I Bought A NASTY $30 Retina Macbook... From eBay!

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So... I bought a $30 12" 2016 Apple Retina Macbook off of eBay. It's in horrible condition and definitely needs a clean, if it even works at all. Let's take a look at what I got! #napwithmanta #mantasleep #apple
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Nathan Sivewright
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Macbook Specifications:
Early 2016 12" Apple Macbook
1.1GHz Intel Core m3 Skylake processor (M3-6Y30)
Intel HD 515 Graphics
256GB SSD (Not removable)
8GB LPDDR3 1866MHz Ram

[@psivewri]

Head over to Manta Sleep bit.ly/3FlOCbZ and be sure to use my code: Psivewri for 10% off your order!

[@ghost62751]

we get macbooks at our goodwill regularly, are they worth it to refurbish as a personal computer or are they to old? they are usually around 2010-2012

[@psivewri]

@@ghost62751I still use a 2012 15” MacBook Pro for photoshop and my KZbin thumbnails. Slap an SSD in one, upgrade the ram and you’ll be good to go! Cleaning out the fans and redoing the thermal paste is also recommended 😀

[@thesimaviator]

​@@psivewri And obviously drown it in some Eucalyptus oil

[@wikwayer]

Did you get your money back?

[@tigersusyt]

SELF PROMO ALERT

[@walpoleandworcester]

I’d love for Apple to bring back this form factor and call it the MacBook SE and put a binned Apple Silicon M3 chip in there and a regular one for a bit more money. Two options and it would probably sell like crazy! Nice work trying to fix this old Intel M3 MacBook Air!

[@MultimediaLucario]

But maybe not have the crappy butterfly keyboard

[@Nenemon]

@@MultimediaLucariothe pre butterfly keyboard would work perfectly if you ask me

[@trisiegt]

that is the scissor keyboard@@Nenemon

[@DeterminedTorres]

Or Magic Keyboard, apparently.

[@austing4321]

The M1 would suffice and they could likely price it somewhere like 4-600 bucks or something with that. It'd be a great value for the performance and quality. Certainly better than similarly priced Chromebooks.

[@johncundiff7075]

Thanks for showing this video.. just proves that not all ebay purchases are perfect, sellers can be creeps and misrepresent their goods, and sometimes.. things don't always go as planned! Great video! Keep them coming!

[@netii126]

You know the previous owner treated their device like trash when they couldn't even be bothered to spare the 2 minutes it would've taken to tape over the webcam properly. The paper and tape going over the screen would have made furious within minutes of using it.

[@TheBasementChannel]

Great repair journey! Thanks for this video, I appreciate you sharing the losses as well as the wins.

[@Max-ts5mw]

I always wanted one of these when they came out, the edgeless keyboard design was always so striking. Although it would cannibalise iPad Pro sales, a £799-£999 Apple Silicon version would be the perfect ultrabook!

[@UltraCenterHQ]

I love when laptop keyboards goes edge to edge. It makes them look very slick

[@Zebra_Paw]

Look wise sure but not necessarily great for typing

[@TheBasementChannel]

I love that about the 12” G4 powerbook.

[@robsquared2]

Wow a several year old M3. It must have traveled through time. That's a keeper.

[@alienrefugee51]

I thought he made a mistake also and meant to say, i3, but indeed these laptops use Intel M3 chips.

[@tiadaid]

@@alienrefugee51 I never realized Intel has M-chips for laptops.

[@ignaciotomasi]

no, intel actually has m3 processors

[@tyler6602]

😂 bro thought he was a smartass

[@playerfreak3329]

You only only cos apple uses M3 as name doesnt mean that they are the first one to do so

[@djGreenALERT]

Ahhh mate! With all that messing about and being let down, I was really routing for ya to turn things around with that device. You definitely deserved better.

[@DJAtomic5]

That MacBook was ahead of its time tbh. With Apple's current M series chips, this is the perfect laptop to have that chip instead of the underpowered Intel chip it had at the time.

[@telsan4291]

The form factor, screen and build quality still hold up today however the repair time & costs far exceed what it’s worth even in the used market as you can buy a functioning one for not much more

[@rollingtroll]

Finally a video that is closer to my experience trying to buy second hand cheap Mac products. I never got lucky, ever :D. But hey, nice little desktop you got there ;).

[@mustangeek]

I bought one from a college garage sale a few years ago, and still use it for basic stuff, I can go all day still on the battery. Also its a machine I bring on over night trips that I need to pack really light.

[@ronlevin2339]

If battery was not used for a lot of time, it still might be working, BMS is just locked. You can try to charge it by external power supply (with variable voltage and current) or sometimes even each of it cells separately.

