Classic Macbook Pro Lives On

[deepen03]

Been to an Apple store lately? People still flock to the cMBP. I know two people in the last 6 months that chose the cMBP. There are two types of consumers who purchase the cMBP. Those who actually need the extra functionality of ports and drives, and the casual user who thinks they do.

What you seem to forget is, those of us on these type of forums are the one's that follow new technology and are usually early adapters. Many casual consumers still think all laptops come with disc drives and a place to plug the internet cable in. It freaks them out when they see something like the Air with no disc drive or firewire, etc. It doesn't matter that they haven't put a disc into their laptop in 2 years, they think they need it. When they see that it is cheaper than the retina model AND it has more ports, it is a better value in their mind.

But if they just discontinue it, nobody will care. Apple fans will just flock over to the sensible option, the 2015 Retina Pro, which is usually on sale at a lot of shops for $1200 or less.. My bet is it will be killed off after WWDC.

You have to make consumers change their mindsets. When the 17" and 15" Pro were removed, die hard fans complained for a few months, then got over it when they realized how much more advanced the Retina Models are.

I would even consider a Macbook Air over the MD101, at least it has a close to HD, 900P screen and a superfast PCI-E SSD

 

[simonsi]

When the 17" and 15" Pro were removed, die hard fans complained for a few months, then got over it when they realized how much more advanced the Retina Models are.

Right.

Let's tell cook We Want 17" MacBook Pro With Retina Display

Yep they are well over it. Most of them would be happy if it was reintroduced without a Retina screen LOL

 

[scaredpoet]

Are you seriously defending this piece of garbage?

Why does it offend you so much that it's still being sold? Apple wouldn't be selling them if people weren't still buying, but if it's not something you want, its continued existence doesn't mean you're forced to get one yourself.

$200 gets you a 2015 MB Retina with Broadwell. It makes the MD101 even less appealing. The CD/DVD format is dying like the cassette tapes! You get 5 year old hardware with a 3rd gen Intel from 2011 for $1100. I can name 10 Mac-quality Windows Ultrabrooks that are a far better option.

You know who's buying them? College students. I a see a LOT of new classic MacBook Pros on college campuses. $200 is a big deal to a college student, and they want a Mac laptop with lengthy warranty, but want to pay as little money as possible. And if you try to get a MacBook Air configured to match the specs (4GB RAM, 500GB storage space) they would pay even more, $500 more. So they go for this instead.

And Windows 8.1 isn't horrible, if that is your next argument.

Yeah, it is.

 

[simonsi]

My bet is it will be killed off after WWDC.

My bet is that they will continue it while it makes money. They actually know how to run a business.

 

[RedRaven571]

Such odd attitudes....

I just bought a refurb mid 2012 15" MBP from Apple for $1099, mostly because I wanted to upgrade from my late 2008 15" MBP, AND I wanted a user upgradable Mac.

I already had a 500GB SSD in the 2008, that I migrated to the 2012, and I dropped another $70 for 8GB of RAM (the refurb had 4GB).

So, now I have a 2.3 gHz quad core i7 processor, a better GPU (than I had), 500GB SSD, and 8GB of RAM; all for about $1200 vs. what? $1899 for the current entry level 15" MBP?

Suits all my needs, it a HUGE improvement over what I was using, has a 1 year warranty (with the option to extend with Applecare), and even has that most horrible of antiquities, a Superdrive . So, no retina screen and it's not bleeding edge tech, I don't care; was the best, most economical solution for me and I've very pleased with my choice.

 

[deepen03]

Why does it offend you so much that it's still being sold? Apple wouldn't be selling them if people weren't still buying, but if it's not something you want, its continued existence doesn't mean you're forced to get one yourself.




You know who's buying them? College students. I a see a LOT of new classic MacBook Pros on college campuses. $200 is a big deal to a college student, and they want a Mac laptop with lengthy warranty, but want to pay as little money as possible. And if you try to get a MacBook Air configured to match the specs (4GB RAM, 500GB storage space) they would pay even more, $500 more. So they go for this instead.



