"bUDgeT" computers according to many other channels: $1000 Budget computers according to Luke: $200 That explains why you got so many subscribers. That's well deserved.
@@strikeistrashlmao6891 Are you joking? Try and find a laptop that's more powerful than the m1 MacBook Air for under $1000. Even less if you're a student.
List bc i can't remember anything: 1. 21.5" Mid-2009 iMac (up to 16gb RAM and add SSD, could do graphics) 2. 15" Late-2008 MacBook Pro (up to 8gb RAM and add SSD, easy upgrades) 3. Mid-2012 Mac mini (up to 8gb RAM and add SSD, peripherals) 4. 13" Mid-2010 MacBook Pro (up to 8gb RAM and add SSD)
I followed Luke's advice a while back and bought a mid 2012 13" Macbook Pro from eBay for $300. It came with 8Gb of Ram and I replaced the battery ($35) and the spinning drive with a 240Gb Sandisk+ SSD ($40). Easy, satisfactory upgrade. "Vintage" Macs are great. They are the Energizer Bunny of computers.
Same. 2012 Mac mini 16 GB Ram 500 GB SSD, I don't regret it at all. Editing HD video in Final Cut Pro X with no lag at all, and very fast rendering. Great little computer that's small enough to fit in a laptop case and take with me.
@@tottenhamteacher If you do intensive tasks like video editing, then yes absolutely. OS X takes about 4GB all by itself with no other apps running, that leaves you with only 4GB for everything else.
12 year old Windows laptops would be like under 100$ for sure, you would get so much better Windows laptop for that price (especially in Germany were people sell 2011 MBP for 550€=670USD)
@@kyoukan91 i own an hp pavilion 17 inch 2010 and it runs like shit stock compared to my late 2008 uni mbp same ram and hdd. i put an ssd in the MacBook it easily can last me another 5 years (currently patched mojave) compared to the w10 pavilion that I've been ready to throw away for years.
Thank you Luke, picked up a 2009 21 inch iMac for £100 , 4gb ram and 240 gb ssd, installed Catalina patcher and now have a snappy modern system. I would have never been able to afford this system new, thank you very much, keep it up!
For Audiophiles, a 2012 MM is a great option as a media server. Just plug in an external HD and get an optical cable and an external DAC. They eliminated the Tosslink in 2018. The 2012 is a great option for price and they use USB 3.
Anymore my big thing would be having Thunderbolt 3 at-least. Can do a lot with that port.. like a lot. Monitors and eGPUs and SSD get good speeds and it’s got the type-c interface. Thunderbolt 2 is all but useless anymore.
Your videos are incredibly informative. I bought 2 2009 iMacs and a 2009 Mac Pro flashed to 5,1 and I couldn't be happier. I had a 2012 Mac Mini that suddenly died and I am loathe to be victimized by Apple's war on user configurability. So thank you!
I have that same Mac mini, got it for $350 a few years ago. Runs Yosemite but I haven't swapped out the drives yet. Saw a YT vid on it and it looked daunting. Maybe someone here can help me out on that.
@@spuds6423 You can buy a SATA cable for the second drive bay and install an SSD additionally to the HDD and merge them both via software into a Fusion Drive.
@@spuds6423 the hard drive swap is pretty tough, but I just found a video on UA-cam and used a thin post card (could probably use a piece of folded paper) to help with slotting in the new ssd
Hey Luke, I was able to score an open-box (basically new) 2017, core I7, 8GB RAM, 128 GB SSD MacBook Air this past January for $500.00. (it was actually manufactured in 2019) A few months later, I scored a 2015 15”, quad-core I7, 16GB MacBook Pro with discrete graphics (yeah, the top-of-the-line MBP) with a 512GB SSD for $400.00. LOVE these GREAT DEALS! Keep up the good work of helping us find these great bargains.
When he used the term, “low end Mac” it brought back memories of the website by the same name that’s been around since 1997. Still up and running but not updated very often these days. Great info on Macs going all the way back to the Lisa days. By the way, these are still all usable Macs today, two years later, in this video. But now can be had for half what Luke mentions.
I’m currently using a Mid 2012 13-inch MacBook Pro running macOS Sonoma using OpenCore Legacy Patcher and z 240GB SSD and 4GB of RAM. Runs great for school.
Around 12 months ago I managed to get myself a 2014 i7 128gb macbook air for 200 on ebay in excellent condition, its now the laptop i bring everywhere!
I'm also fond of the 2009 and 2010 White MacBooks. These things are under $200. Parts are everywhere. They support up to 16gb of RAM. They natively support High Sierra. And to top it off , provided you can get your hands on one that hasn't been beat all to hell, these things still look stunning. They are a point in time where the look of middle 2000's Mac meets the unibody design of the early 2010's silver unibody MacBooks. I regret selling mine all the time even though I'd hardly use it today with my modern Macs sitting around the house. She was in EXCELLENT shape when I sold her and I miss her dearly... :-(
A year ago I got a late 2012 Mac mini, 2.5 i5, and a 240gb ssd already installed. Cost me $140 from fb marketplace. Ordered 16gb of ram to max it out and came out right under the $200 budget total. I already had a monitor, keyboard, mouse. It’s my daily driver and podcast station. Love it.
I’ve got a late 2012 Mac mini with the i7 (I think) and a 1TB hardrive with 8GB (now upgraded to 16GB) it runs well for UA-cam, Final Cut and light gaming.
