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Do you still use pre-Retina Macbooks?
- Thread starter boppin
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I have two 2012 non-retina MacBooks, a 13" (i7 2.9) and a 15" (i7 2.3). I love these machines. With a SSD installed they work well. I actually had a 2012 15" retina and downgraded to the non-retina.
I'm pretty sure I will never buy another MacBook after these. The iPad Pro will probably be better for my needs in the future.
I'm pretty sure I will never buy another MacBook after these. The iPad Pro will probably be better for my needs in the future.
I just picked up a used late 2008 Aluminum MacBook5,1 2.0 GHz 13", for less than US$150 used. I put in an SSD and 4 GB RAM (which I already had, so they didn't cost extra), and then used the installer patcher to install High Sierra.
Initially it had 2 GB RAM and 160 GB hard drive with 10.10.4 Yosemite on it, and it was totally unusable. I don't know how the previous owner was able to tolerate it. It would take forever to do anything at all. However, with 4 GB RAM and SSD it's definitely usable. Surfing is somewhat slow, and even the 2009 2.26 GHz MBP5,5 I have is noticeably faster, because at these speed levels, every little bit (13%) counts it seems. I'm thinking for a 2009 machine an ideal CPU would be 2.5-3 GHz.
Too bad it was so slow because it hid a minor defect in the trackpad in this used machine. In one spot you have to press a bit harder to make the click work every time. If you press lightly in that spot then it doesn't always register. Fortunately, the rest of the trackpad is fine. I didn't notice it before when I was testing it because I had to fight the spinning hard drive and 2 GB RAM to do anything, so missed clicks were not a surprise, as I'd often have beachballs. But now that the system is much more responsive with 4 GB RAM and SSD, any small problems like that can be noticed. Let that be a word of warning to you if you're scouting the used market for old machines like this.
But overall, I'm pleased. I now have another operational and reasonably responsive High Sierra machine for under US$150. The 2008 white MacBook4,1 we had before was problematic, because we couldn't install any modern browser on it, so it had to finally be retired. BTW, I put the HD in it and yes, it's back to being painful to use performance wise. Even though it's retired, if I find an uber cheap 60-120 GB SSD somewhere, I'll buy it for this machine.
Also, I will reiterate that if you plan on buying one of these old machines for your primary driver, don't skimp out on RAM. Even with my light usage, it was easy to hit the swap with 4 GB RAM.
I had over 1 GB compressed RAM and a larger swap. This screen grab from Activity Monitor was a while later.
My MBP5,5 with 8 GB RAM is obviously much better, and I could use that as a primary driver in a pinch, although obviously my 16 GB MacBook Core m3 is in a totally different league.
Initially it had 2 GB RAM and 160 GB hard drive with 10.10.4 Yosemite on it, and it was totally unusable. I don't know how the previous owner was able to tolerate it. It would take forever to do anything at all. However, with 4 GB RAM and SSD it's definitely usable. Surfing is somewhat slow, and even the 2009 2.26 GHz MBP5,5 I have is noticeably faster, because at these speed levels, every little bit (13%) counts it seems. I'm thinking for a 2009 machine an ideal CPU would be 2.5-3 GHz.
Too bad it was so slow because it hid a minor defect in the trackpad in this used machine. In one spot you have to press a bit harder to make the click work every time. If you press lightly in that spot then it doesn't always register. Fortunately, the rest of the trackpad is fine. I didn't notice it before when I was testing it because I had to fight the spinning hard drive and 2 GB RAM to do anything, so missed clicks were not a surprise, as I'd often have beachballs. But now that the system is much more responsive with 4 GB RAM and SSD, any small problems like that can be noticed. Let that be a word of warning to you if you're scouting the used market for old machines like this.
But overall, I'm pleased. I now have another operational and reasonably responsive High Sierra machine for under US$150. The 2008 white MacBook4,1 we had before was problematic, because we couldn't install any modern browser on it, so it had to finally be retired. BTW, I put the HD in it and yes, it's back to being painful to use performance wise. Even though it's retired, if I find an uber cheap 60-120 GB SSD somewhere, I'll buy it for this machine.
Also, I will reiterate that if you plan on buying one of these old machines for your primary driver, don't skimp out on RAM. Even with my light usage, it was easy to hit the swap with 4 GB RAM.
I had over 1 GB compressed RAM and a larger swap. This screen grab from Activity Monitor was a while later.
My MBP5,5 with 8 GB RAM is obviously much better, and I could use that as a primary driver in a pinch, although obviously my 16 GB MacBook Core m3 is in a totally different league.
I liked my 2011 13" MBP. But needed more power so got a 2015 15" rmbp. But I still have a soft spot the pre-retina easily upgradable MBPs
Yes, we do. Simple answer is that they continue to work. And while the Retina is good, pre-Retina are not bad.
Also, there will come a day when we no longer have any pre-Retina, and that will be a sad day. We will sorely miss the ability to repair, upgrade and replace. At the moment we are so very incredibly utterly underwhelmed with the late 2016 maxed out 15" MBP's we purchased.
Also, there will come a day when we no longer have any pre-Retina, and that will be a sad day. We will sorely miss the ability to repair, upgrade and replace. At the moment we are so very incredibly utterly underwhelmed with the late 2016 maxed out 15" MBP's we purchased.
If MacBook Pros count in this question...
I bought my pre-Retina, mid-2012 13" MBP (the stock MD101LL/A) refurbished earlier this year to use primarily for music production. After dropping in a SSD and additional RAM, I am extremely impressed with its performance. Even at 5 years old, it just works.
