that said, a 2010-2011 MBP is still perfectly usable for most tasks. My 2010 15" is perfect for web browsing and ordinary tasks on High Sierra, with a new battery, SSD and 8gb RAM.

 

[Queen6]

I still have a 2011 15" MBP, although it runs well for it's age you have to jump through some hoops to deal with the high potential for dGPU failure. I bought my 2011 new, it then passed around the family before returning with endless SW issues. So I know all the aspects of the MBP's history. I know it's still 100% stock with no reworking of the Logic Board/dGPU, which in general only results in faster repeat failure of the Radeon dGPU.

To be brutally honest the 2011 15" & 17" MBP's are at a high risk of failure due to general ageing and the poor design/manufacture of the Radeon dGPU. Battery will likely be another concern. If original will be very close to end of life with sourcing a known good one problematic.

I do think there is the potential for good ones to exist, however I also believe that they are very few and far between. I know that my 2011 has seen hard use and survives. That said I wouldn't touch one as a purchase unless I explicitly knew the history, even then probably not...

Q-6

 

[Amethyst1]

like if the screen quality is still good for 2021

The screen is a TN panel with crappy viewing angles that doesn't hold a candle to a decent high-res IPS (read: Retina) display. Add to that: the notorious GPU issues that can't ever be fixed, just worked around. IOW: I wouldn't touch one with a ten-foot pole.

 

[Fishrrman]

Question:
"Buying a 2011 Macbook pro 17" worth it in 2021 ?"

Answer:
NO!

For free, I'd take it.
Any money?
Forget it!

 

[oldmacs]

I'd say no. As the above posters have said the GPUs were prone to failure. These models are no longer getting feature updates (last was 10.13 from 2017), and they're not longer getting security updates (Last was November 2020).

These might be able to be upgraded to Mojave or Catalina through patches, but I'm not sure. This should give you security updates through to approximately November 2022 (Mojave) or approximately November 2023 (Catalina).

But even if you did that, to me its a lot of money to spend for something to be usable for a max of 2 and a bit years. Then there is the usability aspect. Battery life isn't going to be great and it isn't going to be fast, and really will need at the very least a SSD upgrade to be usable.

I'm still using a 2012 MacBook Pro 13 inch, and honestly it's getting slow. The Quad Core i7 in the 2011 17 inches do benchmark higher than my MacBook Pro in Multicore performance, they're about on par for single core. The 6770M graphics should be better according to this: https://gpu.userbenchmark.com/Compa...-125-GHz-vs-AMD-Radeon--HD-6770M/m7653vsm7746. Unsure how this would translate to real world performance.

Have you thought about going for a 15 inch Mid 2012 MacBook Pro instead? You'll escape the failing GPU problem, a generation newer processor - even the base 2.3 i7 benchmarks slightly less on single core performance, but higher on multi core performance. You also get better discrete and integrated graphics, though the base 2.3 I7 mid 2012 has half the graphics memory. The other big advantage is native support for Catalina which should mean security updates to November 2023.

The Mid 2012 can also be upgraded to Big Sur with a patcher meaning security updates should come through till November 2024, and there is a good chance it will even be upgradable to Monterey (again with a patch) which should mean security updates through to November 2025!

But then again, performance still isn't *great*, you'll still need an SSD to make it tolerable and battery life isn't going to be great even with a new battery.

I don't know how much you can stretch your budget, or how much machines go for in your country but a 2015 MacBook Pro 15 inch retina would be miles and miles ahead of either the Late 2011 17 inch or the Mid 2012 15 inch. Much better screen, much better battery life, much faster, much better graphics and updatable to Monterey without hacks.

 

[Falhófnir]

Maybe look at the retina 15"ers from the middle part of last decade (2015, 2014 or late 2013). You might struggle with the mid 2015, but a 2014 should be doable for around 3-400 Euros, and a late 2013 certainly should be. Though nothing can quite substitute for raw screen area, the retina displays are nicer overall, and you can just about get away with 1920x1200 on them (the 17" native resolution) though probably more comfortable at 1680x1050.

 

[SevenOFF]

The thing is that i know i can get much better for the price but the thing that i like one it is the huge screen for working when im Moving and i dont think that for this price i can get a 16 inch, and the one that im buying il gonna to upgrade it for sure with an ssd and maybe 16 or 32 GB or ram

And yeah i obviously know About the GPU issue but the one that im buying is refurbished with the GPU entirely done sooo idk

 

[Amethyst1]

And yeah i obviously know About the GPU issue but the one that im buying is refurbished with the GPU entirely done sooo idk

I'd be careful. AMD never shipped a fixed revision of these defective GPUs in the 2011 MBPs - so even if it has been replaced, it will fail again. That is, unfortunately, a fact.

and the one that im buying il gonna to upgrade it for sure with an ssd and maybe 16 or 32 GB or ram

The 2011 MBPs can only take 16 GB.

