Goodbye to my '08 MacBook Pro

[marstan]

It's so long, farewell, auf wiedersehen, goodbye to my trusty 15 year old MacBook Pro. It has been replaced by a M2 Air.

Mind you, except for a failed battery long ago, it still worked. Even after buying the Air I kept it running. I wanted to take the ssd out and dispose of the machine but I just couldn't do it. Do we get attached to our machines? Well, maybe a little; it was only my second Mac after the IIe with Wintel machines in between. Along the way I had upgraded the memory from 2GB to 6GB and replaced the hdd with a ssd; Apple had even replaced the motherboard for free outside of the warranty period for that infamous Nvidia GPU defect. It had no right to last as long as it did or me to use it as long as I did. But it just worked and kept on working.

Well, now, one of the fans started rattling and with failure imminent I took it apart and removed the ssd (for repurposing to an Unraid NAS). I will miss it a little. Of course, the M2 Air outperforms it but I will miss the matte screen and it was more reliable for networking than the Air is right now (unreliable screen/file sharing at the moment). It remained a pretty, shining but functional object 'till the end. At any rate, the hazardous waste site awaits or perhaps the Apple store will recycle it and, who knows, while there what might I be tempted to buy...

 

[turbineseaplane]

Sad to hear this news

I loved the keyboards on that generation of machine

 

[xraydoc]

It's so long, farewell, auf wiedersehen, goodbye to my trusty 15 year old MacBook Pro. It has been replaced by a M2 Air.

Mind you, except for a failed battery long ago, it still worked. Even after buying the Air I kept it running. I wanted to take the ssd out and dispose of the machine but I just couldn't do it. Do we get attached to our machines? Well, maybe a little; it was only my second Mac after the IIe with Wintel machines in between. Along the way I had upgraded the memory from 2GB to 6GB and replaced the hdd with a ssd; Apple had even replaced the motherboard for free outside of the warranty period for that infamous Nvidia GPU defect. It had no right to last as long as it did or me to use it as long as I did. But it just worked and kept on working.

Well, now, one of the fans started rattling and with failure imminent I took it apart and removed the ssd (for repurposing to an Unraid NAS). I will miss it a little. Of course, the M2 Air outperforms it but I will miss the matte screen and it was more reliable for networking than the Air is right now (unreliable screen/file sharing at the moment). It remained a pretty, shining but functional object 'till the end. At any rate, the hazardous waste site awaits or perhaps the Apple store will recycle it and, who knows, while there what might I be tempted to buy...

That's pretty amazing, actually. I don't have any machines 15 years old in my collection (not in use, at least). The oldest I have in use is late 2013 model 27" iMac i7 which acts as an iTunes movie server and nothing else.

 

[BobD2]

Not in use anymore, but I still have a Mac IIci, Mac IIcx (and their 12 inch color monitors), and a Power Mac G4. Still in use is a 2011 vintage 15" MacBook Pro and a mid-2010 Mac Pro. Both of those have been modified over the years (RAM, more storage, video card, eSATA card on the Mac Pro, and RAM and bigger hard disk on the MacBook Pro.

With my Mac Pro, I'm still using the keyboards that came with the original Mac II series -- Apple Extended Keyboard, and AEK II (have a couple of each). Best keyboards I have ever used.

 

[StellarVixen]

It's so long, farewell, auf wiedersehen, goodbye to my trusty 15 year old MacBook Pro. It has been replaced by a M2 Air.

Mind you, except for a failed battery long ago, it still worked. Even after buying the Air I kept it running. I wanted to take the ssd out and dispose of the machine but I just couldn't do it. Do we get attached to our machines? Well, maybe a little; it was only my second Mac after the IIe with Wintel machines in between. Along the way I had upgraded the memory from 2GB to 6GB and replaced the hdd with a ssd; Apple had even replaced the motherboard for free outside of the warranty period for that infamous Nvidia GPU defect. It had no right to last as long as it did or me to use it as long as I did. But it just worked and kept on working.

Well, now, one of the fans started rattling and with failure imminent I took it apart and removed the ssd (for repurposing to an Unraid NAS). I will miss it a little. Of course, the M2 Air outperforms it but I will miss the matte screen and it was more reliable for networking than the Air is right now (unreliable screen/file sharing at the moment). It remained a pretty, shining but functional object 'till the end. At any rate, the hazardous waste site awaits or perhaps the Apple store will recycle it and, who knows, while there what might I be tempted to buy...