Great video! I have two newer 27” IMacs but my mid 2010 MacBook Pro with an SSD and 8 Gig of ram is still very usable! Just shows that the Mac is accessible to everyone! 😍
Nicely investigated. Running two 2012 Mac minis (i5 and i7) and did the upgrades myself. 16 GB and >500 GB SSD's. Very quiet. There is always a spare monitor around or inexpensive to get. No more Windows start-up problems, stutter, fan noise. MacOS runs stable.
That was true in the Steve Jobs era but doesn't apply to the modern Macs. I used to own a 2016 touch-bar MBP that had keyboard failure, screen failre (flexgate issue) and swollen battery failure, I had to throw it away.
I just bought a mid 2010 15" MacBook Pro for about $200 with i5, 4GB ram and 500GB HDD. I also bought 8GB of ram to install and I'll probably get a SSD in the future to replace the optical drive. The MacBook is supposed to arrive tomorrow, so I'm pretty exited (the ram is arriving today.)
@@game.different it’s a 15 inch model. And it’s ok, has 1 year warranty and the repair is pretty cheap. I just want to know if I can do anything to prevent?
Thx Luke for this nice input over the years. I create my own Models of 13“ mid 2012 i7 2.9Ghz on liquid Thermal „Paste“ (- 10-18 degrees than stocks Temps) + 16GB + 1TB SSD + BluRay Drive on BigSur And 17“ late 2011 i7 2.4Ghz on liquid Thermal „Paste“ (- 10-20 degrees than stocks Temps) + 16GB RAM + 1TB SSD + BluRay Drive on Ventura And this both runs great! 😊
Thank you dude! For two years I’ve been looking into building a hackintosh for audio production. The cost versus the performance I’d get from a new Mac just wasn’t worth it for me. This and your other videos on Macs have been a treasure trove of information for me.
You are probably the only channel that not only does paid advertisement to Apple products but actually provides great value with showing these old Macs for people without too much money to spend. The only bad thing about this old Macbooks is that battery is going to be dead probably. I own 2008 MBP 17" and already changed battery twice. I don't use it anymore but it's still usable (albeit slow) after upgrade to SSD.
Solid advice, well given. Just learned of your channel. In my professional world, I'm using a mid 2012 MBP with 12 gigabytes of ram, and a ssd. Currently running Mojave, though Catalina is an option. It's holding up. Subbed.
My early 2011 MacBook Pro 13" is still running good 10 years later! Upgraded the ram 16gb and a 250gb ssd runs like a dream. Used it all the way through college and university and still today true work horse
I love how he referred to my 2008 dinosaur as a “gem”. I don’t use it for work, and as long as you don’t do anything super demanding, he’s correct. It still works great. I’m running the patched version of Mojave with no issues whatsoever. I just found out you can put a USB 3.0 card in the express slot to bring it to modern file transfer speeds.
Because this video I bought the same 2010 mac. New SSD new battery new ram , I installed Catalina 2016 Microsoft office and that's enough to me. Thanks Mr. Maini. Greetings from Chile
I like how other UA-camrs will call a $5000 computer low end and for poor people. And you’re over here listing off well off spec computers for a normal price.
I’ve wanted a Mac Mini for quite some time. But, I didn’t want to spend a lot on the endeavor. I have a work computer that I use most of the time for but not get personal items. After watching this I purchased a late 2012 Mac Mini off eBay for $199+$15 shipping. After it arrived I tested everything and it all worked but it was almost painfully slow. I bought an SSD first and then decided to buy some RAM. The SSD arrived yesterday (the RAM hasn’t arrived yet). The SSD made a night and day difference. Totally worth the $215+ SSD and RAM costs. Thanks for the suggestion!
Almost two years old and this is still relevant. I got a mid 10 pro for 55 bucks and a late 14 mini for 140. Daily the mini and got the pro for some older programs that don’t run on Monterey.
BTW for those who may not be aware, "Low End Macs" is a long-running website, forums, mailing lists, FB group(s), etc., with lots of articles, parts swaps and selling, debate, software guides, debates, How-to-linux, how-to etc, etc.
I have the mid 2010 MBP. Got it free because the battery swelled and cracked the track pad. I bought a charger, battery, 120gb ssd, 8gb ram, and ran Dosdude’s Catalina patcher. The track pad still works. It’s a great machine.
I think the 2012 MBP retina is a good buy, as they can be found for about $200-250 on ebay, and can still be fully upgraded like a normal PC. I was lucky enough to get an 2015 13" MBP on ebay for $350 the other week. As an aside, it's my first Mac in about 20 years, and I got it just for music/work. Really enjoying the OS now that I've got a bit of experience with Linux, and find it a lot more enjoyable than my ThinkPad x330 even.
I like how chill it is, its not like "OMG AMAZING DEALS HOLY GOD THIS IS KEWL!!" its quiet and i could honestly fall asleep to this, besides that, very nice video.
Mac is the best. Just upgraded from a 12 MacBook to a 16 inch MacBook Pro. Still have a soft spot in my heart for my first Mac, a 13 inch which was the last laptop apple produced with an optical drive.
