sweet spot for used unibody MBP 15"?

[Racer X]

any to stay away from? I figure last version. I know somewhere mid run they had bad video/motherboards.

[hal]

lots of info in this article that I read the other day that you might find interesting

I bought a four-year-old MacBook Pro instead of a new one. Here’s why

[AllGold]

I think the sweet spot is the mid-2012 non-retina. USB3, upgradable RAM and hard drive, runs any OS, and no video card failures. Very inexpensive.

If you want a retina display, obviously you have to go newer and off the top of my head I don't remember which had video card failures (other than the late 2012 retina). Someone should be by shortly to fill you in on which 2013 and later machines are the good ones.

[NewtonMP2100]

.....the mid 2015 is the last one with old keyboard and many ports.....got lucky with a refurbished one for $1167 with full Apple warranty (it was the last one - it was Apple refurb but not sold at Apple Store)....Apple Store refurb for same model is $1699....

[Gareth]

In terms of Retinas with the old keyboards, late 2013 to mid 2015 are all fine and can be upgraded with NVMe SSDs via a cheap adapter. The newer you go, the faster the stock SSD will be.

I loved the last 2012’s, but I think they’re a little long in the tooth now (unless you want 8TB of internal storage and then the 2012 will be your only option).

I replaced my 2012 with a late 2013 years ago and haven’t missed the 2012 at all.

[NewtonMP2100]

NewtonMP2100 wrote:
.....the mid 2015 is the last one with old keyboard and many ports.....got lucky with a refurbished one for $1167 with full Apple warranty (it was the last one - it was Apple refurb but not sold at Apple Store)....Apple Store refurb for same model is $1699....

......the refurb for this model and the larger sized ones are already gone.....

[mikebw]

I've been using a MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Mid 2015) and it is really an amazing little machine. Top of the line model- 2.8 GHz Intel Core i7,16GB RAM, 1TB SSD. It was issued to me by my employer; I probably never would have bought such a computer for myself but I will definitely consider one in the future if I have the need.

It's not upgradeable, but I like that it has a few USB A ports, HDMI out, and an SD card reader.

[kahuna1342]

I am still running my mid-2012 MBP 2.6 i7 high-res matte screen (non-retina). Upgraded to 16GB of RAM and a 2TB SSD. It is still very capable for everything that I do (Adobe CC apps, and some light video work) Probably won't upgrade until it dies. Looks like they are still going for $500-$800 on eBay.

[Robert M]

Racer,

Hal's article offers a compelling reason to go with a Pre-2016 MBP 15". However, if you're going to use the MBP 15" as a desktop machine with an external display and keyboard and pointing device, then the keyboard issues of the 2016 and newer machines isn't really a factor.

If I planned to use the machine as a laptop, I'd go with a 2015 model. I'm _very_ tough on keyboards and I'd be concerned they keyboard of a 2016 or newer MBP wouldn't hold up at all under my kind of usage. I have a 2015 MBP and can vouch for them. They are fast, solid machines.

Since I use a laptop as a desktop machine with an external display and keyboard and pointing device, if I were to buy an MBP 15", I'd consider a 2016 or newer model. No doubt about it. I'd buy it as a refurb with some kind of warranty, though.

BTW, OWC has some nice choices:



Robert

[hal]

kahuna1342 wrote:
I am still running my mid-2012 MBP 2.6 i7 high-res matte screen (non-retina). Upgraded to 16GB of RAM and a 2TB SSD. It is still very capable for everything that I do (Adobe CC apps, and some light video work) Probably won't upgrade until it dies. Looks like they are still going for $500-$800 on eBay.

I just sold one of those (2.6, HR, matte) with 16GB and a 1TB SSD for more than $800 - and it didn't take long to sell. People still like these. Still feels like a solid machine. I like the 2.9GHz i7 2012 13 too.