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Seriously need some buying advice

S

Stugotsv10

macrumors member
Original poster
Jul 15, 2024
30
3
Ok let me start by saying (don't kill me) I am a Windows guy, Grew up on em, built em, Heavy gamer (or at least I Was no time for it these days)

As much as I know about tech (and its a bit) I know ZERO about Apple, when I tell you zero I mean zero.

Looking to grab this bad boy, 24GB of ram is pretty nice for a Mac book right?

www.ebay.com

Apple Mac Book Pro M3 A2918, 14-inch 24GB RAM 1TB SSD 8 core CPU 10 core GPU | eBay

Introducing the Apple Mac Book Pro A2918, a top-performing laptop with a sleek design and impressive specs. With its impressive features and solid-state drive, you can expect lightning-fast performance and storage capabilities.
www.ebay.com
 
It would surely be a good deal compared to full retail price - although the only images of a 'new' MBP being of keyboard skin sales sites, and different color model - might give me pause.

That along with 'no returns' - although ebay is normally very buyer-friendly when it comes to disputes.
 
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We apple-people love everybody. You know that! 🥰

The ad doesn't say which processor. Anyway, it does say what model number, and with that I can easily find all its specs on the very useful web site Everymac.com:

MacBook Pro "M3" 8 CPU/10 GPU 14" Specs (14-Inch, M3, Late 2023, MTL73LL/A*, Mac15,3, A2918, 8304*): EveryMac.com

Technical specifications for the MacBook Pro "M3" 8 CPU/10 GPU 14". Dates sold, processor type, memory info, hard drive details, price and more.
everymac.com everymac.com

Then, if I want to see how it scores on single-core and multi-core tests on Geekbench.com:


As you can see, this is a very recent mac, and one of the best laptops in the world today, in many ways. Except for the multi-core score, where it gets beaten by Pro and Max models, which are souped up cpus with up to 30+ cores for heavy number-crunching.

What can I say, if you have the money; go for it! Fantastic machine.
Price looks ok too, though I'm no expert.

Since you are new to macs it's worth mentioning that ever since Apple silicon processors, internal ssd and ram is "soldered to the cpu", much the reason for the great performance. This means that neither ram or ssd are upgradable. Ever.

And I always ask this: does it really have to be portable? If not, there are great options with the mac Studio models.

It would be useful to know a bit more on what you're going to use it for. Gaming? I know nothing about that, except that macs have never been known to be as good as customized PCs with big fancy GPU cards. Someone else might chime in.

I also noticed on the specs of the macbook pro that it only supports one external display.

Peace.
 
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Ben J. said:
The ad doesn't say which processor. Anyway, it does say what model number, and with that I can easily find all its specs on the very useful web site Everymac.com:
Click to expand...
It does say M3 and gray - down in the item specifics.
 
Stugotsv10 said:
Ok let me start by saying (don't kill me) I am a Windows guy, Grew up on em, built em, Heavy gamer (or at least I Was no time for it these days)

As much as I know about tech (and its a bit) I know ZERO about Apple, when I tell you zero I mean zero.

Looking to grab this bad boy, 24GB of ram is pretty nice for a Mac book right?

www.ebay.com

Apple Mac Book Pro M3 A2918, 14-inch 24GB RAM 1TB SSD 8 core CPU 10 core GPU | eBay

Introducing the Apple Mac Book Pro A2918, a top-performing laptop with a sleek design and impressive specs. With its impressive features and solid-state drive, you can expect lightning-fast performance and storage capabilities.
www.ebay.com
Click to expand...
Standard M3 with 24GB of RAM and 1TB is honestly the perfect first Mac for a Windows enthusiast. Gives you enough room to explore the platform comfortably, but isn't overkill (especially since most of what you probably do is better done in Windows anyway).
 
Stugotsv10 said:
Gaming? is that even a thing on these? and if so can I?
Click to expand...
Again, a little more info, please. What games? What requirements?
(Edit; I know that some games require some tech only avalable in intel processors, and not all M macs can do more than 60kHz refresh graphics on 4K monitors.)
If you put a little effort into this, you will get answers… and the love will not run out.

I run two "games" on my mac; Xplane12 and SimCity2000. They both run flawlessly.
 