I got a refurbished late 2013 21.5” imac. Specs & price: $199.99, free shipping, $12.00 tax GPU: GeForce GT750M Ram: 16gb 1.6ghz ddr3 CPU: 2.9ghz quad core intel i5 Storage: 256 gb ssd and it’s running Catalina. This was a steal imo edit: I partitioned the drive so i can put high sierra on it as well. this means i can also use it as a monitor
I highly recommend a 2010 MacBook Pro as well as of February 2022. Mine is STILL RUNNING! I gave it to my parents because they really don't need a computer, but I had upgraded it to an SSD and it runs fast and smoothly.
Just a few months ago, I picked up a 2012 Mac Mini (2.5 GHz i5 with 4 GB RAM and 500 GB HD). I spent a few more dollars upgrading the RAM to 16 GB, and swapped out the HD for a 256 GB SSD. Since then, this computer has been my file/Plex server, and I haven't had any regrets
I reaaally love your channel! High quality, good humor, and this content about budget mac is not very common to find! I don't really like any other tech channel that basically just like another promotional videos of newest apple products.. it's helpful if you're looking for one, but there are many people who don't have that kind of budget too. And it's entertaining to see someone opening up and maxing out these machines :D
I recently picked up an early ‘11 MBP 13” to use Ableton on. Haven’t even gotten my upgrades in the mail, and rendering and recording is already pretty decent. I picked mine up used with a cracked trackpad for $200 CAD, with upgrades I’ll be just under the $300 CAD mark
2009 MBP is noteworthy. Pop in an SSD and remove the optical drive to cool it down. Live graphics may suffer yet it makes the cut as a major production tool. Roll up you sleeves and get into the ‘Mac Mod’ scene. Great post.
Every time I watch one of these videos talking about “good deals” on older macs I am more and more greatful for the deal I scored on my 2012 21.5in iMac, $100 flat. Lol
I have the 2008 MacBook Pro that is mentioned. It's running Catalina, maxed RAM and dual SSD hard drives. It's perched next to my stereo amplifier where I use it to stream. It's a solid tank.
Just got a mid 2012 MacBook Pro 13 for $200 yesterday. 2.9 Ghz i7 processor and 8Gb RAM. 750Gb mechanical hard drive makes it run like a snail. Buying the SSD you recommended from another video to upgrade it. So glad the seller didn’t see your video 😅
I got a 2010 27” iMac earlier this year for AU$200. I put a 500gb SSD I had at home inside, and upgraded the ram from 4GB to 8GB. She runs beautifully!
i actually have a 15 inch late 2008 macbook pro somewhere and it actually runs smoothly if you clear the cache and change in battery the thing to higher performance
Most people don’t really research and jump at the price not really checking out specs and if it’s capable of what they need. Save and get the version you need and be happy is my motto.
Luke, your videos are addictive. I own two 2011 machines, a macbook pro (I hacked it to disable the second dying video card) and an iMac 21" 2011 that hasn't weirded yet re the video card. Just got a 2015 used Macbook Pro (my Christmas present) due in good part to your videos. Love the focus on used machines; trying to avoid the completely soldered together machines of the present.
Just found your video. Very well explained. However keep in mind that the mid 2010 MBP has a common manufacturing failure. Kernel Panic GPU issue. Check if this has been fixed before buying one. Otherwise you will have a lot of annoying restarts while working with it.
My main laptop (an a1181 Late 2007) I bought for 20$ on ebay. The seller said it didn't turn on, but the backlight cable was damaged. So fiddling and it makes enough contact to be reliable and turn on the light when at least halfway opened. Best laptop I've ever had.
Watching on a 2014 Core i5 MacBook Air running Big Sur. Purchased for around $200. The only drawback is the 4GB of RAM but it is fine for watching UA-cam and surfing the web. I have a 2020 iPad Air when I need horsepower lol.
I have 5 older Macs right now (some you mentioned on the list) and they all fly. For 2008 and older you can simply install a light Linux distro and they are awesome.
I bought a 2007 iMac 20" to play with, for $50. The seller sold it as "parts only, doesn't work"... but I was able to load Leopard onto it with a dvd, and it ran fine as that. However, without opening it up, I decided to wipe it and load Linux Mint. Very happy with the result. It is currently running XAMPP for my local server development. Next, I'll be getting a 1tb SSD to replace the 250 HDD, and clone the Mint onto it. At this point, while the machine is open, I might consider upgrading the CPU to be able to run Catalina on the machine, and make it dual boot. I'll keep you posted.
Newly come to Mac and I spent $180 for an early 2011 Macbook Pro in great shape, replaced battery ($35) and upgraded to 16GB of RAM ("free" from my drawer). Patched up to Catalina but still using good old HD because of the MS Office on it. Couldn't be happier and it's a different experience from Win world.
I managed to get a new laptop based on this video. I got a 2009 MacBook Pro 15” with a 500gb ssd and 8gb ram for £175, now patched to catalina. Perfect, thank you for the advice.
I still have my 2008 MacBook Pro. I bought it new in June 2009. On my third battery and 2nd power brick. Upgraded the ram to 8 gig about 7 years ago. Still runs great and I use it for Photoshop and for other graphics applications. Still amazed it’s working after all these years of constant use!
mid-2012 13" MBP fully upgraded still running strong. Not all of us need oober-graphics performance, BTW. Some of us write code or other non-graphics-intensive things and don't care about CineeBench or whatever scores. On my machine I'm routinely running three browsers, with Chrome having easily 150 tabs open, plus Visual Studio Code with several windows open and a bunch of files open, plus Docker in the background, and several other applications.
there’s an optical drive replacement that allows you to add an M.2 SSD and has a fan in it for if you are so inclined to expand storage and increase cooling as well :)
Yes Luke... Let's get into more detail on this 2011 iMac. It would be a sweet idea for a Mac to keep on my workbench in my garage for looking up parts, playing music, and watching UA-cam for "how to vids" so I can learn to fix things the wrong way.
