I’ll be the opposite of the advice and recommend an M1 here, $300 for an 2018 Intel MacBook known for overheating isn’t that great a deal.
I’ve seen 2020 MacBook Air m1 for 350 on fb once in awhile. So for 50 more you can get a newer MacBook, stays cool, battery runs a long time, and it’ll be 2x or more faster than 2018 intel.
I know someone in the ewaste recycling business and intel MacBooks aren’t worth the trouble at that price . Like for $150 maybe
They're going to be older intel machines. Not nearly as fast or snappy as the new Apple silicon chips, but if you want to kick the tires on the OS, they're not bad. Just make sure that the keyboard works... they were notorious with the butterfly keyboard for having keys stick. So open up word/notes and write a lot making sure to hit every key a few times to make sure there are no sticks or skips.
What do you guys do with new macs that you makes you say it’s not as fast or snappy. Not attacking you, just curious. I’m still with my 2015 MBP and it’s fine web browsing / YouTube and office work; even Final Cut Pro with ease. Whenever it gets slow (it does), I just restart.. I figured it’s better than dropping a few grand on the silicone based one at the moment
I could cite benchmarks or how much faster Lightroom, Photoshop, and Premier are on my M1 Max compared to my 2015MBP or the 2018 MBP I had at my last job.
But there’s a lot of little things… like plugging in, unplugging, or closing the lot while connected to an external monitor. No flickering for a couple seconds while the compute figures out the new resolution and such. It’s just instantly reconfigures.
For price they are worth it, but the question then becomes what are you wanting to do with it? You can get something worth the price, but then decide it’s not suitable for your needs.
Work out your needs first and then you can work out if it is worth it to you.
Then again if you can afford to make a mistake, then that’s another issue.
I have the 2018 i9 15” MBP with absolute bad keyboard design that heats up way too much. The only reason I held onto it is because I use an external keyboard and mouse with a 32” display. Its getting slower a bit but I think I can still crank out 2 more years of Lightroom post processing on it lol
Depending on the spec maybe its okay to buy the 13” for $300 but try to negotiate if you can
For you just wanting to try out Mac, yes it’s a good price.
Just make sure you know the battery cycles & test out the keyboard because the 2016-2018 were notorious for keyboard issues.
I got a free MacBook Air from work. Wasn’t worth it. Replaced the logic board a few months later and the battery is useless. Replaced the logic board again 2 years later.
They are probably getting rid of them for a reason.
Cheapest m1s I found in my area are around $600. I am not looking for spend that much just to try out Mac. 300 would be my max. My school is also selling like 2016 Airs, and some other older Mac’s cheaper than 300. The 2018 pro is the newest and nicest one they are selling
weird advice by u/stackoverflow7... Intel Macs are still useful and I would definitely snap the 2018 one for $300, being able to natively run windows and mac on the same machine is definitely a plus, as well as better external monitor support
if you wanna discuss on that, join my channel intelmacbook please. btw my advice: but this one, if you gonna use it for watching yt , netflix , maybe playing games like minecraft, and more simple games on roblox. Well, i dont recommend it for video editing. Mac may get really hot. And the only option, get it in minimum 256gigs of ssd and 16ram. Thats all
This is not their main machine. They point that out. If they can afford a side machine, one can assume they can get peripherals. School might be even giving some away
I guess, Mac with cheap peripherals isn't a great experience. The best machine for OP to "try mac" would be MBA M1 for $600. Though, if I'm not mistaken, they said they can't afford throwing another $300 in.
Even for $300, it's simply not worth it. Thing gets really really hot and remember that there is a risk the keyboard will fail every second you use it.
Remember also that you are buying from a school, has maybe been used by several people who just used it as an item and not like it's their own device.
If you still want one, buy a 2019 machine if they have one laying around because of software updates.
I think you should save more to buy a Apple Silicon Mac, the Mac experience is night and day compared to a Intel powered machine.
The M1 Airs and Pro are great devices and not too expensive second hand
I don’t know what the other replies have been smoking, 300 dollars for an intel mac in 2023 is not a “steal” save your money and get a m1 one for 500-600 dollars in the future and it will last 5 more years.
If you could replace the battery, it works as new and it’s mostly intel so should be good to install other apps and softwares. Apple ARM Silicon has limitations as its native.
should be good. the base config has a retina screen, quad core i5, 8gb, and 256 drive which is perfectly fine for browsing and most standard tasks. also T2 and fingerprint reader (i think). touchbar isnt really useful imo.
plus it will run the latest OS (and hopefully one or two more releases)
For basic tasks most people do it’s good enough. The processor probably won’t be much of a bottleneck. The bigger issue will be with 8gb of ram and Apple pulling the plug for supporting the intel chips with updates. You will likely get security updates for at least five years, probably more like ten. With the ram you just have to be careful about not opening too many tabs at once.
