Suggestions on a 12" inch 2015-17 Macbook in 2025?

[knightwrangler]

Look for a i5/i7 2017 macbook. m3 is really underpowered.

There are two models I was considering both have the m3 cpu!

 

[knightwrangler]

I have to agree with most of the comments above, as a collectors item sure.
As an actual computer you plan on using every single day or even a back up computer, absolutely not.
Even assuming you can find one in perfect condition at a reasonable price, let’s say $200, you can also find an M1 MacBook Air for not that much more and it’s going to absolutely destroy that 12 inch MacBook in every aspect. Software support, reliability, speed, everything.

This MacBook would be used as a 2nd computer for casual use including travel. More information on the models I am considering: both have m3 CPU and look to be in mint condition from the photos listed. The 2015 model has 512GB/8 protected in a case with a keyboard cover/skin with about 185 charge cycles at $325 CAN. The 2017 model 256/8 has about 380 charge cycles and comes with the original packaging/box at $400 CAN.

 

[Lounge vibes 05]

This MacBook would be used as a 2nd computer for casual use including travel. More information on the models I am considering: both have m3 CPU and look to be in mint condition from the photos listed. The 2015 model has 512GB/8 protected in a case with a keyboard cover/skin with about 185 charge cycles at $325 CAN. The 2017 model 256/8 has about 380 charge cycles and comes with the original packaging/box at $400 CAN.

Not worth it.
Your $300-$400 is much better spent on an M1 MacBook Air.

 

[glambutnerdy]

I recently purchased a refurbished mid 2015 15 inch MBP as a backup device after my main laptop was sent for repair. Installed Sequoia through OCLP and after a few tweaks here and there it honestly works so well, I prefer using it to my actual laptop. Over the summer I plan on experimenting a bit with some Linux distros too, so when support for Intel based macbooks/drivers ends fully hopefully I can migrate then.

Though I made sure to get the highest specs possible of that year (i7/16gb/etc), so it's not exactly a 1:1 comparison with a 12 inch macbook/air or even the 13 inch early 2015 MBP. If your use case is very basic/ARM compatible you're probably much better off going with a M1 MBA, relatively similar form factor (surprisingly compact irl) and obviously multiple times more powerful than anything intel based performance wise. They also go around very cheaply in the used/refurb market as of recently, even outside of the US. There's also the issue of the dreaded butterfly keyboards so proceed with caution.

Personally I'm happy with my choice, The form factor is great and sturdy and it suits my needs, esp as someone who often needs the x84 architecture for my course and schoolwork. I probably wouldn't fully daily drive it though.

 

[Lounge vibes 05]

Another thing to consider, even if you are planning on using OCLP to install the latest version of macOS, it’s very likely that macOS 16 very well could be the update to stop supporting Intel computers, and at that point, there’s no OCLP to fall back on.
OP, I would seriously, seriously reconsider dumping almost half a grand into this very problematic, already outdated and growing more so by the second computer.
It would be one thing if you were spending sub $100, but the two listings you said you are looking at are 325 and $400. At the end of the day, unless you are just drowning in money, that’s quite a chunk of change.

 

[knightwrangler]

Another thing to consider, even if you are planning on using OCLP to install the latest version of macOS, it’s very likely that macOS 16 very well could be the update to stop supporting Intel computers, and at that point, there’s no OCLP to fall back on.
OP, I would seriously, seriously reconsider dumping almost half a grand into this very problematic, already outdated and growing more so by the second computer.
It would be one thing if you were spending sub $100, but the two listings you said you are looking at are 325 and $400. At the end of the day, unless you are just drowning in money, that’s quite a chunk of change.

I tend to agree with you price point wise-I think both buyers are asking too much for these models. I missed a chance to purchase a 2017 i7 16GB ram Macbook for around $350 about a month ago that would have been better?
I like the novelty, design and compact form factor that's enticing! But, I may have to rethink my purchasing decision from all the comments received so far...

 

[Macdctr]

I've wanted to own one of these 12 inch MacBooks since they were introduced (impressed with the form factor) I have an opportunities to pick one up soon off the used market.
I know they aren't the best in terms of specs in 2025 and I've done some limited research, but would like some "real" input from actual users here on the forum about the reliability of these 2015-17 models?

