Help Picking New MBP

[S K U L L]

My Late 2011 15" MBP died the other day (logic board according to Apple) and I'm in the market for a new MBP. I would mainly use the new one for work - Outlook, Office suite, viewing/editing PDFs, potentially editing photos and occasionally the java based game, such as Runescape, with a few clients open at the same time.

What I'm stuck on is the year of MBP to purchase. I found out that the new MBP's aren't as customizable/hardware replaceable as the unibody 2012's and later were. Which kinda scares me in case something goes wrong and I need to take it into Apple and pay a heft service/part fee for a replacement. But I also have no idea how dependable newer MBP's are and I've seen mixed reviews on the web.

These are the models I'm currently looking at - please feel free to recommend any other models (side-note: is Mac of all trades reputable?):

Spoiler: Links

1. https://www.apple.com/shop/product/...-Intel-Core-i5-with-Retina-display-Space-Gray
2. https://www.macofalltrades.com/shop...-2015-mjlq2ll-a-3-mbp-15-22-m15r-16256-1vc-e/
3. https://www.macofalltrades.com/appl...glare-2-3ghz-quad-core-i7-mid-2012-md103ll-a/

If I got the 2012, I'd upgrade the RAM to 8/16gb and put in a SSD. Having just had the logic board on my 2011 fail, the age of the 2012 worries me and the wild goose chase of finding a replacement logic board and it may or may not working also is a detractor for me. I haven't seen any reasonably priced refurbished 15" MBP's on the Apple site and last I checked (30 mins ago) they didn't even have any refurb 15"s in stock. I would prefer a 15" but would settle for a 13" on a newer model.

I realize, or at least think that (set me straight please haha) all of these options are more computer than I need, but I'm looking to buy more for long term and dependability for work.

Any help and guidance is appreciated. Thank you.

 

[Glmnet1]

If you want, there are a few guides out there to "fix" your MBP without spending a cent. I tried a few (has to be done again for some macOS updates) and here's my favorite: https://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/267581/gpu-problem-boot-hangs-on-grey-screen/295805#295805

Thanks again @AuricBlue for sharing it.

On the other hand I'm not sure your games will still work.

As for those models:
- The 2017 is susceptible to keyboard failures, I wouldn't get it unless you don't mind bringing it for repairs one in a while until the repair program expires and you need to pay for the repairs.
- The 2015 is a good model but it's getting old and the price isn't going down, even refurbished it's still quite expensive.
- The 2012 is quite old, almost as old as your current MBP. I think you should rather fix your MBP than buy this one.

My advice, wait for an upcoming MB/MBA release and buy that. It will probably be powerful enough for your needs and at a decent price. But that's just speculation, no one knows if there will even be one released.

 

[S K U L L]

Thank you so much for the detailed response! Definitely will be testing out what you provided in the link and see if anything happens.

Have you at all heard anything about the keyboard issues being fixed in refurb units for the 2017 models? I can't imagine a refurb being re-released and Apple not addressing known issues, but who knows.

In your opinion, is the Intel Core m3 @ 1.2ghz strong/fast enough for what I listed above? Obviously not the gaming portion, but using Outlook (not the web app) with a Word doc opened and a few PDF's opened as well.

Lastly, do you have any idea if Apple is able to tell how much life is left on a logic board when they do their diagnostic tests at the store? This is probably more an Apple/Google question, but you seem quite knowledgeable.

I greatly appreciate all the help you've given me!

 

[Fishrrman]

If you like the "old-style" keyboards (like the one on the 2011), and if you like plenty of "legacy" ports (like you had on the 2011), there's one choice:

An Apple-refurbished 2015-design MacBook Pro 15".
If the Apple store is out-of-stock, set up an email notification so that you'll be notified as soon as they "come into stock".

But when one does, you better be ready to BUY RIGHT THEN, because they don't stay in stock long.
There's a reason for that...

 

[Glmnet1]

Have you at all heard anything about the keyboard issues being fixed in refurb units for the 2017 models? I can't imagine a refurb being re-released and Apple not addressing known issues, but who knows.

Apparently they still sell them with the same keyboard and when that keyboard breaks they replace it with yet another one of those keyboards...

In your opinion, is the Intel Core m3 @ 1.2ghz strong/fast enough for what I listed above? Obviously not the gaming portion, but using Outlook (not the web app) with a Word doc opened and a few PDF's opened as well.

Yes it should handle those tasks just fine. I never played Runescape but I’ve seen people play it on some cheap and old computers about 8 years ago. I’d bet that it would run just fine on a m3 with integrated graphics.

Lastly, do you have any idea if Apple is able to tell how much life is left on a logic board when they do their diagnostic tests at the store? This is probably more an Apple/Google question, but you seem quite knowledgeable.

I’m not really knowledgeable but I’ll do my best to share the little I know A logic board is not like a battery where you can know approximately how much life is left. It’ll work just fine until the day it stops working... so no one can really tell you how much time is left before it breaks but they can usually last a long time so don’t worry too much. Preventing extreme temperatures and keeping it dust free might help in the long run.