I bought a MacBook Pro mid 2012 15 inch 2.6 ghz and core i7 8gb SSD with 250 gb storage for 190 us dollars. And it runs Catalina default (no Big Sur) so It is perhaps the best deal ever! 😄
It depends on what your goals are with the machine. I own a 2009 MBP 8GB and it can still fulfill a lot of tasks I want to do with it: (web)programming, modeling in Blender, light photo editing, video calls on Zoom, light gaming. For a few things I’m looking for a newer machine which it cannot handle well anymore. These are: 3D rendering, running a local webserver, medium/high gaming. Maybe I want to do more on video editing in the future as well. Using iMovie so far on the MBP worked well though, though I only did very basic video editing tasks in there so far: cutting scenes and adding sounds.
"bUDgeT" computers according to many other channels: $1000
Budget computers according to Luke: $200
That explains why you got so many subscribers. That's well deserved.
You clearly don’t know what budget means then
@@oozly9291 macbooks arent even that powerful for the price tbh like they’re really slim
@@strikeistrashlmao6891 oops meant budget not preeforamnce lol
@@strikeistrashlmao6891 Are you joking? Try and find a laptop that's more powerful than the m1 MacBook Air for under $1000. Even less if you're a student.
@@jimmysyar889 m1 cpu isnt in every macbook.
List bc i can't remember anything:
1. 21.5" Mid-2009 iMac (up to 16gb RAM and add SSD, could do graphics)
2. 15" Late-2008 MacBook Pro (up to 8gb RAM and add SSD, easy upgrades)
3. Mid-2012 Mac mini (up to 8gb RAM and add SSD, peripherals)
4. 13" Mid-2010 MacBook Pro (up to 8gb RAM and add SSD)
youre a hero!
Thank you
Thanks
The mid 2010 2.66 ghz core 2 duo is now up to 16gb of RAM.
@@richardbradshaw2044 how ? If I may ask ?
My man Luke coming in for the clutch with a new budget video!
Got a late 2011 imac in the trash needed a good cleanup and a ram upgrade and boooom. In biz!!!!!
Right tho 😩💪🏾
Perfect timing, just when I need a cheap used Mac
Have u got one
I followed Luke's advice a while back and bought a mid 2012 13" Macbook Pro from eBay for $300. It came with 8Gb of Ram and I replaced the battery ($35) and the spinning drive with a 240Gb Sandisk+ SSD ($40). Easy, satisfactory upgrade. "Vintage" Macs are great. They are the Energizer Bunny of computers.
Easy to upgrade yourself?
@@4emrys wdym?
im gonna buy a late 2006 imac to use as my personal pc because they are pretty good for casual computing like i do and they are very affordable
@@mintybudgie Make sure you get an SSD in it. Those things are garbage with the standard HDD.
@@safetyzone2962 wait how would having a late 2008 macbook pro be? would it be good or would i need to upgrade it
I'm using 2012 mac mini, upgraded to 16gb ram, 256 ssd. Really good experience!
Same. 2012 Mac mini 16 GB Ram 500 GB SSD, I don't regret it at all. Editing HD video in Final Cut Pro X with no lag at all, and very fast rendering. Great little computer that's small enough to fit in a laptop case and take with me.
I’m struggling with 8gb of ram; you think it’s worth getting 16gb?
@@tottenhamteacher yes for sure
@@tottenhamteacher If you do intensive tasks like video editing, then yes absolutely. OS X takes about 4GB all by itself with no other apps running, that leaves you with only 4GB for everything else.
can I put 16gb in a 2010?
That isn't a Compact Flash slot, that is an Express Card slot, the PCIe compatible replacement for PC Cards (PCMCIA).
Have a mid 2010. I’m the original owner. Just upgraded the RAM and to a SSD this year. It’s amazing !
to what ram u upgreaded
@@zyciewusatvbygosia8880 32 gigs
hey dude just want to know is it fast? like the processor
@@zyciewusatvbygosia8880 I upgraded to 8 GB of RAM that I found on Amazon.
@@Origamipaper-xf6xs I think it’s the 2.4GHz processor.
Now imagine yourself shopping for a 12 yo Windows laptop, lol
They would have dramatically higher performance but not look as nice from the outside.
@@kyoukan91 nah man, most Windows laptops from 12 years ago suck ass compared to MacBooks from the same year
The ThinkPad X200 is a great 12 year old laptop.
12 year old Windows laptops would be like under 100$ for sure, you would get so much better Windows laptop for that price (especially in Germany were people sell 2011 MBP for 550€=670USD)
@@kyoukan91 i own an hp pavilion 17 inch 2010 and it runs like shit stock compared to my late 2008 uni mbp same ram and hdd. i put an ssd in the MacBook it easily can last me another 5 years (currently patched mojave) compared to the w10 pavilion that I've been ready to throw away for years.
Thank you Luke, picked up a 2009 21 inch iMac for £100 , 4gb ram and 240 gb ssd, installed Catalina patcher and now have a snappy modern system. I would have never been able to afford this system new, thank you very much, keep it up!