[@getrektboy]

i love how the 12 inch macbook looks. the keyboard that fits the body with little space on the edges makes it aesthetically pleasing. the overall design of it still looks modern to this day.

[@usama.rajpoot93]

Another great video 👍🏻

[@drewpatterson8009]

I had the 12" MacBook when it first came out. It actually had MAJOR promise and I LOVED it for what I used it for. Apple needs to release a new version with the M1 as a "budget" MacBook

[@jomiplayz2765]

and call it the MacBook SE with 128gb starting at $599

[@YouTubeExpertZesan]

I love watching your videos😍😍

[@ExtremelyRandomStuff]

At 10:30 I was just going to bed as I saw your amazing video pop up😂

[@user-qc6kq4bf2r]

Wow, that grafite termal paste is the best one and works better then MX4

[@juskim]

1:07 when I heard M3 model, I was so confused until I realized Intel also made an m3 processor awhile back 😂

[@wlandroid]

You should create a "headless" laptop out of it. Remove the screen and connect it to an external one.

[@TheSpotify95]

Shame that this form factor can't be brought back with the M1/M2/M3 series CPUs! Though I'm not a fan of how the battery is glued into place. The seller of the 2nd battery probably didn't lie as it may well have worked fine when the battery/bottom case was removed from their old laptop. Once the cells sit around for too long, issues can occur, especially if one or more of the cells reaches a critically low voltage level. Under those circumstances it is not possible to charge the battery via the laptop, you have to use dedicated external tools to slowly bring the battery back to a decent voltage level, so that the laptop detects it. That is probably what happened to your battery given it only had 9 charge cycles!

[@DankyMankey]

The way it was packed reminds me of the original MacBook Air commercial.

[@ReverendJasper]

I've learned that the quick dry contact cleaner spray will take care of the glue on the older retina MBP 13. Not sure if it would work with this type of glue.

[@ShapdCrusadr]

A while back I bought locally an used 14" HP laptop that has a Ryzen 3 processor for $40 US dollars. There was nothing wrong with the laptop other than it ran really slow so made it next to useless. The problem was HP shipped the laptop with only 4GB of DDR4 running Windows 10 Home. It also had a 1TB 5400rpm HDD installed which did not help the matter any either. I upgraded the memory to 16GB and ended up replacing the 1TB HDD with a SSD which I already had laying around. Now the laptop is running like a champ.

[@tailgate_4272]

Less goo new video

[@samjarman]

Convert it into a desktop? Would make a good mac mini or cupboard mac?

[@nchia]

USB-C hub with pass through power delivery can give you some options as a very cheaper and low powered Intel Mac to run older stuff.

[@onkelklaujo]

A macbook this size would be a dream for me. It would be great if they made a similar one with apple silicon

[@timtheguy82]

I got one of these from my university when I was interning for the summer. I handled the stuff that was supposed to go to recycling and came across one. It was a 2016 with a core m7 surprisingly and it only had a broken space bar. I asked if they really wanted it gone since it was in a bin with a bunch of other junk and after installing macOS, they removed the mdm lock and just handed it to me. Honestly it's an okay laptop, even with the bto core m7 it's still really sluggish

[@awesomeguysuncle]

1:08 I thought you meant Apple M3 processor, not Intel Core m3 lol

[@cookie1004]

same

[@ayokarlos]

I’m still using this MacBook early 2015 I just got a new battery from Apple a few months ago. Works great

[@Jazztoasty101]

butterfly keyboards are actually really nice imo.

[@VOLTRONDEFENDER4440]

Actually Nathan the motherboard of the MacBook is faulty because try taking out the battery to see if it still says replaced!

[@thomasaaron3094]

Same computer I just shipped out to you today

[@robinrai4973]

That tiny motherboard is just an absolute marvel of engineering

[@Tiboo08]

the headless machook project will be fire (it will be usedas a desktop) 😅🔥🔥🔥

[@Evie0133]

If the Logic Board has no problems with it, that alone is absolutely nuts for $30! You can use it on other 12" MacBooks that have a good display and battery, but dead Logic Boards for example :D

[@psivewri]

If I can find such a unit I will definitely buy!

[@Evie0133]

​@@psivewri Now that's a video I'm looking forward to :D

[@tomfooIeryz]

Arent logic boards very expensive? Could sell it as well and make a huge profit

[@detroxx56784]

Such a sleek device for on the go usage. Sadly they still go for several hundred dollars where I live, so I definitely won't buy one. But the form factor has always amazed me. This thing with Apple silicon would be amazing.

