Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Benz63amg

macrumors 601
Original poster
Oct 17, 2010
4,446
965
Have any of you upgraded from a 13 inch 2017 MacBook Pro (Intel i5) to any of the newest M based Macbooks(AIR/PRO)? Was the upgrade worth it? Looking at prices online it looks like i won't be able to get much for my 13 inch 2017 MacBook Pro (about $300-400)
 
I would argue most of us have and for me it was worth it. Insane battery life, silent operation even if you have one with a fan, increased performance all around and crazy light regardless of model. If you don’t need Windows then it’s a no brainer.
Did you upgrade to the AIR or the Pro? Which inch model?
 
I went from a 2018 13" i5 8GB/512BG MBP to a 14" M1 Pro 16GB/1TB MBP. The difference is astounding. The old laptop practically wheezed constantly with fan noise, I rarely hear the fans on the new one. I do a heavy duty photo workflow and it never misses a beat. Do it. The Intel to Mx upgrade is 100% worth it as long as there are no workflow compatibility hiccups.
 
  • Like
Reactions: brandoman
I went from a 2018 13" i5 8GB/512BG MBP to a 14" M1 Pro 16GB/1TB MBP. The difference is astounding. The old laptop practically wheezed constantly with fan noise, I rarely hear the fans on the new one. I do a heavy duty photo workflow and it never misses a beat. Do it. The Intel to Mx upgrade is 100% worth it as long as there are no workflow compatibility hiccups.
Where is the best place to get the most buck for my old 2017 i5 MacBook Pro? i looked on craigslist and it seems like these older intel macbooks are selling for like 300 bucks
 
Where is the best place to get the most buck for my old 2017 i5 MacBook Pro? i looked on craigslist and it seems like these older intel macbooks are selling for like 300 bucks
Without knowing the specs of your machine I would argue that may be a fair trade in value. I sold mine in 2021 on eBay for $800 but that was when it could still receive OS updates (it can still take Sonoma but that's likely the last one). See what your model is going for on eBay but be mindful of scammers.
 
Without knowing the specs of your machine I would argue that may be a fair trade in value. I sold mine in 2021 on eBay for $800 but that was when it could still receive OS updates (it can still take Sonoma but that's likely the last one). See what your model is going for on eBay but be mindful of scammers.
It’s a MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2017, Two Thunderbolt 3 ports), 2.3 GHz Dual-Core Intel Core i5, 8 GB 2133 MHz LPDDR3, Intel Iris Plus Graphics 640 1536 MB, 128GB SSD
 
Any M-series Mac will be like night and day compared to any Intel machine.

When I got an M1 MBA I was blown away by how fast and cool it operated with zero throttling or beachballing—it decimated my old 16” Intel MBP.
 
Yes.

As for your old Mac, say thanks if someone will give you $300… instead, better to give it to family member or friend in need.
 
  • Like
Reactions: G5isAlive
Have any of you upgraded from a 13 inch 2017 MacBook Pro (Intel i5) to any of the newest M based Macbooks(AIR/PRO)? Was the upgrade worth it? Looking at prices online it looks like i won't be able to get much for my 13 inch 2017 MacBook Pro (about $300-400)
i went from a 2015 pro and 2020 air to a 2021 pro and the difference is insane.

so much quieter. massively improved performance. less heat. better battery. and the new pro display is… 🤌
 
This must be a rhetorical question? Of course a brand new Mac- even if they were still using Intel- would be a big upgrade vs. one now 7 years old. Silicon brings many advantages. 7 years of evolution have refined & improved many finer details in MBs. 7 years is also when Apple generally "vintages" a Mac, so that one is on the chopping block for no further software support/updates if it is not already vintaged.

