Intel Macs Are Getting Cheaper - Should You Buy One - With Price Examples

[@mikejeter8008]

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.

[@craigneidel]

Nice for the money. Yes, they are good travel laptops for sure.

[@Noobatsecs69]

Same I got the same one but with the dGPU on it, perfect for some gaming and some image and video editing

[@therinwhitten]

I bought an Intel MacBook Pro 16 2019 with a 5500m and bought an EGPU with a 6800xt. It works in boot camp and Mac OS flawlessly. I repasted the chips with PTM 7950, and added some thermal pads to the VRMs and it's amazing! It's perfect for my work flow and allow me to wean myself off of windows. AS a game dev, I use Linux, Mac, and Windows, all bare metal. It's been great. And doing the dev work in Mac, I dont' have to fight the OS to get work done. Intel Macs still have a solid purpose and will be supported for a while still. Oh I paid only 700 USD.

[@craigneidel]

Nice. The bottom line is if it works for you then it's perfect. Thanks for watching the channel.

[@anupammahato1]

How well Does it hold, if compared to a macbook air 8gb the bae model, i have been looking between these two options in the second hand market, and these are quite similarly priced, i use my 2012 upgraded ssd and ram to 16gb not so frequently but occasional use for editing videos mostly in 1080p and sometimes iphone 12 4k 60fps videos under a minute, serves me well, only while exporting the fans kick in, when i came across my friends 2019 16 inches i9, i got mesmerized by the screen size the speaker quality and the humongous track pad, didn’t get to extensively use the 16 inches but the time had kinda fell in love especially with the modern design, m1 are fast and battery back up is amazing for sure, but the the 13 inch screen is kind of asking me to stop and rethink my decision especially with only 256 gb storage, in the second hand market i am getting a minimum of 1 tb with 32gb ram and 4gb radeon graphics, as per my workflow, do you think it is worth it to sacrifice these perks for a machine that is sure future proof but to what extent, i do have to sacrifice a beautiful 16 inches 1tb storage and the amazing speaker, i do not care much of the new os or the perks that come with it, my workflow with the laptop is not that much, half of the time its just sitting on my table idle, which would you recommend for my purpose.

[@therinwhitten]

@@anupammahato1 I would say unless you have a very specific use case to have x86 and bootcamp, you should look towards apple silicon. Def go for 16gb, if you can. And have your video editing on an external SSD, while keeping your core OS and apps on internal drive. The reason I say this is we don't know WHEN Apple will stop supporting Intel based devices, and my use case is very niche. 4GB of VRAM will be ok for 1080p Editing, although slower for sure than that M1 Air. An 8 GB Ram Device will swap memory to storage, which will wear the SSD more. Not to mention battery life is leagues apart. TLDR: If you buy an Intel Mac, expect to use it as a transitional laptop. Sure it will probably last years, but I honestly don't expect Apple to support Intel past 2 years. This years update will work on Intels, but we don't know about next years. In your use case, I think a flagship Intel Device would be better suited to you over an m1 Air with 8 gb of ram. However you will lose out on battery life and fan noise. If you are ok getting the Intel Mac while you save up for a Pro Chip Device, that is what I personally would recommend. If it's idle on the desk most of the time, the temps will stay low and fans quiet. A quirk with Intel based MacBook Pros though. If you connect to external, you need the monitor to be running at the same refresh rate as the MacBook, or it will kick in the dedicated GPU. Or you can close the lid.

[@brownianmotion7747]

Bought 2019 macbook pro 13 inch just for 400 bucks in almost scratch less condition with battery cell cycle of just around 400

[@d.r.martin6301]

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.

[@craigneidel]

Thanks for sharing. Yes, they do get the job done for sure. Being a Mac channel I buy a bunch of Macs but only because of that. Otherwise I would use them for many years.

[@HausOfPain]

Love the channel Craig. I found a 2019 27" Retina 5K iMac, 3.6GHz i9, 40GB DDR4 RAM, 1TB SSD on marketplace today. He’s asking $600. Anything I should be worried about here?

