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racer1441

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Jul 3, 2009
1,866
664
I’m looking at a long hospital stay and would like to have a laptop but something I wouldn’t mind getting ruined or stolen. What would everyone recommen?

i’m thinking the newest available 12 inch macbook but worried about battery for sure.
 

Isamilis

macrumors 68020
Apr 3, 2012
2,092
994
CMMIW, but there is no 12” MacBook. Especially if you want the cheap one which wouldn’t mind if it get stolen.
The best option probably get the ipad 10 + Magic Keyboard Folio. You will get mini laptop (11”) with long battery life.
 

racer1441

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Jul 3, 2009
1,866
664
CMMIW, but there is no 12” MacBook. Especially if you want the cheap one which wouldn’t mind if it get stolen.
The best option probably get the ipad 10 + Magic Keyboard Folio. You will get mini laptop (11”) with long battery life.
They did make the 12 inch MacBook. It would be used. And iPad just isn’t a a computer replacement.
 

gpat

macrumors 68000
Mar 1, 2011
1,879
5,086
Italy
Used M1 Macbook Air.
If it gets stolen, not so much of a disaster.
If it doesn't get stolen, awesome computer for years to come, for basic tasks at least.
 
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racer1441

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Jul 3, 2009
1,866
664
Used M1 Macbook Air.
If it gets stolen, not so much of a disaster.
If it doesn't get stolen, awesome computer for years to come, for basic tasks at least.
Where would you guy one? Apple refurb is silly expensive.
 

FlyingTexan

macrumors 6502a
Jul 13, 2015
877
601
No reason to worry about it getting stolen. Why does everyone think that? I'm a commercial pilot and have spent a couple thousand days in hotels and traveling and never had anything stolen.
 

adib

macrumors 6502a
Jun 11, 2010
711
559
Singapore
I’m looking at a long hospital stay and would like to have a laptop but something I wouldn’t mind getting ruined or stolen. What would everyone recommen?

i’m thinking the newest available 12 inch macbook but worried about battery for sure.
An iPad Mini + a 3rd party keyboard/case combo. Preferably a cellular one since you probably can't rely on hospital Wi-Fi — if it is allowed, that is.

Btw, all Apple computers are useless when stolen — if the owner had set up Find My correctly.
 

transphasic

macrumors 6502
Apr 6, 2012
259
106
BTW does anyone know what the maximum mAh capacity is for a brand new battery in the 2017 12" macbook?

I had my battery replaced yesterday at the Apple store, brought the MacBook home and downloaded the apple "Battery Health" from Apple's App Store.

This app is saying the battery health is only 95%, as the maximum charge is supposed to be 5,550 but this battery maxes out at 5,254.

Anyone know for certain?
 

MiamiBeach

macrumors 6502
Sep 16, 2020
259
157
BTW does anyone know what the maximum mAh capacity is for a brand new battery in the 2017 12" macbook?

I had my battery replaced yesterday at the Apple store, brought the MacBook home and downloaded the apple "Battery Health" from Apple's App Store.

This app is saying the battery health is only 95%, as the maximum charge is supposed to be 5,550 but this battery maxes out at 5,254.

Anyone know for certain?

I have a 2017 MacBook still on its original battery. Coconut battery is showing design capacity as 5550 mAh so it looks like you got an original spec battery.
 
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harleymhs

macrumors 6502a
Jul 19, 2009
782
173
I just picked up a 12" Macbook. 512GB 8GB Space Grey with only 40 Battery Cycle Counts. Screen is amazing. Holds the charge for over a week with light use and in sleep mode. Keyboard is the old scissor but works fine. I paid $220.00 for this and its a great laptop for surfing and emails etc. Perfect for my couch and great for travel !
 

a.Lias

macrumors member
Nov 17, 2005
50
3
I'm currently typing this on 2017 m3 MB12. Works just fine for all the productivity tasks and media consumption that I'd prefer to do on it. That said, it do use this the same way that, I imagine, I would use a Chromebook. That is to say, I'm not pushing this device as hard as I would my gaming desktop. However, for all the tasks that I use it for, it's great. Feels more than snappy.

TL;DR: Highly recommend the MB12 if you can find one at a decent price.
 
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edubfromktown

macrumors 6502a
Sep 14, 2010
735
624
East Coast, USA
The 12" MacBooks remain awesome.

I still have my daughter's 2015 m3 16/512GB (which I bought refurb a few years later from Apple). She used for the first two years of college. She crushed all her friends 13" MB's in battery runtime and did not suffer much on performance either. It ran all the apps for her BS in interior design courses.

I use it as my compact Mojave dead-ended LR 6.14 photo tweaking goto and general use system when I'm on travel. Note: Apple essentially replaced everything other than the screen under warranty/recall ~2019 or so...
 

transphasic

macrumors 6502
Apr 6, 2012
259
106
I just picked up a 12" Macbook. 512GB 8GB Space Grey with only 40 Battery Cycle Counts. Screen is amazing. Holds the charge for over a week with light use and in sleep mode. Keyboard is the old scissor but works fine. I paid $220.00 for this and its a great laptop for surfing and emails etc. Perfect for my couch and great for travel !
Do NOT assume that the low cycles means a healthy battery. Mine has very few cycles also despite being in use for 6 years, and it was because it was plugged in all the time. Apple showed the the battery health had declined substantially due to it never being discharged. You should take your laptop to the Apple store and have them test the battery.
 
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phill85

macrumors regular
Jul 19, 2010
211
1,187
I’m looking at a long hospital stay and would like to have a laptop but something I wouldn’t mind getting ruined or stolen. What would everyone recommen?

i’m thinking the newest available 12 inch macbook but worried about battery for sure.
I wish there was, sadly there isn’t one available, at the moment. There used to be…
 
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