9 ms·

> I have the first MacBook Pro that came with the Touch Bar, and it's the worst computer I've ever owned. Same here (well, I have the "cheap" one without the T

by FabHK 7y ago

> I have the first MacBook Pro that came with the Touch Bar, and it's the worst computer I've ever owned. Same here (well, I have the "cheap" one without the Touch Bar). Everything has been replaced at least once (on Apple Care, fortunately) except the bottom plate. > The only reason I got it is because the MacBook Air it replaced was dying Same here. That MBA was a fine machine.

breck 7y ago
I got a maxed out MBA in 2016 after going with my gut and thinking that year’s MBP keyboard felt like a step down. My MBA is still going strong and I love this machine. I was worried I was going to have to switch in a few years to the worse new line, so if this is true I’m very excited.
iamben 7y ago
I'm still using my MBA from mid 2013. It's a wonderful thing. Battery is "replace soon" but it's mostly plugged in. It's battered and bruised, but still fast enough. I've been debating a change for a while and figured at the start of the year I'd wait to see if they were going to ditch the bf keyboard if they release a new MBA. Super glad I waited, fingers crossed I get the same life out of the next one! Say what you want about Apple and price, but I've had PCs since 1994 and the two Macs I've had have (usefully) outlasted every other machine by quite some margin - this one in particular. 6 years without formatting a Windows machine (I can't talk for now, but especially back then) would be crazy.
- aloukissas 7y ago
  Best era ever, have the same one. For ~120 bucks you can get a fresh battery, too.
  - iamben 7y ago
    If I could upgrade the SSD for about the same, I'd probably just keep using this until it died. Alas, upgrading that is a bit of a faff.
- twoheadedboy 7y ago
  I have a mid 2013 Air as well (and I recently replaced the battery for $100, it’s great and you should too), but I’d attribute the long life to simply the SSD and the software rather than anything else.
  - gurkendoktor 7y ago
    I think not having a dedicated GPU helps a lot too. Less heat, and one major component less that can break. In my small set of anecdata, consumer Macs outlive their Pro counterparts.
- gambiting 7y ago
  I have a 2009 MacBook Pro (Core2Duo + 4GB of ram), I've added an SSD years ago, and it runs absolutely fine, I use it almost daily to browse the web. Even the battery still works(only for about an hour, but it does).
  - scarface74 7y ago
    I gave my old Core Duo Mac Mini - circa 2006 to my mom after putting Windows 7 and Office 2010 on it. She uses it when she tutors and doesn’t want anyone on her main computer. That computer don’t die.
  - t34543 7y ago
    Can you still get OS updates? I thought mid-2010+ was needed.
    - gambiting 7y ago
      No, the updates stopped at El Capitan unfortunately. There is a way to force it to update to Mojave but I think couple hardware bits stop working(....camera?) and I'm not that bothered.
      - t34543 7y ago
        Staying at latest patch levels are more about security vs features.
        gambiting 7y ago
        Don't get me wrong, I don't disagree. I just don't think it's worth my time to update it to watch YouTube and open BBC Good Food from time to time. The laptop never leaves the house, my assumption is that the attack surface for it is literally zero.
  - miles 7y ago
    > I have a 2009 MacBook Pro (Core2Duo + 4GB of ram), I've added an SSD years ago, and it runs absolutely fine, I use it almost daily to browse the web. ... the updates stopped at El Capitan unfortunately. ... I'm not that bothered. You might want to consider running Manjaro[0] or Haiku[1] instead (I've had great luck with both on older MacBooks [2,3]). Nessus reports El Capitan as a "Critical" vulnerability due to lack of security updates: According to its self-reported version number, the Unix operating system running on the remote host is no longer supported. Lack of support implies that no new security patches for the product will be released by the vendor. As a result, it is likely to contain security vulnerabilities. ... Mac OS X 10.11.6 (intel) support ended. Upgrade to Mac OS X 10.14 / 10.13 / 10.12. [0] https://manjaro.org https://manjaro.org [1] https://www.haiku-os.org https://www.haiku-os.org [2] https://tinyapps.org/blog/201811010700_linux_for_2009_macbook.html https://tinyapps.org/blog/201811010700_linux_for_2009_macboo... [3] https://tinyapps.org/docs/haiku/ https://tinyapps.org/docs/haiku/
