Should I buy a 2012 MacBook Pro in 2020

[Noah Wesselby]

Hi,

I really want a Mac but I have a tiny budget of £330 

For a used 13inch i5 model in good condition it’s £270 

8gb ram £30

120gb ssd is £17

Should I do it?

[harryk]

Look for a 2015 model. It is the newest of that design generation.

 

Otherwise don't get anything older than the Late 2013 model. It was the first with Haswell chips which brought a major improvement in battery life. It is also the oldest supported by the newest version of macOS. 

 

128 GB SSD is too small for most things, though you can upgrade it yourself. You cannot upgrade the memory yourself so think about your needs and purchase the right laptop. 8 GB will be enough for most things.

[Random_Person1234]

The 2012 MacBook Pros are just being killed off from software updates. I would look for something 2013 or later for macOS Big Sur support.

[LogicalDrm]

-> Moved to Laptops and Pre-Build Systems

[BlueChinchillaEatingDorito]

4 hours ago, Noahmid2009mbp said:

Hi,

I really want a Mac but I have a tiny budget of £330 

For a used 13inch i5 model in good condition it’s £270 

8gb ram £30

120gb ssd is £17

Should I do it?

If you absolutely need to have one now, you might be able to still upgrade that to Big sur later down the road with a Big Sur patcher if the developer for the Catalina and Mojave patcher makes one for Big Sur. But for best results, I would see if you can snatch yourself a Retina MacBook. The extra resolution will make a world of difference especially on Big Sur. 

http://dosdude1.com/catalina/

[Lord Vile]

9 hours ago, Noahmid2009mbp said:

Hi,

I really want a Mac but I have a tiny budget of £330 

For a used 13inch i5 model in good condition it’s £270 

8gb ram £30

120gb ssd is £17

Should I do it?

I'd look at 2015 MacBook's they're the ones before the butterfly keyboards