Oldest Macbook pro that can take current release OS?

matt167

[H]ard|Gawd
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I am a Mac newb. I've dabbled with them but never got or cared to use one. My girlfriend told me she wants one for work purposes for christmas. She had an older macbook when I met her, but it died. She has been without a laptop for years, but she is an Apple user.. I cannot wrap my head around spending $2k+ for one, when all she is going to use it for is facebook, a word processor and syncing to her Iphone.. Is there a happy medium on a refurb year where she can have an older machine with the brand new experience?
 
In the United States, a brand new MacBook Pro 13" starts at $1299 for a totally usable configuration. Which country are you in that they are all over $2000?
 
Well entry level Macbook's have never been $2000. The Air has started at $999 (and often $899) for years, and the MBP 13" behind it at $1200 or so. $2000 for base model doesn't hit until the 15", but the 15" inch is obviously and clearly intended for professionals that need that kind of hardware (it bumps up to discrete GPUs, processors with more than 4 cores, and much higher RAM and SSD configurations).

To answer your question directly, yes there is a refurb section, but now with Apple M1 out it seems capitally stupid to not buy an M1 equipped Mac unless you still need to run a bunch of x86 programs. From your description it doesn't sound that way at all for her. In that case I'd buy a new base level Macbook Air for $1000. It's incredibly fast, will basically do all of her tasks instantly (including wake), has a 20 hour battery life, and is completely silent (passively cooled).

If you want the machine to last for 5+ years and need more HDD space than 256GB, then I'd recommend stepping up to 16GB of RAM and 512GB of space which can be done for $1459. If she really never does a task beyond browsing and FB and general office tasks + Netflix, then 8GB of RAM will be plenty. The M1 Macs turn the idea of needing a bunch of RAM on its head. Believe whatever you want but even the 8GB config is probably good enough for most users. The M1 smokes every Intel desktop chip and trades blows with every AMD chip. So again, I can't stress enough that not buying an M1 equipped Mac is basically a terrible idea. Not to mention as this is Apple's way forward, the ARM based chips will be supported longer into the future than x86 ones.

I'd also recommend checking other authorized resellers for M1 custom configs. Both Adorama and B&H have had $50 deals off and on since these new machines launched (which isn't huge but hey $50 is $50). Some configs have a deeper discount. Some none at all.
 
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I have a 15" retina early 2013 with 10.15.7.. Any older and I fear I wont be getting much support, but works fine!

macOS Catalina HW support:
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT210222
True, you can go this route as well, but you can also expect that basically every year towards the end will drop off into what Apple calls "vintage" (the no longer updated/supported list). The first Retina Macbook Pros and 5k iMacs have just entered that list.
If support and updates matter than buying something on the edge of what is going out I can't really recommend. Also people tend to want more than what I think those machines are worth for a lot of configs. You maybe be able to buy something for $500-$600 or so, but there will be a more than 4x difference in speed between any of those machines and a base level M1 equipped Macbook Air at $999, not to mention the other major benefits like I mentioned in terms of battery life and all the other side benefits or running M1.

EDIT: Also technically the latest OS is Big Sur, now officially called macOS 11. Your 2013 MBP is still barely supported. It's likely next year it won't be. https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT211238
 
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Well entry level Macbook's have never been $2000. The Air has started at $999 (and often $899) for years, and the MBP 13" behind it at $1200 or so. $2000 for base model doesn't hit until the 15", but the 15" inch is obviously and clearly intended for professionals that need that kind of hardware (it bumps up to discrete GPUs, processors with more than 4 cores, and much higher RAM and SSD configurations).

To answer your question directly, yes there is a refurb section, but now with Apple M1 out it seems capitally stupid to not buy an M1 equipped Mac unless you still need to run a bunch of x86 programs. From your description it doesn't sound that way at all for her. In that case I'd buy a new base level Macbook Air for $1000. It's incredibly fast, will basically do all of her tasks instantly (including wake), has a 20 hour battery life, and is completely silent (passively cooled).

If you want the machine to last for 5+ years and need more HDD space than 256GB, then I'd recommend stepping up to 16GB of RAM and 512GB of space which can be done for $1459. If she really never does a task beyond browsing and FB and general office tasks + Netflix, then 8GB of RAM will be plenty. The M1 Macs turn the idea of needing a bunch of RAM on its head. Believe whatever you want but even the 8GB config is probably good enough for most users. The M1 smokes every Intel desktop chip and trades blows with every AMD chip. So again, I can't stress enough that not buying an M1 equipped Mac is basically a terrible idea. Not to mention as this is Apple's way forward, the ARM based chips will be supported longer into the future than x86 ones.