For a long time I have avoided this computer because of the reported butterfly keyboard and heating issues plaguing this platform. Out of curiosity I purchased a 2017 i7/16GB/256GB unit and installed the most recent version of OCLP then rebooted the computer. Sequoia 15.4 showed up as an available download and I upgraded my MacBook. I have been using my MacBook on a regular basis and although it is nowhere as fast at running the most recent version of MacOS as my 2024 14-inch MBP w/ M3 PRO processor, my MacBook still runs the newest MacOS at a decent rate and I will be using this laptop as my primary “travel” laptop due to its size and weight.

One thing to note is I wouldn’t consider using my 12-inch MacBook for travel if I was not satisfied with its performance. As its currently configured, I have been very satisfied with its performance since all I use this laptop for is web browsing, receiving/responding to emails and watching various YouTube videos. For these purposes my MacBook performs these tasks under the current MacOS perfectly fine for me. When traveling, I don’t require lightening speed and power. Not for web browsing and email.

As others have stated, yes the writing is on the wall regarding Apple’s continued support for Intel processors. I got my MacBook knowing this and with Sequoia will have a few years support regarding security and safari patches going forward. The price point is very good and I get a few more years of use without having to pay the premium pricing for a new laptop. The choice whether or not to buy one of these MacBooks comes down to how you will be using this laptop? What is important to you, not what others have to say? You have to be happy with your laptop purchase.

 

[Mike Boreham]

There are two models I was considering both have the m3 cpu!

All the 12" MacBooks were underpowered! The M3 version was the least underpowered!

 

[T'hain Esh Kelch]

Best Apple design ever. Looks gorgeous.

Most flawed Apple design ever.

Slow as a snail. Mediocre battery time.

But very very nice to carry around and pull out quickly.

 

[knightwrangler]

For a long time I have avoided this computer because of the reported butterfly keyboard and heating issues plaguing this platform. Out of curiosity I purchased a 2017 i7/16GB/256GB unit and installed the most recent version of OCLP then rebooted the computer. Sequoia 15.4 showed up as an available download and I upgraded my MacBook. I have been using my MacBook on a regular basis and although it is nowhere as fast at running the most recent version of MacOS as my 2024 14-inch MBP w/ M3 PRO processor, my MacBook still runs the newest MacOS at a decent rate and I will be using this laptop as my primary “travel” laptop due to its size and weight.

One thing to note is I wouldn’t consider using my 12-inch MacBook for travel if I was not satisfied with its performance. As its currently configured, I have been very satisfied with its performance since all I use this laptop for is web browsing, receiving/responding to emails and watching various YouTube videos. For these purposes my MacBook performs these tasks under the current MacOS perfectly fine for me. When traveling, I don’t require lightening speed and power. Not for web browsing and email.

As others have stated, yes the writing is on the wall regarding Apple’s continued support for Intel processors. I got my MacBook knowing this and with Sequoia will have a few years support regarding security and safari patches going forward. The price point is very good and I get a few more years of use without having to pay the premium pricing for a new laptop. The choice whether or not to buy one of these MacBooks comes down to how you will be using this laptop? What is important to you, not what others have to say? You have to be happy with your laptop purchase.

My plan for the Macbook was to use this as you are using yours:web browsing, emails, watching videos as well as iTunes music library for my iPod classic and iPhone so nothing too demanding so wouldn't the Intel M3 mobile CPU suffice?

 

[Mike Boreham]

My plan for the Macbook was to use this as you are using yours:web browsing, emails, watching videos as well as iTunes music library for my iPod classic and iPhone so nothing too demanding so wouldn't the M3 cpu suffice?

I had three 12” MacBooks and absolutely loved them. I upgraded to a maxed-out M3 which did all I asked of it, which was not too demanding, like you. When Silicon Macs arrived in 2020 I desperately hoped for a 12” Silicon MacBook. I got a 13” MBA which is at least fanless so had part of the appeal of the 12” but not the form factor.
Having used the Silicon MBAs there is no way I would get a 12” MacBook now. But it sounds like you are determined to get one and, while it is still working, should meet your needs, so if price is right go for it and get it out of your system!

