Pls give me your tip on good older MBP/Retina to pickup, upgrade, Opencore..

[cognus]

I have little experience with MBP, some good, some inexcusable from my vantage as having to repair a few but I don't know the history of models from, say, 2011 to present. I'm wanting to pickup one that is no longer updated to modern macos, but has a storied reputation, preferably with NVIDIA gpu, preferably 15" but I'm not married to any particular feature since I know so little.

Tell me your 'best of the best' picks please and I will look them up

thanks
c

 

[pshufd]

If you must have an nVidia GPU, then the 2014 MacBook Pro 15. I think that the 2015 MacBook Pro is a better model as it is a year newer and has the faster SSD. The 2015 can be upgraded to Monterey without using OCLP.

 

[maflynn]

preferably with NVIDIA gpu

Apple and Nvidia's relationship has been marked by quality issues. If you're looking for a used machine, then I personally would avoid a nvidia based model at this point but that's my $.02.

I will offer a counter point in that my 2012 MBP was the best laptop I ever bought, but it too had some GPU issues (I wasn't affected).

2015 is probably your safest laptop, in that its the most solid one, and you avoid the touchbar, butterfly keyboard, and flexgate issues that come with the 2016 to 2020 models. (I believe flex gate wasn't impacting every laptop in the 2016 to 2020 time frame)

 

[cognus]

If you must have an nVidia GPU, then the 2014 MacBook Pro 15. I think that the 2015 MacBook Pro is a better model as it is a year newer and has the faster SSD. The 2015 can be upgraded to Monterey without using OCLP.

appreciate the tips! I did not know that there were issues with nVidia gpu's also - was only familiar with the many issues with Radeon GPU's on Mac and macbooks - ditto in PC land

 

[cognus]

Apple and Nvidia's relationship has been marked by quality issues. If you're looking for a used machine, then I personally would avoid a nvidia based model at this point but that's my $.02.

I will offer a counter point in that my 2012 MBP was the best laptop I ever bought, but it too had some GPU issues (I wasn't affected).

2015 is probably your safest laptop, in that its the most solid one, and you avoid the touchbar, butterfly keyboard, and flexgate issues that come with the 2016 to 2020 models. (I believe flex gate wasn't impacting every laptop in the 2016 to 2020 time frame)

ah... I was ignorant of the nvidia issues - knew of Radeon issues which prompted me to include that note. So, to the 2015's, which i have been shopping and find them plentiful - Should I be searching Retina models [I'm going 15"], and with which GPU's? or embedded/intel?

 

[EugW]

I'd say the best bang for the buck "old" MacBook Pro is the 2015. It fully supports Monterey. The 2015 has lots of ports, and has the scissor keyboard. After 2015, they went to the butterfly keyboard, which is problematic. The SSD can be upgraded, either with OEM Apple / Samsung SSDs or else with 3rd party NVMe drives (albeit with potential compatibility issues), but be aware the memory is soldered so it can't be upgraded. Also, the anti-glare coating can wear off ("delamination") so be careful to inspect the screen (or screen pictures) when purchasing. The battery is also a biotch to replace since it's glued in.

I purchased one last year for a relatively cheap price, with a perfect screen and a new battery/top case. I then added a larger OEM SSD for cheap. Since then I've noticed they've dropped significantly in price, probably partially because they don't officially support Ventura, and the OEM SSDs have dropped in price too. They are still more expensive than NVMe SSDs, but the OEM SSDs don't have any compatibility issues obviously.

That said, my next used Mac laptop purchase (for my kid) will likely be a M1 MacBook Air. Those things are starting to come down a bit in price too on the used market, and there may be some decent deals in 2023 and beyond.

 

[pshufd]

appreciate the tips! I did not know that there were issues with nVidia gpu's also - was only familiar with the many issues with Radeon GPU's on Mac and macbooks - ditto in PC land

We've had about 8 logic boards replaced by Apple for nVidia problems.

 

[Fishrrman]

Fishrrman's rules for used MacBook buying:

DO NOT BUY:
MacBook Pro 13" -- 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019
MacBook Pro 15" -- 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019
ALL of these have the disastrous "butterfly keyboards" that are highly-prone to failure. Although Apple has a free replacement program running for 4 years "from new", when that time expires YOU will pay for the repair.
And it's NOT CHEAP -- $750 for even a single key gone bad.
That's because the entire top case has to be replaced... even for a single key failure!

DO BUY:
MacBook Pro 13" -- 2020
MacBook Pro 16" -- 2019 and later.
These have the new "magic" (scissors) keyboards, as did the 2015 and earlier MBPs. These keyboards have been very reliable.

Also:
MacBook Pro 14" or 16" -- 2021

 

[cognus]

We've had about 8 logic boards replaced by Apple for nVidia problems.

no bueno

 

[cognus]

Fishrrman's rules for used MacBook buying:

DO NOT BUY:
MacBook Pro 13" -- 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019
MacBook Pro 15" -- 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019
ALL of these have the disastrous "butterfly keyboards" that are highly-prone to failure. Although Apple has a free replacement program running for 4 years "from new", when that time expires YOU will pay for the repair.
And it's NOT CHEAP -- $750 for even a single key gone bad.
That's because the entire top case has to be replaced... even for a single key failure!

DO BUY:
MacBook Pro 13" -- 2020
MacBook Pro 16" -- 2019 and later.
These have the new "magic" (scissors) keyboards, as did the 2015 and earlier MBPs. These keyboards have been very reliable.

Also:
MacBook Pro 14" or 16" -- 2021

very helpful. you save me from error

 

[cognus]

I'd say the best bang for the buck "old" MacBook Pro is the 2015. It fully supports Monterey. The 2015 has lots of ports, and has the scissor keyboard. After 2015, they went to the butterfly keyboard, which is problematic. The SSD can be upgraded, either with OEM Apple / Samsung SSDs or else with 3rd party NVMe drives (albeit with potential compatibility issues), but be aware the memory is soldered so it can't be upgraded. Also, the anti-glare coating can wear off ("delamination") so be careful to inspect the screen (or screen pictures) when purchasing. The battery is also a biotch to replace since it's glued in.

I purchased one last year for a relatively cheap price, with a perfect screen and a new battery/top case. I then added a larger OEM SSD for cheap. Since then I've noticed they've dropped significantly in price, probably partially because they don't officially support Ventura, and the OEM SSDs have dropped in price too. They are still more expensive than NVMe SSDs, but the OEM SSDs don't have any compatibility issues obviously.

That said, my next used Mac laptop purchase (for my kid) will likely be a M1 MacBook Air. Those things are starting to come down a bit in price too on the used market, and there may be some decent deals in 2023 and beyond.

Eugw: any comment on a 2015 with r9 gpu?

 

[pshufd]

The 2015 with the AMD GPU will give you better external monitor performance and probably better gaming performance. It will use more power as well and probably run a little hotter. I have the 2015 with 2.5 Ghz CPU and the AMD GPU.