[@Cyber_Gas]

They might release macbook se i think thats simular form factor

[@alinosgg]

If the M3 chip got Quick Sync, you can now make it an headless Plex media server / simple NAS with an external drive.

[@Zebra_Paw]

When I saw no os I thought dead SSD, these machines are about as reliable as the 2011 15"

[@wertywerrtyson5529]

The battery not working after the job of installing it sucks. I love the older MacBooks that has a battery that is user friendly to change. Better hope Framework become popular so user repairable laptops get more common. We want the Right to repair!

[@MisterBrain]

As someone who types on a particularly clicky mechanical keyboard, the keyboard on this thing drove me mad when I used one. Nice looking though.

[@blueexnetic]

not me watching this while he roasts the macbook im literally using

[@Moustafa009]

Remove the battery and screen.. use it as ma. Mini with built in keyboard and trackpad

[@sadaaromin13]

I have a m5 8gb and 512gb model and it’s been my daily driver laptop for about 2 years. I dual boot windows and it’s rad. Unfortunately I decided it’s time to upgrade. I’ll be getting a 2017 MacBook Pro 15” I’ll miss the small form factor but I need the powa and dual boot still.

[@emulatorretro]

My mid 2017 Butterfly is just like this, just needs a new battery though. might get a new one, but on my OWC dock it just serves as the main part of my pc. I wish I had more than 8 gb of ram though. I might have to replace the thermal paste on it by now, but since I bought it used on eBay for $250, I'm not complaining at all. Except when I try tp run Logic Pro and it audio clips and has trouble resending the audio.

[@MissChelle]

Hi, cool video! I’m thinking about buying a 2nd hand MacBook, but I am totally a tech zombie. I use a iPad pro for everything, including my art which is my passion. Can you give me some tips on buying 2nd hand? Im in Aus so looking in ebay and Facebook only. I’d really love a new one but I’ve been saving for a year and still only half way there! Cheers ❤️🇦🇺

[@gamingsucks5349]

Would be good for a desktop setup for young kid or a age person could use and Attached a monitor to it

[@adiposerex5150]

I have gotten this laptop at Amazon US and it was fine.

[@Frings-no8qg]

Watched this on my 2015 12 inch Retina Macbook. :)

[@n.l3880]

Damn this already has M3

[@SuyashBansal]

You can also try to put the logic board + USB/TB hub in a small custom case to build a mini PC that can be used to run something like a home server or Home Assistant.

[@windowsvista3193]

I can use a computer with a screen that bad but only because it’s a school laptop/ computer( my school no longer uses computers) and on my HP pavilion dv5 1050TX which I’m afraid if I clean it, it might break considering that it’s my daily laptop

[@pastaqwerty1594]

Bro posted as i opened youtube lmao

[@AztkSmooth]

The logic board in these are known to go bad

[@Joshua_Laresma]

The phone that i used has the same issue on the screen

[@ozrob76]

Me seeing the title: Guess that eucalyptus oil will be getting a workout then.....🍿

[@PantusiaGaming]

2nd Gen Aluminium MacBook

[@NebukadV]

4:30 cutting the leads to a battery (cell) both at once with a metal tool is the worst thing you can do and much worse than simply leaving it dangling around for a while. You create a direct short for at least 2 of the cells within the pack. If there was any energy left in those cells, there would have been sparks. 5:55 replacing the thermal interface material with paste was also a disservice. The heatsink is designed to have a certain distance from the DIEs and the original material filled that space while staying in place. Mostly liquid thermal paste like MX4 is meant for directly pressing the heatsink onto the DIE, which does not happen here. It will move about and end up not making contact in most places. But these 12" MacBooks are a waste of time anyway. The only question is whether the CPU oder SSD cooks itself first.

[@dog61]

You don't need to remove the logic board to replace the battery.

[@user-qt8zo1jq9c]

Nice work great man great talent truly appreciate thank you ❤️ hope everything goes smoothly for you and your new home ❤

[@maniatore2006]

I brought an Apple Macbook Air (2015) for 60€ And as not Working, it had just an Nonworking OS, after Installing a fresh copy of MAC OS it Works just fine. It has a 5th gen Corte i5 and 4 GB of RAM and 128GB SSD. But he good Question is, what ca i do with that, me as Widnows User have no idea: Thank you for that new Video.

[@i_dont_want_a_handle]

4:32 NO! Cutting a battery off with scissors will short circuit it! Never do that!