For Audiophiles, a 2012 MM is a great option as a media server. Just plug in an external HD and get an optical cable and an external DAC. They eliminated the Tosslink in 2018. The 2012 is a great option for price and they use USB 3.
Hmm I can set up a testing station for my music thanks!
Anymore my big thing would be having Thunderbolt 3 at-least. Can do a lot with that port.. like a lot. Monitors and eGPUs and SSD get good speeds and it’s got the type-c interface.
Thunderbolt 2 is all but useless anymore.
Your videos are incredibly informative. I bought 2 2009 iMacs and a 2009 Mac Pro flashed to 5,1 and I couldn't be happier. I had a 2012 Mac Mini that suddenly died and I am loathe to be victimized by Apple's war on user configurability. So thank you!
Mac Mini design doesn’t need to change in my opinion.
I have that same Mac mini, got it for $350 a few years ago. Runs Yosemite but I haven't swapped out the drives yet. Saw a YT vid on it and it looked daunting. Maybe someone here can help me out on that.
@@spuds6423 You're running an HDD? HDD->SSD is night and day in terms of heat, sound, and speed.
@@MegaMacReal yes, a HDD
@@spuds6423 You can buy a SATA cable for the second drive bay and install an SSD additionally to the HDD and merge them both via software into a Fusion Drive.
@@spuds6423 the hard drive swap is pretty tough, but I just found a video on UA-cam and used a thin post card (could probably use a piece of folded paper) to help with slotting in the new ssd
Hey Luke, I was able to score an open-box (basically new) 2017, core I7, 8GB RAM, 128 GB SSD MacBook Air this past January for $500.00. (it was actually manufactured in 2019) A few months later, I scored a 2015 15”, quad-core I7, 16GB MacBook Pro with discrete graphics (yeah, the top-of-the-line MBP) with a 512GB SSD for $400.00. LOVE these GREAT DEALS! Keep up the good work of helping us find these great bargains.
When he used the term, “low end Mac” it brought back memories of the website by the same name that’s been around since 1997. Still up and running but not updated very often these days. Great info on Macs going all the way back to the Lisa days.
By the way, these are still all usable Macs today, two years later, in this video. But now can be had for half what Luke mentions.
I’m currently using a Mid 2012 13-inch MacBook Pro running macOS Sonoma using OpenCore Legacy Patcher and z 240GB SSD and 4GB of RAM. Runs great for school.
My Mid 2012 - last model with optical drive, plus SD slot and all the ports - is still the heavyweight champ (bought lightly used in 2016) 😃👍
I love mine! Just changed to an iMac 2019.
This makes so much sense. Would also love a video for old models that are still being sold new. Like the 2017 Air that is still available new. Thanks!
Around 12 months ago I managed to get myself a 2014 i7 128gb macbook air for 200 on ebay in excellent condition, its now the laptop i bring everywhere!
I'm also fond of the 2009 and 2010 White MacBooks. These things are under $200. Parts are everywhere. They support up to 16gb of RAM. They natively support High Sierra. And to top it off , provided you can get your hands on one that hasn't been beat all to hell, these things still look stunning. They are a point in time where the look of middle 2000's Mac meets the unibody design of the early 2010's silver unibody MacBooks. I regret selling mine all the time even though I'd hardly use it today with my modern Macs sitting around the house. She was in EXCELLENT shape when I sold her and I miss her dearly... :-(
If your interested i have 2009 iMac great condition 😂
A year ago I got a late 2012 Mac mini, 2.5 i5, and a 240gb ssd already installed. Cost me $140 from fb marketplace. Ordered 16gb of ram to max it out and came out right under the $200 budget total. I already had a monitor, keyboard, mouse. It’s my daily driver and podcast station. Love it.
Que marca de ram usaste?
I’ve got a late 2012 Mac mini with the i7 (I think) and a 1TB hardrive with 8GB (now upgraded to 16GB) it runs well for UA-cam, Final Cut and light gaming.
This is where Luke shines in a very crowded tech crowd on UA-cam. How to find cheap MacBooks. Super job.
Great video! I have two newer 27” IMacs but my mid 2010 MacBook Pro with an SSD and 8 Gig of ram is still very usable! Just shows that the Mac is accessible to everyone! 😍
I just bought a 2012 Macbook Pro for $180 with 12gb RAM and 256 SSD already installed. VERY SATISFIED with the performance
2010 13' mbp still running good.
Furry.
Replace that battery. They've been starting to swell
Also my Late 2009 iMac 😅
@@MrCarzo already have for that very reason
Terrible thermals. Even after changing thermal paste.
Nicely investigated. Running two 2012 Mac minis (i5 and i7) and did the upgrades myself. 16 GB and >500 GB SSD's. Very quiet. There is always a spare monitor around or inexpensive to get. No more Windows start-up problems, stutter, fan noise. MacOS runs stable.
on the bright side, if one is able to save for a newer Mac they're looking at years with a solid laptop
That was true in the Steve Jobs era but doesn't apply to the modern Macs. I used to own a 2016 touch-bar MBP that had keyboard failure, screen failre (flexgate issue) and swollen battery failure, I had to throw it away.
@@GuillermoPaulman new m1s are really good though almost no issues
Please do this every year. I REALLY appreciate it. I don’t need anything fancy, but reliability is KEY. What is the “Toyota Camry”, if you will?