 

[Macdctr]

My plan for the Macbook was to use this as you are using yours:web browsing, emails, watching videos as well as iTunes music library for my iPod classic and iPhone so nothing too demanding so wouldn't the M3 cpu suffice?

Yes my M3 Pro laptop can handle this and much more however when traveling my requirements are much simpler and my priority for traveling is weight savings. The 12-inch i7 MacBook with the current version of OCLP and Sequoia 15.5 is the perfect choice for this use, at least for me it is.

My MacBook replaced my Early 2015 i7 11-inch Air because of the 12-inch Retina display.

 

[knightwrangler]

Again my questions are regarding the 12” MacBook models also Intel M3 mobile CPU not the Apple M3 CPU on the MacBook Air!

 

[MultiFinder17]

My plan for the Macbook was to use this as you are using yours:web browsing, emails, watching videos as well as iTunes music library for my iPod classic and iPhone so nothing too demanding so wouldn't the Intel M3 mobile CPU suffice?

That's essentially what my 2016 M3 12" rMB gets used for these days, and running Sequoia with OCLP it handles all that perfectly fine. It's certainly not the snappiest little machine I own, but man is it hard to beat the size and weight.

 

[aespana]

My plan for the Macbook was to use this as you are using yours:web browsing, emails, watching videos as well as iTunes music library for my iPod classic and iPhone so nothing too demanding so wouldn't the Intel M3 mobile CPU suffice?

The problem with the m3 is that even those light task, are heavy task for it. Even browser with Safari in Ventura is slow (in my opinion).

You will need to use an old OS like Big Sur to get a decent performance. For my, the best battery/performance you can get with this machine is install Catalina but you know how old that OS is (at least, Firefox is up to date).

That's why I recommend you to get at least the i5 version. I don't know how much better it is over the m3 to be honest but i know that the m3 is really underpowered

 

[knightwrangler]

The problem with the m3 is that even those light task, are heavy task for it. Even browser with Safari in Ventura is slow (in my opinion).

You will need to use an old OS like Big Sur to get a decent performance. For my, the best battery/performance you can get with this machine is install Catalina but you know how old that OS is (at least, Firefox is up to date).

That's why I recommend you to get at least the i5 version. I don't know how much better it is over the m3 to be honest but i know that the m3 is really underpowered

Appreciate your opinion! I don't have a problem running an older OS on the MacBook. My 2014 Mac mini runs Monterey just fine.

 

[Mike Boreham]

All the 12" MacBooks were underpowered! The M3 version was the least underpowered!

Apologies I think I got my 12"MacBook CPU models confused. The m3 version is actually the slowest processor.

The three CPU versions in the 2017 range were Intel Core m3, i5, i7 (7Y32, 7Y54, 7Y75) ("Kaby Lake")

The last one I had was a maxed out i7, 7Y75, Kabylake with 16GB RAM 512GB drive.

 

[MultiFinder17]

I find that the M3, while certainly not the fastest computer that I've ever used, is about even with my 2015 Air in terms of snappiness and performance. It does slow down a bit after some usage, though that's common with al the 12" rMBs in that they will throttle after a bit of usage. No fans means that they will slow down somewhat after a bit of use.

I don't find that Sequoia is any faster or slower than Monterey. I ran Monterey on it for a year or so, then OCLP'd it to Sequoia, and find it to be just about the same in perms of performance.

 

[aespana]

Appreciate your opinion! I don't have a problem running an older OS on the MacBook. My 2014 Mac mini runs Monterey just fine.

If running an old version of Mac OS is not a problem, then go ahead! Beautiful display, beautiful size, wonderful speakers, extraordinary portability.

I have mine currently using Catalina but that is just because I like it fast but I find Big Sur being the sweet spot. Better app support (still limited though) and a good performance. Chrome works really well. Safari version is dated so maybe is not a good idea to use it.

