Used mac notebook advice

[elf69]

I have a 2009 macbook which is great!

It is my first real venture on mac and love it.

First was my free ibook g4 but after about 2 weeks got replaced with my 2009 macbook.

I use the macbook for work and bit at home, but my imac is main home use machine.
Yes my g4 and macbook made me an apple convert.

So thinking of upgrading the macbook.
possibly to a pro.

Im ok with used, etc.

Not got a huge budget.
But also want to be able upgrade myself as I have with my macbook.

So found an early 2011 macbook pro i5 with 8GB ram.
this unit is refurb from a company with 6 months warranty.

I will chuck the HDD and fit my 240GB SSD.

This unit is £445

Is it a worth while unit to buy?
should I wait (as cant afford right now anyway) for new notebooks to come out then older units go down in price.

This 2009 machine is great and feels quite nippy compared to the windows 10 machine it replaced.

So lay open the floor to the guys who know and I am ready to listen.

 

[keysofanxiety]

I'd go for the 13" 2012 over the 2011. It has USB 3, better CPU, better GPU...

They're still available used for around £500 or under — sometimes you can buy one even cheaper than the 2011, because Apple are still selling the 2012 model to this day, and as such the market is more saturated.

It's just as upgradable, of course. Max RAM supported on both models is 16GB. 1333MHz for the 2011, 1600MHz for the 2012.

 

[Efrem]

Personally, I'd want something newer. It's 2016 now. My late 2011 MacBook Pro will still run current software, but there are already a few capabilities that it won't support. If your 2009 system is still great, as you say, why rush?

 

[elf69]

Not in rush but want something tad quicker.
2.4GHz core duo in it.

I have not yet installed but got dreamweaver to install soon.
I bought CS3 from ebay it's what I used on my windows machine before swap to mac

 

[Samuelsan2001]

As keysofanxiety says it's better to go for the 2012 at a found £500 they are on eBay all the time and Apple still sells them new.

 

[elf69]

almost bagged an macbook air cheap, shame.

but got eye on some 2012 macbook and air.

Is 4GB sufficient or should I looks for 8GB model?

 

[Weaselboy]

almost bagged an macbook air cheap, shame.

but got eye on some 2012 macbook and air.

Is 4GB sufficient or should I looks for 8GB model?

It depends on what you will be using it for. If you are just doing email, web browsing, document processing... that sort of thing 4GB will be just fine.

 

[RedTomato]

I'd go for a 2013 MBA. It was a huge increase in cpu speed, graphics speed, ssd speed, and battery life over the 2012 model. This is the model I have right now and am very happy with it. It's pretty similar to a 2016 MBA except for being half the price It's also lighter and with longer battery life than any MBP.

Only problem is you won't be able to use your existing SSD with it, as the MBA is non-upgradeable. Carefully consider how much internal SSD space you need for the MBA - for you as a heavy user, 128GB may not be enough to last you for several years, even with the use of your external SSD in an enclosure.

I have the 8GB RAM model, and am almost always over 4GB mostly due to Chrome, so if you are any kind of power user then 8GB would be better than 4GB. My partner has the 4GB model and that suits her fine as she mostly uses it for email, admin, and office work.

 

[elf69]

the air SSD is upgradeable on that year.

uses preparatory part though.

My macbook suffered memory problems until upgrade to 8GN however my imac is ok on 4GB but not 2GB.
It can go to 6GB max.