[@craigneidel]

Thank you. Just make sure it's unlocked and you like the condition. I normally reinstall the OS when I get something like that.

[@budgetkeyboardist]

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 KZbin 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.

[@craigneidel]

Yes, the keyboard issue was real but any Mac surviving this long most likely should be good for a little while more. I have not had any issues with Open Core if you are using that one as long as you confirm it's on the supported list first. Thanks for sharing and watching.

[@phillipevans7045]

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

[@craigneidel]

Not a bad price at all with all that ram.

[@garrykanter5773]

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

[@craigneidel]

Yes, unless you use Open Core etc. But the 2020 is a great machine.

[@garrykanter5773]

@@craigneidelI've reached the point where I'm not messing around with the stuff anymore. They know what they're doing better than I could ever know. So, if I can delay what I define as obsolescence for a couple years, when I'm buying used equipment (and still get that great 5k screen)...

[@craigneidel]

Yes, it's nice to not have to install the extra software for sure. I hear you on that.

[@williameverets2736]

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

[@craigneidel]

Wow, that is a great price. For the money that is not bad and if it does what you need then that's all you need.

[@williameverets2736]

I am not a Butterfly keyboard Fan, 2013 through 2015 MacBook and maybe a 2019 MacBook, I will not buy other the years i typed. Maybe I will try the Vinegar trick one day just to see what happens. Thank again!@@craigneidel

[@craigneidel]

Yes, but if the keyboards haven't broke yet they are normally going to be better then the ones that broke early on. But, I hear you on that.

[@Anonymous-g8v]

i also have blown speaker 2013 13" you can find replacement very cheap (

[@bryans8656]

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.

[@craigneidel]

Yes, that is a nice iMac. Wow, $300 that is a crazy price. There are some deals out there for sure.

[@zircoben]

Loved this video, especially as someone who makes very similar videos on their channel. One thing I do disagree on is recommending any MacBooks from 2016-2019 - the butterfly keyboards are far too problematic. I've owned 6 MacBooks of that era and had issues with 4 of them. It sucks, but those MacBooks simply aren't reliable and leave us in a weird spot of either recommending something older (which are all getting really old at this point) or newer (which are too close to the M1 Macs in price). Either way, thanks for an awesome video, throughly enjoyed it!

[@craigneidel]

Thanks and appreciate the post for sure. Yes, the MacBook during that time can have issues but what I have found it if they make it until now they normally don't have issues but it's a total chance either way. The M1s are great machines also and I do recommend those to most users that just need basic stuff done. Thanks again.

[@zircoben]

@@craigneidel Good perspective! Appreciate the response!

[@craigneidel]

I'll need to check out your channel.

[@dylanbertwell]

I just bought a 2020 MacBook Pro 13 with the Intel i7 10th gen 512 GB SSD & 32 GB of RAM and it performs very well. It does not feel slow at all and everything is snappy and quick to open. Temps are normal too around 50-70 degrees. Battery life is average but I have always had my laptops mostly always plugged in. The performance of this Mac exceeded my expectations as I thought it would be a tad slow but I was wrong. I use my mac for your average day to day tasks that aren't very cpu intensive. But even when I do push the CPU it handles it well.

[@craigneidel]

@@dylanbertwell nice and thanks for sharing the info. For most people those are more than enough. With things like video editing 4k it's nice to have an M2 cpu but only because it saves me time when I edit 125 videos per year. Nothing wrong with Intel Macs.

[@barbancourt69]

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.

[@craigneidel]

Nice older system for sure. Good luck with the new system if you got a new one.

[@barbancourt69]

@@craigneidel Bought the macbook air 15 with 24GB/1TB. (Don't need it, but had a super good deal.

[@craigneidel]

Nice, enjoy it and with that much ram you should be good.

[@Berean9999]

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!

[@craigneidel]

Yes, those are nice for sure. Also you can use Open Core to increase the OS to the newest levels if you want to later.