 

[loby]

In the repair space, both Apple official and third-party especially, these units are known for their very poor reliability. They have a number of hardware faults on them. The first major one is the infamous butterfly keyboard, which is known to basically spontaneously develop failures from usage and can present itself in the form of hitting a key and then multiple letters enter at once, or hitting a key and nothing happens, or the keys themselves getting physically crunchy or jammed, and in some cases even the entire keyboard flat out dying, and there isnt much peventative measures to take other than not using keyboard. If that wasn't bad enough, these things also have a fun tendency of developing a lot of logic board related issues, particularly with the CPU's dying/failing in fun ways. Usually symptoms of this would be things like memory failures, graphical artifacts typically because of the memory failures, kernel panics and random crashes especially under load, the storage drive completely disappearing from the system and now showing up as a connected piece of hardware and the machine being unable to boot, add some cases the machine can also flat out die completely and basically show no signs of life other than a trackpad that clicks whenever the unit is charged. There's no real remedy or solution for this other than replacing the logic board, but the replacement boards will also fail in the same way eventually and at this point you're either paying crazy money for a refurbished board from Apple or marginally more reasonable but still expensive used boards but they come from God knows where with what kind of history so it's basically a gamble anyways. Because these machine machines are worth so little and the cost of repairs is still a lot for many things, even something as straightforward as battery service from Apple basically puts these machines in the red in terms of overall costs. Cheaper through third-party but then you run into the same sort of gamble style problems where the parts themselves in that field tend to be pure crap more often than not, or in rarer cases like iFixit, expensive but mediocre (and at least wont kill the unit unlike ebay and amazon and such). At that point if you're hit with basically any hardware problem on these machines, it pretty much immediately becomes a situation where the cost of repair plus what you initially paid for the unit starts to just get dangerously close to the cost of a base model M1 MacBook Air, which will not only substantially outperform it but have a ton of other benefits in the form of better battery life and better thermals and also running silent and being a lot more reliable and actually having support from Apple for the next half a decade if not more.

Assuming all of the hardware is perfect and assuming none of these age related issues this machine that you might purchase, you're not out of the woods yet. The operating system side of things is also gonna be a problem in most of these cases and will require you to put in a whole bunch of extra work. Both the 2015 and the 2016 model at this point our end of life and no longer receive any sort of maintained macOS version, since both of those are stuck on BigSur and monterey respectively, while the 2017 model supports Ventura, which is going end of life later this year around November/December so it's not particularly far behind. Luckily unlike the hardware issues above, these ones you can mitigate with a bit of effort on your part. You can basically trick these machines into taking a newer version of macOS than what the unit supports using OpenCore Legacy Pactcher, which will basically allow you to install Sonoma and Sequoia unofficially on the units with a little bit of work, and both of these gill give you over 1.5years and 2.5years of support and bugsixes and security mitigations respectiely. Alternatrively, you can patch Windows11 to install on these units (with some work) and thatll be suported for a while still, and there is always good ol' Linux, which will be supported until the end of time and nothing will run as smoothly as that, since Linux is designed for old systems from the start and will even run of rocks on the side of the road if it needs to. Any OS older than whats mentioned here at this point you shouldnt really be using due to its entirely unmaintained nature, which makes them a security problem, and that gets even worse the further behind the curve you fall. Even if we put our heads in the sand and pretend that security is not important and ignore all the real world problems that exist, as obfuscated and abstract as they may be, simply running these old operating systems will eventually catch up to you anyways in the form of application support not existing, old apps eventually breaking, and in general just not supporting modern technologies and features which can also catch up to you in various forms. Basically just shooting yourself in the foot intentionally running something old and just unnecessarily adding risk to your life, regardless of what perspective you use. With OCLP Sonoma/Sequioa, or Win11, or Linux, you can absolutely stretched a little bit of extra life out of these machine, and many of these will actually run perfectly fine with a little bit of work, but if you haven't done stuff like that or aren't familiar with it, you're gonna have to get involved and potentially start learning new stuff and be comfortable with sometimes reading technical stuff if things go wrong. Basically the nature of the beast whenever you try to maintain 10+ year-old computers.

