@@ghost62751I still use a 2012 15” MacBook Pro for photoshop and my UA-cam 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 😀
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!
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.
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!
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.
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.
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
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.
I could not do such a sh#tty job. Not even blindfolded. Couldn't stand it. What a standard, below 0. And who doesn't clean such a nice device. @tinwas_taken absolutely right.
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
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.
What a ride. I purchased $30-$50 MBA and MBP from eBay and Mercari and most of the time just needed to put in an SSD, Ram, battery, or power adapter and I am done. I always make sure no issue with the screen. I don't think my little heart can handle that crazy screen and battery replacement.
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
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.
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.
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
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!
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!
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.
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.
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 ;).
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.
you can wake up the "broken" battery and make it start taking a charge again. get an usb cable, cut off one end just to have + and - cables. plug in the usb cable, touch and hold + to the positive terminal on the battery and - to the negative terminal. do that for 5-10 minutes and check if the battery took any charge with an multimeter. good luck.
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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
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
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.
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.
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.
Psivewri, I love your Videos. For the Laptop, I would just say "Make the Laptop to a Desktop". The Laptop would have a better Display then, and it would run of AC power so no problem with the Battery anymore. Again, Love your Videos. I've been a Fan since 2021 Raphael
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.
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
I can understand not opening a PC case to clean it inside or something, as bad as that is, but why would someone selling a laptop not just use a piece of kitchen towel or something to wipe out the heavy stuff? I don't get it. Don't these laptops work without a battery? Can't one just plug them in the power supply?
@@Jehty_ Because you are selling it. Even if you were giving it away you should do the very basic thing of cleaning it a bit on the outside. It's the polite thing to do. If you only pay attention to it if it is going to make you a large profit, you are not someone I would like to do any business with you.
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.
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 ❤️🇦🇺
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.
Head over to Manta Sleep bit.ly/3FlOCbZ and be sure to use my code: Psivewri for 10% off your order!
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
@@ghost62751I still use a 2012 15” MacBook Pro for photoshop and my UA-cam 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 😀
@@psivewri And obviously drown it in some Eucalyptus oil
Did you get your money back?
SELF PROMO ALERT
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!
But maybe not have the crappy butterfly keyboard
@@DJTydalOfficialthe pre butterfly keyboard would work perfectly if you ask me
that is the scissor keyboard@@Nenemon
Or Magic Keyboard, apparently.
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.
Wow a several year old M3. It must have traveled through time. That's a keeper.
I thought he made a mistake also and meant to say, i3, but indeed these laptops use Intel M3 chips.
@@alienrefugee51 I never realized Intel has M-chips for laptops.
no, intel actually has m3 processors
😂 bro thought he was a smartass
You only only cos apple uses M3 as name doesnt mean that they are the first one to do so
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!
1:07 when I heard M3 model, I was so confused until I realized Intel also made an m3 processor awhile back 😂
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.
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.
I love when laptop keyboards goes edge to edge. It makes them look very slick
Look wise sure but not necessarily great for typing
I love that about the 12” G4 powerbook.
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
and call it the MacBook SE with 128gb starting at $599
@@jomiplayz2765 128!?
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.
Some people just don’t deserve nice things
I could not do such a sh#tty job. Not even blindfolded. Couldn't stand it. What a standard, below 0.
And who doesn't clean such a nice device.
@tinwas_taken absolutely right.
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
In regions with lower disposable income devices last longer ( hold their value better and longer ). Therefor prices are higher.
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.
What a ride. I purchased $30-$50 MBA and MBP from eBay and Mercari and most of the time just needed to put in an SSD, Ram, battery, or power adapter and I am done. I always make sure no issue with the screen. I don't think my little heart can handle that crazy screen and battery replacement.
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
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.
Great repair journey! Thanks for this video, I appreciate you sharing the losses as well as the wins.
You should create a "headless" laptop out of it. Remove the screen and connect it to an external one.
4:32 NO! Cutting a battery off with scissors will short circuit it! Never do that!
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.
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
If I can find such a unit I will definitely buy!
@@psivewri Now that's a video I'm looking forward to :D
Arent logic boards very expensive? Could sell it as well and make a huge profit
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!
Apple, please bring the small MacBook back to the lineup
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!
I’m still using this MacBook early 2015 I just got a new battery from Apple a few months ago. Works great
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.
Actually Nathan the motherboard of the MacBook is faulty because try taking out the battery to see if it still says replaced!
The way it was packed reminds me of the original MacBook Air commercial.
A macbook this size would be a dream for me. It would be great if they made a similar one with apple silicon
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.
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 ;).
Where the hell is bro finding these Macbooks. All the broken Macbooks I see on eBay are the most overpriced things ever
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.