Great video! I am still working happily with my mid 2012 MBP, which while maxed out in upgrades, now starts to show it’s age.
I just bought a mid 2010 15" MacBook Pro for about $200 with i5, 4GB ram and 500GB HDD. I also bought 8GB of ram to install and I'll probably get a SSD in the future to replace the optical drive. The MacBook is supposed to arrive tomorrow, so I'm pretty exited (the ram is arriving today.)
My $150 special was a 2012 Retina MBP with a busted screen and major thermal issues. After replacing the heat pipe, it works great as a Mac mini.
Hey ! I’ve bought one of these like new for 195€. I’m afraid of gpu issues, did you had any problem? Tips to avoid?
@@migueletras As long as it’s a 13” MacBook there shouldn’t be a Gpu issue. IIRC most GPU problems affected the 15” models with Nvidia GPUs.
@@game.different it’s a 15 inch model. And it’s ok, has 1 year warranty and the repair is pretty cheap. I just want to know if I can do anything to prevent?
Thx Luke for this nice input over the years.
I create my own Models of
13“ mid 2012 i7 2.9Ghz on liquid Thermal „Paste“
(- 10-18 degrees than stocks Temps)
+ 16GB + 1TB SSD + BluRay Drive
on BigSur
And
17“ late 2011 i7 2.4Ghz on liquid Thermal „Paste“
(- 10-20 degrees than stocks Temps)
+ 16GB RAM + 1TB SSD + BluRay Drive
on Ventura
And this both runs great! 😊
Thank you dude! For two years I’ve been looking into building a hackintosh for audio production. The cost versus the performance I’d get from a new Mac just wasn’t worth it for me. This and your other videos on Macs have been a treasure trove of information for me.
You are probably the only channel that not only does paid advertisement to Apple products but actually provides great value with showing these old Macs for people without too much money to spend.
The only bad thing about this old Macbooks is that battery is going to be dead probably. I own 2008 MBP 17" and already changed battery twice. I don't use it anymore but it's still usable (albeit slow) after upgrade to SSD.
Solid advice, well given. Just learned of your channel. In my professional world, I'm using a mid 2012 MBP with 12 gigabytes of ram, and a ssd. Currently running Mojave, though Catalina is an option. It's holding up. Subbed.
You can go up to 16GB Ram, it wasn’t advertised but it fits 2 8GB ram sticks and even registers it with system.
My early 2011 MacBook Pro 13" is still running good 10 years later! Upgraded the ram 16gb and a 250gb ssd runs like a dream. Used it all the way through college and university and still today true work horse
I love how he referred to my 2008 dinosaur as a “gem”. I don’t use it for work, and as long as you don’t do anything super demanding, he’s correct. It still works great. I’m running the patched version of Mojave with no issues whatsoever. I just found out you can put a USB 3.0 card in the express slot to bring it to modern file transfer speeds.
Because this video I bought the same 2010 mac. New SSD new battery new ram , I installed Catalina 2016 Microsoft office and that's enough to me. Thanks Mr. Maini.
Greetings from Chile
Nice
I like how other UA-camrs will call a $5000 computer low end and for poor people. And you’re over here listing off well off spec computers for a normal price.
I’ve wanted a Mac Mini for quite some time. But, I didn’t want to spend a lot on the endeavor. I have a work computer that I use most of the time for but not get personal items.
After watching this I purchased a late 2012 Mac Mini off eBay for $199+$15 shipping. After it arrived I tested everything and it all worked but it was almost painfully slow. I bought an SSD first and then decided to buy some RAM. The SSD arrived yesterday (the RAM hasn’t arrived yet). The SSD made a night and day difference. Totally worth the $215+ SSD and RAM costs. Thanks for the suggestion!
You deserve so many more subs, you’re doing amazing work here
Almost two years old and this is still relevant. I got a mid 10 pro for 55 bucks and a late 14 mini for 140. Daily the mini and got the pro for some older programs that don’t run on Monterey.
Luke must have seen my "Best Value ThinkPads" video and said "Hold my beer!" :P In all seriousness, great video! I love these older Macs.
Was thinking that too.
BTW for those who may not be aware, "Low End Macs" is a long-running website, forums, mailing lists, FB group(s), etc., with lots of articles, parts swaps and selling, debate, software guides, debates, How-to-linux, how-to etc, etc.
If it need be clarified, yes go check the site and perhaps even throw them some dough ;-)
I managed to get a late 2012 21.5 inch imac for $100, it already had a 500 gig Samsung ssd
wow thats cheap, imac not mac mini right WOW imac even has full hd display the 2012
what???
Yes, it's an imac, not a Mac mini
I have the mid 2010 MBP. Got it free because the battery swelled and cracked the track pad. I bought a charger, battery, 120gb ssd, 8gb ram, and ran Dosdude’s Catalina patcher. The track pad still works. It’s a great machine.
I think the 2012 MBP retina is a good buy, as they can be found for about $200-250 on ebay, and can still be fully upgraded like a normal PC. I was lucky enough to get an 2015 13" MBP on ebay for $350 the other week.
As an aside, it's my first Mac in about 20 years, and I got it just for music/work. Really enjoying the OS now that I've got a bit of experience with Linux, and find it a lot more enjoyable than my ThinkPad x330 even.
Running a 2009 unibody with upgraded RAM and SSD because of this guy. Thank you my friend! Never had a better computer!
