Let's talk about the pre-unibody MBPs

[pullman]

I curious about the pre-unibody MacBook Pro models. Naturally I realise that these are old computers, but I find them very charming and beautifully designed. Care to share your experiences in terms of which models are the most reliable, which over heat easily etc? Is it as easy as saying that the latest models are the best ones or are there hidden gems in the pre-unibody MBP line-up?

Thanks very much in advance
Philip

 

[MultiFinder17]

I love the design of the pre-unibody MacBook Pros, but I hate their reliability. I have a late 2007 that still works great, and I’m honestly amazed that the GPU hasn’t died on it yet. I have an early 2008 with a dead logic board. They’re beautiful machines, though heat is a problem in most of them. If you get one, run Macsfancontrol on it to help it out.

The keyboard on them is still my favorite keyboard that Apple has produced. I got through college on a 12” PowerBook, and have typed so much on that style keyboard that it’s the standard that I measure all other laptop keyboards against.

 

[watchmainspring]

I had the original 2006 macbook pro. It was a great computer but it had flaws. For one, it was extremely hot and made your lap uncomfortable to say the least. The case swelled because the battery bloated. It was a thick computer and had an optical drive which I rarely used even back then.

 

[2984839]

The nvidia GPU models from 2007-2008 were prone to GPU related failures, but at this point, probably all of the defective ones have failed already. To be safe, I'd probably stick with the slightly earlier ATI models.

 

[robvas]

The keyboards fall apart, paint comes off, they run hooot, GPU dies...they were neat but the Univision’s were such a step u.

they are also annoying to work on because they aren’t as simple insidez

 

[MultiFinder17]

Speaking strictly from design, they're fantastic. I love the look of 'em, and I really miss the look of their backlit keyboards. I adored the PowerBook G4s before them, so makes sense that I'd like a laptop 100% modeled after them. I'd love to get my hands on a functional early 2008 at some point to play around with something later than El Cap on one of these, but those are getting rare and commanding a premium.

I realize this is probably getting into rant territory at this point, but I cannot say enough good things about the keyboards in these machines. They're much heavier and softer than you get from a lot of modern laptop keyboards, which tend to be lighter and crisper. I enjoy the crispness of more modern keyboards, but there's something about the gentle soft keystrokes of this one that just does it for me. I use my late 2007 primarily for writing these days, and it performs beautifully for those needs.

On the downside it runs hot, it's limited to El Cap (and no, dosdude's patchers aren't an option here), and pretty much anything heavier than word processing sets the fans to roaring. Those flaws aside, it's a wonderful computer that I really enjoy using!

Below are some pics of mine, some comparing it to the first Unibody, a late 2008 15" for those that have never had the pleasure of using one of these old beasts

 

[pullman]

Thank you all for chiming in, I really appreciate it.

If the keyboard is anything like the one on my PowerBook 15" then it's sweet indeed. I absolutely love that keyboard. The chiclet keyboard on my 13" MBPr is nice, but it just does not have the same fluidity as the PowerBook's.

I love the design of the pre-unibody MacBook Pros, but I hate their reliability. I have a late 2007 that still works great, and I’m honestly amazed that the GPU hasn’t died on it yet. I have an early 2008 with a dead logic board. They’re beautiful machines, though heat is a problem in most of them. If you get one, run Macsfancontrol on it to help it out.

The keyboard on them is still my favorite keyboard that Apple has produced. I got through college on a 12” PowerBook, and have typed so much on that style keyboard that it’s the standard that I measure all other laptop keyboards against.

The PowerBook can also run hot so it's something I would expect from these pre-unibody machines, too. Or do they run even hotter? I'm thinking that perhaps the more powerful CPU would make it even hotter in use?

I had the original 2006 macbook pro. It was a great computer but it had flaws. For one, it was extremely hot and made your lap uncomfortable to say the least. The case swelled because the battery bloated. It was a thick computer and had an optical drive which I rarely used even back then.

Thank you, that's a good point, survival of the fittest I guess an option would be to find one that has had the logic board replaced.

The nvidia GPU models from 2007-2008 were prone to GPU related failures, but at this point, probably all of the defective ones have failed already. To be safe, I'd probably stick with the slightly earlier ATI models.

I agree that the unibodies are an amazing feat of engineering both in terms of design and usability. For me the sweet point is the 2013 MBPr.

That said, whenever I open up my PowerBook I'm always very impressed by the design. I love that they are so modular and that still today it's possible for me as a user to replace parts.

The keyboards fall apart, paint comes off, they run hooot, GPU dies...they were neat but the Univision’s were such a step u.

they are also annoying to work on because they aren’t as simple insidez

Wow that is a beauty, thank you for posting these. The keyboard light is so much better on the old Power/MacBooks IMHO. To be honest ideally I'd like to find a well-kept 15" from 2008, too. It seems such a terrific machine.

It's too bad the Dosdude1 patches won't work. But I've runt El Cap for years on my 2008 Mac Pro and it hasn't caused me any concern. I find it one of the best OS X versions, stable and reliable. So I would be happy about that.

When you say it runs hot, is it all the time, even on light loads or when it's working harder (like YouTube, streaming, image editing etc)?

Speaking strictly from design, they're fantastic. I love the look of 'em, and I really miss the look of their backlit keyboards. I adored the PowerBook G4s before them, so makes sense that I'd like a laptop 100% modeled after them. I'd love to get my hands on a functional early 2008 at some point to play around with something later than El Cap on one of these, but those are getting rare and commanding a premium.

I realize this is probably getting into rant territory at this point, but I cannot say enough good things about the keyboards in these machines. They're much heavier and softer than you get from a lot of modern laptop keyboards, which tend to be lighter and crisper. I enjoy the crispness of more modern keyboards, but there's something about the gentle soft keystrokes of this one that just does it for me. I use my late 2007 primarily for writing these days, and it performs beautifully for those needs.

On the downside it runs hot, it's limited to El Cap (and no, dosdude's patchers aren't an option here), and pretty much anything heavier than word processing sets the fans to roaring. Those flaws aside, it's a wonderful computer that I really enjoy using!

Below are some pics of mine, some comparing it to the first Unibody, a late 2008 15" for those that have never had the pleasure of using one of these old beasts

View attachment 956415 View attachment 956417 View attachment 956418 View attachment 956419 View attachment 956416