Thinking of buying a later 2006 MBP 15"

[Michael.S]

You also should think about where to get a solid replacement battery that doesn't stop charging after a 6 months of usage or extends its innards and so damages the rest of the notebook by bending it. Or worse.

I live in Germany and am currently doing exatcly this: searching for a solid product.
You can't be sure of that when buying on ebay as most of these batteries are poorly manufactued.

And when you run these machines WITHOUT battery, they will be throttled, I believe (but I could be wrong).

 

[Amethyst1]

And when you run these machines WITHOUT battery, they will be throttled, I believe (but I could be wrong).

Correct. The CPU will downclock to 1 GHz.

 

[Michael.S]

Regarding a potentially good battery if you live in Germany I found two options so far that sound promising - at least on paper.

1. Newertech:
This is coming from the well known brand OWC, who makes all sorts of things for Apple products.
I have found a battery for the 17" and I assume there is also one available for 15". Li-Ion technology.
Should be available in the US, I saw it on the B&H Photo website.

2. 2-power:
licensed by Duracell, a well known battery brand
Same here for 17" and 15" respectively. Li-Polymer technology.
For this I don't know if that is available in the States or outside Europe.

I guess for you US people the first one would be the one to go with.

Ah, and I would also consider to replace the PRAM battery on this model as well.

 

[Haemoglobin]

Hey guys, thanks for the info. I'm waiting on a flexi SATA cable to see if my friends laptop can be repaired.
I'm giving serious thought to buying it from him if it fixes the HDD issues. Mainly because working on it these past couple of weeks has made me realise I'm a little out the loop when it comes to more modern Mac's and later versions of OSx. Thing is, call me a purist or whatever, but I lost interest in Mac's after the shift away from PPC. The shift to Intel for me, it just took away one of the things that separated Apple from yet another Winblows box.

Talking to a friend about the most modern Apple devices, it's kind of shocking to me, how the company has gone from the expandable 1999 G3 Blue & White to machines that you can't even fit a new hard drive to. It's not for me, I like to tinker too much, heck i wouldn't have a house full of old machines if I didn't like rolling my sleeves up lol

Well that's my ramble for the day done! Thanks everyone for the advice and info, been very helpful. I've decided to hold off buying an aluminum MBP due to the GPU issue, unless I can spot one in the wild that has the green sticker.

 

[TheShortTimer]

You also should think about where to get a solid replacement battery that doesn't stop charging after a 6 months of usage or extends its innards and so damages the rest of the notebook by bending it. Or worse.

I've had this happen with numerous original Apple batteries in a variety of machines. Their products are often far from a gold standard of reliability. The charging capacity of the unit in my 15" 2012 MBP deteriorated in a shockingly short space of time - beyond the warranty coverage, of course.

I live in Germany and am currently doing exatcly this: searching for a solid product.
You can't be sure of that when buying on ebay as most of these batteries are poorly manufactued.

Again, the quality control on Apple's products is far from impeccable. I'll never forget the incident where my MagSafe flex burned away and it was sheer luck that I wasn't asleep or distracted at the time and I was able to act quickly enough to prevent damage to the laptop and a fire hazard in my home. Apple's response when challenged on the phone and in person was to initially deflect onto me that the charger was out of warranty.

Regarding a potentially good battery if you live in Germany I found two options so far that sound promising - at least on paper.

1. Newertech:
This is coming from the well known brand OWC, who makes all sorts of things for Apple products.
I have found a battery for the 17" and I assume there is also one available for 15". Li-Ion technology.
Should be available in the US, I saw it on the B&H Photo website.

At one point I looked at Newertech and was tempted but then decided against it after reading reviews, blogs and posts by people who warned that their batteries do not live up to the marketing and the cost. OWC's products are notoriously overpriced and personally I'd only consider them as an absolute last resort.

2. 2-power:
licensed by Duracell, a well known battery brand
Same here for 17" and 15" respectively. Li-Polymer technology.
For this I don't know if that is available in the States or outside Europe.

I'll look into this brand. Thanks.

Ah, and I would also consider to replace the PRAM battery on this model as well.

I might consider this also.

 

[TheShortTimer]

Talking to a friend about the most modern Apple devices, it's kind of shocking to me, how the company has gone from the expandable 1999 G3 Blue & White to machines that you can't even fit a new hard drive to. It's not for me, I like to tinker too much, heck i wouldn't have a house full of old machines if I didn't like rolling my sleeves up lol

You're not alone - I'd wager that most of us - myself included share your disillusionment with Apple's misguided direction in recent years.