Watching on my late 2009 MacBook maxed out.
mid 2012 with a 500gb ssd, still runs like butter
I like how chill it is, its not like "OMG AMAZING DEALS HOLY GOD THIS IS KEWL!!" its quiet and i could honestly fall asleep to this, besides that, very nice video.
that 21.5" imac has had a knock by the DVD slot...
Mac is the best. Just upgraded from a 12 MacBook to a 16 inch MacBook Pro. Still have a soft spot in my heart for my first Mac, a 13 inch which was the last laptop apple produced with an optical drive.
I’ve got one of those iMacs still going strong!
I got a refurbished late 2013 21.5” imac.
Specs & price:
$199.99, free shipping, $12.00 tax
GPU: GeForce GT750M
Ram: 16gb 1.6ghz ddr3
CPU: 2.9ghz quad core intel i5
Storage: 256 gb ssd
and it’s running Catalina. This was a steal imo
edit: I partitioned the drive so i can put high sierra on it as well. this means i can also use it as a monitor
I got a 2011 MBP 13’ with 8gb ram, 256gb SSD running patched Catalina!
I highly recommend a 2010 MacBook Pro as well as of February 2022. Mine is STILL RUNNING! I gave it to my parents because they really don't need a computer, but I had upgraded it to an SSD and it runs fast and smoothly.
Your Channel should be more Popular, you make great Videos! Keep on!
Just a few months ago, I picked up a 2012 Mac Mini (2.5 GHz i5 with 4 GB RAM and 500 GB HD). I spent a few more dollars upgrading the RAM to 16 GB, and swapped out the HD for a 256 GB SSD. Since then, this computer has been my file/Plex server, and I haven't had any regrets
Amazing how 2nd hand prices are different on the other side of the Atlantic :D
Or across the border up North!
In my country these are like 350$ 😅 (Slovakia- Europe)
@@KristianMikulka no máme to tu ve střední Evropě těžký 😆
Yeah, for 200$ i'm only finding real vintage stuff with Core 2 Duo here in EU
@@GoldenEye0006 yeah, Macbooks Pro from 2008 😂
I reaaally love your channel! High quality, good humor, and this content about budget mac is not very common to find! I don't really like any other tech channel that basically just like another promotional videos of newest apple products.. it's helpful if you're looking for one, but there are many people who don't have that kind of budget too. And it's entertaining to see someone opening up and maxing out these machines :D
best cheap macs for running music programs, Logic, GarageBand etc...looking for a dedicated recorder that won't crush the budget.
I recently picked up an early ‘11 MBP 13” to use Ableton on. Haven’t even gotten my upgrades in the mail, and rendering and recording is already pretty decent. I picked mine up used with a cracked trackpad for $200 CAD, with upgrades I’ll be just under the $300 CAD mark
Don't know if you would call it cheap. But the smoothest and cheapest is probably the new Mac mini
2009 MBP is noteworthy. Pop in an SSD and remove the optical drive to cool it down. Live graphics may suffer yet it makes the cut as a major production tool. Roll up you sleeves and get into the ‘Mac Mod’ scene. Great post.
Every time I watch one of these videos talking about “good deals” on older macs I am more and more greatful for the deal I scored on my 2012 21.5in iMac, $100 flat. Lol
Where did you buy
I have the 2008 MacBook Pro that is mentioned. It's running Catalina, maxed RAM and dual SSD hard drives. It's perched next to my stereo amplifier where I use it to stream. It's a solid tank.
Good video! Very helpful for people on a budget!
Just got a mid 2012 MacBook Pro 13 for $200 yesterday. 2.9 Ghz i7 processor and 8Gb RAM. 750Gb mechanical hard drive makes it run like a snail. Buying the SSD you recommended from another video to upgrade it. So glad the seller didn’t see your video 😅
@lukemiani can you do a video on how to upgrade the software to cataolina 🤔
I got a 2010 27” iMac earlier this year for AU$200. I put a 500gb SSD I had at home inside, and upgraded the ram from 4GB to 8GB. She runs beautifully!
I love this channel so much information I know what my 5 year getting for Christmas her very own 2009 iMac 🤣😂🤣😂
I've got one of my kids a 2011 Mac Mini with upgraded RAM and SSD. He'll only use it for Minecraft and Pokemon Go, so it'll be fine :-D
@@ritchieswann 😂🤣😂🤣 right I’m sure my daughter would only use it for some game called amongst us and roblox so $200 is a easy investment lol
i actually have a 15 inch late 2008 macbook pro somewhere and it actually runs smoothly if you clear the cache and change in battery the thing to higher performance
I think it’s funny to see Mac Minis going for $1000 when the $699 M1 Mac mini will destroy those ones 😂😂😂
People are on crack expecting those prices, they don't understand depreciation
@@miked3168 LOL SO TRUE
Most people don’t really research and jump at the price not really checking out specs and if it’s capable of what they need. Save and get the version you need and be happy is my motto.
Luke, your videos are addictive. I own two 2011 machines, a macbook pro (I hacked it to disable the second dying video card) and an iMac 21" 2011 that hasn't weirded yet re the video card. Just got a 2015 used Macbook Pro (my Christmas present) due in good part to your videos. Love the focus on used machines; trying to avoid the completely soldered together machines of the present.
Just found your video. Very well explained. However keep in mind that the mid 2010 MBP has a common manufacturing failure. Kernel Panic GPU issue. Check if this has been fixed before buying one. Otherwise you will have a lot of annoying restarts while working with it.