Yeah, it is.

Windows 10 is actually looking great, runs better than OSX on the new Macbook. And the desktop mode of 8.1 is better than Windows 7.


for my MD101 argument, well the main thing for me is the non-retina screen and the old hardware being sold at new product pricing. They market the thing as if it's still a latest model. Nowhere on the build page does it specify that the Intel chip is only 3rd generation. Apple is milking uneducated customers basically. There is no reason any regular customer should buy it over the Retina mac.

No college student honestly needs 500GB of space. They would appreciate the reliability and non-moving parts of an SSD, that gorgeous Retina display and the 8GB RAM, along with it being only 3.2lbs. Plus you can find 256GB Retina 2014 models for around $1000, so that makes the argument for the MD101 even worse.

So no, there is Absolutely NO REASON for anyone in their right mind to still be buying one of these things today. Upgradeablity is a load of crap, people who spend $1000 or more on a computer want it to be the last thing they buy. Nobody wants to swap in RAM and an SSD as an average customer. Forum-readers like me and you might want to do that, but not the average student of consumer.

 

[iSheep5S]

I think reliability is a good argument.

No retinagate and no worries about swapping failed parts. Given ifixits tear down of the 2015 rMBP.

Also my 'test' MacBook Pro was a 2011 model with 787 charge cycles, dents and scratches. WELL used but still fine.

Not to mention an actual disc drive.

Long live the cMBP and the Air series.

 

[scaredpoet]

Windows 10 is actually looking great, runs better than OSX on the new Macbook.

I've been running the insider preview builds of Windows 10 on my Mac. It's certainly better than Windows 8.1. Better enough for me to switch? Nope. But this is clearly a matter of subjective opinion. If you like Windows that much, you probably shouldn't be giving Apple your money, anyway.

And the desktop mode of 8.1 is better than Windows 7.

I'll disagree with you there too. Windows 10 rolls back some Windows 7 features (like a functional start menu), and it does that for a reason: the functionality of Windows 8.1 is fundamentally broken, and it's not what users want.

for my MD101 argument, well the main thing for me is the non-retina screen and the old hardware being sold at new product pricing. They market the thing as if it's still a latest model. Nowhere on the build page does it specify that the Intel chip is only 3rd generation. Apple is milking uneducated customers basically. There is no reason any regular customer should buy it over the Retina mac.

I know people who are consciously aware of the specs of this Mac, and even despite my recommendations, they pick the cMBP over the rMBP. Sometimes it's the difference in pricing, and sometimes it's their desire to have a DVD drive/burner built in. Some are also wary of SSDs. And for those reasons, they make a willful, conscious decision to pay for the older tech.

So again, as long as people keep doing that, Apple is going to keep churning these things out.

No college student honestly needs 500GB of space.

As someone who just went through 3 years of coursework and got a degree, Im going to say that I definitely needed - and used - the 512GB on my SSD. And had I been hard-up for cash, I would've gotten the cMBP with the 500GB.

What did I do with that space? I recorded and edited video, photographs, ran 3D models, and gathered documentation for research papers and reports. On top of any personal stuff I did. i absolutely needed the space, and I know a lot of other college students do, too.

They would appreciate the reliability and non-moving parts of an SSD,

While SSDs don't have moving parts, they have do have their own issues. Are they more reliable that hard drives? The jury's actually still out on that. But again, you're presuming a lot about users that aren't universally true.

So no, there is Absolutely NO REASON for anyone in their right mind to still be buying one of these things today.

that's an opinion you're entitled to certainly, and hey again, if you don't want to buy a cMBO, no one is forcing you to. But clearly enough people disagree with you that it makes sense of Apple to keep building them, for now.

Upgradeablity is a load of crap,

The #1 complaint about the rMBPs, MBAs, iMacs, and MacBook retinas is their lack of upgradeability and expandability. Not just on this forum. You can search around and get a lot of venom about how once you buy into the current model of Macs, you're stuck with what you have.

people who spend $1000 or more on a computer want it to be the last thing they buy. Nobody wants to swap in RAM and an SSD as an average customer. Forum-readers like me and you might want to do that, but not the average student of consumer.