 

[Michael.S]

You're not alone - I'd wager that most of us - myself included share your disillusionment with Apple's misguided direction in recent years.

Same here.

If it would be possible I would keep
my Mac Pro forever.
Of course as a G5 version but „unfortunately“ I happened to buy the 12 core Intel variant. Oh my 🙃
Still, I love working on it and it still is capable of doing what I want from it.

But a PPC had it‘s own charm.
It was „different“

 

[Michael.S]

At one point I looked at Newertech and was tempted but then decided against it after reading reviews, blogs and posts by people who warned that their batteries do not live up to the marketing and the cost. OWC's products are notoriously overpriced and personally I'd only consider them as an absolute last resort.

I was not expecting this.

Seems like similar to the 3rd party products iFixit offers.

Thank you for the info.

I probably go with the 2-power brand myself, if I don’t find any bad stories about it or another alternative brands.

But getting decent batteries for these machines is probably a big portion of luck I‘m afraid.

 

[TheShortTimer]

Same here.

If it would be possible I would keep
my Mac Pro forever.
Of course as a G5 version but „unfortunately“ I happened to buy the 12 core Intel variant. Oh my 🙃
Still, I love working on it and it still is capable of doing what I want from it.

But a PPC had it‘s own charm.
It was „different“

I've ranted endlessly that Apple has lost sight of its ideals - the production of computers that grew with the user through the years and could accommodate their changing needs over time. What they're offering nowadays doesn't appeal to me and with a similar philosophy to you, I'll use and maintain my hardware for as long as possible.

I was not expecting this.

Seems like similar to the 3rd party products iFixit offers.

Thank you for the info.

I probably go with the 2-power brand myself, if I don’t find any bad stories about it or another alternative brands.

But getting decent batteries for these machines is probably a big portion of luck I‘m afraid.

You're welcome. I needed replacement batteries for several Macs and almost purchased the Newertech units till I read the negative experiences of customers who'd bought batteries that barely lasted to the end of the warranty period. Here's one such anecdote. If you do go with the 2-Power brand then please report back with your findings because it will be helpful to people such as myself who are looking for replacements.

Just today I accidentally yanked the MagSafe connector out of my 2006 MBP and lost several days of work. It's nothing that was irreplaceable but I was annoyed because the project had reached 70% progress. Ironically, I transferred the project to another Mac today and after a few hours it's already at 50% and will probably reach completion the evening.

The impact of CPU throttling due to a deficient battery is striking.

 

[profcutter]

I've ranted endlessly that Apple has lost sight of its ideals - the production of computers that grew with the user through the years and could accommodate their changing needs over time. What they're offering nowadays doesn't appeal to me and with a similar philosophy to you, I'll use and maintain my hardware for as long as possible.



You're welcome. I needed replacement batteries for several Macs and almost purchased the Newertech units till I read the negative experiences of customers who'd bought batteries that barely lasted to the end of the warranty period. Here's one such anecdote. If you do go with the 2-Power brand then please report back with your findings because it will be helpful to people such as myself who are looking for replacements.

Just today I accidentally yanked the MagSafe connector out of my 2006 MBP and lost several days of work. It's nothing that was irreplaceable but I was annoyed because the project had reached 70% progress. Ironically, I transferred the project to another Mac today and after a few hours it's already at 50% and will probably reach completion the evening.

The impact of CPU throttling due to a deficient battery is striking.

While I agree with you that apple is going in a direction that doesn’t agree with me, at some point it’s becomes about cutting off your nose to spite your face. I finally upgraded to an m1 MBp, and while the problems are indeed annoying - and far from trivial - the speed of the new machines and their reliability in the short term at least is undeniable. If that project you’re working on took 1 hour on your newer machine, expect that if it’s m1 compatible software, it could take an order of magnitude of time less. Without fans running. Yeah, it’s a trade off, and yes, I agree with all of your concerns, I feel the same way. But if you’re losing precious work time and having to redo projects? That’s when for me I would lose patience with the whole endeavor.

 

[GMShadow]

I put a NewerTech battery in my MBA 1,1 in late 2014, and it shorted a cell in early 2016 (which is when I decided to just retire the machine rather than keep limping it along).

Of course my bought-new in 2017 MBA had the battery last about 2 years before it too shorted a cell, so...perhaps the takeaway is batteries suck.