Don't be sad because it's over, smile because it happened.

That was an amazing run. Can't imagine all the moments you've spent with that machine.

 

[smirking]

Do we get attached to our machines?

I'm usually not very sentimental about my tech, but there were two moments that were really hard for me to let go of.

The first was trading my "Cheese Grater" G5 cMP tower in for a 2012 MBP as my daily driver. I was so tempted to hang onto it just for memory's sake.

The second was trading my BlackBerry for an iPhone 4s. I loved the physicality of the BlackBerries of that era and I wanted to delay the day when everything would be a formless touch screen for as long as I could.

 

[MBAir2010]

sorry for your loss: [B]marstan[/B]

watcha gonna do with that MacBook Pro?

I just spent 4 hours now using a battery for my
drum roll please
MacbookAir 2010!
since i upgraded to Sierra for ElCap I need to calibrate a newish battery from December,22.
so im running that down to power off.

these older MacBooks things can last forev-
as long as they need to.

 

[marstan]

sorry for your loss: [B]marstan[/B]

watcha gonna do with that MacBook Pro?

I just spent 4 hours now using a battery for my
drum roll please
MacbookAir 2010!
since i upgraded to Sierra for ElCap I need to calibrate a newish battery from December,22.
so im running that down to power off.

these older MacBooks things can last forev-
as long as they need to.

I took it to the Apple Store for recycling; took out the ssd for use in a NAS.

I also have a 2011 Air. Doesn't have the backlit keyboard like yours does, right? Ticked me off at the time.

 

[MBAir2010]

I took it to the Apple Store for recycling; took out the ssd for use in a NAS.

I also have a 2011 Air. Doesn't have the backlit keyboard like yours does, right?

no backlit keyboard on mine too!
I can't imagine what I would do without my MBA2010 beside use the other 2 MB I have.
still im attached to that model

I might donate a MBair 2011 here, just the logic board, keyboard and trackpad.
hopefully someone can use that instead of selling the parts on eBay.

 

[Alpha Centauri]

Hey, congrats on the MBA. Was it a 13" MBP you had?

My daily 2009 MBP (matte) is also still trucking along as my main and only machine. Its now had multiple SSD's, CD drive adaptor, panel beating, heck, everything repaired or replaced in its 13 yr stay as my trusted companion. No wait, the keyboard, no shiny keys, working splendidly as it was when unboxed

Mine's a 15" and I fall right into the 14" too small, 16" to much, catagory lol. "My" time will come soon and tbh with a patched OS, this ol C2D isn't fun to use any longer. Having said that though I'm not sure I would be able to get rid of it once I update..sooooon.

 

[MBAir2010]

Hey, congrats on the MBA. Was it a 13" MBP you had?

My daily 2009 MBP (matte) is also still trucking along as my main and only machine. Its now had multiple SSD's, CD drive adaptor, panel beating, heck, everything repaired or replaced in its 13 yr stay as my trusted companion. No wait, the keyboard, no shiny keys, working splendidly as it was when unboxed

can we see a photo of your beloved MacBook pro?

 

[sam_dean]

It's so long, farewell, auf wiedersehen, goodbye to my trusty 15 year old MacBook Pro. It has been replaced by a M2 Air.

Mind you, except for a failed battery long ago, it still worked. Even after buying the Air I kept it running. I wanted to take the ssd out and dispose of the machine but I just couldn't do it. Do we get attached to our machines? Well, maybe a little; it was only my second Mac after the IIe with Wintel machines in between. Along the way I had upgraded the memory from 2GB to 6GB and replaced the hdd with a ssd; Apple had even replaced the motherboard for free outside of the warranty period for that infamous Nvidia GPU defect. It had no right to last as long as it did or me to use it as long as I did. But it just worked and kept on working.

Well, now, one of the fans started rattling and with failure imminent I took it apart and removed the ssd (for repurposing to an Unraid NAS). I will miss it a little. Of course, the M2 Air outperforms it but I will miss the matte screen and it was more reliable for networking than the Air is right now (unreliable screen/file sharing at the moment). It remained a pretty, shining but functional object 'till the end. At any rate, the hazardous waste site awaits or perhaps the Apple store will recycle it and, who knows, while there what might I be tempted to buy...