I'd also recommend checking other authorized resellers for M1 custom configs. Both Adorama and B&H have had $50 deals off and on since these new machines launched (which isn't huge but hey $50 is $50). Some configs have a deeper discount. Some none at all.
Agree with UnknownS. Get the base Macbook Air for $1000 and if she ever uses up the drive go with external/network/cloud storage. Fin!
 
I'm the kind of person who generally buys the $200 decent laptop/ notebook without an HDD on ebay, sticks in an SSD, loads win 7/10 and calls it good ( for myself ). So spending $1k on any laptop is new to me. She wants a Pro for the 15" screen and is very stubborn.
I would rather spend $1,100 or so on a 15" gaming laptop for her, as she is also a console gamer when she has time, BUT it's not a mac product and she won't like it
 
I've got a 2014 MacBook Pro that I just put Big Sur on. Works fine.

This is a list,

Which Macs can run macOS 11 Big Sur?​

  • MacBook (2015 or newer)
  • MacBook Air (2013 or newer)
  • MacBook Pro (Late 2013 or newer)
  • Mac mini (2014 or newer)
  • iMac (2014 or newer)
  • iMac Pro (from 2017)
  • Mac Pro (2013 or newer)
 
Your 2013 MBP is still barely supported. It's likely next year it won't be.
When moving from PPC to x86, Apple released only two versions of OS X (now macOS) which ran on both architectures. If that repeats then macOS 12 will be the last version to run on x86 anyway.
 
Get a late 2013 15 MBP. You can probably find one for ~$400. It is still a very solid machine. I've had mine for years and never had the urge to upgrade and I have plenty of fast Windows computer to compare it to.
 
I'm the kind of person who generally buys the $200 decent laptop/ notebook without an HDD on ebay, sticks in an SSD, loads win 7/10 and calls it good ( for myself ). So spending $1k on any laptop is new to me. She wants a Pro for the 15" screen and is very stubborn.
I would rather spend $1,100 or so on a 15" gaming laptop for her, as she is also a console gamer when she has time, BUT it's not a mac product and she won't like it
It would be a mistake to buy a current gen 15” that’s still on x86. The ARM based models smoke it in everything that matters.
Enough that if I could get out of what I paid for on mine I would sell it and switch to a MacBook Air or 13” Pro myself. She should get educated on M1.

There is an updated 15” coming, but it won’t be here until late first quarter next year. And yeah, it will come with that $2000 price tag.

When moving from PPC to x86, Apple released only two versions of OS X (now macOS) which ran on both architectures. If that repeats then macOS 12 will be the last version to run on x86 anyway.
That was a 4 year process back when Apple only released a new version every 2 years. Now Apple releases new software yearly.

Either way I expect there will be at least 4 years of support on x86. And extended support after that. I would also say that having a “que sera, sera” attitude doesn’t help your security situation and if that’s how you feel it’s all the more reason not to buy an outdated Mac.

(Also I 100% guarantee that macOS 12 won’t be released next year. It will be point releases for at least a decade much like macOS 10).
 
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I'm the kind of person who generally buys the $200 decent laptop/ notebook without an HDD on ebay, sticks in an SSD, loads win 7/10 and calls it good ( for myself ). So spending $1k on any laptop is new to me. She wants a Pro for the 15" screen and is very stubborn.
I would rather spend $1,100 or so on a 15" gaming laptop for her, as she is also a console gamer when she has time, BUT it's not a mac product and she won't like it
Part of the whole "doing thing for my gf" task is that what *you* do isn't necessarily what *she* does. Don't project on the gf. If she wants a decent Mac, get her a decent Mac.

If you are absolutely 100% fixated purely on used Macs, do not get one from 2016-2019 with the butterfly keyboards, as they are terrible and it doesn't take a Mac person to know that as this was "front page of CNN.com" territory. The 2015 models are passable, but they are fairly dated, and the batteries won't last forever, and batteries are an expensive swap that can involve a significant amount of the laptop as Apple glues the batteries to the chassis, and most Apple stores won't do that in-house, they ship to a depot which makes a battery swap a 1-2 week affair.

Again, I strongly suggest simply buying a new one. If she violently demands a 15", inform her Apple doesn't make those anymore, and the 16" is quite pricy. They can be found on the internets with small discounts, in the US we have a retailer B&H that typically has some sort of perpetual sale on them and even Amazon does sometimes.
 
She wants a Pro for the 15" screen and is very stubborn.
Maybe help her find a job or a second job as your gift then LMAO. Sounds like a good old case of beggars can't be choosers.

If you buy her a barely supported 2014 15" MBP it will still cost you ~$600 for a decent condition one. Then you have to deal with the fact that it probably will lose support in the next year or so. Seems like a waste to me.
 