 

[TheShortTimer]

While I agree with you that apple is going in a direction that doesn’t agree with me, at some point it’s becomes about cutting off your nose to spite your face. I finally upgraded to an m1 MBp, and while the problems are indeed annoying - and far from trivial - the speed of the new machines and their reliability in the short term at least is undeniable.

Fair enough and I'm genuinely happy that your new machine is working out for you in terms of the performance gains. I'd be surprised if there wasn't some advantages to be had with the latest machines. For me, the issue is that I'd lose more than I'd gain as the benefits would be outweighed by the disadvantages because there are particular tasks that I couldn't accomplish on the newer Macs so I'm prepared to live with that.

If that project you’re working on took 1 hour on your newer machine, expect that if it’s m1 compatible software, it could take an order of magnitude of time less. Without fans running. Yeah, it’s a trade off, and yes, I agree with all of your concerns, I feel the same way. But if you’re losing precious work time and having to redo projects? That’s when for me I would lose patience with the whole endeavor.

It was a personal project: not a life or death matter and I had to start from scratch due to my sheer clumsiness which led to a power loss on a machine that really needs a replacement battery. (Although the drastic differential in the timescale does support your rationale.) Its fans aren't running either - it's dead quiet but I know what you mean because I've experienced that with other activities.

P.S: what's the motherboard in your avatar?

 

[profcutter]

Fair enough and I'm genuinely happy that your new machine is working out for you in terms of the performance gains. I'd be surprised if there wasn't some advantages to be had with the latest machines. For me, the issue is that I'd lose more than I'd gain as the benefits would be outweighed by the disadvantages because there are particular tasks that I couldn't accomplish on the newer Macs so I'm prepared to live with that.



It was a personal project: not a life or death matter and I had to start from scratch due to my sheer clumsiness which led to a power loss on a machine that really needs a replacement battery. (Although the drastic differential in the timescale does support your rationale.) Its fans aren't running either - it's dead quiet but I know what you mean because I've experienced that with other activities.

P.S: what's the motherboard in your avatar?

I see, yeah, that makes a difference. I just know in my own experience sometimes I let my refusal to accept the present harm my overall goals. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. I refuse to buy a car with an automatic, I don't care if they're faster on a track, when I'm driving, I like to be in control. So far that's served me well.

I'm currently on the search for a real mechanical keyboard because these little chiclet keys on the MBp are driving me nuts, even though I know they're better than the butterfly fiasco. The keys on my 2010 17" were far better. I wish they would make a machine like that: Big screen, real keyboard travel, but fast, with apple silicon performance, but replaceable SSD and RAM. No chance, I know.

In my mid-life, I'm less tolerant of technological BS SNAFUs, largely because I'm feeling the lack of remuneration for all the work I do in my career. It's worth it to me now to spend a bit of money to avoid setbacks like lost projects, because I can barely summon the energy to do the work I have to do through all the resentment I have for my job... TMI I suspect.

As for the motherboard pic, don't hate me, I stole the picture. I believe it's an Apple IIGS. I always liked those, they're like the C128, so much potential but never fully explored, though the IIGS was better in that regard than the commodore.

 

[eyoungren]

I see, yeah, that makes a difference. I just know in my own experience sometimes I let my refusal to accept the present harm my overall goals. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. I refuse to buy a car with an automatic, I don't care if they're faster on a track, when I'm driving, I like to be in control. So far that's served me well.

My mother taught me to drive on manual trans. We had enough hills that I learned to balance steady with the clutch and gas. Unfortunately, my last manual trans was the '85 Accord my parents gave my wife and I. All our other cars have also been gifted, but with automatics. As much as I love manual, you don't look gift horses in the mouth (so to speak).

In my mid-life, I'm less tolerant of technological BS SNAFUs, largely because I'm feeling the lack of remuneration for all the work I do in my career. It's worth it to me now to spend a bit of money to avoid setbacks like lost projects, because I can barely summon the energy to do the work I have to do through all the resentment I have for my job... TMI I suspect.

And this is where I tie things in to Intel Macs to be on-topic…

I worked for a boss for 14.5 years that basically expected the work to be done but routinely failed to provide the resources to achieve that and was incompetent in HR matters. Since I was the only person in my department (a small business) that left me to my own devices and I used the Intel Mac and PowerPC Macs I had to come up with workarounds to get the job done. Towards the end I was buying my own paper so I could print out proofs.

In 2013 the PowerMac G5 'died'. I knew I could fix it, but I took that chance to upgrade by declaring it dead and forcing the boss to buy a refurb 2010 Mac Pro. He was VERY unhappy when he learned that it only cost me $60 to swap out logicboards for the G5.