[@joshhanson79]

I bought a 2019 Macbook Pro iCore7 512 SSD 16 inch because I looked at a Dell Inspiron in that price range and even though it had a newer specs it felt cheap. The case was plastic and it only had a 1080p screen so I got a better screen and it just feels premium for the same price. I could not afford a new Macbook Pro. I figure when its time to upgrade I will get a M-Series Macbook. because they will be cheaper. Plus right now you can run Windows on the intel chips and people have even got windows 11 to work.

[@craigneidel]

Sounds like a good plan for sure.

[@diotitus]

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.

[@craigneidel]

If you want or need Windows that is perfect. Just get what works best for your workflow. I always have a Win machine also for various tasks.

[@JohanDee]

I'd find a MacPro 5.1, upgrade to NVME, more RAM, use Open Core and play very happily with 2 Macs put an extra SSD and install Windoze...😅.

[@cheapme1850]

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.

[@craigneidel]

Yes, Open Core is great and for the money they are nice. I like to travel with them for the same reason because you don't need to worry about them being stolen.

[@Mbro-dq2do]

Ive bought 15 amazing Macs on ebay. Not one bad thing has happened two 2015 15" Macbook Pros that ive hammered on for 3 years They run Sonoma and work perfectly. My two daily drivers. I barely use my M1 Max these days. or my M1 Air

[@craigneidel]

You can find some nice Macs on Ebay if you have a good source.

[@synthoelectro]

got my first mac lately used eBay, Mac Mini M1 2020 512GB SSD, coming soon. Heard great things about these.

[@craigneidel]

@@synthoelectro yeah you should like it. They are nice machines for the money.

[@synthoelectro]

@@craigneidel for music and music production, certainly. Nice on the on the go machine, one I can take with me.

[@craigneidel]

For sure.

[@luizfeliperamos9480]

Hi Craig! Could you help me? For $250.00/$270.00, is it still worth buying a 2020 MacBook Air with an Intel i5? I found one on eBay for $270.00. I will use it all day in college, so I need a good machine with a good battery, and only Apple can provide this (in my opinion). My usage is limited to basic tasks: email, documents, KZbin, Netflix... I plan to keep it for several years, upgrading the software with OCLP if necessary, while a save money to buy a new MacBook with an M-series processor. What do you think? What's your opinion? I would like to get the Air M1, but I live in Brazil, and here it's overpriced and I don't have enough money to buy it. My options are the MacBook Air 2017 or the MacBook Air 2020 with Intel (I don't like the butterfly keyboard, so I won't buy a MacBook with that keyboard).

[@craigneidel]

It's a tough call but it should work OK for the most part. A used M1 Air would be quite a bit better for sure if you can find one but I think the i5 should get most things done for you and using OCLP is good to keep on the newest version. It's hard for me to know for sure since everybody's use case is different but if that is what you can afford then go with it and it will be fine. I have a few older Macs and they work good so no worries. Thanks for watching the channel.

[@digitalmarketinghumans]

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!

[@craigneidel]

Yes, it seems like a nice system for sure. The M2 is still good and the M3 is slightly better but is going to cost quite a bit more for the upgrades.

[@NoahLorano]

Just bought a 2019 intel mac with 32gb ram and 4gb video card (exact same specs as the one you have listed at 5:51 for $200 USD - same price). The reason it was cheap was because the owner felt there was a hardware issue due to it running poorly on Sonoma. I downgraded to Catalina and it works flawlessly, and I can install Windows or linux on an external SSD which I wouldn't be able to on an M3. I truly believe unless you're doing 4k video editing or AI stuff, you really don't need an M3. One thing you should research more is, whether Apple is intentionally slowing down older machines with their upgraded OS'. Sonoma ran horribly on my machine, but Catalina flies!