That said though, I'll take the other side to simply offer a more complete answer to the question:
  1. If bootcamp is important to you, Silicon does not have bootcamp. Silicon can emulate the ARM version of Windows through an annual subscription-like payment to Paralells or similar, but ARM is not full Windows. So if your Mac MUST run any Windows apps, Silicon may not scratch that itch (or it may (for an added annual fee), depending on the app). That shared, a remedy if you DO have such a situation is keeping the 2017 and basically using it as a PC laptop. It will continue to run full Windows, even if vintaged by Apple. OR buy yourself a PC too to take over any such needs as "old fashioned bootcamp."
  2. If you have any specialty Mac app that has not yet transitioned to Silicon by this point- and there are still MANY such apps- Apple will almost certainly kill Rosetta 2 at some point (likely soon). That will then mark the end of the ability to run that app unless you do NOT upgrade to newer versions of macOS. Those of us around during the Rosetta 1 period know this first hand, when a few popular apps did not make the jump and thus ceased being usable apps when Apple ended the Rosetta 1 option. Potential Remedy: keep the existing Mac and run any such app on it. However, vintaging will put that Mac at increasing security risk, so this is not a great option... but it will work.
  3. Silicon requires you to purchase the Mac you'll need not just immediately but for life of device. You are ready to buy a new Mac after 7 years so if your intent is to keep this new Mac for 7 years too, you do not have the flexibility that you've had with that Intel Mac to add to RAM or add/replace SSD should you need more of either and/or either fails. Thus, you must buy all of what you can imagine needing up front because there is NO evolutionary changes to be made later.
  4. Apple basically ROBS their customers with pricing of both of those FARRRRRRRR above market rates and yet, you can ONLY buy both from Apple. So not only do you have to imagine how much computer you will need many years from now (a tall order for most people) but to try to just cover a range of "what if" guesses you will pay dearly for upgrades (several times market rates). That intel using RAM & SSD you can buy from anywhere has robust competition for such parts, which drives down pricing. Should that RAM or SSD fail, you can replace either for cheap. Let the same happen with a new Silicon Mac and you are having to buy an entirely new computer.
  5. Various third party hardware- especially if it is a bit old (like that 2017)- may not have Silicon support/drivers. There's no external graphics card support. Printers that work fine with that 2017 may not have drivers for Silicon Macs. External drives that work fine with that 2017 may suffer the frustrating "unexpected ejections" bug that has existed for all versions of macOS that run on Silicon, etc. In other words, if you have other stuff, be prepared for some of it to perhaps NOT work with Silicon and need replacing.
Maybe NONE of these will matter to someone. Or maybe up to all of these will matter to someone. Apple people are going to always gush about Apple offerings and I'm a Silicon Mac owner myself... and think it is great. In my case, I addressed #1 by buying a dedicated PC too for the first time in about 20 years, #2 by recognizing I need to hang on to an older Intel Mac to cover that base, #3 & #4 by best guessing possible future needs and opting to allow myself to be robbed and #5 by buying a variety of replacement third party hardware because perfectly functional stuff I already had that still works fine with older Macs and the new PC won't work well with Silicon. Caveat Emptor!
 
Last edited:
The upgrade was worth it in 2020 when M1 came out. It’s more than worth it now.

$300 is about right given the risks involved with the old MBP, which include flexgate, butterfly keyboard, and staingate. Everybody knows about these problems by now hence the relatively low resale.
 
Silicon requires you to purchase the Mac you'll need not just immediately but for life of device. You are ready to buy a new Mac after 7 years so if your intent is to keep this new Mac for 7 years too, you do not have the flexibility that you've had with that Intel Mac to add to RAM or add/replace SSD should you need more of either and/or either fails. Thus, you must buy all of what you can imagine needing up front because there is NO evolutionary changes to be made later.
Apple basically ROBS their customers with pricing of both of those FARRRRRRRR above market rates and yet, you can ONLY buy both from Apple. So not only do you have to imagine how much computer you will need many years from now (a tall order for most people) but to try to just cover a range of "what if" guesses you will pay dearly for upgrades (several times market rates). That intel using RAM & SSD you can buy from anywhere has robust competition for such parts, which drives down pricing. Should that RAM or SSD fail, you can replace either for cheap. Let the same happen with a new Silicon Mac and you are having to buy an entirely new computer.
To be fair, this was pretty much already true about their Intel Mac.
RAM certainly wasn’t upgradable in those 2017 models, and i’ve gotten conflicting results about the SSD.
I’ve heard some people say it works perfectly fine, I’ve heard other people say good luck getting macOS to play nice with a new SSD in a 2017.

Either way, this is absolutely not exclusive to AS, people have been talking about the lack of upgradeability in MacBooks since at least 2012.
 
Where is the best place to get the most buck for my old 2017 i5 MacBook Pro? i looked on craigslist and it seems like these older intel macbooks are selling for like 300 bucks
Keep in mind that a brand new M1 Air bests your computer in every way and is frequently on sale for $750.

If someone is offering you $300 for your low end Intel butterfly keyboard and touch bar equipped MacBook that can’t even run the latest version of macOS, that’s probably the best you’re going to get.
 
To be fair, this was pretty much already true about their Intel Mac.
RAM certainly wasn’t upgradable in those 2017 models, and i’ve gotten conflicting results about the SSD.
I’ve heard some people say it works perfectly fine, I’ve heard other people say good luck getting macOS to play nice with a new SSD in a 2017.

Either way, this is absolutely not exclusive to AS, people have been talking about the lack of upgradeability in MacBooks since at least 2012.