If you want to get one of these 12 inch units just for collecting purposes, totally fair, and you can put in a bit of time to get a not-unmaintained operating system onto it to mitigate a lot of the problems and then just keep up on the updates with it, but if you're looking to actually daily drive something, or even as some secondary unit, you should just entirely ignore the 12" macbook lineup, and quite frankly the rest of the Intel Mac lineup as a whole since a good chunk of them have overlapping issues with reliability and support and just pedestrian performance by 2025+ standards, especially in a post-Apple SIlicon world. If youre going to spend a couple hundred on a unit, as a main or secondary, it at least should get your moneys worth and not be a burden/liability. Something like a used M1 MacBook Air is very cheap for 8Gb variants these days,w which can be found for as low as 400USD used, and the more ideal 16GB versions are closer to 500-600usd and a better purchse anyways. Alternatively an iPad with the keyboard case of sorts will go a long way sepecially since iPadOS is fairly mature and a lot of peoples apps are all just web-apps or running in a web-wrapper anyways (stripped down browser engine for rendering stuff), or even some of those smaller form factor to retired enterprise-grade fleet Windows laptops (lineups like: Dell Latitide, HP Elitebook, HP Probook, Asus ExprttBool, Lenono Thinkpad), which can be made for wither WIn11 or Linux, and can be found with crazy good spec like 16GB/512GB and 8th gen or higher properly cooled faster Intel CPU for under 250USD, and also hae room to upgrade storage or memory and be way cheaper to fix if it breaks. Any of these are going to be a much better solution for a small portable system that's gonna require basically no additional work on your end to keep it maintained and secure and supported, it will not have any of the major reliability issues a lot of these 12-inch units run into, and will often outperformed them pretty much across the board for relevant things like battery life and thermals and actual performance and stuff like that.

I use to daily drive one for many years around late 2010's, and I have a mint unused 2015 in my closet atm with new top case and sub-50 cycle battery purely for collecting. I loved it to bits as a tiny women with tiny hands and weak shoulder muscles with a more loaded purse, but id never recommend getting one now beyond a super cheap hobbyist tinker machine that you know can become a totalled sunk cost at any moment due to hardware, or just for collecting in a closet because youre obsessed with Mac. I've probably spoken to thousands of owners of these 12" units over my tenure of receicing appointments from Apples system, and many are crazy about these due to size, but ive had this exact convo with so so so many of them and seen people spend crazy money upkeeping one that it just turns into a money sinkhole and they couldve bought multiple used M1 airs by then. If they made an apple silicon 12" I wouldnt even hesitate buying one, but the existing ones have too many downsides from a number of perspectives to be worth anything for 99% of users

Everything that you have said is a very good analysis of the 12” Macbook…reasons not to buy and reasons to buy.

I picked up a 2015 m3 version just to play around with and maybe use it for travel…well…it became my go-to for many general usages. The only reason really is that is is light and the perfect size for travel and just doing general basic stuff.

Saying that, Apple will probably not make another one for some time (or never) due to their persistent mindset to sell ipads instead. Apple…some DON’T WANT to use an ipad for computer work. ipad has it place, but not a replacement for computer work.

I sold to a friend an old Macbook Air 2013 (perfect condition) who used a newer ipad with a keyboard. He never had an Macbook Air, but ONCE he used the Macbook, he ditched his ipad. I asked him “Why”? he said, ‘I just like the Macbook Air and its feel and look - better than the ipad…"

I have a Macbook Air 2023 (maxed out), but the Macbook 2015 is preferred JUST because of the size. The MacBook Air IS a great Mac and I use it…BUT the 12” Macbook 2015 - though old, errored, UNDER-powered (not an understatement), I like it JUST because it is light, small AND has OS X…is a go-too.

I never thought that I would like the 12” Macbook. IF I had known…I would have bought a MacBook 2017, i7 with 16 GB of RAM when I had the chance,,. I do not think they made one with a 1 TB SSD, but IF that Mac is still in existence, I would have been tempted to buy it.

BUT…you are so VERY correct.

It is soooo…risky now in 2025 to by this old "potential” Ivy experiment because of all of your mentioned reasons. The 12” can go out at any time and does not have a good track record of lasting. IT IS BETTER FOR THE MONEY TO BUY A M1 MACBOOK AIR.

