Is the 2010 Macbook Pro any good today?

[ivanrcks95]

As the title says, see a lot of 2010-2012 MacBook Pros for sale recently for sub 250usd, majority being the core2duo ones. Are they any good today? Mostly looking to be used for office work, after an SSD swap, are they gonna be anywhere near responsive enough? Or just lag city? Any feedback will be appreciated cheers!

[SavageNeo]

for office work with a SSD they are enough. for literally anything else: no. also make sure that they have atleast 4gb of ram

[ivanrcks95]

1 minute ago, SavageNeo said:

for office work with a SSD they are enough. for literally anything else: no. also make sure that they have atleast 4gb of ram

The core 2 duo aged that badly ey? The early i5 models any better?

[SavageNeo]

1 minute ago, ivanrcks95 said:

The core 2 duo aged that badly ey? The early i5 models any better?

yeah. the i5 models should be much better

[ivanrcks95]

Just now, SavageNeo said:

yeah. the i5 models should be much better

Fair enough thanks, just wasnt sure how well optimised macos has stayed for older hardware. Looking at swapping my current laptop, it is a bit more powerful, but i need something more portable with better build quality, so im willing to "downgrade" as long as it can still do the tasks i need it for. Mostly chrome based spreadsheets work, with occasional zoom calls and word/excel.

[CommanderAlex]

My 2012 15" i7 with 16GB RAM and a 1TB SSD feels a lot faster than my 13" i5 mid 2014...shame the 2012 is not getting a newer OS anymore as it's still a capable machine. May look at using patchers in the future for it though.

[ivanrcks95]

Just now, SpiderMan said:

My 2012 15" i7 with 16GB RAM and a 1TB SSD feels a lot faster than my 13" i5 mid 2014...shame the 2012 is not getting a newer OS anymore as it's still a capable machine. May look at using patchers in the future for it though.

Theres no walkaround to get the latest MacOS working on them?

[CommanderAlex]

2 minutes ago, ivanrcks95 said:

Theres no walkaround to get the latest MacOS working on them?

There are patcher tools you can use from people that have created them. Don't know I can really talk about them due to CS (community standards). 

Latest the 2012 can run is macOS Catalina officially. 

[ProjectBox153]

They aren't bad, but get a 2012 model if you can. Those are a LOT better than the 2010 Core 2 Duo models. If you're looking for a 15" MBP then DO NOT BUY the 2011 model. A 2012 MBP will run up to macOS Catalina officially, and there are patchers to install macOS Big Sur. 

[ivanrcks95]

3 minutes ago, SpiderMan said:

There are patcher tools you can use from people that have created them. Don't know I can really talk about them due to CS (community standards). 

Latest the 2012 can run is macOS Catalina officially. 

Fair enough, and how well optimized is it? 

[ivanrcks95]

Just now, ProjectBox153 said:

They aren't bad, but get a 2012 model if you can. Those are a LOT better than the 2010 Core 2 Duo models. If you're looking for a 15" MBP then DO NOT BUY the 2011 model. A 2012 MBP will run up to macOS Catalina officially, and there are patchers to install macOS Big Sur. 

I was more looking at the 13inch ones, as i want to trade my laptop for something more portable with good build quality.

[ProjectBox153]

Just now, ivanrcks95 said:

I was more looking at the 13inch ones, as i want to trade my laptop for something more portable with good build quality.

Then find yourself a Mid 2012 13" in decent condition. Those are the best in terms of upgradeability and performance. The 2011 model isn't bad (well, the 15" and 17" models are terrible, but the 13" is fine), but you don't get USB 3. The 2012 also officially supports newer versions of macOS past High Sierra. 

[CommanderAlex]

1 minute ago, ivanrcks95 said:

I was more looking at the 13inch ones, as i want to trade my laptop for something more portable with good build quality.

Yeah try and avoid 2011 model MacBook Pro 15s as their dedicated GPUs are bound to fail and have been recalled by Apple after a huge press issue (seems the only way to get them to recall). Those replacement units still had a problem for some users. 2012 Unibodies are the best of their generation (I think overall with MBP).