My audio interface right now is USB and does what I need it to do. I could have made due with a MacBook, possibly, but I place a high value on self-service. For my first Mac, I could have done a lot worse.
I'm expecting to use this MacBook Pro until it just doesn't work anymore and I can no longer find a battery for it. I think, from the last year of really self-serviceable MBPs, this unit is going to have a longer life than most Retina models made 2-3 years after it, if only due to the cost of service for those units.
I bought my pre-Retina, mid-2012 13" MBP (the stock MD101LL/A) refurbished earlier this year to use primarily for music production. After dropping in a SSD and additional RAM, I am extremely impressed with its performance. Even at 5 years old, it just works.
My audio interface right now is USB and does what I need it to do. I could have made due with a MacBook, possibly, but I place a high value on self-service. For my first Mac, I could have done a lot worse.
I'm expecting to use this MacBook Pro until it just doesn't work anymore and I can no longer find a battery for it. I think, from the last year of really self-serviceable MBPs, this unit is going to have a longer life than most Retina models made 2-3 years after it, if only due to the cost of service for those units.
Apple still sells the non-Retina MacBook Air. Because it's still wildly popular.
Not a MacBook, but Apple Still sells the non-Retina 21.5" iMac. They sell the Mac Pro and Mac Mini, which don't ship with displays, and I would guess that the vast majority of Mac Mini owners do *NOT* buy a "Retina-class" display for it.
I used a 2008 Aluminum (non-Retina) MacBook until this April, when I found a 2012 (original) 15" Retina MacBoook Pro really cheap. My wife still uses a MacBook Air.
Not a MacBook, but Apple Still sells the non-Retina 21.5" iMac. They sell the Mac Pro and Mac Mini, which don't ship with displays, and I would guess that the vast majority of Mac Mini owners do *NOT* buy a "Retina-class" display for it.
I used a 2008 Aluminum (non-Retina) MacBook until this April, when I found a 2012 (original) 15" Retina MacBoook Pro really cheap. My wife still uses a MacBook Air.
Wow, G4? And you got IDE SSDs in there too? Do you actually use it? The OS is so old now, at 10.5.8. I retired all my G4 Macs, even my secondary ones, about half a dozen years ago.
I also just retired my Intel 10.7.5 MacBook4,1 because of the lack of modern browser compatibility, and replaced it with a MacBook5,1 with High Sierra.
Ironically, my workplace only officially supports 10.7 Lion - 10.10 Yosemite, even though it's impossible to buy anything today with less than 10.12 Sierra on it.
Yep—”normies” just do not care. I was in a Starbucks today and the majority of computers were Airs and non-retina pro’s, with a few Windows machines sporting *gasp* optical drives.
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Why? The port situation? Keyboard?
Yep. Mid 2010 MBP. A few years ago, upgraded it with an SSD as well as a bump up to 8GB of RAM.
For most intents and purposes, it still serves me well, however it's a little slow when I'm editing photos in Lightroom. I'd love to get a newer computer, but honestly just haven't saved up the money to do so yet.
For most intents and purposes, it still serves me well, however it's a little slow when I'm editing photos in Lightroom. I'd love to get a newer computer, but honestly just haven't saved up the money to do so yet.
Optical drive? What are those, I think my great grandpa mentioned having one
I bought a first gen MacBook a while ago and returned it after three days. No problems going back to MBA (I had a 2010 MBA before).
And yes, I do use Ethernet. But no Firewire.
MBA 2015 and iMac 2010 here, not planning to buy any new Mac at the moment, they're just ok for my needs. I did buy a PC a year because I needed a fast machine, plus part of my sw is running on Windows only. I have to say that using an opaque Dell monitor is soooo much better than a reflective screen like the iMac has. So, a Retina display is great, but it's reflective, which I can't stand it any more. It's really a shame Apple doesn't offer that option any more. And for laptops, yeah, I'll buy another MacBook of some sort sooner or later, certainly not a Windows machine, but which one I don't know and don't care at the moment. Retina is not a issue for me, at all.
My office looks like a Mac museum. We have a mixture of 2009-2011 MacBook Pros, Mac Pro 2,1-5,1s, and 2007-2012 iMacs. I've put SSDs in most of them and they still run audio and video editing programs all right, but not all of them run current versions.
After personally getting a 2016 15" MBP I can tell you what I'm not upgrading them to. I've been waiting to submit my plan for upgrading them, but I'll have to decide soon. But I'm bitter over the problems I've had with 2016 and will probably move the laptops to something different.
After personally getting a 2016 15" MBP I can tell you what I'm not upgrading them to. I've been waiting to submit my plan for upgrading them, but I'll have to decide soon. But I'm bitter over the problems I've had with 2016 and will probably move the laptops to something different.
The move to Retina was also the move to soldered-everything, that's more the reason why I won't move.
Interestingly, I do have a 1920x1024 screen in an HP laptop that originally came with a 1366x768 - That uses the same base system components as my 2011 15" MBP, so it may be possible to upgrade the non-retina to an HP based 1920x1024 screen using the correct display cable... Might look into that a bit further. I know it's not as good as a Retina's 2880×1800, but it's better than the non-retina's 1440×900.
Interestingly, I do have a 1920x1024 screen in an HP laptop that originally came with a 1366x768 - That uses the same base system components as my 2011 15" MBP, so it may be possible to upgrade the non-retina to an HP based 1920x1024 screen using the correct display cable... Might look into that a bit further. I know it's not as good as a Retina's 2880×1800, but it's better than the non-retina's 1440×900.
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