- acranox 7y ago
  FWIW, you can get a replacement battery for these for under $100. https://www.ifixit.com/Store/Mac https://www.ifixit.com/Store/Mac It's not super easy to replace, but if you're comfortable with a screw driver, it shouldn't pose much of a challenge, and the instruction from ifixit are great. I'm still holding tight to my 2012 MBP, but it's got a replacement battery, and a roomier SSD to breathe some new life into it.
  - ralphc 7y ago
    If you're not comfortable doing it yourself, the Batteries + Bulbs stores have computer services & will do it for you (for a fee of course)
- ycombonator 7y ago
  I am in a similar situation as you. Have a Mid 2012 MBA. Works fantastic. Also Catalina beta seems to have sped the system performance immensely. Always plugged in because of the battery.
  - gwilkes 7y ago
    Recently replaced my 2012 MBA battery, the batteries are quite cheap and the replacement is surprisingly quick and easy on this model. About a five minute job, you can buy the battery with the needed tools here: https://www.ifixit.com/Store/Mac/MacBook-Air-13-Inch-Late-2010-2017-Replacement-Battery/IF188-113?o=2 https://www.ifixit.com/Store/Mac/MacBook-Air-13-Inch-Late-20...
    - ycombonator 7y ago
      Sweet. Thanks for the tip.
nfellaby 7y ago
I'm still rocking my MBA form 2010, it wasn't even top spec at the time, but the keyboard, size, weight and battery are all great. The screen is pretty terrible I'll be honest, but if I'm working on it it doesn't bother me much. Plus it has one of those ever so rare HDMI out ports (no accessories necessary). I just replace the battery every so often. I'm currently weighing up the option of installing Linux onto it as I'm more inclined to move away from the Apple ecosystem, but I have reservations on what that will do the battery life :/
- neau 7y ago
  Consider reading this reddit thread regarding Linux on a 2010 MBA, https://www.reddit.com/r/archlinux/comments/9rnyw4/linux_on_macbook_air_11_late_2010/ https://www.reddit.com/r/archlinux/comments/9rnyw4/linux_on_...
- katbyte 7y ago
  I have a 2010 and 2015 MBP, both going strong.
  - nfellaby 7y ago
    SNAP!! although my MBP is tucked under my TV and being used to keep my smart TV dumb.
rloc 7y ago
Same here. Everything in my 2016 MBP (with touchbar) has been replaced : keyboard twice, full motherboard, screen and one fan recently. I still own a MBA from 2011 in its original state (0 repair).
subinsebastien 7y ago
I have the 13" late 2013 Macbook Pro i7, 8GB. It is working perfectly fine, and as fast as it was on day one. Never replaced a single thing, and never had to do hard-drive wipe. The only problem I have is that, it is a 512GB SSD, and I have no free space left.
- tjr225 7y ago
  I have an i5 version of this. Bought it from the refurb store in 2014 and it is the best computer I have ever owned. Unfortunately the keyboard is getting a little finicky, presumably from dust. In any case 6-7 years is a pretty impressive life span for a notebook in my opinion.
- __full_pint 7y ago
  I have the same model, except the even smaller SSD. I’m always having to clear out packages for old projects, but the computer is still a stud.
  - random_comment 7y ago
    see my comment above about sintech...
- electrichead 7y ago
  Did this one come with a DVD drive? You can swap out that for a secondary SSD
- random_comment 7y ago
  Sintech sell adapters via amazon US/UK etc for about $15 that allow you to take a regular NVME drive (which are VERY cheap just now) and adapt it to the apple SSD hardware interface. You can have up to 2TB of faster-than-ever storage. You'll also need torx screwdrivers to open the case. If you do some googling you will see there are two versions, and depending on the size/shape of SSD you are buying it may be better to buy one rather than the other. If you do more googling, people have tried various drives and report on performance/compatibility etc but generally compatibility is good except with some samsung drives.

