MacBook help

[aisle9]

I'm looking into buying a MacBook Pro.

 

I know. I still hate them, but life with an iPhone prompted me to pick my iPad Mini 2 back up, then to see the light as to why people who use Apple fall into it so hard: it all ties together. Flawlessly. Seamlessly. In a way that Android and Windows devices don't, and with Chromebooks dead in the water and Windows phones just dead, Apple...makes sense?

 

So here's the thing: MacBook Pros, even used ones, are priced for idiots. The very idea of spending $150+ on a laptop from 2009 when I know I can get an equivalent ThinkPad for under $50 breaks my damn brain. I don't want to jump in the deep end and spend $1,200+ for a system that would cost me $800 as a Windows machine, so I'm looking at buying something in the middle there. Maybe something low-spec that I can open up and easily upgrade, like a unibody design with two RAM slots and a SATA SSD port. I'd really like to stay belown $300 at the absolute peak, including shipping, with this being a "the lower the better" situation. I'm dipping my feet in the pool, not jumping in the deep end.

 

As a total noob to the world of Macintosh (ok, post-1995 Macintosh), what should I be looking for?

[Sorenson]

Austin evans just did a video on this, i would go look at his channel.

[Firewrath9]

I'd recommend something around 2012-2014. I'm typing this on my MBA mid-2012. I got it as a gift back when it was new, and it still works fine (after 2 battery replacements). You can probably find something similar for 200$.

[aisle9]

56 minutes ago, Firewrath9 said:

I'd recommend something around 2012-2014. I'm typing this on my MBA mid-2012. I got it as a gift back when it was new, and it still works fine (after 2 battery replacements). You can probably find something similar for 200$.

Are you running unibody or retina? My preference is unibody...I think? It's chunkier, but easier to get into and upgrade from what I've seen, but I could be totally wrong.

[Firewrath9]

8 minutes ago, aisle9 said:

Are you running unibody or retina? My preference is unibody...I think? It's chunkier, but easier to get into and upgrade from what I've seen, but I could be totally wrong.

This is a MacBook Air. The unibodies are cheaper. The only upgradeable parts are SSD, I think, on unibody and retina's.

[aisle9]

4 minutes ago, Firewrath9 said:

This is a MacBook Air. The unibodies are cheaper. The only upgradeable parts are SSD, I think, on unibody and retina's.

Maybe a used Air is the right way to go, given that this is basically a trial run. If it doesn't come with 8GB of RAM (at least), I'd like to be able to add it, and I'd like to replace the hard drive with an SSD if one's not in there already. I think both are doable changes on a unibody/pre-retina, but I still can't figure out if you need a special Apple-certified drive or if that's only for much later M.2 SSDs.

[Firewrath9]

7 minutes ago, aisle9 said:

Maybe a used Air is the right way to go, given that this is basically a trial run. If it doesn't come with 8GB of RAM (at least), I'd like to be able to add it, and I'd like to replace the hard drive with an SSD if one's not in there already. I think both are doable changes on a unibody/pre-retina, but I still can't figure out if you need a special Apple-certified drive or if that's only for much later M.2 SSDs.

MBA's come with soldered ram, and the SSD is a SATA one. You can replace it, but the base model comes with a perfectly usable 128GB ssd. for 2.5" drives you can use any old drive, and the m.2-esque ones you can buy adapters/