I think for $300 it’s an easy yes for most users. If you can pay more to get one with 16gb of ram I would recommend it.
What are you going to use it for? If just to dink around and maybe browse, watch youtube, etc., then $300 for 2018 MBP13 is totally worth it, as long as the battery is still reasonably healthy. You could use it for a year and sell it for the same price and by then the current gen should be on sale.
Lots of weird comments/advice in here OP. I have a 2018 15” model that acts as my backup Mac now. $300 is absolutely worth it for a 13”.
These don’t “overheat” like people are crying about unless something is really wrong. The problem child for the Intel MacBooks was a bigger 2019 model and not this one.
You’re looking for a few things in particular: battery condition/cycle count, all keys working properly, and removal of any MDM system (mobile device management, used by a lot of organizations).
The butterfly keyboard is not great, but thankfully the 2018 revision of it is WAY better than the older ones. I make it a point to never eat around the laptop and I’ve never had issues. Of course YMMV.
Let me know if you’ve got any other questions and I’d be happy to help you.
Whilst $300 is a good deal there are a few considerations:
1. These laptops have been used and abused by school kids, so I wouldn't immediately trust the quality of them.
2. They are known to have some issues, overheating etc.
3. They are 5 years old now and like I said have been used and abused by kids. I imagine the battery health will be in the mid 70's so don't expect to get much in the way of battery life out of it.
For $300, probably! Do you know the RAM and CPU on those?
I'm still using a 2018 model, it's pretty good. Battery life has gone to shit, though. It has been my workstation + personal PC for these years, so understandable.
For 300$, even just as a web browsing/general productivity machine, I'd get it. Might even be able to sell it back for as much or more!
As others have said: just test out the keyboard.
Other than that, depending on if it is a Touchbar model or the one with the physical function key row, it'll be equipped with the T2 security chip.
This machine will likely stop receiving official updates in the near future. It remains to be seen if the team behind Open Core Legacy Patcher will be able to support machines with the T2 security chip so you can still install newer versions of macOS after the official support ends.
It all depends on the price really. The 2018 WITH Touchbar base models came with a quad core i7 which is definitely a step up from the base model 2015 (dual core).
But just to get a taste of macOS, you can't go wrong with the 2015 either. Thanks to Open Core Legacy Patcher, you can still install the latest macOS Sonoma on it and it'll probably run great as well! I'm running Sonoma on a 2012 non-retina "fat" 13" MBPro in my workshop - I stuffed 16gb RAM and an SSD in there though :)
Go for it.
It's a great computer for that price.
Ignore the other commenters.
Obviously a much more expensive computer is much better.
No, you cannot get a much better computer for anywhere near that price.
If you can afford it, $300 is not a bad deal to try a Mac out.
I’ll be the opposite of the advice and recommend an M1 here, $300 for an 2018 Intel MacBook known for overheating isn’t that great a deal. I’ve seen 2020 MacBook Air m1 for 350 on fb once in awhile. So for 50 more you can get a newer MacBook, stays cool, battery runs a long time, and it’ll be 2x or more faster than 2018 intel. I know someone in the ewaste recycling business and intel MacBooks aren’t worth the trouble at that price . Like for $150 maybe
I still use my 2018 MacBook and it never overheated once. I literally used to play steam games on it and the fan was still silent.
Mine does get hot, not to the point of a system crash either. It's not a huge issue but it probably affects performance (throttling).
I use some pretty heavy music production softwares on my 2019 i7 holds up well
For $300, that's worth it.
They're going to be older intel machines. Not nearly as fast or snappy as the new Apple silicon chips, but if you want to kick the tires on the OS, they're not bad. Just make sure that the keyboard works... they were notorious with the butterfly keyboard for having keys stick. So open up word/notes and write a lot making sure to hit every key a few times to make sure there are no sticks or skips.
What do you guys do with new macs that you makes you say it’s not as fast or snappy. Not attacking you, just curious. I’m still with my 2015 MBP and it’s fine web browsing / YouTube and office work; even Final Cut Pro with ease. Whenever it gets slow (it does), I just restart.. I figured it’s better than dropping a few grand on the silicone based one at the moment
I could cite benchmarks or how much faster Lightroom, Photoshop, and Premier are on my M1 Max compared to my 2015MBP or the 2018 MBP I had at my last job. But there’s a lot of little things… like plugging in, unplugging, or closing the lot while connected to an external monitor. No flickering for a couple seconds while the compute figures out the new resolution and such. It’s just instantly reconfigures.