by FabHK 7y ago

breck 7y ago

I got a maxed out MBA in 2016 after going with my gut and thinking that year’s MBP keyboard felt like a step down. My MBA is still going strong and I love this machine. I was worried I was going to have to switch in a few years to the worse new line, so if this is true I’m very excited.

iamben 7y ago

I'm still using my MBA from mid 2013. It's a wonderful thing. Battery is "replace soon" but it's mostly plugged in. It's battered and bruised, but still fast enough. I've been debating a change for a while and figured at the start of the year I'd wait to see if they were going to ditch the bf keyboard if they release a new MBA. Super glad I waited, fingers crossed I get the same life out of the next one! Say what you want about Apple and price, but I've had PCs since 1994 and the two Macs I've had have (usefully) outlasted every other machine by quite some margin - this one in particular. 6 years without formatting a Windows machine (I can't talk for now, but especially back then) would be crazy.

aloukissas 7y ago
Best era ever, have the same one. For ~120 bucks you can get a fresh battery, too.
- iamben 7y ago
  If I could upgrade the SSD for about the same, I'd probably just keep using this until it died. Alas, upgrading that is a bit of a faff.
twoheadedboy 7y ago
I have a mid 2013 Air as well (and I recently replaced the battery for $100, it’s great and you should too), but I’d attribute the long life to simply the SSD and the software rather than anything else.
- gurkendoktor 7y ago
  I think not having a dedicated GPU helps a lot too. Less heat, and one major component less that can break. In my small set of anecdata, consumer Macs outlive their Pro counterparts.
gambiting 7y ago
I have a 2009 MacBook Pro (Core2Duo + 4GB of ram), I've added an SSD years ago, and it runs absolutely fine, I use it almost daily to browse the web. Even the battery still works(only for about an hour, but it does).
- scarface74 7y ago
  I gave my old Core Duo Mac Mini - circa 2006 to my mom after putting Windows 7 and Office 2010 on it. She uses it when she tutors and doesn’t want anyone on her main computer. That computer don’t die.
- t34543 7y ago
  Can you still get OS updates? I thought mid-2010+ was needed.
  - gambiting 7y ago
    No, the updates stopped at El Capitan unfortunately. There is a way to force it to update to Mojave but I think couple hardware bits stop working(....camera?) and I'm not that bothered.
    - t34543 7y ago
      Staying at latest patch levels are more about security vs features.
      - gambiting 7y ago
        Don't get me wrong, I don't disagree. I just don't think it's worth my time to update it to watch YouTube and open BBC Good Food from time to time. The laptop never leaves the house, my assumption is that the attack surface for it is literally zero.
- miles 7y ago
  > I have a 2009 MacBook Pro (Core2Duo + 4GB of ram), I've added an SSD years ago, and it runs absolutely fine, I use it almost daily to browse the web. ... the updates stopped at El Capitan unfortunately. ... I'm not that bothered. You might want to consider running Manjaro[0] or Haiku[1] instead (I've had great luck with both on older MacBooks [2,3]). Nessus reports El Capitan as a "Critical" vulnerability due to lack of security updates: According to its self-reported version number, the Unix operating system running on the remote host is no longer supported. Lack of support implies that no new security patches for the product will be released by the vendor. As a result, it is likely to contain security vulnerabilities. ... Mac OS X 10.11.6 (intel) support ended. Upgrade to Mac OS X 10.14 / 10.13 / 10.12. [0] https://manjaro.org https://manjaro.org [1] https://www.haiku-os.org https://www.haiku-os.org [2] https://tinyapps.org/blog/201811010700_linux_for_2009_macbook.html https://tinyapps.org/blog/201811010700_linux_for_2009_macboo... [3] https://tinyapps.org/docs/haiku/ https://tinyapps.org/docs/haiku/
acranox 7y ago
FWIW, you can get a replacement battery for these for under $100. https://www.ifixit.com/Store/Mac https://www.ifixit.com/Store/Mac It's not super easy to replace, but if you're comfortable with a screw driver, it shouldn't pose much of a challenge, and the instruction from ifixit are great. I'm still holding tight to my 2012 MBP, but it's got a replacement battery, and a roomier SSD to breathe some new life into it.
- ralphc 7y ago
  If you're not comfortable doing it yourself, the Batteries + Bulbs stores have computer services & will do it for you (for a fee of course)
ycombonator 7y ago
I am in a similar situation as you. Have a Mid 2012 MBA. Works fantastic. Also Catalina beta seems to have sped the system performance immensely. Always plugged in because of the battery.
- gwilkes 7y ago
  Recently replaced my 2012 MBA battery, the batteries are quite cheap and the replacement is surprisingly quick and easy on this model. About a five minute job, you can buy the battery with the needed tools here: https://www.ifixit.com/Store/Mac/MacBook-Air-13-Inch-Late-2010-2017-Replacement-Battery/IF188-113?o=2 https://www.ifixit.com/Store/Mac/MacBook-Air-13-Inch-Late-20...
  - ycombonator 7y ago
    Sweet. Thanks for the tip.