I get where you're at.

 

[Michael.S]

@profcutter Why don’t you buy an external Apple Keyboard from 2010? Don’t remember the model number but I’m talking the flat silver one with white keys. That should have the same mechanics as your beloved 17”. I bought one for 20 bucks. It’s not real mechanical but since you loved the one on the MBPro I mention it. And it has 2 USB ports 😉

 

[profcutter]

@profcutter Why don’t you buy an external Apple Keyboard from 2010? Don’t remember the model number but I’m talking the flat silver one with white keys. That should have the same mechanics as your beloved 17”. I bought one for 20 bucks. It’s not real mechanical but since you loved the one on the MBPro I mention it. And it has 2 USB ports 😉

Yeah, that's actually a good idea. Instead, I've decided to overcompensate. If I'm going external, I want clicks and clacks, and 5mm of travel. So I'm looking at a Code keyboard with Blue Switches, or a Model M if Unicomp can ever get their chips in order. I would even do an original model M, but they're very expensive, and by the time you buy a PS2 to USB adaptor, then a USB to USBC adaptor, you've bought a couple keyboards!

 

[profcutter]

My mother taught me to drive on manual trans. We had enough hills that I learned to balance steady with the clutch and gas. Unfortunately, my last manual trans was the '85 Accord my parents gave my wife and I. All our other cars have also been gifted, but with automatics. As much as I love manual, you don't look gift horses in the mouth (so to speak).

Makes sense, for sure. I have a 3 hour commute each way, and I'm not getting any gift cars, if I was, I'm sure I'd be more flexible too! There's no car better than a free car!

And this is where I tie things in to Intel Macs to be on-topic…

I worked for a boss for 14.5 years that basically expected the work to be done but routinely failed to provide the resources to achieve that and was incompetent in HR matters. Since I was the only person in my department (a small business) that left me to my own devices and I used the Intel Mac and PowerPC Macs I had to come up with workarounds to get the job done. Towards the end I was buying my own paper so I could print out proofs.

In 2013 the PowerMac G5 'died'. I knew I could fix it, but I took that chance to upgrade by declaring it dead and forcing the boss to buy a refurb 2010 Mac Pro. He was VERY unhappy when he learned that it only cost me $60 to swap out logicboards for the G5.

I get where you're at.

Yeah exactly. That's why I'm not even fighting them about replacing my 2017 iMac. It works fine, but they want to replace it? Fine. I need a 5k screen and they told me I need a studio. OK, it ain't my money and it's certainly not reflected in my salary one way or the other!

 

[TheShortTimer]

I see, yeah, that makes a difference. I just know in my own experience sometimes I let my refusal to accept the present harm my overall goals. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. I refuse to buy a car with an automatic, I don't care if they're faster on a track, when I'm driving, I like to be in control. So far that's served me well.

Totally agree. This is precisely why I advised the OP against considering the MacBook Pro 1,1 range. Despite my personal sentimentality for the machine - and its continued viability in many areas, I had to acknowledge that it would be a bad choice for a newcomer as their first/sole Intel Mac.

What really hit home for me about the importance of being aware when you need to embrace progress for your own good and overall goals was during sessions where I de-noised Laserdisc captures (lossless if anyone is curious) and each side of the discs took 24 hours for my WinBox to process. Its CPU was the fastest within its class but had become woefully inadequate in the face of its successors which would've blitzed through the de-noising in a fraction of the time and thus provided me with a far more efficient workflow.

I'm currently on the search for a real mechanical keyboard because these little chiclet keys on the MBp are driving me nuts, even though I know they're better than the butterfly fiasco. The keys on my 2010 17" were far better. I wish they would make a machine like that: Big screen, real keyboard travel, but fast, with apple silicon performance, but replaceable SSD and RAM. No chance, I know.

At one point I would've argued that Apple might change direction if their revenues declined but I've come to the conclusion that their core target market is no longer computer enthusiasts and instead consumers who want seasonal, disposable fashion pieces which are discarded once the season expires in favour of the new seasons selections.

In my mid-life, I'm less tolerant of technological BS SNAFUs, largely because I'm feeling the lack of remuneration for all the work I do in my career. It's worth it to me now to spend a bit of money to avoid setbacks like lost projects, because I can barely summon the energy to do the work I have to do through all the resentment I have for my job... TMI I suspect.

Not at all!