 

A video that may provide some information on them.

 

[ivanrcks95]

1 minute ago, SpiderMan said:

Yeah try and avoid 2011 model MacBook Pro 15s as their dedicated GPUs are bound to fail and have been recalled by Apple after a huge press issue (seems the only way to get them to recall). Those replacement units still had a problem for some users. 2012 Unibodies are the best of their generation (I think overall with MBP).

 

A video that may provide some information on them.

 

Ah perfect, ill definitely have a look at this, thanks!

[ProjectBox153]

5 minutes ago, SpiderMan said:

Yeah try and avoid 2011 model MacBook Pro 15s as their dedicated GPUs are bound to fail and have been recalled by Apple after a huge press issue (seems the only way to get them to recall). Those replacement units still had a problem for some users.

The issue was a manufacturing defect from my understanding, so it wasn't really the fault of Apple. That GPU issue also affected the 2011 Mac mini (yes, there was a model with a dGPU) and the 2011 iMac. I own a 2011 15" MacBook Pro and a 2011 27" iMac, and I got both of them for free because they had GPU issues. 

[CommanderAlex]

1 minute ago, ivanrcks95 said:

Ah perfect, ill definitely have a look at this, thanks!

Your welcome!!! Also if you don't mind to do some DIY on a MacBook, look at ones that may have issues like a dead battery/no longer holding a charge or missing pads for the feet. You can easily replace them yourself. Don't bother looking at any with broken displays as replacements generally cost more than the broken device. Just know that these machines are 9 years old and the thermal paste should be replaced, otherwise, they can get hot/overheat/thermal throttle.

 

1 minute ago, ProjectBox153 said:

The issue was a manufacturing defect from my understanding, so it wasn't really the fault of Apple. That GPU issue also affected the 2011 Mac mini (yes, there was a model with a dGPU) and the 2011 iMac. 

Wow. I know trying to read info about the issue points to different reasons why they fail from what I've read. 

[ivanrcks95]

4 minutes ago, SpiderMan said:

Your welcome!!! Also if you don't mind to do some DIY on a MacBook, look at ones that may have issues like a dead battery/no longer holding a charge or missing pads for the feet. You can easily replace them yourself. Don't bother looking at any with broken displays as replacements generally cost more than the broken device. Just know that these machines are 9 years old and the thermal paste should be replaced, otherwise, they can get hot/overheat/thermal throttle.

Yeah, ive done a lot of DIY on my past two laptops so that wont be an issue, my concern was always how cheap are stuff like replacement batteries for them, from my limited knowledge i always assumed apple spares had a massive mark up on them.

[CommanderAlex]

2 minutes ago, ivanrcks95 said:

Yeah, ive done a lot of DIY on my past two laptops so that wont be an issue, my concern was always how cheap are stuff like replacement batteries for them, from my limited knowledge i always assumed apple spares had a massive mark up on them.

Of course, Apple OEM replacements will generally cost more. I purchased a replacement battery from a seller on Amazon that was around ~$50 for my 2012 as it was sold with a dead battery that didn't hold a charge at all. Another stick of 8GB DDR3 was like ~$27 (exact model of the stick it came with in the laptop). Had to buy a charger which was the most expensive as I got a MagSafe charger. I don't trust aftermarket chargers. 

[ivanrcks95]

7 minutes ago, SpiderMan said:

Of course, Apple OEM replacements will generally cost more. I purchased a replacement battery from a seller on Amazon that was around ~$50 for my 2012 as it was sold with a dead battery that didn't hold a charge at all. Another stick of 8GB DDR3 was like ~$27 (exact model of the stick it came with in the laptop). Had to buy a charger which was the most expensive as I got a MagSafe charger. I don't trust aftermarket chargers. 

Thats not that unreasonable, definitely a bit more than im used to considering i just bought 2x4gb of 1600mhz ddr3 ram for $15 for my new work PC, but still fair, i guess ill post my laptop up for sale then and start hunting for 2012 Macbook deals. Thanks for all the info.