We keep getting asked which MacBooks to buy and the ones to avoid, so here is the list,

Note, All of these machines will run macOS Big Sur 11.0.

MacBook Pro

A1502, Late 2013, 2014 13" Retina Good, Tried and tested

A1398, Late 2013, 2014 15” Retina Good Tried and tested

A1502, 2015 13” Retina Good, Tried and tested

A1398, 2015 15” Retina Good Tried and tested

A1708, A1706, 2016 13” and A17070, 15” Retina Avoid Screen & Keyboard issue

A1708, A1706, 2017 13” and A1707, 15” Retina Avoid Screen & Keyboard issue

A1989, 2018 13” and A1990, 15” Retina Good screen, Avoid Keyboard issue

A2159, A1989, 2019 13” and A1990, 15” Retina Good screen, Avoid Keyboard updated but still on the recal list?

A2141, 2019 16” Retina i7, New keyboard and Screen, i9 Thermal throttling, Update GPU Panics, i9 Hot & Noisy Fan running external monitors, Avoid, Don’t buy a laptop to do desktop work

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/16-mbp-gpu-panics.2221004/

A2289, 2020 13” Retina, Good But tech is 2 years old being sold as new? New keyboard, New Screen, Purchase new from Apple with the Apple care+ (No longer available New from Apple)

A2251, 2020 13” Retina Good New keyboard, New Screen, Purchase new from Apple with the Apple care+  

Recommended 2.0GHz Quad core i5, 512GB flash drive 16GB of 3733MHz Memory  $3,102.70, 

(Twice as fast as a 2015, 15” Retina i7 16GB of memory)

Late 2020, Apple silicon M1 chip, 13” MacBook Pro, But be aware you will not be able to run older apps, No upgrades after purchase, New report LCD’s very thin and break easily.

13” MacBook Air 

A1466, 2015 8GB Memory Good

A1466, 2017 8GB Memory Very Good

13” MacBook Air Retina

A1932, 2018 Avoid Logic board issue, keyboard issue, No upgrades after purchase, New report LCD’s very thin and break easily.

A1932, 2019 Avoid keyboard issue, No upgrades after purchase, New report LCD’s very thin and break easily.

A2179, Early 2020 New Keyboard, i5 or i7 but Thermal throttling, No upgrades after purchase, New report LCD’s very thin and break easily.

Late 2020, Apple silicon M1 chip, 13” MacBook Air, But be aware you will not be able to run older apps.No upgrades after purchase, New report LCD’s very thin and break easily.

12” MacBook Retina

A1534, 2015 Avoid, Logic board issues, Keyboard issues

A1534, 2016 Avoid Logic board issues, Keyboard issues

A1543, 2017 Avoid Logic board issues, Keyboard issues

Apple Recalls on the links below

13-inch MacBook Pro Display Backlight Service Program

Keyboard Service Program for MacBook, MacBook Air, and MacBook Pro

13-inch MacBook Pro (non Touch Bar) Solid-State Drive Service Program

Keyboard Service Program for MacBook and MacBook Pro

13-inch MacBook Pro (non Touch Bar) Battery Replacement Program