[@anupammahato1]

How well Does it hold, if compared to a macbook air 8gb the bae model, i have been looking between these two options in the second hand market, and these are quite similarly priced, i use my 2012 upgraded ssd and ram to 16gb not so frequently but occasional use for editing videos mostly in 1080p and sometimes iphone 12 4k 60fps videos under a minute, serves me well, only while exporting the fans kick in, when i came across my friends 2019 16 inches i9, i got mesmerized by the screen size the speaker quality and the humongous track pad, didn’t get to extensively use the 16 inches but the time had kinda fell in love especially with the modern design, m1 are fast and battery back up is amazing for sure, but the the 13 inch screen is kind of asking me to stop and rethink my decision especially with only 256 gb storage, in the second hand market i am getting a minimum of 1 tb with 32gb ram and 4gb radeon graphics, as per my workflow, do you think it is worth it to sacrifice these perks for a machine that is sure future proof but to what extent, i do have to sacrifice a beautiful 16 inches 1tb storage and the amazing speaker, i do not care much of the new os or the perks that come with it, my workflow with the laptop is not that much, half of the time its just sitting on my table idle, which would you recommend for my purpose.

[@NoahLorano]

@@anupammahato1 If you want a big screen size, an external monitor does solve this (presuming you have an office and you're not mobile a lot). I love the 16 inch screen size and the speaker is amazing on the 2019. I have a 16gb macbook pro 2014 and I really don't use it much as I find it not as fun to use and slower (but it uses Big Sur, so that's why it is slow). If I were you, go for 1tb with 32gb ram (guessing this is the 2019 core i9 right?). Also what is the price?

[@craigneidel]

Yes, I did see that it can run slower on the newer OS too. Anyhow thanks for the post and for watching. I appreciate it.

[@alexanderkhripko2418]

I have 16” m1pro and use it for all personal things. I have my old a1708 though. I use it for work. It’s enough for coding.

[@craigneidel]

Yes, the M1 Pro is more than enough for almost everything.

[@travisbckle]

My main machine since 2020 is an i7 13” MBP. I have no desire to upgrade. The software I use is x86 only. So newer MBP’s would be a terrible choice.

[@craigneidel]

Yep, if that is what you use then that is what you need.

[@adrianjenkins2447]

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.

[@craigneidel]

Yes, they are not for everyone and really for people that can't spend more. Thanks for watching.

[@morphineisgod]

I picked up a 2020 Macbook Air M1 in /fb market place for $140. Best deal ever.

[@craigneidel]

Yes, that is a great deal on an M1.

[@bigdiggle5036]

I can't believe you didn't mention the 2013 Mac Pro. I bought mine super super cheap and upgraded it to a 12core/24thread xeon and 64gb of ram and it all cost less than 300 dollars. if you go with these unsupported Macs then absolutely use OCLP to update to the latest macOS

[@craigneidel]

I mean there are so many Macs I can't mention them all but yes OCLP is the way to go with the older setups for sure. Thanks for watching.

[@Salvaa26]

Hey Craig, great video. I've been thinking to get a MBP 2020 (intel i5) with 8GB ram and 256gb ssd for like 705€ do you think it worths it? thanks

[@craigneidel]

It's a touch call when it's around that cost. How much can you get a M1 Air for as those are going to be just as fast and have the newer chips also.

[@Salvaa26]

@@craigneidel it really depends cuz ive been looking around backmarket, and currently the m1 air is around 720 and with discount the intel 2020 16gb ram and 256 ssd is at 620. Bur do u think that theres a big difference between those 2? Because ive been always a pro user and i love the design much more than one from the air

[@craigneidel]

Yeah, either the Air or the M2 you can now get for like $829 on sale. I think you will be happier with those longer term. The Apple silicon Macs (even airs) are so much better then the Pros from the last gen and basically are faster in most ways for sure. I don't think you will be disappointed. You can also find a refurb M1 on eBay for around $550.

[@Salvaa26]

@@craigneidel thanks

[@boogiedownnyc]

intel macs are perfect for me for the time being. for my workflow I don't need crazy perfomance. i got an 2013 mbp running sonoma and it does the job for me, its also quite snappy.

[@craigneidel]

For sure, if it works then why spend more. Thanks for watching.