nfellaby 7y ago

I'm still rocking my MBA form 2010, it wasn't even top spec at the time, but the keyboard, size, weight and battery are all great. The screen is pretty terrible I'll be honest, but if I'm working on it it doesn't bother me much. Plus it has one of those ever so rare HDMI out ports (no accessories necessary). I just replace the battery every so often. I'm currently weighing up the option of installing Linux onto it as I'm more inclined to move away from the Apple ecosystem, but I have reservations on what that will do the battery life :/

neau 7y ago
Consider reading this reddit thread regarding Linux on a 2010 MBA, https://www.reddit.com/r/archlinux/comments/9rnyw4/linux_on_macbook_air_11_late_2010/ https://www.reddit.com/r/archlinux/comments/9rnyw4/linux_on_...
katbyte 7y ago
I have a 2010 and 2015 MBP, both going strong.
- nfellaby 7y ago
  SNAP!! although my MBP is tucked under my TV and being used to keep my smart TV dumb.

rloc 7y ago

Same here. Everything in my 2016 MBP (with touchbar) has been replaced : keyboard twice, full motherboard, screen and one fan recently. I still own a MBA from 2011 in its original state (0 repair).

subinsebastien 7y ago

I have the 13" late 2013 Macbook Pro i7, 8GB. It is working perfectly fine, and as fast as it was on day one. Never replaced a single thing, and never had to do hard-drive wipe. The only problem I have is that, it is a 512GB SSD, and I have no free space left.

tjr225 7y ago
I have an i5 version of this. Bought it from the refurb store in 2014 and it is the best computer I have ever owned. Unfortunately the keyboard is getting a little finicky, presumably from dust. In any case 6-7 years is a pretty impressive life span for a notebook in my opinion.
__full_pint 7y ago
I have the same model, except the even smaller SSD. I’m always having to clear out packages for old projects, but the computer is still a stud.
- random_comment 7y ago
  see my comment above about sintech...
electrichead 7y ago
Did this one come with a DVD drive? You can swap out that for a secondary SSD
random_comment 7y ago
Sintech sell adapters via amazon US/UK etc for about $15 that allow you to take a regular NVME drive (which are VERY cheap just now) and adapt it to the apple SSD hardware interface. You can have up to 2TB of faster-than-ever storage. You'll also need torx screwdrivers to open the case. If you do some googling you will see there are two versions, and depending on the size/shape of SSD you are buying it may be better to buy one rather than the other. If you do more googling, people have tried various drives and report on performance/compatibility etc but generally compatibility is good except with some samsung drives.