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I just asked this question of an Apple rep yesterday. She said that Macbook 2013 was the oldest Macbook that could run Apple's latest OS.
 
  • 2015 and later MacBook
  • 2013 and later MacBook Air
  • 2013 and later MacBook Pro
  • 2014 and later Mac mini
  • 2014 and later iMac
  • 2017 and later iMac Pro
  • 2013 and later Mac Pro
 
I forgot to update this.. She got a last generation model Macbook Pro 13".. She didn't want the newest one because it would have been $200 more and said it would be just fine. We collectively got it, and I knew not to argue. She just got promoted to salaried management 2 months ago, so I know she does need a decent computer
 
Well entry level Macbook's have never been $2000. The Air has started at $999 (and often $899) for years, and the MBP 13" behind it at $1200 or so. $2000 for base model doesn't hit until the 15", but the 15" inch is obviously and clearly intended for professionals that need that kind of hardware (it bumps up to discrete GPUs, processors with more than 4 cores, and much higher RAM and SSD configurations).

To answer your question directly, yes there is a refurb section, but now with Apple M1 out it seems capitally stupid to not buy an M1 equipped Mac unless you still need to run a bunch of x86 programs. From your description it doesn't sound that way at all for her. In that case I'd buy a new base level Macbook Air for $1000. It's incredibly fast, will basically do all of her tasks instantly (including wake), has a 20 hour battery life, and is completely silent (passively cooled).

If you want the machine to last for 5+ years and need more HDD space than 256GB, then I'd recommend stepping up to 16GB of RAM and 512GB of space which can be done for $1459. If she really never does a task beyond browsing and FB and general office tasks + Netflix, then 8GB of RAM will be plenty. The M1 Macs turn the idea of needing a bunch of RAM on its head. Believe whatever you want but even the 8GB config is probably good enough for most users. The M1 smokes every Intel desktop chip and trades blows with every AMD chip. So again, I can't stress enough that not buying an M1 equipped Mac is basically a terrible idea. Not to mention as this is Apple's way forward, the ARM based chips will be supported longer into the future than x86 ones.

I'd also recommend checking other authorized resellers for M1 custom configs. Both Adorama and B&H have had $50 deals off and on since these new machines launched (which isn't huge but hey $50 is $50). Some configs have a deeper discount. Some none at all.
im not in the market for a new laptop....
but I am looking at them now b/c of your post, lol.
 
im not in the market for a new laptop....
but I am looking at them now b/c of your post, lol.
Not a bad idea, although it might be worth waiting until WWDC (June 7th) to see if Apple announces more MacBooks then. They'll probably be higher-end MacBook Pros if so. As it stands, my fiancée has the base MacBook Air and loves it. It's extremely speedy, and battery life simply isn't an issue since it lasts so long. I'd get one with 16GB of RAM if it were my money, but you don't need it as much as you might with other laptops.
 
Makes me sad reading this, because I ditched this girl in January...
 
Makes me sad reading this, because I ditched this girl in January...
If you ditched her, then I don't see why any of this would bother you. Loss of money is far less meaningful than loss of life whether literal or figurative.
 
Not a bad idea, although it might be worth waiting until WWDC (June 7th) to see if Apple announces more MacBooks then. They'll probably be higher-end MacBook Pros if so. As it stands, my fiancée has the base MacBook Air and loves it. It's extremely speedy, and battery life simply isn't an issue since it lasts so long. I'd get one with 16GB of RAM if it were my money, but you don't need it as much as you might with other laptops.
I actually have an older macbook air....i think its a 2017. I mean for daily use, its still perfectly fine. I also have a newer lenovo that has more hp, (gamimg) but nothing wrong with the old air.
I appreciate the heads up. Ill do a little looking.
 
You can run probably the latest OSX on any x86 mac if you use a newer mac to install an image to a HDD/SSD and boot from usb or thunderbolt. I got my 2007 iMac to run High Sierra flawlessly. It works surprisingly well from USB, only booting up and loading apps is slower, while using it's just as fast (slow) as the 2007 imac is. I upgraded the SSD in my 2015 MBP so the old SSD and the image was left over.

I tried to install Sierra to the imac directly but the installer refused, claimed that it's not supported. But surprise surprise, works anyway when booting from the external drive.
 
eh I have a 15" 4770HQ with 16GB (2015) with Big Sur, it is laggy compared to the M1 Mini I have. I wanted to upgrade to a 16" 2021 MacPro but obviously they delayed them till the end of the year.

I would never suggest anyone get a non M1 or better Mac. They are going to be dated far faster now with the MX SoC and Apples deep OS integration. My Mac mini destroys my wife's work 2020 16" Pro.
 
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