Which older intel macbook pro is best for

[DadEH]

Installing linux, upgrading ssd, long battery life.

I was thinking 2012 - 2015?

13" or 15"? 

Itll be for my lap only, and its just for my hobby so i dont need the lastest and greatest.

I hear 2016 to 19 has bad keyboards and screens?

 

[RONOTHAN##]

3 minutes ago, DadEH said:

I hear 2016 to 19 has bad keyboards and screens?

It's 2015 to 2019. You want to avoid models with the butteryfly keyboard, it doesn't feel good under the fingers and has a tendency to die out of nowhere. No idea about the screens, I forget when the short cable fiasco was. 

 

 

I don't know why you're considering a laptop that old though. If you just want to install Linux and get a machine with a long battery life, you'd be better off with a more modern Thinkpad that'll cost you just as much, have a better keyboard and be easier to fix. 

[Electronics Wizardy]

Gotta ask, why macbook? I'd go thinkpad or other buiness grade PC laptop here. Battery life is simmilar(or better as you can put bigger batteries in if you want), about the same perforance as the same chips. They typically have better linux compatibility too.

[Zando_]

None of them. You should be able to find a newer Windows laptop for the same price. Newer chips have made some significant leaps in both efficiency and performance, so pick a model with a large battery and you're golden. They'll have a normal screen resolution too, and regular trackpad drivers (IIRC I had to install some other ones when I ran Linux on my 2012 MacBook Pro). 

[Commodus]

15 minutes ago, DadEH said:

Installing linux, upgrading ssd, long battery life.

I was thinking 2012 - 2015?

13" or 15"? 

Itll be for my lap only, and its just for my hobby so i dont need the lastest and greatest.

I hear 2016 to 19 has bad keyboards and screens?

 

There's also the late 2019 16-inch MacBook Pro, although I don't know what will happen with the Touch Bar in Linux.

[DadEH]

13 minutes ago, Electronics Wizardy said:

Gotta ask, why macbook? I'd go thinkpad or other buiness grade PC laptop here. Battery life is simmilar(or better as you can put bigger batteries in if you want), about the same perforance as the same chips. They typically have better linux compatibility too.

All I see is windows laptops with Linux when I'm out at cafes, library's.  I had a 2012 and I loved it, and the accessories are vast.  It's just a hobby.

[rikitikitavi]

Latest you can get simply to get the snappiest CPU, also a fresh battery replacement might be easier to find.

13" to avoid any problems with dGPU, also if it is for fun and tinkering smaller one makes it less of a hassle to carry around.

 

2016-2019 had butterfly kbs, then MBs are back with regular keys, right before switching to M1. I will not say that the kb is/was BAD, but it is not the best experience (RIP '17 MBP 15"). Had to blow dust once in a while, but nothing critical like some people experienced. You might not have problems with them at all too, nor hate the typing feeling.

 

Now... do you really need an MacBook with a Linux distro just to standout in the crowd? The chassis were always build like a tank and looking timeless. Even the oldest unibody MBP I have ('09) feels awesome... but does it worth it to you buying an old product just for that?

 

My experience with the latest Ubuntu LTS on '12 MBA is that the battery life is significantly worse.

 

Did you consider just virtualizing Linux distro or dual booting on the machine you already have?

[Donut417]

On 9/3/2024 at 2:00 PM, DadEH said:

hear 2016 to 19 has bad keyboards and screens?

You want to hear about it look up Louis Rossmann on Youtube, he has an entire channel full of what defects their computers have. 

 

I have a 2020 Intel Mac and it works fine. That being said, doing a bit of quick research and I guess it can be a pain to install Linux on MacBooks that has the T2 chip, you need to make sure the Linux kernel for the distro your using supports it. 

 

If it were me, instead of going thru all the hoops you likely will need to jump thru. Id take @Electronics Wizardy advice on the Thinkpad OR maybe look at some of System 76's laptops as they come preinstalled with Pop! OS or Ubuntu, so they are designed for Linux in mind. 

[Brian McKee]

Quadcore unibody macbook would be my vote. Mid 2012 15 inch with fully upgraded ram will perform well in both MacOS and Linux.

 

Just make sure you repaste it.