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What are the safe classic MBPs?

InuNacho

InuNacho

macrumors 68010
Original poster
Apr 24, 2008
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I'm in the market for an older MBP to be the companion to my Mac Pro, but I'm worried about longevity. My workflow has pretty much been identical since 2011 so even if it is a bit dated, it should fulfill my needs for a while.
That being said, what are the "safe" 2011/12 models without any GPU issues?
 
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I owned a mid 2012 non-retina up till July when I sold it. It was a workhorse for me till it’s last day. No problems at all with that machine.
 
ALL 2011 models with either 15" or 17" displays are subject to "RadeonGate". That doesn't mean that all will get it. But any one could. Apple is no longer replacing the motherboards for free. Any failure, and the user is going to pay.

Only the 13" models were "immune".

Not sure about the 2012's.

Get something with a retina display, either 13" or 15".
 
The 2012 13" MacBook Pro has issues with RAM slots and SATA cable. 2011 15" and 17" MacBook Pros are well-known for graphics card issues. 2012 15" MacBook Pro was part of the repair extension but it seems to fair better than the 2011 model year. I'd say look for the 2012 15" MBP. It's one of the few Macs with Thunderbolt, FW800, SATA III, and USB 3.0.
 
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Fishrrman said:
ALL 2011 models with either 15" or 17" displays are subject to "RadeonGate". That doesn't mean that all will get it. But any one could. Apple is no longer replacing the motherboards for free. Any failure, and the user is going to pay.

Only the 13" models were "immune".

Not sure about the 2012's.

Get something with a retina display, either 13" or 15".
Click to expand...


It's not just Radeongate. The nvidia models have their share of problems as well.
 
Just to add in my 2 cents:

The 2014 15" model (which I thought was fantastic) has known issues with USB port failure / instability on both sides. I had both the logic board (responsible for left side USB) and the I/O board (right side USB) replaced twice on my 2014.

Unfortunately, the 2015 model appears to also have the same weakness. The USB port on the right side of the unit we have in our studio has started dropping connections and no longer connects to an iPhone other than to charge.
 
Get the 2012 13" MacBook Pro.

As other users say, the 13" MacBook pro are relatively safe. Even my 2010 13", with an nVidia integrated gpu (integrated on the motherboard, not in the CPU) has been working, daily, for as long as 7 years. This thing is a rock.

2011 13" MBP are OK, but with the 2012 models you'll get a much more capable machine, and with a larger lifespan.

You can add an SSD and max out the RAM to your MacBook Pro , or you can also buy a 2012 MacBook Air... But if you want an Air, for the price, I'd get a refurbished MBA for 900 bucks.
 
I would go with at least a mid-2012 13" MBP as this is the only upgradeable model with USB 3.0.

It should also be noted that MBPs from 2009 to 2012 have a problem where the sata hard drive cable develops a fault and may cause a beachball effect, failed booting, failure to erase, and failure to partition.
 
Audit13 said:
It should also be noted that MBPs from 2009 to 2012 have a problem where the sata hard drive cable develops a fault and may cause a beachball effect, failed booting, failure to erase, and failure to partition.
Click to expand...
Very cheap and easy fix unlike the graphics problems.
 
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