Good catch on RAM. It is soldered on that 2017. I didn't check but just assumed that was still an option 7 years ago.

On SSD, there are many options for FARRRRRRRRR less than Apple SSD equivalents on Silicon Macs. Take a look at that quantity 1, retail priced 2TB upgrade for $190 and consider it vs. the OEM mass purchased 2TB SSD upgrade for Silicon at $600. :(

Nevertheless, OP should consider the concept even if it isn't fully comparing his 2017 vs. this 2024 purchase. For example, OP could possibly bail on Apple and buy a good PC laptop where steep competition can make both sizable RAM and SSD options cost less than $600 TOGETHER. Example of RAM + Example of SSD... with plenty of room for almost another 4TB of SSD too. Yes, that would sacrifice macOS and all of the glories of Silicon but OP may find that he or she can do every bit of computing they want/need to do on a good PC.

For the first time in 20+ years, I had to buy a PC this year as a replacement for the great "bootcamp" option I used to have on my Intel Macs. I decided full Windows was a superior choice to ARM Windows emulation with the annual Parallels "subscription" cost. In shopping for that PC, I got to refresh my knowledge of what key components like RAM and SSD can cost in very competitive markets... resulting in getting a small size gaming PC with good graphics card, 32GB RAM and 10TB in 2 fast SSDs for LESS than Apple charges for the 8TB upgrade for Apple SSD alone.

I was delighted to get "old fashioned bootcamp" for so little but also bummed when then taking a look at a new MB and configuring it with better-than-base specs. Yes, I'm well aware of the Apple premium and have paid it many times in the past 24 years... but it was especially in-my-face this time... leading to derailing what would have historically been a "no-brainer" new Mac purchase and ultimately resulting in spending $55 for a new battery to see if I could squeeze another year or two out of an old MB.

Now that I prob have a year or two of life left in the old one, I find myself thinking a thought I would have never even considered in the last 20+ years: is my next laptop purchase going to be a PC? I'm practically locked in on not paying at least 3-5X more than market rates for commodities like RAM & Storage. So maybe it will. :eek:

OP may be locked in- even married- to Mac, macOS, etc. But if not, it's at least worth some consideration when buying a new computer... especially in choosing upgrades to try to best guess the needs of those commodities for the next 7+ years.
 
Last edited:
As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.
My sister upgraded from a 2017 MBP 13" to MBA 15 " and she couldn't be happier. The old MBP was doing some strange issues before she traded up.
 
I upgraded from a 2020 13” MBP to an M1 MBA. Originally, that MBA was supposed to replace an Intel MBA but it ended up replacing the Intel MBP. Well, the Intel MBA as well, but I didn’t think the M1 MBA was going to run circles around the MBP.

It was (and still is) absolutely worth it. I’d make different RAM choices now, though.

The only thing I (sometimes) miss is BootCamp.
 
I went from a pretty much maxed out (i7, 16gb, 512gb) version of the last Intel MBP 13 (work machine) to a 16gb M1 on release

Never looked back. It completely smoked the Intel machine, I handed back in to the office as soon as I was setup

As far as I am concerned the Intel models were made obsolete on day one. It's no wonder the resale value reflects this. The only reason to want an Intel machine is bootcamp
 
^--And what, pray tell, would be your different RAM choice?
I got the base model MBA with 8 GB.

For most of what I do with that computer and the way I’m doing it, that’s enough. For now anyway. If I were to buy that laptop again now, though, I’d get 16.
In an M2/M3 MBA, I’d consider the 24, depending on how much money I could spend.
 
Have any of you upgraded from a 13 inch 2017 MacBook Pro (Intel i5) to any of the newest M based Macbooks(AIR/PRO)? Was the upgrade worth it? Looking at prices online it looks like i won't be able to get much for my 13 inch 2017 MacBook Pro (about $300-400)
A used or on-sale M1 MacBook Air for $600 will still be miles ahead of Intel. My 13" i5 MacBook Pro would have its fan on when I used JavaScript-heavy websites like Medium.com. My work 15" i7 MacBook Pro would get burning hot when using Xcode. The 16" M1 MacBook Pro is cool, silent and has triple the battery life.
 
I upgraded from a 2020 13” MBP to an M1 MBA. Originally, that MBA was supposed to replace an Intel MBA but it ended up replacing the Intel MBP. Well, the Intel MBA as well, but I didn’t think the M1 MBA was going to run circles around the MBP.

It was (and still is) absolutely worth it. I’d make different RAM choices now, though.

The only thing I (sometimes) miss is BootCamp.

I thought I would miss that as well, but now I just run Parallels for those occasions where I need Windows access from this machine.
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.