My main laptop (an a1181 Late 2007) I bought for 20$ on ebay. The seller said it didn't turn on, but the backlight cable was damaged. So fiddling and it makes enough contact to be reliable and turn on the light when at least halfway opened. Best laptop I've ever had.
For modern Mac's I think the most you can buy is the casing 😂
nope
@@toxicityuser what
Watching on a 2014 Core i5 MacBook Air running Big Sur. Purchased for around $200. The only drawback is the 4GB of RAM but it is fine for watching UA-cam and surfing the web. I have a 2020 iPad Air when I need horsepower lol.
"something a little bit more achievable" lol
A video specially made for me YaY
You should do a $300 video. I got my first Macbook Pro (early 2015, retina) a few months ago for about $270 and I love it.
I have 5 older Macs right now (some you mentioned on the list) and they all fly. For 2008 and older you can simply install a light Linux distro and they are awesome.
I would like to try that OS, need a tutorial & source
I bought a 2007 iMac 20" to play with, for $50. The seller sold it as "parts only, doesn't work"... but I was able to load Leopard onto it with a dvd, and it ran fine as that. However, without opening it up, I decided to wipe it and load Linux Mint. Very happy with the result. It is currently running XAMPP for my local server development.
Next, I'll be getting a 1tb SSD to replace the 250 HDD, and clone the Mint onto it. At this point, while the machine is open, I might consider upgrading the CPU to be able to run Catalina on the machine, and make it dual boot. I'll keep you posted.
Hey Luke
Can you do a video on installing big sur on unsupported Macs?
I want to run it on my 2012 MacBook Pro
There are other videos that tell you how to do that but I believe you lose all your data
Newly come to Mac and I spent $180 for an early 2011 Macbook Pro in great shape, replaced battery ($35) and upgraded to 16GB of RAM ("free" from my drawer). Patched up to Catalina but still using good old HD because of the MS Office on it. Couldn't be happier and it's a different experience from Win world.
It's always the shipping fee that kills me. The shipping to my place is almost $80-$100
Dude where do you live
i bought a 2010 MacBook pro and the shipping was like 15 dollars
Philippines. It's more like $50 shipping plus an import charge of $30-50. Really spoils the good prices for me
@@kabosumamadoge1818 that sucks
@@kabosumamadoge1818 lol L
I managed to get a new laptop based on this video. I got a 2009 MacBook Pro 15” with a 500gb ssd and 8gb ram for £175, now patched to catalina. Perfect, thank you for the advice.
👀 Interesting and enjoyable video. Thanks for sharing. Blessings on your day.
I still have my 2008 MacBook Pro. I bought it new in June 2009. On my third battery and 2nd power brick. Upgraded the ram to 8 gig about 7 years ago. Still runs great and I use it for Photoshop and for other graphics applications. Still amazed it’s working after all these years of constant use!
My God your camera movements are so fucking smooth. What are you using?
mid-2012 13" MBP fully upgraded still running strong. Not all of us need oober-graphics performance, BTW. Some of us write code or other non-graphics-intensive things and don't care about CineeBench or whatever scores. On my machine I'm routinely running three browsers, with Chrome having easily 150 tabs open, plus Visual Studio Code with several windows open and a bunch of files open, plus Docker in the background, and several other applications.
“Yikes” lmao that was golden 😂
Great video man. One of the most non clickbait videos I’ve seen on UA-cam.
We also need the best Macs for under 300 and 400!
And the best under $401 😝
there’s an optical drive replacement that allows you to add an M.2 SSD and has a fan in it for if you are so inclined to expand storage and increase cooling as well :)
luke, this video is very good, hello from italy
Yes Luke... Let's get into more detail on this 2011 iMac. It would be a sweet idea for a Mac to keep on my workbench in my garage for looking up parts, playing music, and watching UA-cam for "how to vids" so I can learn to fix things the wrong way.
Could you do a vid showing how big sur runs on oldest macbooks?
I never knew that
I have an old iMac (2008, A1224). Could not update MacOS so I installed Linux (Ubuntu 20.10), put in a 1TB HDD. Runs like a champ.
YAY I’m still ..somewhat.. relevant!
god this is what I am now
m1 go burrrh!
-m1 go bruh-
why do you have a youtube account named after integrated graphics
@@nateayi it's the cpu lol.
I bought a MacBook Pro mid 2012 15 inch 2.6 ghz and core i7 8gb SSD with 250 gb storage for 190 us dollars. And it runs Catalina default (no Big Sur) so It is perhaps the best deal ever! 😄
After watching this video, I immediatly bought a 2010 MBP 8GB for 100€ from Ebay
I hope i dont regret this fast choice
It depends on what your goals are with the machine. I own a 2009 MBP 8GB and it can still fulfill a lot of tasks I want to do with it: (web)programming, modeling in Blender, light photo editing, video calls on Zoom, light gaming. For a few things I’m looking for a newer machine which it cannot handle well anymore. These are: 3D rendering, running a local webserver, medium/high gaming. Maybe I want to do more on video editing in the future as well. Using iMovie so far on the MBP worked well though, though I only did very basic video editing tasks in there so far: cutting scenes and adding sounds.
@@MegaChriz which iMovie do you run?
@@dooder6755 I have version 8.0.6. I have used it mainly in the process of putting digitized video tapes on DVD.