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 issue, keyboard 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