geekhack
geekhack Community => Off Topic => Topic started by: ArchDill on Wed, 21 September 2022, 10:57:54
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My MacBook Pro is 4 years old. It still works great. I use it for graphic design, video editing and photo editing. My biggest regret is not getting 32gb of ram.
Today it was making a weird noise so I was just curious what MacBook Pros, both new and used, are going for now. Went to Apple and built my dream spec, not happening. Got on r/appleswap and found the same model of mine only going for $650.00! That is insane to me, this laptop is a beast. Realized it is because the M1 chipset. The Intels are just not worth much anymore. I have even considered trying to sell mine and buying a used one with the 32gb of ram haha
but.... I don't NEED one.
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When the m1 dropped, I was interested in trying out something with MacOS, so I got myself a 2015 i5 8gb ram pro for like $230 lol. Honestly I just use it to reference my character sheet on dnd nights, play music, and watch YouTube videos, and it works pretty flawlessly! I’d feel safe recommending anyone an old cheap intel mac, since they (mine at least) runs really basic tasks pretty flawlessly
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intel macs burn the vrm/cpu/gpu pretty hard because of the bad cooling design. imho they're really dangerous on the aftermarket. /would not recommend
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intel macs burn the vrm/cpu/gpu pretty hard because of the bad cooling design. imho they're really dangerous on the aftermarket. /would not recommend
So I get a laptop AND a nice hot surface to cook eggs on? Sold.
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Low end Macs fell, the good high end ones worth owning retained value.
There's very few good ones is part of the problem.
They have a long history of laptop GPU failures (ALL) and the butterfly keyboard, well I'm sure you know. You want Intel, no GPU, and no butterfly, that really limits your options to a select few models.
Then there's the next problem, being an older model you'll obviously want the higher tier specs to keep up a bit better and despite how Mac users are portrayed very few actually buy anything other than the base model. This means higher tier parts with proprietary or soldered parts like the SSDs or soldered ram models fetch a massive premium. If you burn up a higher tier motherboard you may as well buy a whole new laptop as the parts are often scarce and extremely overpriced.
As for the cooling, yep, it stinks.
On mine (I7 2c/2t) I re-pasted it then used a program that throttled one core and thread to 80%, and the other core and thread to 50%, basically I made it an I5 with an efficiency core. That kept it under 60c under high load and I could actually put it on my lap. If I needed the power I could just turn it back to full power.
It was nice but fragile and the idea of damaging it scared me, even if I could find the parts and was willing to pay for them, I could drop and repair a dozen similar spec Lenovos for one accident with the Mac. It just didn't make sense. And now with all the firmware locks and such, nah. Don't get me wrong, I'd love to throw Linux on an M1 but I'd be right back where I was. I'll keep my "crappy" Lenovo.
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I do not like the cooling on mine, but I still love the ability to do moderate gaming. Have the 2019 16in with the 5500m and mostly decked out specs, urrrh really would love the 5600m but I just don't think it'll do. I've noticed declining gaming performance, I have to have it on a cooling pad when gaming, sometimes even in mac os when I'm vid editing as it might just shut off. :( :(
Used to get a nice 144, mid settings on overwatch, now is bottom of the barrel settings at 110 even with cooler. No cooler tanks to 60 with dips down to 40.
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When you think about buying a mac, it's basically equal to 20x lenovo T460.. imagine the probability of 20x lenovo T460 ALL breaking down. you probably won't hit that in a lifetime.
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I do not like the cooling on mine, but I still love the ability to do moderate gaming. Have the 2019 16in with the 5500m and mostly decked out specs, urrrh really would love the 5600m but I just don't think it'll do. I've noticed declining gaming performance, I have to have it on a cooling pad when gaming, sometimes even in mac os when I'm vid editing as it might just shut off. :( :(
Used to get a nice 144, mid settings on overwatch, now is bottom of the barrel settings at 110 even with cooler. No cooler tanks to 60 with dips down to 40.
Sounds like time for a repaste and cleaning, and by cleaning I mean physical and a reload.
However,
As a computer tech, I hate to say it but I would then recommend selling it.
Between it's age, Apple's HORRIBLE history of GPU issues, Apple's vaporizing support for Intel and the fact that it's value is only going to plummet... Sell now. I'm not saying it will have GPU issues but if it doesn't it would be a first for Apple laptops to not. And you're not the only one complaining of the things you describe, this could be a sign of this starting or it could be a sign of Apple's abandonment of it. Neither bodes well for it's future.
Note this is not about it being Apple, there's a few Dells and Lenovos that also have serious issues (usually the hinges) and I've had to tell people to dump them.
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assuming there's no colored lines coming on the screen, cleaning / repaste should bring it back.
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When you think about buying a mac, it's basically equal to 20x lenovo T460.. imagine the probability of 20x lenovo T460 ALL breaking down. you probably won't hit that in a lifetime.