[@moisemust]

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.

[@craigneidel]

Yes, in some places the used market is quite different. If you have a M2 Air now then you should be set for a while. Thanks for watching and posting.

[@billymania11]

Shhhh! The Intel MacBooks are still plenty good. I've never done video encoding or video editing on my 2017 MacBook Pro...mid-spec model (16GB, 512 SSD). The keyboard and battery were replaced a year ago so it's like new. I love it.

[@craigneidel]

They still work great but since I do a bunch of video editing even a difference of 20 minutes per video (I do 120 or more per year) can save me more time then the cost of the upgrade. But if you are not doing editing and stuff like that then yes they are fine for 90% of people.

[@Spladoinkal]

I've looked into this but for my use case (mostly backing tracks and automation for worship music), I'm not limited to JUST Mac. For the price of an intel Mac powerful enough for this purpose I could get a much more powerful PC laptop or a much cheaper one would get the same performance. For me personally, I feel like this would make more sense when M1 Macbooks get to the price of Intel Macs, simply because M1's are powerhouses. Someone that NEEDS to use Mac though and doesn't need to do crazy amounts of rendering, etc. it's a GREAT idea!

[@craigneidel]

Yes, the M1s are a great choice today if you can find a great deal on them. I still have an iMac with an M1 and it's plenty fast. The only issue I ever run into might be 8 GB ram.

[@Spladoinkal]

@@craigneidel Yeah, I wouldn't do 8 GB for music stuff.

[@craigneidel]

For sure I would upgrade

[@Mbro-dq2do]

open core legacy homie works great. Ive said it here before. Hes right they work flawlessly. Do It!! I was scared at first to take the time to learn it but I did. Its basic folks

[@craigneidel]

Yes, it works very good for most older macs.

[@bigpaw01]

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.

[@craigneidel]

Not a bad cost but the M1s are now very close to that in cost and will be a bit faster. Either way I hope you are enjoying it.

[@DavidNorthrop-me1th]

I think the m-series is okay for everyone except coders. I would rather have my 2019 i9 MacBook as a software engineer and graphic designer. I can create my graphics I would use for apps or website development while being able to switch from Mac to Windows natively using Boot Camp on my Mac to code apps or websites. Apple needs to bring them back for us software engineers.

[@craigneidel]

You are the first one I have heard that said that but it's good to hear all sides.

[@anupammahato1]

How well Does it hold, if compared to a macbook air 8gb the bae model, i have been looking between these two options in the second hand market, and these are quite similarly priced, i use my 2012 upgraded ssd and ram to 16gb not so frequently but occasional use for editing videos mostly in 1080p and sometimes iphone 12 4k 60fps videos under a minute, serves me well, only while exporting the fans kick in, when i came across my friends 2019 16 inches i9, i got mesmerized by the screen size the speaker quality and the humongous track pad, didn’t get to extensively use the 16 inches but the time had kinda fell in love especially with the modern design, m1 are fast and battery back up is amazing for sure, but the the 13 inch screen is kind of asking me to stop and rethink my decision especially with only 256 gb storage, in the second hand market i am getting a minimum of 1 tb with 32gb ram and 4gb radeon graphics, as per my workflow, do you think it is worth it to sacrifice these perks for a machine that is sure future proof but to what extent, i do have to sacrifice a beautiful 16 inches 1tb storage and the amazing speaker, i do not care much of the new os or the perks that come with it, my workflow with the laptop is not that much, half of the time its just sitting on my table idle, which would you recommend for my purpose.

[@craigneidel]

If I was buying a Mac today for real-work that makes you money I would go with the M chip Macs. But that doesn't mean for a bunch of people the Intel Macs are still good. It's just the M chip are quite a bit better at things like video editing, photo editing, code compiles etc. But the cost does make a difference so I would get what you feel is right.

[@frazerweb]

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.

[@craigneidel]

Wow, 2011 nice. That is going quite a way back. Goes to show you how long they can last.

