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Do you still use pre-Retina Macbooks?
- Thread starter boppin
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Ive seen many people use their Pre-Retina MacBooks even today. The speed increase isn't that important to most people.
Still use an early 2011 13" for troubleshooting other Mac's and checking email.
Once you go retina, you cant go back... but its hard to miss something you've never had.
I don't use FireWire but I do use Ethernet to setup routers, access points, wireless repeaters, and wireless bridges.
My early-2011 13" is still my primary machine for home and work, SSD and RAM upgrades solve any speed issue, it runs Sierra great and I don't miss a Retina screen as I've never had one. Connected via ethernet right now as wifi in this part of the office isn't ideal, don't use FW on this machine but my 2011 iMac at home has a FW drive attached for TM backup.
Battery on this machine is down to 86% so looking at getting that changed...
Battery on this machine is down to 86% so looking at getting that changed...
I still enjoy my Early 2011 17" MacBook Pro, as the screen is large and pixel density is high, though not high enough to qualify as Retina. It's a secondary Mac though, not my main portable which is a 2012 Retina.
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Firewire might come in handy as I maintain a collection of older Macs, but I have yet to use the 2011 MBP's Firewire port. I did use the Thunderbolt port once to install MacOS Sierra on a 2011 iMac.
Still rocking my 2009 macbook pro, working like a champ with zero issues.
2010 13" MacBook Pro here!
I tried a 2015 13" MBP and a 2017 13" MBP this summer, and for one thing or another, I ended up returning them. Now I'm deliberating wether to purchase a 2017 13" nTB now with the Beats Solo 3 promo, or wait for the cannonlake MacBook pro... on 2018 or 2019.
Why I'm still using this old MacBook pro? Because it still delivers a good performance (changed the HDD for an SSD and maxed the RAM up to 8GB) being a seven year old laptop, and I've developed some kind of affection for this machine. I have experienced a lot of things with it, in this 7 years.
I tried a 2015 13" MBP and a 2017 13" MBP this summer, and for one thing or another, I ended up returning them. Now I'm deliberating wether to purchase a 2017 13" nTB now with the Beats Solo 3 promo, or wait for the cannonlake MacBook pro... on 2018 or 2019.
Why I'm still using this old MacBook pro? Because it still delivers a good performance (changed the HDD for an SSD and maxed the RAM up to 8GB) being a seven year old laptop, and I've developed some kind of affection for this machine. I have experienced a lot of things with it, in this 7 years.
Yes, my only machine right now is a 2012 non-retina 15" Macbook Pro.
Why do I use it? Well it's not broken and it still meets all my needs just fine. Besides, it's almost always hooked up to an external monitor when I'm at home.
When this machine breaks down on me (as I don't see my usage patterns changing) then I will probably pick up a 2017 or later.
Why do I use it? Well it's not broken and it still meets all my needs just fine. Besides, it's almost always hooked up to an external monitor when I'm at home.
When this machine breaks down on me (as I don't see my usage patterns changing) then I will probably pick up a 2017 or later.
2017 12" Retina MacBook 16 GB + SSD - This 2 lb beast is my road warrior for business usage, and it's also great for surfing on the couch and in the bedroom.
2009 13" MacBook Pro 8 GB + SSD - Just for various around-the-house type computing needs, guest usage, and occasional road trips with the kids.
2008 13" white MacBook 4 GB + SSD - Kitchen and breakfast bar surfing and recipe computer.
Although the Retina MacBook is best for meetings and business trips or lectures, I take the 2009 MBP instead of the Retina MacBook when on short trips in the car with the kids even though the MBP is over twice as heavy, because I'm afraid my young kids might break my precious Retina MacBook. I'd cry less if they broke my MBP. I actually have High Sierra running on that 8 year old MBP though, and as mentioned, I've upgraded it to 8 GB and SSD.
The white MacBook is one I truly wouldn't mind if it got broken by the kids, but it isn't very good for this type of traveling since it's stuck on Lion. This introduces incompatibiities, such as the fact that it won't properly tether my (now iOS 11) iPhone via a wired connection for cellular, and the fact that it is stuck with old unsupported browsers. At home for recipes and basic surfing it's fine though, with its 4 GB and SSD. But even watching YouTube on it can be irritating, since it has no hardware h.264 decode acceleration.
2009 13" MacBook Pro 8 GB + SSD - Just for various around-the-house type computing needs, guest usage, and occasional road trips with the kids.
2008 13" white MacBook 4 GB + SSD - Kitchen and breakfast bar surfing and recipe computer.
Although the Retina MacBook is best for meetings and business trips or lectures, I take the 2009 MBP instead of the Retina MacBook when on short trips in the car with the kids even though the MBP is over twice as heavy, because I'm afraid my young kids might break my precious Retina MacBook. I'd cry less if they broke my MBP. I actually have High Sierra running on that 8 year old MBP though, and as mentioned, I've upgraded it to 8 GB and SSD.
The white MacBook is one I truly wouldn't mind if it got broken by the kids, but it isn't very good for this type of traveling since it's stuck on Lion. This introduces incompatibiities, such as the fact that it won't properly tether my (now iOS 11) iPhone via a wired connection for cellular, and the fact that it is stuck with old unsupported browsers. At home for recipes and basic surfing it's fine though, with its 4 GB and SSD. But even watching YouTube on it can be irritating, since it has no hardware h.264 decode acceleration.
I have a 2012 13" MBP that i Bought new at BestBuy two years ago in July. I don't use it a whole lot because my 2015 15" is what I use most of the time. I just wanted a computer that still has a burner in it so I can burn an occasional CD. I did put a SSD in the 2012 back in March and the RAM is 16GB.
Just FYI in case you didn't already know, you can use a $40 external burner with any of the MacBooks.
I'm aware of that but then again, it's not built in which is why I bought the model that I bought.
Which models and which OS?
My 2009 is a MacBookPro5,5, and runs High Sierra perfectly. So far it seems the 13" and 15" models are fine.
http://dosdude1.com/highsierra/
MacBookPro5,5 (13-inch Mid 2009) - No issues
MacBookPro5,3 (15-inch Mid 2009) - No issues
MacBookPro5,1 (15-inch Late 2008) - No issues
MacBook5,2 (Early [Mid] 2009 MacBook) - Screen brightness not controllable (buttons don't work either), volume buttons do not work, same trackpad detected as USB mouse issue
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2011 17" here, it has been my pride and joy for 6 years. I have upgraded the RAM to 16gb and installed 2 SSD's via data doubler. I had the logic board replaced under the recall last year. The battery is dying... again and I need some USB3.0/USB-C ports. She is long in the tooth, but will remain at home until she passes.
This will be my last Mac unless they (Apple) pull a rabbit out of the hat in the next few months.
This will be my last Mac unless they (Apple) pull a rabbit out of the hat in the next few months.
My first Mac was a 2015 15" and shortly after i found a good deal on a 2011 13" that I threw 16GB of ram and an SSD in, and I kind of regret buying the 15". Hell the battery life on the thing is still 4-5 hours generally, and the battery has never been replaced.
Please ignore my comment about the 17". It's MacBook5,2 that is the problem, not MacBookPro5,2.