Bang for your buck, windows (or different brands in general) is a better option for most people. That being said, for my profession the productivity of Apple far exceeds other options. The operating system is straight forward and easy to use, the shortcuts are simple and airdrop is one of the greatest things in the world. Everyone on my office has a mac so I’m able to airdrop documents, images, quotes, and whatever else to them. Doing design work, I also have to airdrop to my phone a lot. Also having iMessage right in front of me on my MacBook is a huge thing.
Now when it comes to gaming, mac is rough haha only thing I have installed on my MacBook is Minecraft.
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Sounds like time for a repaste and cleaning, and by cleaning I mean physical and a reload.
However,
As a computer tech, I hate to say it but I would then recommend selling it.
Between it's age, Apple's HORRIBLE history of GPU issues, Apple's vaporizing support for Intel and the fact that it's value is only going to plummet... Sell now. I'm not saying it will have GPU issues but if it doesn't it would be a first for Apple laptops to not. And you're not the only one complaining of the things you describe, this could be a sign of this starting or it could be a sign of Apple's abandonment of it. Neither bodes well for it's future.
Note this is not about it being Apple, there are a few Dells and Lenovos that also have serious issues (usually the hinges) and I've had to tell people to dump them.
Ah, don't know how it flew my mind, but repasting. How complicated or involved is it on the 16" if you might know? I've only got one of them orange aliepxress screw kits with a billion heads, but not sure if it has the apple ones. Unfortunately I don't think I can sell it due to the source/how it got it from.
assuming there's no colored lines coming on the screen, cleaning / repaste should bring it back.
good thinking, yeah its fine no lines, just runs pretty hot
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good thinking, yeah its fine no lines, just runs pretty hot
macs really should be repasted once 6 month to a year, with the best quality paste you can find, they're soooooo tighhhht... also make sure to check clear its cavities of dust bunnies.
normal laptops, once a year, 1.5 is ok.
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Ah, don't know how it flew my mind, but repasting. How complicated or involved is it on the 16" if you might know? I've only got one of them orange aliepxress screw kits with a billion heads, but not sure if it has the apple ones. Unfortunately I don't think I can sell it due to the source/how it got it from.
Not sure, check Youtube.
You will likely need to buy a new bit, AND I would consider buying a replacement screw set as odds are one or two will be damaged during disassembly. Think of them as 1-2 use only, same for the drivers/bits. I got about 3-4 uses from cheap ones and 5-10 from good ones before they need to be replaced as well. Most likely you need the "large" Apple bit for external and then a very tiny torqs bit inside. And if you wonder how that can be the large Apple bit, you now understand why they go bad so fast.
If you have full control of it through Find My Mac and have the ability to wipe it remotely, odds are it's safe to sell.
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Realized it is because the M1 chipset.
I had a M1, for ten months. I was a nice laptop with and incredible CPU... While it lasted. Thing is: they are super brittle. There are talks on Apple forums with tens if not hundreds of pages of posts where people are describing various kind of screen simply breaking. As I had not one but two older MacBook Air, both nearing ten years old and still working fine, I didn't think about taking an extended Apple warranty for the M1. But my M1's screen broke, overnight (oh and btw, just as my two old MacBook Air, the M1 had a case cover). They said the screen cracking and not working anymore was my fault and quoted about 60% of the M1's MSRP to replace the screen (Europe for what it's worth).
Thanks but no thanks.
Meanwhile my LG Gram laptop (LG Grams are quite pricey laptops btw), military spec (they're not all MILSPEC but mine is), is lighter than any M1, fast enough and can withstand anything thrown at it. This thing is rock solid. It doesn't have a retina display. It doesn't have that amazing M1 chip. But it also doesn't an ultra fragile screen that is going to break for no good reason.
I'm a software dev. I've had laptops since the nineties. I know how to handle a laptop. The M1 laptops simply have ultra brittle screens.
If you buy one, pay the 20% more or whatever Apple is asking so that everything is covered during two or three years.
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If you buy one, pay the 20% more or whatever Apple is asking so that everything is covered during two or three years.
And sell it before that period ends.
Be careful buying ANY new laptop and unless you can confidently fix it yourself and can get parts (check Ebay), consider replacing it before the warranty period ends. There's a TON of garbage out there for sale and you don't want to be left holding the bag on a broken pile of parts.
Personally, I've seen so many bad repairs and warranty work I simply gave up on buying new because you can't really count on that.
I wait till they're exiting warranty and look into the known issues, because wow, some of this stuff is REALLY, REALLY bad.
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This is why I stepped away from using Apple Laptops/Desktops - they are not user repair/maintenance friendly. They are not a consumer-friendly company at all - hell look at the iPhone 14, just a 13 w/ a new number - yes I know there were subtle changes in the camera, but not enough to warrant a full upgrade, could've been called the 13s (they haven't used the s-moniker in a long time now). Also have been seeing they are not repair friendly, even after being taken for Right to Repair laws.