My neighbor was offered by his boss to buy a unused 2020 13 inch MBP i5, 16 gig ram, and 1T drive for 500 bucks. It's never been used. (Box still is sealed.) He would give it to his son who is in his freshman year of college. (Currently using a 2018 MBA.) Son is studying Business Finance, and Business law. Good idea? Good price?
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Should my neighbor buy.....
- Thread starter AdamNC
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Sounds like a great price to me.
The same MBP but with 2TB is $1839 on Apple's refurb site.
The only thing is the battery life will be like half that of the newer M1 MBAs. So it greatly depends if his son needs long battery life for classes, etc.
btw, my general rule, based on hard experience: never buy something just because it is a good deal. Buy what fits your needs or wants, and if that happens to be a good deal, then that is a bonus. I've wasted a lot of money buying good deals.
The same MBP but with 2TB is $1839 on Apple's refurb site.
The only thing is the battery life will be like half that of the newer M1 MBAs. So it greatly depends if his son needs long battery life for classes, etc.
btw, my general rule, based on hard experience: never buy something just because it is a good deal. Buy what fits your needs or wants, and if that happens to be a good deal, then that is a bonus. I've wasted a lot of money buying good deals.
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First off - it's a very, very good price. A top condition used one at a reseller would be at least $700 or more.
However if the MBA is working for the kid, I wouldn't buy it. Why pay $500 for a minimal performance upgrade and go thru the hassle of changing machines. If the MBA is falling short for some reason - storage for example - then I'd buy it.
However if the MBA is working for the kid, I wouldn't buy it. Why pay $500 for a minimal performance upgrade and go thru the hassle of changing machines. If the MBA is falling short for some reason - storage for example - then I'd buy it.
Agree with this ↑
Unless there's an urgent need, I'd say that $500 would go a lot further put toward a basic M1 MacBook Air, selling the current 2018 Air for -- I don't know, $150, $200? to make up most of the difference.
The M1 Airs are massively faster and will have a lot longer usable life at this point, and refurbished ones are down to $850 now.
This is a really, really good point. Selling the current and adding $500 would get you very close on a refurb and maybe all the way to a used one on one of the reseller sites. I'd way rather do that.
No, just buy an M1 MacBook Air for $850. It will go so much farther.
The fact that intel Macs are currently being phased out should be a big factor in the decision.
For me, a lot of the decision would be based on what apps I need to run now and a year down the pipeline. Are they optimized for Apple Silicone, Intel or both?
In the past history of Apple OS, it was a much bigger deal. The shift from OS9 to OSX was a major step with everything OS9 going obsolete.
I was wrong big time on his current machine. It is a 2015 MBA with only 4 gigs of ram and 128 SSD. He is on Catalina. The battery has over 800 charge cycles. He uses Microsoft Windows, And lots of Goggle Suite stuff. He is a bit limited in some software he should be using. Kid is not rich. But busting his butt to get through college.
Absolutely not.
Not that it’s a bad machine or anything, but for $500 for an Intel Mac… an Intel Mac that was known for getting really hot, really loud and having meh battery life?
No, especiallysince it’s not gonna be much of an upgrade from his air, and given how fast Apple is dropping Intel macs, itmight not even be supported for another three years.
Absolutely no question that an extra $200 or so for an M1 Air is way better spent money.
Oh in that case then yeah it’s definitely a good deal, but still… seems a tad steep.
I did, my bad.
Like I said, I think it’s a good deal, just a little steep but it’ll still be a huge upgrade.
But, even then, if the Windows applications aren’t entirely necessary, I would absolutely look into getting an M1 machines because the day-to-day improvements in just the experience of using the machines cannot be overstated.
My suggestion, especially if $$$ is a limiting factor, is to check the general computer recommendations of the university and the specific hardware + software requirements of the academic department or program before buying anything. A "great deal" could become a horrible deal if the cheap machine can't be used for its intended purposes or can only be used for a few months.
He bought the MacBook Pro. I am going to help him with the transfer and all tonight. Smart kid he has a 1T Backup drive. He is a good kid. The MBP is the May 2020 version. 10th gen i5. 16 gig ram, 1 T SSD. Coming from a base 2015 MacBook Air I think will be a huge performance improvement and serve his needs though college very well.
MacBook Pro 2020 - 13 inch - 1TB 16GB
Buy used and refurbished MacBook Pro 2020 - 13" on Swappa
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$500 is a savings of between $300–500 on a used model of the same laptop. It has good specs for what it is.
That being said…I would have a hard time recommending an Intel Mac to people these days when you can find a good condition used M1 MacBook Air for a couple hundred more—admittedly not with 1 TB of storage or 16 GB of RAM, though.
If max storage and RAM are priorities, the $500 Intel Mac is a good deal. It will probably have decent resell value for a few years. But if you're wanting to keep the Mac for a long time and have guaranteed software support, an M1 or M2 model are the way to go.
I am really shocked at how much hate was in this thread. Or maybe you didn’t really read the specs….
Anyway I spent the last several hours doing the transfer and all upgrades and setting up his MBP. There was one large surprise. It was was a i7 not a i5. Still had 16 gig of ram and 1T. His MBA was beat to crap. It took over 2 mins to boot, over 3 mins to load Word…. It was a mess. But we got all his software on the MBP first. Updated it to Ventura, put some other helpful stuff like Alfred, Unclutter, etc. Then we worked on transferring his documents and such. Took some time but everything is there. He loves his new machine. Starts in under 25 secs, Word load almost instantly. He is very happy. Thats all that matters.
Anyway I spent the last several hours doing the transfer and all upgrades and setting up his MBP. There was one large surprise. It was was a i7 not a i5. Still had 16 gig of ram and 1T. His MBA was beat to crap. It took over 2 mins to boot, over 3 mins to load Word…. It was a mess. But we got all his software on the MBP first. Updated it to Ventura, put some other helpful stuff like Alfred, Unclutter, etc. Then we worked on transferring his documents and such. Took some time but everything is there. He loves his new machine. Starts in under 25 secs, Word load almost instantly. He is very happy. Thats all that matters.
I think $500 that is a fair deal, my dumb butt would have gave him the MacBook just to be nice.
then again my neighbor does not have window from a glass. or a step yet!
A 2020 with 16G/1T is neither obsolete nor base configuration. Don't warp the facts so that you can make a hyperbolic statement.
After reading the outcome, I'd say it was a good deal. Maybe not a great one, from a value standpoint, but good enough.
I'm not surprised he is happy. A brand new and powerful MacBook with high capacity of very recent vintage that does not have the dreaded butterfly keyboard. The only "compromise" IMO is not as great battery life as M1 MacBooks. People are making much bigger compromises for $500.
When he has his career in "Business Finance" I imagine affording best and latest will not be a problem.
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Update.... His first week back at college has been great. He loves his computer, his class's are going smoother cause there is no delay in his work. He has had a few questions cause he is learning a newer machine and OS. We have talked a lot. Kid is going to be something great one day. He is paying for college on his own with work, a small trust his grandfather setup, and being smart. Not many 20 year olds are debt free, and saving money. Yes he could have bought a M1. But he would rather save his money and make his life better. His parents are good folks too. Proud to know them both.
$500 for a brand new 13" i5 with those specs is a very good deal.