When it comes to many areas of life - including technology I think it's worthwhile to open your wallet and as my oldest brother would say, shut your eyes and hand over the money because although it's often possible to do things on the cheap, you can equally often end up paying more in the long run.

As for the motherboard pic, don't hate me, I stole the picture. I believe it's an Apple IIGS. I always liked those, they're like the C128, so much potential but never fully explored, though the IIGS was better in that regard than the commodore.

I couldn't hate you when my own avatar is obviously stolen too.

Ok, cool. Can't recall ever seeing the Apple IIGS here in the UK. Don't get me started on Commodore - it's a miracle that they survived till the 90s.

 

[Haemoglobin]

I can't really pass comment on the hardware, but all I will say, coming from an IT background, is that if you're using machines that old to surf the net, you must be very careful, as software support / security updates went out many years ago. You say you're already using old Macs for this, so I guess you maybe know the risks, but thought it was worth mentioning.

For some reason I didn't see you message until now.. Yes, certainly aware of the risks. But for the most part, I use my iBook for posting on here, accessing Macintosh Garden etc. I'm not doing my online banking

 

[rampancy]

If you're keen on getting a MacBook Pro that looks like a PowerBook G4, you have four generations to choose from, each available with 15" and 17" screens...

Heh, thanks to @Amethyst1 for posting this. I like to think this is also because I keep asking about it so many times...

I have a decent stable of pre-unibody MacBook Pros in my collection, from the original 1,1 to my "green dot" 3,1 machines, and I genuinely really enjoy them. Far, far more than I expected. The display is wonderful compared to the 13" A1181s I used to daily drive more often, and the keyboard and overall aesthetics still hold up beautifully well even today (IMO). I wouldn't use any of my MacBook Pros for any kind of 3D or WINE-based gaming for fear of overheating the CPU, but for most tasks, they're quite acceptable. With the RAM maxed out and an SSD (even a budget-level DRAM-less model), they're a joy to use. I was actually quite happy with my janky MacBook Pro 3,1 until I ended up getting my iMac.

What I often do to mitigate CPU overheating on my RM X1600-equipped Macs is run ShadowKiller, using and set my display to Thousands of Colours using DisplayMaestro. That limits me to 10.6.8 but I'm hoping that the reduced strain on the GPU will help eke out a bit more life out of it.

One more thing - if/when you do get one, make sure to pair it with a working (it doesn't have to be new, just working) battery, that way your system won't downclock to 1 Ghz or be affected by potential boot issues.

 

[Amethyst1]

What I often do to mitigate CPU overheating on my RM X1600-equipped Macs is run ShadowKiller, using and set my display to Thousands of Colours using DisplayMaestro. That limits me to 10.6.8 but I'm hoping that the reduced strain on the GPU will help eke out a bit more life out of it.

FWIW, disabling shadows works on 10.10.5 and older versions and using SwitchResX, I can set Thousands of Colours on 10.9.5 and older versions.

 

[AphoticD]

In theory, disabling the graphics driver (kext) would limit the OS to software rendering and prevent GPU processing entirely.

It would be interesting to benchmark this and monitor differences in component temperatures.

 

[Michael.S]

I was not expecting this.

Seems like similar to the 3rd party products iFixit offers.

Thank you for the info.

I probably go with the 2-power brand myself, if I don’t find any bad stories about it or another alternative brands.

But getting decent batteries for these machines is probably a big portion of luck I‘m afraid.

So just wanted to give an update to this.
I do have a 2-power branded battery for my MacBook Pro 4.1 now. Here some details:

Battery Information:
Model Information:
Serial Number: C01514309YEF90MA4
Manufacturer: 2-power
Device Name: A1189
Pack Lot Code: 3230
PCB Lot Code: 30db
Firmware Version: ddae
Hardware Revision: dac2
Cell Revision: 2b39
Charge Information:
Charge Remaining (mAh): 6709
Fully Charged: No
Charging: Yes
Full Charge Capacity (mAh): 6776
Health Information:
Cycle Count: 2
Condition: Normal
Battery Installed: Yes
Amperage (mA): 1163
Voltage (mV): 12482

So it is in a pretty new condition now.
I had it lying around for a while as my former MacBook Pro 4.1 died on GPU failure and it took some time until I found an replacement - which I actually write this text on

After trying the battery out for the 1st time it still showed a capacity of 73%.
But after it went down to 41 the Mac shot down.

After charging it back again to 100% this drop hasn't happen any more.

I think the charge holds between 2-2.5 h.

We'll see how it develops.