Shopping for an old Unibody MBP?

[MacMike81]

I am not going to get into how much I love my mid 2009 13” MBP.

But…. I want to get one of each screen size just to get the experience.

I’ve been searching locally using keywords “2011 MacBook”. Hoping to score a 15” first.

Anyhow what are some red flags? Some people have gotten back to me denying a photo of the About screen because there is no OS? Seems fishy to me….

What about specs? I am hopping to find top tier (custom ordered?) specs, i7, matte screen(worth it?) higher end graphics?

Thanks gang.

Oh, I plan to run High Sierra maybe Mojave.. or maybe go way back to the kitty series. lol.

 

[DeltaMac]

"red flags"? Yeah, there's one... Search for "radeongate".
2011 MacBook Pro, both 15- and 17-inch are center target for that graphics issue.
I suggest that you get some knowledge about that. Those 2011 MBPros are good for a hobby, where you quickly learn how to stay ahead of graphics chip failure, or "failing" that, there's several tips on how to lock out a failed radeon chip.

 

[venom600]

I'd skip the 2011 and go for the 2012 15". It has major improvements in stability and most importantly, USB 3 instead of USB 2. It's the best unibody 15" they ever made, and I'd argue is more desirable than the equivalent 2012 Retina MBP.

 

[Fishrrman]

OP wrote:
"I’ve been searching locally using keywords “2011 MacBook”. Hoping to score a 15” first."

You DON'T WANT a 2011 MBP 15".
Do you know what "RadeonGate" is? (Failure of the internal GPU, no real "fix" possible)
If you don't, you'd better research it.
(consider yourself as having been "duly warned" by this post)

The same problem applied to 2011 MBP 17" models, as well.

 

[sb in ak]

I've always wanted one of the 2012 models with the matte display and superdrive you can pull out and replace with second storage drive.

 

[MacMike81]

I've always wanted one of the 2012 models with the matte display and superdrive you can pull out and replace with second storage drive.

I thought 2011 was the last of the SuperDrive?

 

[rovostrov]

I thought 2011 was the last of the SuperDrive?

I have a 15" Mid 2012 (non-retina) with Superdrive. I believe they removed the Superdrive later that year with the Late 2012 Retina version.

 

[DeltaMac]

2012 MacBook Pro was the last model for optical drives, both 13 and 15-inch. And dropped from the 2012 Retina models.
The 2012 13-inch non-retina continued to be sold new until October 2016, and was the last Mac that you could replace both RAM and boot drive (and, as mentioned, replace the optical drive with a second storage drive)
Also, the last laptop with a built-in ethernet port...
The 2012 MBPro that I own was built in June of 2015!
One more thing... That 2012 13-inch MacBook Pro is still supported by Apple. Its partner 2012 15-inch has been on the obsolete list for more than 3 years, IIRC.

 

[BrianWsf]

I have a like new mint condition 2012 15" with the superdrive. Customized with with the matte screen ant 1TB storage. I got it up to Catalina and it is extremely running smooth for all the basic needs so far. Really no issues at all for a 10 year old machine. It got light use since my work then later supplied me with the 2012 retina that came out that later that year.

 

[sb in ak]

I have a like new mint condition 2012 15" with the superdrive. Customized with with the matte screen ant 1TB storage. I got it up to Catalina and it is extremely running smooth for all the basic needs so far. Really no issues at all for a 10 year old machine. It got light use since my work then later supplied me with the 2012 retina that came out that later that year.

Sounds like a thing of pure beauty!