[@frazerweb]

@craigneidel I still have an 2009 intel dual core for ripping MP3s had one new mother board 3 hard drives and still works lol.

[@craigneidel]

I have a 2011 iMac but nothing older then that.

[@fearlesssoul9408]

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 👍

[@craigneidel]

It should run the newest OS but I would look more for a used M1 Air as it will be much faster and maybe $100 more.

[@randomdebris]

I just got two Mac book Airs Late 2013 for my parents for 50 euro each! Just needs to do IM, Email, FaceTime, and Zoom

[@craigneidel]

Not bad, and you can load Open Core Legacy Patcher to run the newest OS if you want to.

[@harry6083]

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.

[@craigneidel]

Yes, the battery is an issue for sure especially if you get one with higher battery counts. The keyboards can be an issue also but they are now so inexpensive it's just a risk I guess.

[@stephenfox7866]

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.

[@craigneidel]

Thank you. Yes, Intel Macs still work great and I use my 2017 with 48 GB for most of my 4K edits.

[@Jaybird-be1tt]

I love my intel macbook pro. I don't want or need unified memory. Plus parallels is to much of a performance hit. I would rather use bootcamp and run windows natively.

[@craigneidel]

Use what is best for you and I always say that. No need to spend money if you don't need a new system.

[@TMMonkeys]

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

[@craigneidel]

For sure and great point.

[@cherkas009]

That 27- inch I mac I would just use it as is forget the external hard drive

[@craigneidel]

Thanks for the post.

[@TheMetalMag]

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.

[@craigneidel]

Yes, I agree but if somebody has like a $200 budget some of the older iMacs and MacBooks are good enough to get some work done in some cases. They are still better then most very inexpensive Win laptops in that range and you can load on Open Core for newer OS versions.

[@truchretienne8889]

My only question is what are your 2 MacBooks that you showed, i5, i7?

[@craigneidel]

I think those two are i5s. I did videos on them if you search my channel.

[@tamalchakraborty5346]

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

[@craigneidel]

Yes, the ram is nice to have in some cases for sure.

[@juliussmith109]

Got a friend selling a 2020 MacBook Pro intel used. Thoughts? HR mentioned it was slowing down but with recent update its speed back up

[@craigneidel]

How much is the question. If you can get a really good deal (cheaper then the M chip macs) then consider it.

[@juliussmith109]

@@craigneidel $400. Just heard 2 years intel will stop support for these devices though. Thats why I’m kind of leery about purchase.

[@craigneidel]

Yes, it's a choice you will need to make but seems like a fairly good deal. Thanks again.

[@fefenation]

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

[@craigneidel]

I had answered this in another post.

[@jamesmartens160]

I mean, why not. I need another heater for the basement 😅

[@craigneidel]

@@jamesmartens160 they don't get to that hot for most tasks

[@DeejayFranks]

How do we get some to buy and ship them to our destinations

[@craigneidel]

I created a video on that if you search for it.

[@Smittron]

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

[@craigneidel]

Yes, they can run Linux quite well. I might do a video on that in the future.

[@Usernotknown21]

I only hate that it's only 30hz screen but it's extremely reliable

[@craigneidel]

What has a 30 HZ screen?

[@samlawrence4670]

In a word no you shouldn’t outside of a few niche use cases any money spent on an Intel Mac is money badly spent. I am still using a 2013 13 inch MBP myself because it still works for my word processing, email and media consumption just fine but I would rather buy a modern iPad than spend any money on a hot loud poor battery life soon to be unsupported Intel Mac.

[@craigneidel]

As the M series macs become cheaper it's less attractive to use older Macs. But, many people still do and use things like Open Core for the OS. Just a fact.

[@samlawrence4670]

@@craigneidel not saying they don’t do it there are enough videos on you tube about it showing they do it, they just shouldn’t.

[@craigneidel]

Yeah, maybe but for some with very low budgets and with open core it works ok.

[@inwedavid6919]

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?