Even putting aside the unfounded assumptions you're making about average consumers, the point still stands: evidently, enough "forum readers like me and you" are buying cMBPs on principle that it's worth Apple's while to keep making them.

 

[darngooddesign]

Are you seriously defending this piece of garbage? $200 gets you a 2015 MB Retina with Broadwell.

Price both out with a 1TB internal drive. What happens when you want to upgrade your drive after you buy it? The cMBP takes any number of aftermarket drives.

Heck with the cMBP you can use a small SSD for the OS and applications and replace the optical drive with a huge platter drive. The rMBP... well I hear that Apple's drive upgrades at purchase are a good value.

 

[2984839]

Windows 10 is actually looking great, runs better than OSX on the new Macbook. And the desktop mode of 8.1 is better than Windows 7.


for my MD101 argument, well the main thing for me is the non-retina screen and the old hardware being sold at new product pricing. They market the thing as if it's still a latest model. Nowhere on the build page does it specify that the Intel chip is only 3rd generation. Apple is milking uneducated customers basically. There is no reason any regular customer should buy it over the Retina mac.

No college student honestly needs 500GB of space. They would appreciate the reliability and non-moving parts of an SSD, that gorgeous Retina display and the 8GB RAM, along with it being only 3.2lbs. Plus you can find 256GB Retina 2014 models for around $1000, so that makes the argument for the MD101 even worse.

So no, there is Absolutely NO REASON for anyone in their right mind to still be buying one of these things today. Upgradeablity is a load of crap, people who spend $1000 or more on a computer want it to be the last thing they buy. Nobody wants to swap in RAM and an SSD as an average customer. Forum-readers like me and you might want to do that, but not the average student of consumer.

Upgradeability is a perfectly valid reason to buy the cMBP, as is the optical drive. Booting from an optical drive is typically more reliable, plus you can swap it out for an additional HDD if you want. I like being able to use any off the shelf SATA 3 drive too.

Frankly, if I was going to buy a MBP today, it would be the cMBP for those reasons. I couldn't care less about the display and the CPU is very fast. I would look for a used one, but the machine is excellent.


You resurrected 2 threads today just to whine about a computer you aren't interested in buying and the people who buy them?

 

[ApolloBoy]

So no, there is Absolutely NO REASON for anyone in their right mind to still be buying one of these things today.

Easy upgradeability? Replaceable battery (as in not glued into the top case)? Ethernet and Firewire 800 without external dongles? Built-in optical drive that can be replaced with a second hard drive?

 

[2984839]

Easy upgradeability? Replaceable battery (as in not glued into the top case)? Ethernet and Firewire 800 without external dongles? Built-in optical drive that can be replaced with a second hard drive?

A legion of spec chasers is preparing to tell you that "none of that matters" and "nobody cares about that in 2015".

 

[darngooddesign]

A legion of spec chasers is preparing to tell you that "none of that matters" and "nobody cares about that in 2015".

I figured they would be too busy trying to scavenge drive upgrades from other Macs on eBay. On the other hand, it's probably liberating not having to worry about upgrades.

 

[Freyqq]

It's the only one they sell with a kensington lock and a dvd drive, so I'm sure some businesses need that.

 

[darngooddesign]

And FW800.

 

[osnola ibax]

Hi there, don't mean to resurrect an old thread but I have been thinking about this a lot lately. I recently sold my macbook air to my father who was in desperate need of a computer. I wanted to replace it with the New MacBook but had read that the processor was slow and I'm always wary of buying 1st Gen tech.

So because there was little in the weight difference of the 13"air and the rMBP, I plumped for the 13" rMBP, 256gb. I love it, I haven't been able to stop using it since I got it. Its fantastic.

Now, I also own a mid 2012 cMBP. This has been tethered to an external display since last November because I was doing a lot of design work at the time for an event I was organising. It stayed there until recently, plugged in all the time. However, I was away on holidays during the period where I had sold the MBAir and was awaiting deliver of the rMBP, so I took the cMBP on holidays with me.