... 2008 MBP 15" 45nm > 2022 MBA 13" 5nm.

Ya know if you waited for next year you'd have a 2024 MBA 13" 3nm!

What are the noticeable difference of 14 years of tech advancement?

Were you using OLCP patcher to run 2022 macOS Ventura on your 2008 Mac?

There are two 2008 MBP 15".

Early 2008 15"

Late 2008 15"

I had both...

 

[Boyd01]

Still have my 2008 15" MBP, it was fine the last time I tried it (at least 5 years ago) although the battery was completely dead. Also still have my aluminum PowerBook G4, that looks identical to the 2008 MPB (except for the DVI port). Unfortunately, I got the "death chimes" the last time I tried starting it up (which has been quite awhile ago).

I really liked that 2008 MBP, it was my first LED screen which was notable because it lit up much quicker than my old 23" Cinema Display. I needed the Windows version of Outlook at work back then, so I also ran XP and Office on that machine. It would get *really* hot running Windows. Had some issues with Parallels back then, so I mostly used Bootcamp.

Replaced that machine with a 2011 13" MacBook Air, which was dramatically faster. Then moved to a 2013 11" MacBook Air that I really loved, still have it but rarely fire it up anymore. No real need for a laptop these days.

 

[marstan]

can we see a photo of your beloved MacBook pro?

Too late; already retcycled it to Apple.

 

[MBAir2010]

Too late; already retcycled it to Apple.

good for you, and them, i or even
YOU might get a part of that on some  thing we will buy iin the future!
I'm realizing how much my MBA20 is not a personal as my MBA10 this week, which I'm musing now.

we get attached to things even though they don't perform as great as the newer ones, but still love them!

 

[marstan]

... 2008 MBP 15" 45nm > 2022 MBA 13" 5nm.

Ya know if you waited for next year you'd have a 2024 MBA 13" 3nm!

What are the noticeable difference of 14 years of tech advancement?

Were you using OLCP patcher to run 2022 macOS Ventura on your 2008 Mac?

There are two 2008 MBP 15".

I had the early one. The M2 Air I got is really for my wife; I am just setting it up for her and using it temporarily since the "08MBP fan failed. I haven't yet bought one for me. There is a strong rumor of a 15" as well.

Of course there are noticeable differences - not all favorable to the new tech. Matte screens for example; I prefer them over the glossy. New machine is very noticeably faster and lighter. I can see what all the fuss is about over the weight of the Air. Certainly new software makes a difference in terms of security and usability especially the integration features at which Apple excels.

A year or so ago I tried DosDude patcher but wouldn't work on my machine; something about incompatible wifi chipset. OBE now for the '08 but might work for the 2011 Air we have.

Right now trying to set up an Unraid NAS on an old Windows box. You wouldn't know how to set up a syslog server on Mac OS X would you? Need it for troubleshooting the NAS setup.

 

[Ubele]

I had an early 2008 15" MBP. It was a good computer, and I got an impressive (for its time) four years of service out of it before it became unusably slow for my needs. My early 2015 13" MBP is still quite usable for basic productivity, but I gave it to my dad last fall.

 

[NoBoMac]

Thought I did well getting 11 years use out of mine. Ditto upping it to 6GB, SSD put in. GPU finally gave up the ghost so ditto repurpose the SSD and off to electronics recycling.

 

[GMShadow]

I took it to the Apple Store for recycling; took out the ssd for use in a NAS.

I also have a 2011 Air. Doesn't have the backlit keyboard like yours does, right? Ticked me off at the time.

2010 was the only year of Air that didn't have a backlit keyboard.

 

[Certificate of Excellence]

Just finished installing Ubuntu 22.04.1 on my 08 unibody alongside Catalina. Still DD that portable. I also have a unibody 2009 MBP running ElCap that I keep upstairs for a basic DD tasks.

I could buy new Apple silicon (and I probably will eventually) but these machines are stout for their age, do what I need and have macos/linux upgrade paths for years of use still. The foot print of these are so small I can’t see myself getting rid of them. I’ll probably just stick them on a shelf or gift them to my kids with retroarch & 360 gamepad patcher installed as retro gaming machines.

Glad yours had a long life