[@craigneidel]

I would only recommend the Intel Macs if the budget of the person buying them can't afford the M-chip Macs. The intel can still work Ok but of course the M1, M2, and M3 will work better for day to day stuff.

[@joshiiishookt816]

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

[@craigneidel]

How much. They are ok but m1 air is so much faster that if you can get one for about 200 more I think you will be happier with that for sure. Of course budget is important so only if you can swing the extra cost. The older air would still be ok for basic work

[@mikascherhag8909]

Any out of warranty mac with a butterfly keyboard is a terrible deal.

[@craigneidel]

All depends on price.

[@MohamedAhmed-mu4tu]

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

[@craigneidel]

What's the year? That might be a bit high and I would just get the 14" M3 Pro (with Pro chip) for slightly more and I think it might perform better. Don't get me wrong that is still a nice machine and I guess it depends on what you are doing with it.

[@MohamedAhmed-mu4tu]

@@craigneidel thanks a lot , its old but it is still in the box , and screen is 16 inch , but i think better i wait for m3 with 16 inch used , as you told its better , i am a mac beginner and use it for studying online and play retro games

[@craigneidel]

Thanks and good luck with everything.

[@LordAlucar01]

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.

[@craigneidel]

Thanks for the post. Sorry about the car. Sound like a good plan moving forward with all the stuff you plan on getting.

[@digitalmarketinghumans]

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.

[@craigneidel]

Yes, some of the older ones do have the larger GPUs. Battery life suffers but they are still good for quite a bit.

[@Usernotknown21]

Don't forget you can swap the battery and upgrade the storage. It's my most reliable laptop

[@craigneidel]

Yes, that is true.

[@alexreece4858]

U think a 2020 MacBook Air i3 would be okay for just KZbin and stuff not really gonna use it for work lol I got it for 215$ think that was a bad deal or good

[@craigneidel]

Maybe but I would really look for a m1 used if you can swing it. It's quite a bit better.

[@macgamer1973]

2:30 an intel mac can do what m series cant run multi version of mac os

[@craigneidel]

Thanks for watching.

[@tomluptowski]

got me a 2015 MacBook Pro for 150 on eBay spent another 80 upgrading the ssd to 1tb 90% of consumers wouldn't need anymore

[@craigneidel]

Nice and good luck with everything. Thanks for watching the channel.

[@geminibodyshop71]

another great video

[@craigneidel]

Thanks for the post and for watching.

[@geminibodyshop71]

@@craigneidel I watch every video you do a great job and remain positive and impartial and that’s great

[@craigneidel]

Appreciate the feedback.

[@bizzybeeapps4339]

You can now get an Intel Mac Pro for around 1700 dollars, crazy people once paid 6000 for a base model

[@craigneidel]

Yeah, that was the largest rip-off in the history of computers back then.

[@KadMac25]

Is that a skin on your Apple Magic Mouse?

[@craigneidel]

No, that is a mouse that I did a video on a few weeks ago. Cheap $15 mouse but looks cool.

[@gloween9151]

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.)

[@craigneidel]

Nothing wrong with a Mac mini. Thanks for watching.

[@Mbro-dq2do]

And some Ive donated to poor kids in my building here in Chicago

[@craigneidel]

@@Mbro-dq2do yeah you can do that too. If you load open core on them they are great.

[@Bc232klm]

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

[@craigneidel]

I see that you don't like Macs. Three negative comments in a row about them. If you don't like a Mac that is totally fine but why are you then watching Mac videos. I always find that funny.

[@macgamer1973]

What should be cheap is that junk m series, you can upgrade them .they no better than a tv or throws made other companies

[@craigneidel]

They are great systems for getting work done. I use my m2 for 4K video production (on an Air) and I have no issues - not one. So the M chips are very good. Maybe the best.

[@Bc232klm]

That 2019 macbook for 200 was bent lol 😆

[@craigneidel]

Works fine and is going to be used on the actual desk like a Mac mini. Screen was just damaged.

[@nedotraxxxx]

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

[@craigneidel]

Thanks for the feedback and for watching the video again. Appreciate it.