I had completely forgotten how nice it was to carry around, it has a beautiful chunky form factor, whereas the rMBP almost feels a little too thin, like it could slip from your grasp. I ask forgot how nice the keyboard was, nice and firm, good travel on the keys. The rMBP keyboard feels a little "looser". But the most amazing thing I found was that despite being plugged in for the last 9 months, it was still giving me 7 hours battery life unplugged. I was astonished by this. Having it plugged in all the time did not seem to deteriorate the battery any more than normal levels.

Then you have the Infra Red receiver, the battery indicator lights, and the lovely sleep blinking light. In an attempt at thinness, the rMBP has sacrificed all of these lovely features.

Now my cMBP i upgraded with 16gb Crucial RAM and a 512GB Crucial SSD, so it is a serious machine. It also serves as our family computer attached to a 2k display, which it manages easily. I will probably use a data double at some stage to throw in another 500gb hard drive.

I will never get rid of that machine, its perfect and I love it. And I have a funny feeling it will out last my 2015 rMBP.

Thanks for reading, glad I found somewhere to express that

 

[JackieInCo]

Hi there, don't mean to resurrect an old thread but I have been thinking about this a lot lately. I recently sold my macbook air to my father who was in desperate need of a computer. I wanted to replace it with the New MacBook but had read that the processor was slow and I'm always wary of buying 1st Gen tech.

So because there was little in the weight difference of the 13"air and the rMBP, I plumped for the 13" rMBP, 256gb. I love it, I haven't been able to stop using it since I got it. Its fantastic.

Now, I also own a mid 2012 cMBP. This has been tethered to an external display since last November because I was doing a lot of design work at the time for an event I was organising. It stayed there until recently, plugged in all the time. However, I was away on holidays during the period where I had sold the MBAir and was awaiting deliver of the rMBP, so I took the cMBP on holidays with me.

I had completely forgotten how nice it was to carry around, it has a beautiful chunky form factor, whereas the rMBP almost feels a little too thin, like it could slip from your grasp. I ask forgot how nice the keyboard was, nice and firm, good travel on the keys. The rMBP keyboard feels a little "looser". But the most amazing thing I found was that despite being plugged in for the last 9 months, it was still giving me 7 hours battery life unplugged. I was astonished by this. Having it plugged in all the time did not seem to deteriorate the battery any more than normal levels.

Then you have the Infra Red receiver, the battery indicator lights, and the lovely sleep blinking light. In an attempt at thinness, the rMBP has sacrificed all of these lovely features.

Now my cMBP i upgraded with 16gb Crucial RAM and a 512GB Crucial SSD, so it is a serious machine. It also serves as our family computer attached to a 2k display, which it manages easily. I will probably use a data double at some stage to throw in another 500gb hard drive.

I will never get rid of that machine, its perfect and I love it. And I have a funny feeling it will out last my 2015 rMBP.

Thanks for reading, glad I found somewhere to express that

I bought the top of the line 2015 Retina MBP in May and bought the 2012 MBP two weeks ago. I have no regrets at all in doing so.

Like you, I like that the 2012 MBP feels chunky and solid. It doesn't feel like it will dent easily although it can from past experience. I also like that it has ethernet. I am using the ethernet port right now connected to my Comcast modem. I also still have a WD 2GB drive that has a Firewire port.

This computer is still just as capable at doing anything as it was when it was first released. I plan on upgrading the drive to a 1TB drive soon. Don't care about the SSD so much, I want capacity at a low price.

Tons of people are still buying this model. Go to the BestBuy site and read the reviews daily. I bought mine when it was on sale for $899 and used my $60 in BestBuy certificates so I paid just over $900 after taxes.

I love this MBP almost more than my 15" 2015 retina MBP.

 

[brand]

Did anyone notice that they have updated the page for the Classic Macbook with a Yosemite screen?

That is a unibody MacBook Pro and not the classic MacBook Pro. Also a MacBook is not a MacBook Pro, there is a difference.