[@woodant1981]

Where are these cheap project macs on eBay where I am. Theyre all "ran over by truck late 09 Core 2 Duo rare know what I have" 150 or best offer ads. Very annoying

[@mouseking7220]

I have an iPhone 4s with a similar display issue.

[@eney5594]

I have this same laptop in perfect condition. The only issue is with the screen, (I stepped on it one night) I want to sell it online as well but since the screen isn't clear I don't know how to delete all of my stuff off of it. If someone knew how to fix the screen they'd have a great laptop.

[@cherkas009]

I'm surprised Apple didn't have the so-called courage to remove the headphone jack like they did that year in the iPhone

[@Skylake013]

never knew there was an intel core m series till now 💀

[@marcusellby]

I loved my Macbook 12. Wish Apple would bring it back, maybe with a M1 at a reasonable price

[@Pb9098_]

Completely unusable with this screen. Would be immediate ewaste if they revived the 12in especially with a m chip.

[@yyouthcanoee]

I still use my 2017 i5 12 inch MacBook, but im dying for one with even just an m1 in it. the processors in these machines are beyond awful

[@Collector3476]

You should buy the latest Apple MacBook and do a teardown video and have a look at the Apple Silicon M3 Chip. At least, do a MacBook review video with the latest Apple MacBook.

[@Angultra]

8gb base, some things never change

[@Pb9098_]

Sold for parts… “seller kind of lied to me” piss off dude 😂

[@Lildredz]

another amazing vid, hopefully you'll be able to post again soon cannot wait !!

[@markyoung01maccom]

I have a reconditioned one of these machines with a new battery , with OCLP it’s running sonoma, and whilst it’s seen better days it’s a wonderful form factor and great for non demanding tasks

[@otter-pro]

This being so cheap, I'd buy one if I had a chance, as alternative to raspberry pi and other small pc running home assistant, etc. I don't need the screen and I probably won't need to type on it.

[@Trinitrophenylmethylnitramines]

An intel core M3 and you said like it's the new M3 macbook lol

[@goyban]

03:49 Am I tripin or the are some sparks there?

[@muhammadadnaan780]

How would I learn to do what you do?

[@lukedavis436]

I swear they where dropping like flies at one point due to Overheating and dying CPUs

[@MITK.0]

wen you sayed m3 i kinda imagned apple m3 insted of intel m3 for a second

[@megatronskneecap]

People are shocked at the prices of these machines now. You have to remember, these 2015-2016 devices are almost 10 YEARS OLD. They're not exactly new, and with Apple's new M line that beats these intel machines by another universe people are finding it hard to justify the old extortionate prices that these cost forcing sellers to bump their prices down substantionally.

[@tigersusyt]

man still isn't in the caravan

[@valt9093]

Please help me fix my retina macbook 12 inch macbook air it does not turn on and needs a new operating system !

[@Paimon2810]

You should get a universal laptop charger it can charge most laptops and its like 20 chargers in one it will help a lot with laptops you could find some with 30 or even 50 chargers

[@psivewri]

Can you recommend a good one? Ideally one with a little screen that says the voltage it is outputting :)

[@smashgarage]

Best response to any haters….”What MacBook do you have, poor boi?” “I’m not a broke boy, I have an M3 MacBook!!”

[@Inappropriatepaul]

This video made me want to manta sleep

[@oliwierw3460]

id use it with a other monitor

[@dangcucvip]

“I want M3 Macbook!” Mom: We have M3 Macbook at home” M3 Macbook at home:

[@ellenorbjornsdottir1166]

Fedora Linux and headless?

[@kayiskoi]

Only 2016 and it was that abused? I recently worked on a 2017 MacBook Pro and it was in perfect shape, besides the OS somehow getting corrupted. My 2011 MacBook Pro 13 is still in great condition, besides the trackpad with a small crack in it, and the thermal paste probably being solid from not being used. Even considering that 2016 was about 7 years ago, I stand by that argument because Apple's older devices are extremely maintainable.

[@Cyba_IT]

Should be alright with an external screen. :)

[@Photo0021]

Since it can't hold a charge, that means the only port you're able to use is the headphone jack. Amazing lol

[@psivewri]

Dongles exist!

[@psivewri]

Dongles exist!

[@facundocamilotto1315]

8gb RAM back in the days... Same as today!!!!!

[@setoth1234]

Having the best and last model of this unit (I7, 16 RAM, and 512 SSD) really makes a difference. I use it for document creation, emails, browsing, and Logic Pro and it still holds up. Cannot wait for Apple Silicon in this size.

[@SudanMapping1956]

Great!

[@Small_Potatos]

It has a intel m3

[@SuperOldrocker]

The batteries on these are a nightmare