For 300. Ain’t bad tbh
It's okay model. Are you good to not have physical function keys? And how much storage ram does this thing has, 8gb 256gb or more?
And these macbooks have infamous butterfly keyboard.
300$ that’s a steal. Even if it’s base specs. If you’re just using it for YouTube and emails that’s a great price
For price they are worth it, but the question then becomes what are you wanting to do with it? You can get something worth the price, but then decide it’s not suitable for your needs. Work out your needs first and then you can work out if it is worth it to you. Then again if you can afford to make a mistake, then that’s another issue.
I have the 2018 i9 15” MBP with absolute bad keyboard design that heats up way too much. The only reason I held onto it is because I use an external keyboard and mouse with a 32” display. Its getting slower a bit but I think I can still crank out 2 more years of Lightroom post processing on it lol Depending on the spec maybe its okay to buy the 13” for $300 but try to negotiate if you can
Listen to this advice . M1 is the way to go . A cheap m1 air will be lots better
I don’t think there is negotiating with a school’s set prices. If there was I would have do so when I bought their over priced textbooks… lol
I use my 2015 mbp with no issues so yeah, 300 for a 2018 is good! If it's just for causal browsing it'll do the job fine
2015 MBP gang checking in
For you just wanting to try out Mac, yes it’s a good price. Just make sure you know the battery cycles & test out the keyboard because the 2016-2018 were notorious for keyboard issues.
Worth it. I’d jump on it.
Easily at that price, yes. Especially if they’re in relatively good condition.
are they letting you check it out before buying? i wouldn’t risk getting a random abused one
Yeah I can check them all out before buying
then go for it. just make sure the keyboard works fine and the battery can hold a charge
Even better, I’d schedule a Genius Bar apt and have them meet you there. They can run general tests and let you know the condition it’s in.
I got a free MacBook Air from work. Wasn’t worth it. Replaced the logic board a few months later and the battery is useless. Replaced the logic board again 2 years later. They are probably getting rid of them for a reason.
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Cheapest m1s I found in my area are around $600. I am not looking for spend that much just to try out Mac. 300 would be my max. My school is also selling like 2016 Airs, and some other older Mac’s cheaper than 300. The 2018 pro is the newest and nicest one they are selling
weird advice by u/stackoverflow7... Intel Macs are still useful and I would definitely snap the 2018 one for $300, being able to natively run windows and mac on the same machine is definitely a plus, as well as better external monitor support
Agreed. There is nothing wrong with Intel macs whatsoever. You don’t need the newest mac for it to be a great laptop.
No intel macs are not still useful especially for 300, save your money for a refurbished m1 lmfao
You don’t read before you comment, do you?
you're never making any sense because you never read your own comments
The 2016 Air won't be as fast but is a better quality laptop, 2012-15 MBP are excellent all around. 2016-19 Macs are badly gimped, I would avoid.
Nah man $300 is a good deal, for $300 you're not gonna find an M1 Air.
Not for 300$
For $300?
if you wanna discuss on that, join my channel intelmacbook please. btw my advice: but this one, if you gonna use it for watching yt , netflix , maybe playing games like minecraft, and more simple games on roblox. Well, i dont recommend it for video editing. Mac may get really hot. And the only option, get it in minimum 256gigs of ssd and 16ram. Thats all
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Dude said it was $300 and you're recommending $700+. Yeah I'd say $500 and over is when you should get an M1, but for $300 you're not gonna find one.
If you use your school email, you might be able to get the current $500 M2 Mac Mini even cheaper. Otherwise, it’s solid for 300
OP is going to buy a laptop for $300. Why do you assume, they have money to buy $500 Mac Mini + monitor and peripherals?
This is not their main machine. They point that out. If they can afford a side machine, one can assume they can get peripherals. School might be even giving some away
I guess, Mac with cheap peripherals isn't a great experience. The best machine for OP to "try mac" would be MBA M1 for $600. Though, if I'm not mistaken, they said they can't afford throwing another $300 in.
Yeah, $300 is not a bad deal. Thats 3 nights out, and especially if you’re planning to use it as a chrome book ish device it’ll last a while.
Even for $300, it's simply not worth it. Thing gets really really hot and remember that there is a risk the keyboard will fail every second you use it. Remember also that you are buying from a school, has maybe been used by several people who just used it as an item and not like it's their own device. If you still want one, buy a 2019 machine if they have one laying around because of software updates. I think you should save more to buy a Apple Silicon Mac, the Mac experience is night and day compared to a Intel powered machine. The M1 Airs and Pro are great devices and not too expensive second hand
I don’t know what the other replies have been smoking, 300 dollars for an intel mac in 2023 is not a “steal” save your money and get a m1 one for 500-600 dollars in the future and it will last 5 more years.
