I just bought a 2015 15” MacBook Pro with 16 gb ram and 512gb SSD, running Ventura with Open Core. Screen is perfect, it’s my new travel laptop for web maintenance. $120.

Thanks Craig, that iMac would be a great option for folks on a budget. My last Intel Mac desktop was the 2018 Mac mini. It was an excellent device and had the one feature I really miss with the M chips, the ability to run Boot Camp. I just checked eBay and it looks like the price starts at ~$300US.

Thanks for your insights Craig. I saw one of your older videos talking about an iMac and MacBook Air combination. I wanted to ask you what you personally would think of a desktop/laptop combination of a Windows desktop PC and MacBook to get the best of both worlds, and if they could work reasonably well together.

My wife just got an M1 Air (and loves it). But I didn't want to drop a grand or so on a new Mini with 4k monitor so soon after. So I'm sticking with my 2017 Retina iMac. I've upgraded it to Ventura, to a 1T SSD, added 16 gig of memory for a total of 20, updated a bunch of apps. All for about $300. So yeah, an Intel Mac of a certain vintage should do you fine for at least a couple more years.

I love the 27" iMacs. I wouldn't go earlier than 2020 (maybe 2019), though, for the longest OS support.

Using my 2020 iMac i7 5700xt 64gb ram, it's a BEAST! I also have the M1 Pro as. a laptop and let me tell you, it doesn't miss a step in regards to the comparison to the M1 Pro. The GPU 5700xt is also better than the gpu on the M1 Pro.

Patchers are not always 100% compliant. I've had mixed results with them. Another factor to consider is that the latest Chrome requires at least OS 10.15, and you can have issues with KZfaq on operating systems earlier than that. So I'd suggest not buying a Mac that can't run at least 10.15. Another bit of advice - the MacBook Pro line from 2016 through 2018 had issues with the keyboard, but the MacBook Air models of the same year had no keyboard issues. All of that said, I'm a fan of older Macs - I'm watching this on a 2012 Mac Mini connected to my TV right now.

I bought a 2017 MacBook Air i7. The OS is limited to Monterey but the great thing is that I upsized the SSD using an M.2 2280 1TB PCIe Gen3. Perfect for it!

I recently sold my old MacBook Pro I7/16GB/512GB SSD for €200 (Mid 2012). It was still in a perfect condition. Upgraded it to Sonoma with Open Core Legacy Patcher (easy stuff). Me happy and the buyer as well.

Looking forward to your next video on the newly released M3 macbook Airs. I know it'll be something along the line of , 'M2 is still good' and yep, it is. I am just surprised Apple ended up with putting more anti finger print on the newer M3 with the new coating. Thank goodness it has 2 monitor support now!

I got a 2018 I7 Mac Mini with 32 GB of ram with a 128GB Hard Drive for 388.76.

I bought a Late 2013 15" MacBook Pro 16GB with 512 GB SSD for $99.00 Plus shipping , Tax tot al $130.00 one think wrong left speaker does not work. Very Happy with it

Is 13inch MB air 2019 i5, 1.6hz it runs latest OS, 8gb ram, 128ssd & been cycled 48 times worth 450 bucks? Insightful video btw 👍

I’ve bought several Intel MacBooks at really cheap prices through CL or even Nextdoor. Usually a simple SSD upgrade and Open Core installed and I’m good to go. It’s great because I can leave them at various places and not worry about toting my M1 around at the risk of losing it or having it stolen.

Can I use 2014 pro i7 , 16gb ram 128ssd for video editing,,, premium pro and after effect??

how about a macbook air 2020 i3? is it good for school? like for pdfs, yt, and mutli tasking

I would consider buying them for kids to use with school work etc, but not necessary for university. At some point, apple will pull the plug in supporting all Intel Macs. As secondary systems they are excellent, I’m using a 2012 I7 (I think) Mac mini as a Plex/media server.

I probably wouldn't buy one now, but I still use from time my old 2011 macbook pro, which replaced one where the graphic card failed. It still runs osx snow leopard and runs an old copy of photoshop. I have seen intel macbooks selling really cheap lately. This will eventually happen to all computers including the M3 max in time.