BUT…”If” you are a tinkerer or is someone who is a “fix up old cars” type of person who LIKES to put money into something that might not be worth much now, BUT has value to you because you just want it, then buy one and take your chances.

 

[Mike Boreham]

Apologies I think I got my 12"MacBook CPU models confused. The m3 version is actually the slowest processor.

The three CPU versions in the 2017 range were Intel Core m3, i5, i7 (7Y32, 7Y54, 7Y75) ("Kaby Lake")

The last one I had was a maxed out i7, 7Y75, Kabylake with 16GB RAM 512GB drive.

The Geekbench scores from Mactracker for the three CPUs in 2017 were:

 

[knightwrangler]

Everything that you have said is a very good analysis of the 12” Macbook…reasons not to buy and reasons to buy.

I picked up a 2015 m3 version just to play around with and maybe use it for travel…well…it became my go-to for many general usages. The only reason really is that is is light and the perfect size for travel and just doing general basic stuff.

Saying that, Apple will probably not make another one for some time (or never) due to their persistent mindset to sell ipads instead. Apple…some DON’T WANT to use an ipad for computer work. ipad has it place, but not a replacement for computer work.

I sold to a friend an old Macbook Air 2013 (perfect condition) who used a newer ipad with a keyboard. He never had an Macbook Air, but ONCE he used the Macbook, he ditched his ipad. I asked him “Why”? he said, ‘I just like the Macbook Air and its feel and look - better than the ipad…"

I have a Macbook Air 2023 (maxed out), but the Macbook 2015 is preferred JUST because of the size. The MacBook Air IS a great Mac and I use it…BUT the 12” Macbook 2015 - though old, errored, UNDER-powered (not an understatement), I like it JUST because it is light, small AND has OS X…is a go-too.

I never thought that I would like the 12” Macbook. IF I had known…I would have bought a MacBook 2017, i7 with 16 GB of RAM when I had the chance,,. I do not think they made one with a 1 TB SSD, but IF that Mac is still in existence, I would have been tempted to buy it.

BUT…you are so VERY correct.

It is soooo…risky now in 2025 to by this old "potential” Ivy experiment because of all of your mentioned reasons. The 12” can go out at any time and does not have a good track record of lasting. IT IS BETTER FOR THE MONEY TO BUY A M1 MACBOOK AIR.

BUT…”If” you are a tinkerer or is someone who is a “fix up old cars” type of person who LIKES to put money into something that might not be worth much now, BUT has value to you because you just want it, then buy one and take your chances.

I do like to tinker but am unsure, as this is a complex device to repair e.g. the built in battery. I posted earlier that both Macbook's that am looking at the battery cycles are not too high considering the model years though.

 

[Nychot]

I tend to agree with you price point wise-I think both buyers are asking too much for these models. I missed a chance to purchase a 2017 i7 16GB ram Macbook for around $350 about a month ago that would have been better?
I like the novelty, design and compact form factor that's enticing! But, I may have to rethink my purchasing decision from all the comments received so far...

I have the first edition 2015 8/256 gold. Never a problem. Does everything I need. Bought it new, used it for awhile and other computers and tablets came along and it just gathered dust. Brought it out recently, still runs terifficly. Just having a new battery installed, part and labor $85.00. I love this thing.

 

[MrAverigeUser]

I have the first edition 2015 8/256 gold. Never a problem. Does everything I need. Bought it new, used it for awhile and other computers and tablets came along and it just gathered dust. Brought it out recently, still runs terifficly. Just having a new battery installed, part and labor $85.00. I love this thing.

well, fine for you…
but it is nothing but logically so, that a device you don’t use for may years and which only gathers dust doesn’t fail…
no use—> no fail…

It is nice if you just like the device a lot - and you are looking forward to getting it more and more a design icon - but this is not at all a real-life proof for its reliability.

.

 

[knightwrangler]

As much as I like the form factor of the 12" MacBook, it seems likes these machines have a lot of issues... I'm wondering if a 2017 MacBook Air would be more feasible?
I'd go for a M1 MacBook Air in a heartbeat, but this would be a secondary machine and I am on budget.
Suggestions?