 

[Tenashus1]

That is a unibody MacBook Pro and not the classic MacBook Pro. Also a MacBook is not a MacBook Pro, there is a difference.

I bought the top of the line 2015 Retina MBP in May and bought the 2012 MBP two weeks ago. I have no regrets at all in doing so.

Like you, I like that the 2012 MBP feels chunky and solid. It doesn't feel like it will dent easily although it can from past experience. I also like that it has ethernet. I am using the ethernet port right now connected to my Comcast modem. I also still have a WD 2GB drive that has a Firewire port.

This computer is still just as capable at doing anything as it was when it was first released. I plan on upgrading the drive to a 1TB drive soon. Don't care about the SSD so much, I want capacity at a low price.

Tons of people are still buying this model. Go to the BestBuy site and read the reviews daily. I bought mine when it was on sale for $899 and used my $60 in BestBuy certificates so I paid just over $900 after taxes.

I love this MBP almost more than my 15" 2015 retina MBP.

My mid 2012 13" cMBP runs like a champ. I'm just spoiled by the 2015 rMBP retina screen now. But, otherwise, my cMBP is a great machine.

 

[brand]

My mid 2012 13" cMBP runs like a champ. I'm just spoiled by the 2015 rMBP retina screen now. But, otherwise, my cMBP is a great machine.

The 2012 MacBook Pro is a unibody MacBook Pro, not a classic.

 

[ApolloBoy]

The 2012 MacBook Pro is a unibody MacBook Pro, not a classic.

So is the Retina model, hence why the older model is called the "cMBP".

 

[brand]

So is the Retina model, hence why the older model is called the "cMBP".

That is wrong.

pre-unibody = classic
unibody that is not retina = unibody
unibody that is retina = retina

There is not a pre-unibody 13" MacBook Pro and since it is a unibody it is referred to as a unibody.

 

[gngan]

Windows 10 is actually looking great, runs better than OSX on the new Macbook. And the desktop mode of 8.1 is better than Windows 7.


for my MD101 argument, well the main thing for me is the non-retina screen and the old hardware being sold at new product pricing. They market the thing as if it's still a latest model. Nowhere on the build page does it specify that the Intel chip is only 3rd generation. Apple is milking uneducated customers basically. There is no reason any regular customer should buy it over the Retina mac.

No college student honestly needs 500GB of space. They would appreciate the reliability and non-moving parts of an SSD, that gorgeous Retina display and the 8GB RAM, along with it being only 3.2lbs. Plus you can find 256GB Retina 2014 models for around $1000, so that makes the argument for the MD101 even worse.

So no, there is Absolutely NO REASON for anyone in their right mind to still be buying one of these things today. Upgradeablity is a load of crap, people who spend $1000 or more on a computer want it to be the last thing they buy. Nobody wants to swap in RAM and an SSD as an average customer. Forum-readers like me and you might want to do that, but not the average student of consumer.

If it's selling then there IS REASON for anyone in their right mind to buy it. Who are you to say that there are no people in their right mind that still wants a cMBP? I am a 100% sure that there are people that wants a built-in DVD and/or Ethernet. I am 100% sure that there are people that doesn't need the DVD but want its space for an additional HDD. They don't like to using cloud service, etc. So what's wrong with that?

 

[JackieInCo]

One other thing I like doing on the 2012 13" MBP is using YouTube or watching videos on other sites. Why? This computers fans stay between 2000-2600RPM when doing so. On my 15" 2015 retina MBP, the fans spin up to 4500RPM or so and that gets annoying.

 

[Samuelsan2001]

If it's selling then there IS REASON for anyone in their right mind to buy it. Who are you to say that there are no people in their right mind that still wants a cMBP? I am a 100% sure that there are people that wants a built-in DVD and/or Ethernet. I am 100% sure that there are people that doesn't need the DVD but want its space for an additional HDD. They don't like to using cloud service, etc. So what's wrong with that?

Nothing wrong with people spending too much money on 4 year old tech if thats what they want to do, I think they are stupid, crazy and have their priorities wrong but hey I couldn't care less what people waste their money on.