I got a 2018 Mac mini that was new in the box last year for 300.00. It was never opened still had all the Apple stuff in it.

my makbook pro retina died after 4 years, my hair las a bit longer, but is it reasonable to buy a laptop with glued battery and butterfly keyboards that are far slower than a M1 Macbook?

Had to ask for a loan to my bank to buy a M2 MacBook Air. I managed to find a deal on the 1TB for €100 less than the 512GB model which is the size I knew I needed, but 1TB I never thought I could afford. I know M3s came out before I bought it but I don’t need the newest model. I’m happy with that but I still want to buy another air, a 2015 intel one but I no longer see the point though, I’d just use it as a writing machine which I can do on my M2 or even on my hackintoshed Asus laptop. I’d just be reassured to have something cheap on the go rather than something I had to borrow money to afford. In my area you can’t buy Mac’s for that cheap. The cheapest airs I found on eBay are €200 and pretty beaten up.

These systems are also a very interesting option for anyone cross shopping against Chromebooks

Again, valuable video from Craig 🤝 Without marketing bullshit (thanks for the honest review )

800€ for i9 2019 16inch MacBook Pro, with 64Gb of Ram. Crazy, but I would like that extra ram over M1 to be honest.

Only two things that are really annoying with Intel Macs are the loud fan and the horrible battery life. Especially watching youtube. Other than that these Intel Macs are just fine. Especially the ones that were released without the butterfly keyboard a few months before the M1 came out back in 2020. If you can pick one up in pristine condition in sites like Swappa you would not be disappointed.

Great video. Unless you have a special use case, or have lots of money to blow to be on the bleeding edge, Intel Macs work just fine for what most people do on their computers.

i found mac book pro i9 64gb ram and 2 tb with box used 1 year , selling price 1300 Dollars , and he is ready to install latest os , is this worthy

Reducing e-waste = good topic. Intel based Macs are also good for running Linux.

another great video

Is that a skin on your Apple Magic Mouse?

I''d rather buy real PPC macs than a intel one. cheaper doesn't change the fact it was bad. While I still use my 27 inch intel iMac, I won't buy another one I just wait to have the money to buy a new M1 or M3 computer.

Have an itch in my ass to try a macOS. But I can't justify spending money on a macbook since I have Elitebook 840 G5. The equivalent power macbooks are way to much money. And m1 are way fucking good to consider an intel option. Really like a 12 inch Macbook (2017 only), but that laptop is kinda ass and a waste of money. Thank you for recaling me an existence of mac mini, maybe this is my option.)

Used thinkpads can run macOS better than these for less money.

That 2019 macbook for 200 was bent lol 😆

alot is going on on my side but ill put it on a quick story, i lost my car and i was thinking should i get a new one or commit to finishing my setup this year, i figured out 2 things, first i want macbook pro which means pay over time and second apple march event, if apple release the new ipad with next chip to run games i intend to buy it, if airpods max 2 also comes out i also will get those, if none of those come i will just get macbook pro pay over time, my daily life is now research, netflix/yt and gaming, when i get macbook pro it will enable me to use imac as external monitor for netflix/yt and macbook pro for research and maybe i resume webtoon also if utility allows it, and as i watch netflix i game on my ifon,ipad also has same use for apps plus it is bigger and better if comes with next gaming chip, this allows me to do 3 things, save ifon battery, use it as external monitor or just use it as a individual device for its spefific games since mac and ios use different games, plus they are both touch use unlike mac, for 2024 that is my plot, for 2025 is next ifon, i itend to own 2 ifons because i cant carry ipad with me daily and i cant stay without a phone for 2-3 weeks(pre-order), as for mac gaming i did not give up, im just delaying it because of battery limitations, once it degrates i need to buyback to get value back so getting max is not valid right now, especially since i do not game on mac anytime soon netflix and research takes priority for me, stuff piles up and i lack time to be up to date on everything, i hope you're doing well and keep it up.

Agreed except on cost. Here in super capitalist Hong Kong a 150 dollar Mac performs about as well as a 150 dollar Windows laptop.