Update, MacBook Pro and MacBook Air Buyers guide Jan 2022

Thursday, January 27, 2022 1:22 PM

Update, MacBook Pro and MacBook Air Buyers guide Feb 2022



Buyers guide MacBook Pro’s and MacBook Air's

Note, All of these machines will run macOS Monterey 12

Quick guide

A1502 2015 Yes

A1708 NO

A1706 NO

A1989 NO

A2159 NO

A2289 Yes

A2251 Yes

A2338 Yes

A2442 Yes

A1398 2015 Yes

A1707 NO

A1990 NO

A2141 NO

A2485 Yes

A1466 2015,2017 Yes

A1932 NO

A2179 NO

A2337 Yes

A1534 NO


MacBook Pro 13” Retina, Intel

A1502, 2015 13” Retina Very Good, Tried and tested

SSD/Flash drives upgrades to new or larger capacity only


MacBook Pro 13” Retina, Intel

A1708, A1706, 2016 13”  Avoid Screen & Keyboard issue

A1708, A1706, 2017 13” Avoid Screen & Keyboard issue

A1989, 2018 13” Good screen, OK but they still have potential Keyboard  issues

A2159, A1989, 2019 13” Good screen, OK but they still have potential Keyboard issues

New report, Possible Touch Bar issues

No hardware upgrades after purchase,

Prices are depreciating fast



MacBook Pro 13” Retina, Intel

A2289, 2020 13” Retina, Good  New keyboard, New Screen, 

New report, Possible Touch Bar issues

No hardware upgrades after purchase,

Prices are depreciating fast



MacBook Pro 13” Retina, Intel

A2251, 2020 13” Retina Very Good New keyboard, New Screen,

Purchase used

New report, Possible Touch Bar issues

No hardware upgrades after purchase,

Prices are depreciating fast



MacBook Pro 13” Retina M1

A2338, Late 2020, Apple silicon M1 chip, Very Good, 13” MacBook Pro, But be aware you will not be able to run older apps, 

No hardware upgrades after purchase, 


Purchase New / Refurbished from Apple with the Apple care+ or buy used



MacBook Pro 14” Retina M1 Pro, Max

A2442, Very Good, 2021, New MacBook Pro 14” M1 Pro up to 32GB Memory

A2442, Very Good, 2021, New MacBook Pro 14” M1 Max up to 64GB Memory

No hardware upgrades after purchase

Purchase New with the Apple care+




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MacBook Pro 15” Retina, Intel

A1398, 2015 15” Retina Very Good Tried and tested

SSD/Flash drives upgrades to new or larger capacity only


MacBook Pro 15” Retina, Intel

A1707, 2016, 15” Retina Avoid Screen & Keyboard issue,

A1707, 2017,  15” Retina Avoid Screen & Keyboard issue, 

A1990, 2018, 15” Retina Good screen, OK but they still have potential Keyboard issues,

A1990, 2019, 15” Retina Good screen, OK but they still have potential Keyboard issues updated but still on the recal list? , T2 Kernal panics)

New report, Possible Touch Bar issues, 2019 Logic board fails for no reason

No hardware upgrades after purchase,

Prices are depreciating fast



MacBook Pro 16” Retina, Intel

A2141, 2019 16” Retina Avoid, New keyboard and Screen

 i7, Better, 

 i9 Thermal throttling, Update GPU Panics, i9 Hot & Noisy Fan running external monitors, Don’t buy a laptop to do desktop work, 

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

New report, Possible Touch Bar issues, 2019 Logic board fails for no reason.

No hardware upgrades after purchase,

Prices are depreciating fast



MacBook Pro Retina 16” M1 Pro, Max

A2485, Very Good, 2021, New MacBook Pro 16” M1 Pro up to 32GB of Memory

A2485, Very Good, 2021, New MacBook Pro 16” M1 Max up to 64GB of Memory

No hardware upgrades after purchase

Purchase New with the Apple care+





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MacBook Air 13, Intel

A1466, 2015 8GB Memory Good

A1466, 2017 8GB Memory Very Good

SSD/Flash drives upgrades to new or larger capacity only


MacBook Air 13” Retina, Intel

A1932, 2018 Avoid Logic board issuekeyboard issue, 

No hardware upgrades after purchase, 

New report LCD’s very thin and break easily.

Prices are depreciating fast


A1932, 2019 Avoid keyboard issue, 

No hardware upgrades after purchase, 

New report LCD’s very thin and break easily.

Prices are depreciating fast


A2179, Early 2020 Avoid, New Keyboard, Not true i5 or i7 processors,  Thermal throttling, 

No hardware upgrades after purchase

New report LCD’s very thin and break easily.

Prices are depreciating fast



MacBook Air 13” Retina M1

A2337, Late 2020, Very Good, Apple silicon M1 chip, 13” MacBook Air, But be aware you will not be able to run older apps. 

No hardware upgrades after purchase

New report LCD’s very thin and can break easily.

Purchase new or Refurbished from Apple with the Apple care+




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12” MacBook Retina, Intel

A1534, 2015 Avoid, Logic board issues, Keyboard issues

A1534, 2016 Avoid Logic board issues, Keyboard issues

A1543, 2017 Avoid Logic board issues, Keyboard issues

No hardware upgrades after purchase,

Prices are depreciating fast




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