2011 13" Pro to 2015 15" Pro: Worth it?

[rwh63]

my 13" is getting long in the tooth. maxed out at high sierra, keyboard intermittently non-responsive on some keys, safari outdated. i could jump to a 2020+ Air or Pro, but like the 2015 and before design. i remember that the 15" pro w/retina was made for several years beyond 2015. thinking of buying time and grabbing one. looking at one on facebook that has monterey installed. i that the last OS available for it? specs seem solid. will it function well in 2023 and a few more years, or is it waste of money and time?

• ConditionUsed - like new
• ColorSilver
• Screen Size15”
• Processor TypeCore i7 2.8ghz
• Release Year2015

15” mid-2015 MacBook Pro in great condition Fully updated Monterey OS Core i7 2.8ghz CPU 16gb RAM 1tb SSD Less than 600 battery cycles

 

[mikelets456]

Depends on the price. I got mine for $185 on EBay last year. I upgraded the 256 GB drive to a 1 TB Intel drive. I have OCLP and am running Ventura 13.4.1 very well. I also have a 5,5 using OCLP and Monterrey but I prefer the 15” screen on my 11,4….plus the quad core i7 is a good cpu.
I was going to grab a 2019 Intel 6 core I9 MacBook Pro but I’m thinking after Sonoma only the “M series” chips will be supported. So I’ll wait.

 

[Fishrrman]

You didn't tell us if you were under "a strict budget" or not.

My suggestion:
If you are in a place where one can buy Apple refurbished products online, get a 2021 MacBook Pro 14", base model.

It will serve you well for a long time to come.

 

[rwh63]

not under strict budget. prefer the build of the pre-2016. new ones seem thinner metal and flat top and bottom. i like built in inputs, rather than a hub. i actually use my superdrive!

 

[wilberforce]

Almost certain that a 2015 MPB will not be "like new" condition. Very likely battery will need replacing shortly, regardless of cycles, unless it has already been replaced in the last few years. 2015 MPBs are notorious for swollen batteries if left on charger all the time. Battery replacement will cost you $200 by Apple, or ~$60 DIY (which is what I did).
2015 MBPs are the best of the era before the terrible butterfly keyboard MPBs. However 2015 is also starting to get a bit long in the tooth.
You don't say the price, so hard to say if it is "worth it."

 

[Shortpay]

not under strict budget. prefer the build of the pre-2016. new ones seem thinner metal and flat top and bottom. i like built in inputs, rather than a hub. i actually use my superdrive!

Ignore the others. Your choice appears to be peachy.

 

[rwh63]

Almost certain that a 2015 MPB will not be "like new" condition. Very likely battery will need replacing shortly, regardless of cycles, unless it has already been replaced in the last few years. 2015 MPBs are notorious for swollen batteries if left on charger all the time. Battery replacement will cost you $200 by Apple, or ~$60 DIY (which is what I did).
2015 MBPs are the best of the era before the terrible butterfly keyboard MPBs. However 2015 is also starting to get a bit long in the tooth.
You don't say the price, so hard to say if it is "worth it."

in this case, you're right. close ups show case chips, dirty ports. however, i don't expect mint 8 year old laptop. i'll keep looking. i can do the battery myself, and other lower lever work. like to get that 1TB SSD though! i use a laptop for light duty (documents, internet, music, photos, etc). don't need the latest. 15" is unnecessary though. is the 13" from 2015 also good?

btw, i would expect to pay between $150-$250 depending.

 

[wilberforce]

in this case, you're right. close ups show case chips, dirty ports. however, i don't expect mint 8 year old laptop. i'll keep looking. i can do the battery myself, and other lower lever work. like to get that 1TB SSD though! i use a laptop for light duty (documents, internet, music, photos, etc). don't need the latest. 15" is unnecessary though. is the 13" from 2015 also good?

btw, i would expect to pay between $150-$250 depending.

I had a 13" 2015 MPB. It only has a dual core i5/i7: it is too sluggish, and the main reason I sold mine. Get the 15", which has a quad core i7

 

[Macdctr]

I picked up my 2015 DG 15-inch MBP from a computer recycling company in California and when it arrived it looked like it was brand new. No blemishes on the anti glare coating on my Retina display and the entire computer did not have any wear marks on it. I was amazed! Best of all I sourced my MBP for $310 shipped. Not bad if you ask me. I have since upgraded the storage drive to a Samsung EVO 970 1TB NVMe M.2 SSD and currently running MacOS 14 Beta 7 Sonoma using Open Core Legacy Patcher 0.6.9n with no issues.

Before upgrading to Sonoma on my MBP, I have been running OS13 Ventura and everything has been running perfectly for my use case so getting a 2015 MBP in great shape can be done even today and you can update the OS (although not natively) to Apple's current OS using Open Core Legacy Patcher.

As for battery usage . . . YMMV. In my case I was able to get a MBP with less than 40 cycles on the battery. Currently I have 52 cycles and have 8415 mAh capacity on my battery.