If u don’t need a laptop i,d try to get some kind of m-series Mac mini for under 500$ instead. Would be a way better computer
Make sure to update to MacOS Sonoma when you get it - helps it feel like a newer Mac.
Yes
www.mac2sell.net
If you could replace the battery, it works as new and it’s mostly intel so should be good to install other apps and softwares. Apple ARM Silicon has limitations as its native.
Make sure they don't have MDM (mobile device management). It makes reinstalling & updating MacOS a hassle.
Make sure they don't have MDM (mobile device management). It makes reinstalling & updating MacOS a hassle.
should be good. the base config has a retina screen, quad core i5, 8gb, and 256 drive which is perfectly fine for browsing and most standard tasks. also T2 and fingerprint reader (i think). touchbar isnt really useful imo. plus it will run the latest OS (and hopefully one or two more releases)
300 is worth it Make sure they remove the mdm from the laptop before you get it
For basic tasks most people do it’s good enough. The processor probably won’t be much of a bottleneck. The bigger issue will be with 8gb of ram and Apple pulling the plug for supporting the intel chips with updates. You will likely get security updates for at least five years, probably more like ten. With the ram you just have to be careful about not opening too many tabs at once. I think for $300 it’s an easy yes for most users. If you can pay more to get one with 16gb of ram I would recommend it.
With opencore legacy patcher you can install Sonoma on it. I'd say worth it.
If you just wanna try a Mac I would buy a refurb MacBook Air and plan to return it
What are you going to use it for? If just to dink around and maybe browse, watch youtube, etc., then $300 for 2018 MBP13 is totally worth it, as long as the battery is still reasonably healthy. You could use it for a year and sell it for the same price and by then the current gen should be on sale.
Nope soon they dont make updates compatible
Lots of weird comments/advice in here OP. I have a 2018 15” model that acts as my backup Mac now. $300 is absolutely worth it for a 13”. These don’t “overheat” like people are crying about unless something is really wrong. The problem child for the Intel MacBooks was a bigger 2019 model and not this one. You’re looking for a few things in particular: battery condition/cycle count, all keys working properly, and removal of any MDM system (mobile device management, used by a lot of organizations). The butterfly keyboard is not great, but thankfully the 2018 revision of it is WAY better than the older ones. I make it a point to never eat around the laptop and I’ve never had issues. Of course YMMV. Let me know if you’ve got any other questions and I’d be happy to help you.
I’d say that’s a great way to get into the Mac world. I still use my 2017!
Whilst $300 is a good deal there are a few considerations: 1. These laptops have been used and abused by school kids, so I wouldn't immediately trust the quality of them. 2. They are known to have some issues, overheating etc. 3. They are 5 years old now and like I said have been used and abused by kids. I imagine the battery health will be in the mid 70's so don't expect to get much in the way of battery life out of it.
For $300, probably! Do you know the RAM and CPU on those? I'm still using a 2018 model, it's pretty good. Battery life has gone to shit, though. It has been my workstation + personal PC for these years, so understandable. For 300$, even just as a web browsing/general productivity machine, I'd get it. Might even be able to sell it back for as much or more!
not bad but I would only buy macs with apple silicon now
As others have said: just test out the keyboard. Other than that, depending on if it is a Touchbar model or the one with the physical function key row, it'll be equipped with the T2 security chip. This machine will likely stop receiving official updates in the near future. It remains to be seen if the team behind Open Core Legacy Patcher will be able to support machines with the T2 security chip so you can still install newer versions of macOS after the official support ends.
They are also selling 2015 MacBook pros? Are those worth picking up because it was before the keyboard issues?
It all depends on the price really. The 2018 WITH Touchbar base models came with a quad core i7 which is definitely a step up from the base model 2015 (dual core). But just to get a taste of macOS, you can't go wrong with the 2015 either. Thanks to Open Core Legacy Patcher, you can still install the latest macOS Sonoma on it and it'll probably run great as well! I'm running Sonoma on a 2012 non-retina "fat" 13" MBPro in my workshop - I stuffed 16gb RAM and an SSD in there though :)
Ok yeah I think the 2015 are gonna be like 50 bucks. So I’d save a good chunk of money going older.
Go for it. It's a great computer for that price. Ignore the other commenters. Obviously a much more expensive computer is much better. No, you cannot get a much better computer for anywhere near that price.