What Can You Do With A 15 Year Old Macbook in 2024?

Today, we take a look at a 2009 13 inch Macbook Pro, the last year where every Macbook in the lineup was based on the Core 2 Duo series. And we put the laptop through its paces in 2024, seeing if a Macbook that came out 15 years ago is still usable today.
Chapters:
0:00 Intro
0:48 Specs
2:31 OS Choice
2:54 General Usage
6:28 Gaming
7:34 Synthetic Benchmarks
8:20 Conclusion

[@stephenmorrissey1254]

Watching this on my Mac Mini 2012 i5 with an SSD and OpenCore. Anemic Flex happening

[@JaxonTheNerd]

The mac mini arguably peaked in 2012, so it's a pretty solid flex

[@OPM_Viking]

Those are great. The CPUs are new enough to support Metal 1and have decent performance. They run Sonoma just fine!

[@cajunla.jtr.0057]

I wish I had kept the MacBook Pro 13-inch mid-2012 non-Retina and the iMac 21.5-inch late-2009, but I sold them because I had already upgraded to a new Mac. I miss the old Mac OS X Snow Leopard and Mac OS X Mountain Lion.

[@JaxonTheNerd]

They're cheap enough now to buy them back and tinker with

[@Zero-dg7dz]

@@JaxonTheNerd especially if you want to learn how to take them apart and re assemble and upgrade them

[@chgmz]

In depth video analysis, I like it!

[@imixmuan9081]

Watching on a 2008 macbook running OCLP and Monterey. Perfectly usable for basic tasks. I mean, basic, like watching this video and typing these words.

[@geoman1420]

I have a MacBookPro (late 2008). I installed MacOS Ventura (with Opencore Legacy Patcher) and latest Linux Mint on a second partition. Both work fine for everyday use (i prefer to use Linux Mint as it is lighter than MacOS and supports even the ancient iSight camera)

[@JaxonTheNerd]

Those iSight cameras are something to behold

[@iqiegraphy219]

You look like Paul McCartney

[@JaxonTheNerd]

That's my goal in life

[@RobertFixit]

I was daily driving a core2duo macbook during covid and I had no complaints. I used it to unlock iphones and do basic research. I did switch over to a core i5 later, but honestly the difference was very slight. Only the SSD upgrade made the huge difference. I pick up a 2009 mac mini core 2 duo recently, so I am excited to re-visit the core 2 duo. Also I will put Windows on it 😂😂😂

[@JaxonTheNerd]

I would love to see windows 11 on a core 2 duo mac mini

[@RobertFixit]

@@JaxonTheNerd I know what I am doing tonight in that case 😆

[@Zero-dg7dz]

@@JaxonTheNerd Windows 11 can run on a core 2 Macbook pro which is similar however even tho it works the Nvidia graphics card drivers are not supported.

[@mr_fiskare]

Hey man, cool video!

[@renosu7831]

watching this on my macbook air 2012 just got it with a new battery and updated it to mac catalina and its pretty usable, tbh for its age i think the speed and software of it is too good to be true

[@JaxonTheNerd]

I may or may not have an 11 inch air sitting around for a future video. I look forward to using it

[@OPM_Viking]

You can upgrade it to Sonoma just fine with Opencore as long af you have 4gb of ram (8 is preferable though)

[@OPM_Viking]

@@JaxonTheNerd I just refurbed a 2014 8gb 11" Air a week ago, put together from 2 defunct machines. Runs Sonoma with 4+ hours batter time watching video on a 9 years old battery. I love the thing - perfect for video with the 16:9 screen. And so light, it's comfortable throwing around with one hand.

[@edmorris1437]

I have a late 2010 model. In recent years I replaced the battery, upgraded RAM and storage. Recently installed Linux Mint, and I’m quite happy with it as a daily driver. But I also don’t ask it to do anything that is processor intensive. It runs hotter than it used to, so I’m wondering if some components are wearing out.

[@JaxonTheNerd]

Might be time for a re-paste of that cpu.

[@edmorris1437]

@@JaxonTheNerd Probably, but I’m also suspicious whatever electronics are responsible for controlling battery charging.

[@likongames1011]

i got 15 inch macbook pro 2012 for 80 euro and it has 16gb ram 240 gb ssd and 5150 mah battery but the right speaker is broken i can still use it but at the lower volume i was thinking to use it with headphone anyways i think i got lucky because the cheapest 13 inch 2012 is 85 euro only 4 gb ram tho and core i5 that's the only thing i know about that macbook pro i am using mine with opencore with sonoma it's my first time using mac os i like it for now i am using it temporary as my daily driver because it has very good keyboard and it's almost better from my pc the only thing is the gpu that's little worse but i get vulkan tho

[@JaxonTheNerd]

That's a really solid deal. Glad to hear it's working well for you!

[@hamodalbatal464]

Bro you’re so handsome ❤

[@Ryan_Revier]

It can’t be that bad running OCLP Monterey on the Macbook Pro 2009..perhaps its runs quite good in it..👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

[@JaxonTheNerd]

It'll run decent. The old gpu just causes a bunch of apple apps to be very glitchy

[@react_06]

First to comment. Great Video.

[@Fillup82]

It’s actually insane how long the unibody MacBooks last. Still thousands of them out there getting daily use.

[@OPM_Viking]

Yeah. They are so easy to fix. I found numerous 2012s in the local electronics trash bin, I've refurbed and sold for small change to people, who still use them today.