Stugotsv10 said:
Call of Duty? GTA? lol
Click to expand...
New Call of Duty? Not likely, because the anti-cheat software doesn't really work with a Wine-type solution (e.g., https://github.com/Whisky-App/Whisky). The most recent native Mac CoD is Black Ops III.

GTA5 should work via Steam and Whisky: https://github.com/Whisky-App/Whisky. See here:
https://www.reddit.com/r/macgaming/comments/1awac0z

My Mac gaming is generally limit to what's native. There are quite a few great games on Steam that have Mac ports (Civ, BG3, etc.) that I play on my M1 Pro. Most of my gaming, however, is on a Windows computer or consoles.

Edit: List of games with ratings of how well they run using Whisky: https://docs.getwhisky.app/game-support/index.html

Edit 2: Mac games on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/macos
 
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Looks like a good purchase.
HDFan said:
Be very, very careful. Many posts about ebay purchasers loosing all of their money.
Click to expand...
That link looks dodgy as.

I would not spend that much money based on 2 stock images of a Macbook and 2 photos of a cardboard box that could contain anything. If its an unwanted item then open it up and show us the contents.
 
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Stugotsv10 said:
As much as I know about tech (and its a bit) I know ZERO about Apple, when I tell you zero I mean zero.
Click to expand...
There's an old bit of advice that sometimes gets forgotten in the Mac vs. PC vs. Linux era:

Buy the system that runs the software you need to use

A Mac might be great for your needs, but you need to do the research on the software you currently rely on - is there a Mac version? is the Mac version any good? Is there a good alternative? There's a good range of Mac software - even games - these days, and most of the big name packages are available for both - but there are gaps and gotchas (e.g. MS Office/365 for Mac doesn't include Access pr Publisher and 'Visual Studio for Mac' isn't even the same product as Visual Studio for PC) particularly with more specialist software.

The days of the Intel Mac - which were basically PC clones running a different OS and could be dual-booted into full fat Windows - are over. Apple Silicon hardware is quite alien compared to PC - even the new Windows-on-ARM machines - and the only way of running Windows is via a VM. Windows-on-ARM seems to run pretty smoothly in a VM - if the applications you need work under Windows-on-ARM - and can be great for that one Windows App you need sometimes - but is probably not satisfactory if it's the only way to run your "daily driver" Apps.

If gaming is going to be a big part of your use then, frankly, you should probably get a PC. There are plenty of good games for the Mac and many popular titles do have Mac versions or work in a Windows VM - so you won't go gameless - but the choice of titles will still be restricted compared to a PC.

If you give more details about what you want to do then I'm sure people here will help.
 
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Ctrlos said:
I would not spend that much money based on 2 stock images of a Macbook and 2 photos of a cardboard box that could contain anything. If its an unwanted item then open it up and show us the contents.
Click to expand...
The cardboard box pics (and M3 in the title) were added yesterday, after the listing sat since June 26 with no takers… coincidentally after it was mentioned in this thread.
Curiously - they're from angles where the Apple model/serial label can't be seen.
 
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Program called Stream Fab (allows downloads of streaming services to watch offline) really cool software I paid $300 for it and the Windows version is a complete POS I mean every error and glitch known to man it has!! and I use it alot (or in the windows case I try too) I tried it on a friends MAC and it worked flawlessly I felt it slowed his down a bit but the Macbook im looking at is quite a bit more powerful
 
Thats because of me, I messaged and asked for pics of the actual box item not a stock Photo and also asked if it was an M3, they confirmed it was and he said he would add the pics because ebay was not allowing him to send them, sure enough a little bit later they showed up @ab22
 
Stugotsv10 said:
Thats because of me, I messaged and asked for pics of the actual box item not a stock Photo and also asked if it was an M3, they confirmed it was and he said he would add the pics because ebay was not allowing him to send them, sure enough a little bit later they showed up @ab22
Click to expand...
Rather more would be helpful, I think. Who thinks images from an arabic keyboard cover listing showing an older MBP, in a different color - are good for selling something $1500+ ?.
 
Lmao Bro I just realized that.. I'm gonna ask if its like from another country or is it a US model
 
I think im looking for excuses to buy this thing because the price is SOO right lol
 
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