[USED] Macbook Pro mid 2012 vs other laptops?

sebasura · October 7, 2019

First of all, I really hate that Macs are so overrated and pricey and low-spec. But I do acknowledge that their software is pretty fast, also I'll be using this laptop to code, so I can also code in Swift using Mac OS.

A friend is selling his Macbook Pro mid 2012 (the one with an i5 and 4g ram) for around $285 ($200.000 CLP to be precise), and at this price range I don't know if I can get a better used laptop. I mean, the specs I'm pretty sure are trash, but the build quality, the touchpad, keyboard, battery life and screen (even though it's not Retina) are good enough for me. I don't know a laptop that has the same build quality with better specs at that price when used.

Can you help me deciding between this used macbook and other laptops you think could be better? (also used, of course)

Thanks.

SpookyCitrus · October 7, 2019

Just be careful 2010 to 2012 Macbooks had GPU issues, only way to fix them is a GPU replacement or a Logic Board replacement, preferably one that has had the GPU redone already. You should test it really well before purchase, or you're looking at another $250+ if you have to get the GPU redone or LB replaced.

sebasura · October 7, 2019

13 minutes ago, SpookyCitrus said:

Just be careful 2010 to 2012 Macbooks had GPU issues, only way to fix them is a GPU replacement or a Logic Board replacement, preferably one that has had the GPU redone already. You should test it really well before purchase, or you're looking at another $250+ if you have to get the GPU redone or LB replaced.

Wow I didn't know that. Is there a way to know if the model will fail or is it just luck? This person is not going to scam me, if it fails, he will tell me. The thing is, what if I buy it and a few months later it fails? jeez. I don't think here in Chile there are good Apple repair shops like Louis Rossman's lol, and the price will be definitely higher.

How should I test it?

SpookyCitrus · October 7, 2019

29 minutes ago, sebasura said:

Wow I didn't know that. Is there a way to know if the model will fail or is it just luck? This person is not going to scam me, if it fails, he will tell me. The thing is, what if I buy it and a few months later it fails? jeez. I don't think here in Chile there are good Apple repair shops like Louis Rossman's lol, and the price will be definitely higher.

How should I test it?

It's really more of just luck. They can fail at anytime, working fine one day then the next morning it's all jacked up. Playing a high resolution YouTube video for a couple hours would suffice you want it to stress the GPU but not too much like a full blown stress test. If you can play a 4K YouTube video on it for a couple hours with no issues it's probably fine. But just know that if it's a stock GPU then it has a good chance it may fail on you even if it initially tested ok.