When I saw no os I thought dead SSD, these machines are about as reliable as the 2011 15"
Missing keycap + badly covered webcam = student’s laptop.
you can wake up the "broken" battery and make it start taking a charge again. get an usb cable, cut off one end just to have + and - cables. plug in the usb cable, touch and hold + to the positive terminal on the battery and - to the negative terminal. do that for 5-10 minutes and check if the battery took any charge with an multimeter. good luck.
6:21 wit bro wearing
I’ve been thinking about this MacBook for some time, having such a small device, with apple silicon chips would be phenomenal!
If the M3 chip got Quick Sync, you can now make it an headless Plex media server / simple NAS with an external drive.
That tiny motherboard is just an absolute marvel of engineering
Convert it into a desktop? Would make a good mac mini or cupboard mac?
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.
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
butterfly keyboards are actually really nice imo.
Wow, that grafite termal paste is the best one and works better then MX4
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.
They might release macbook se i think thats simular form factor
The logic board in these are known to go bad
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.
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.
Next time try the battery before installing it even before remove the original.
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.
Hope you left some negative feedback for that eBay seller!
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.
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
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
I'm surprised Apple didn't have the so-called courage to remove the headphone jack like they did that year in the iPhone
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.
Best response to any haters….”What MacBook do you have, poor boi?” “I’m not a broke boy, I have an M3 MacBook!!”
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.
This MacBook was an ***hole.
The keyboard and battery replacement was a nasty hard
Heck, even if the SSD fried and you're f*cked.
the headless machook project will be fire (it will be usedas a desktop) 😅🔥🔥🔥
man still isn't in the caravan
not me watching this while he roasts the macbook im literally using
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.
At 10:30 I was just going to bed as I saw your amazing video pop up😂
Would be good for a desktop setup for young kid or a age person could use and Attached a monitor to it
You don't need to remove the logic board to replace the battery.
Psivewri, I love your Videos. For the Laptop, I would just say "Make the Laptop to a Desktop". The Laptop would have a better Display then, and it would run of AC power so no problem with the Battery anymore.
Again, Love your Videos. I've been a Fan since 2021
Raphael
I have gotten this laptop at Amazon US and it was fine.
I loved my Macbook 12. Wish Apple would bring it back, maybe with a M1 at a reasonable price
Completely unusable with this screen. Would be immediate ewaste if they revived the 12in especially with a m chip.
Watched this on my 2015 12 inch Retina Macbook. :)
Remove the battery and screen.. use it as ma. Mini with built in keyboard and trackpad
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.
2nd Gen Aluminium MacBook
favorite laptop ever, if only there could be a new m3 upgrade :(
I swear they where dropping like flies at one point due to Overheating and dying CPUs
Me seeing the title: Guess that eucalyptus oil will be getting a workout then.....🍿
“I want M3 Macbook!”
Mom: We have M3 Macbook at home”
M3 Macbook at home:
Same computer I just shipped out to you today
I love watching your videos😍😍
03:49 Am I tripin or the are some sparks there?
Since it can't hold a charge, that means the only port you're able to use is the headphone jack. Amazing lol
Dongles exist!
Dongles exist!
2016 Macbook: 8Gig RAM.
2023 Macbook: 8Gig RAM.
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
Can you recommend a good one? Ideally one with a little screen that says the voltage it is outputting :)
Wow, $30 for a 2016 macbook?
That is quite cheap if you want and can fix it.
The phone that i used has the same issue on the screen
A low end laptop not worth buying. If you’re gonna buy something ten years old, get one with a top of the line processor. That’s worth the investment!
0:14 No way fibre envelopes still exist
Damn this already has M3
Intel series M, not apple silicone
Bro posted as i opened youtube lmao
Bro that is M3 procesor , that is dope , sad is m3 by intel
I can understand not opening a PC case to clean it inside or something, as bad as that is, but why would someone selling a laptop not just use a piece of kitchen towel or something to wipe out the heavy stuff? I don't get it.
Don't these laptops work without a battery? Can't one just plug them in the power supply?
Why should you put any work in something that you are selling for $20?
@@Jehty_ Because you are selling it. Even if you were giving it away you should do the very basic thing of cleaning it a bit on the outside. It's the polite thing to do. If you only pay attention to it if it is going to make you a large profit, you are not someone I would like to do any business with you.
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.
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 ❤️🇦🇺
How do you get working laptops this cheap on eBay
Australia. Close to the Asian market oversaturated with PC junk.
never knew there was an intel core m series till now 💀
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
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.
That packaging is negative feedback worthy
Another great video 👍🏻
actually im sorry to correct this but its actually the 2015 12inch macbook