 

[Queen6]

The thing is that i know i can get much better for the price but the thing that i like one it is the huge screen for working when im Moving and i dont think that for this price i can get a 16 inch, and the one that im buying il gonna to upgrade it for sure with an ssd and maybe 16 or 32 GB or ram

And yeah i obviously know About the GPU issue but the one that im buying is refurbished with the GPU entirely done sooo idk

It's a big risk and I own a fully working 2011 MBP. If you can afford to easily write off the price of the Mac and it makes you happy why not. Being refurbished offers no guarantee and in many cases such Mac's even from Apple went on to fail at an even faster rate.

You may get lucky, however the vast majority of the 2011's ended up on the junk pile or being cannibalised to fix other 2011's. As has been emphasised the usability is poor for both HW & SW I don't use my own 2011 for anything critical and likely soon just offline tasks...

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[cloudphrenia]

I used to have that model, and it is still my favorite MacBook, but I would never recommend one. It was the most unreliable laptop I've ever had. I was fortunate enough to find a 2012 15" anti-glare to swap it out with. I don't know how many of the 2012 anti-glares are floating around, but I would check those out before you pick up a 2011 17".

 

[mbp17forever]

Hi everyone ! soooo i want to buy a macbook, and i'm fond of the 17 inch i7 anti-glare screen but i don't know if it's still good for like web browsing watching youtube netflix and stuff, like if the screen quality is still good for 2021

and second question, is there a big difference between the i7 2,4ghz model and the 2.5ghz, because i'm pretty sure that it's not only the GHZ that are changing

because i can either buy a 2.5ghz gloss screen or a 2.4ghz anti-glare screen

all of these for around 300€

Sooo if someone can answer me that would be really nice thanks y'all !

as my nickname suggests, I would say absolutely Yes, for the right price. 300 euros imo sounds a good price if they are on good condition (no scratches, both GPUs working etc).

a 2011 17 inch (1920x1080 screen) is day and night compared with poor relatives 13" and 15" of 2011 with their low-res screens. Also the 17" screen is MUCH bigger than the 15", so even if you find a rMBP 15" 2012-2015 on the same price you still have to deal with a mid-size screen. Only comparable size is the 16" screen, but they are still much more expensive than anything else on the second-hand Macbook market.

I have two 17"s (early and late 2011), disabled AMD graphics (dosdude1 instructions), installed Catalina patcher, 16GB ram and SSD and the machines work almost as fast as my m1 air on boot time and tasks like YouTube, Netflix, GarageBand, Pages, Numbers, Keynote. The 17" screen is still good even by 2021 standards (many expensive/gaming windows 17" laptops have screens of 1920x1080 and believe me, Macbook's 17" screen is better).

No difference at all between the i7 2,4ghz model and the 2.5ghz. Second (AMD) GPU is definitely going to fail at some moment -even if you buy a refurbished one- so at the end of the day you'll have to disable it anyway by dosdude1 tool (or any other viable option). Retinas 15" of 2012-2013 have also gpu problems plus antireflective coating issues. 2014 version has ssd failure issues. stay away from all of them.

 

[arche3]

10 year old laptop. Stay away.

 

[Queen6]

as my nickname suggests, I would say absolutely Yes, for the right price. 300 euros imo sounds a good price if they are on good condition (no scratches, both GPUs working etc).

a 2011 17 inch (1920x1080 screen) is day and night compared with poor relatives 13" and 15" of 2011 with their low-res screens. Also the 17" screen is MUCH bigger than the 15", so even if you find a rMBP 15" 2012-2015 on the same price you still have to deal with a mid-size screen. Only comparable size is the 16" screen, but they are still much more expensive than anything else on the second-hand Macbook market.

I have two 17"s (early and late 2011), disabled AMD graphics (dosdude1 instructions), installed Catalina patcher, 16GB ram and SSD and the machines work almost as fast as my m1 air on boot time and tasks like YouTube, Netflix, GarageBand, Pages, Numbers, Keynote. The 17" screen is still good even by 2021 standards (many expensive/gaming windows 17" laptops have screens of 1920x1080 and believe me, Macbook's 17" screen is better).

No difference at all between the i7 2,4ghz model and the 2.5ghz. Second (AMD) GPU is definitely going to fail at some moment -even if you buy a refurbished one- so at the end of the day you'll have to disable it anyway by dosdude1 tool (or any other viable option). Retinas 15" of 2012-2013 have also gpu problems plus antireflective coating issues. 2014 version has ssd failure issues. stay away from all of them.

As long a people know what they are getting into they can be ok, equally the 2011's have their limitations, problems and risks. On my 15" the dGPU remains active although heavily restricted as I know the full history and of the Radeon was going to fail on this unit it would have done so by now as it has been pushed.

It remains 100% stock Apple and at this point in time seems a shame to mess with, nor is the 2011 a primary system. Bottom line as pointed out they are now rapidly approaching 10 years old and at this age anything can let go at anytime. I'll keep my 2011 MPB until dies, I don't use it hard these days as it owes me nothing and served like a trooper in it's heyday

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