Version 3

Price research done from June 6th to June 14th, 2024!
Google spreadsheet Link here.

Version 1 post in 2018
Version 2 post 2021

Version 3 here is simplified, I went full McIntosh about LCDs and Specs in the previous posts, not gonna repost that shit here. There are no graphs in this version.

Updates
Added Apple Silicon Macs, M1 2021, and both 2023 M2, M3 Models
Added A**** Model ID searches
Fixed some searches, generalized some others.
Added (Year) "GHz" specific searches on some years.
Simplified a few searches, such as 2020 CTO models.
Got rid of Averages that I did... kek

General Info copy/paste from previous guides

LOCKED MACBOOKS

MacBooks are one of the hottest stolen laptop for sale. Be sure you don’t buy these with a forgotten password, EFI password, “needs reset”, or iCloud lock! The T2 security chip from 2019 rMBP 15’s is a lot more harder to crack and then there’s Apple silicon having its own proprietary lock, something like Activation lock or enrollment. Make sure when you’re buying the laptop, that it is logged into the desktop and that there is no Apple ID still in use! There’s specific ways and services you can do or get done, the easiest is to create a new user w/ admin privileges . But chances are it’s iCloud or something else and I do not have a guide for the 20 or whatever types of locks. These prices do not reflect a locked laptop!

Which laptop good for photo and video editing?

Yeah, get an M1 Max MacBook Pro 16 inch for most editing. If you need something cheaper, it will be slower, if you need something faster, then pay more money. This guide will not get you a $200 laptop that will edit an hour long video, with 5 different video tracks all recorded in 4K 120FPS and having you expect it to be done within 20 seconds. DO NOT FUCKING USE A $500 MACBOOK TO EDIT YOUR $3000 IPHONE VIDEOS, USE THE FUCKIN IPHONE.

What MacBook Pro is good for college?

Ummm a MacBook Air 2014… but in all seriousness it depends on your major, and what the requirements are. Do note that, your computer requirements may change on each class and dates. You’ll be in college for four years, think about how Apple Silicon changed everything since 2021 and how now there’s an ARM core race now for computers. Heck, now we have AI being blasted on everything, so who fucking knows how relevant the operating system will be for classes. Go ask leddit and go from there, or a classmate “wuts gud laptop for me” and see if anything is in your price range. DO NOT buy preloaded systems, you may get software from your school for free or included in the tuition, plus you can always, get it for free. 🦜

Latest OS

• 2018 MacBook Pro to current – MacOS 15 Sequoia (expected 2024 release)
  • Late 2020 (Radeon 5600M) to Silicon – Apple Intelligence features
• 2017 MBP – MacOS 13 Ventura (2022)
• 2015 to 2016 MBP 15 – MacOS 12 Monterey (2021)
• 2013 to 2014 MBP 15 –

Anyways, in 2024, the oldest MacBook Pro 15 or 16 that can run the “latest” OS which is currently MacOS 14 Sonoma, is the 2018 TouchBar MacBook Pro 15″. Now if that will get u through four years of college? I don’t know, but there are hacks to get your mac to work with a later version of OSX or MacOS.

MacSales.Com – Compatibility Chart
MacWorld.com – MacOS compatibility

Should I make music with these?

If you are buying a Mac to make music, the more RAM the better, you can get away with using the Integrated graphics model as well on Intel machines, for Apple Silicon, the GPU core count won’t matter. I wont get into the Neural Core engine or whatever it is…. I just look at prices of these fuckin laptops. Consider about how much storage you will have if you’re keeping a lot of music in it. TouchBar MacBooks are USB-C only, I’d recommend the older models with “classic” USB ports for old disco connectivity unless you want to risk with USB-A to USB-C converters.

If you’re gonna do DJ equipment, I’ve seen plenty of Mac equipment out there. The only thing is if you want to have screens and visual effects on other screens, then yeah, you’ll want something with discrete graphics or a more multi-core Max CPU if you’re on Apple Silicon vs the base “Pro” chip on whatever M1, M2 or M3. Having the gear is one thing, you’ll just have to see what is compatible from what you are upgrading and you’ll probably want an all in one USB-C or ThunderBolt dock/charger gizmo for simplicity and proper connectivity.

          Display Differences

2600 x 1800 – For now DEPRECIATED all 15″ MacBook Pros have the same screen resolution, the panels are high quality and offer very nice color range, Although these still have a glossy glass like previous MacBooks, Apple upgraded these finally with IPS displays.

• Retina 2012 – Mid 2015 – Similar color gamut, different panel Part Numbers.
• Touch/Late 2016 – Brighter 500 nits display
• Touch/Mid 2017 – New high quality P3 color gamut display, the best so far (not considering the 2018 model).

If you’re looking to get the best display, Apple stepped it up with the Late 2017 model. At the time of this writing, it is ranked 8th at Notebookcheck.com, which ironically the latest iPad Pro has it beaten. Anyways, that display scores 99.9% of sRGB and 77.4 on Adobe RGB. Additionally it has a 500 nit display, and the prior models are 317 nits.

CPU Comparisons – OLD

• Good – Retina 2012 models are actually equal to its competitors, with the exception of XM CPUs which Apple never offers.
• Avoid – 2.4Ghz i7-3635qm Early 2013, less performance than prior 2.3GHz base model.
• Lame – 2.0Ghz i7-4750hq Late 2013, poor performance considering this is the ‘tcok’ which should bring power, it doesn’t. Get the 2.3 or 2.6GHz MacBook instead. 
• Bruiser – 2.8GHz i7-4960hq Mid 2014, THAT BENCHMARK, get this one if CPU performance is needed and graphics is an afterthought.
• Boring – Mid 2015 Macbook doesn’t bring anything special, same CPUs.
• Meh – 2016 & 2017 CPUs offer huge gains in battery life (well no 5th gen i7), but their benchmarks suffer. However, later gen CPUs are a good idea for futureproofing due to having more instruction sets that might be needed on newer software or ISV requirements.
• hex? – I don’t have the six core covered here, because it suffers throttling issues, partially due to not enough power delivery. Although there is a software hack and Apple supposedly is updating the EFI or software, out of the box you will be disappointing.

GPU Comparisons -OLD

• Fubar – Graphics cards on 2011 to Early 2012 models have issues and has been recalled by Apple before. Apple had (has?) a free repair extension program but I believe you need the original receipt.
• Intel Iris Pro 5200 – Spanks the fuck out of the nVidia GT 650, it is a huge improvement over Intel HD 4400 graphics on competitors. I’m not so sure about it for 4K 120FPS video editing, but if its 1080p 60FPS or Photoshop it shouldn’t be bad if you’re on a budget, but I don’t think it would be good for high bitrate video streaming with a 2nd display. 
• ATI R9 M390X – Good that it brings 2GB RAM, but in comparison to other 2015 laptops, it is outclassed in addition to having an outdated CPU by two generations. But given the failure rates of even the nVidia GPUs, this might be a safe buy.
• ATI Radeon Pro 455 2GB – Overall best GPU of the 2016 models considering price/performance when new.
• ATI Radeon Pro 560 4GB – If I was seriously considering a 2017 laptop, I’d go for this card for the MacBook. Unless you just want a thin workstation, I’d consider the alternatives that have Quadros.

Price guide Info

Sold – How many sold in the past 3 months, the higher the better (300+). The lower the number, the laptop could be not available for sale, or people are skipping them for something else (overpriced).
Low Price – 25 to 35% of the lowest sold item, does not include totally broken screen laptops.
Mid Price – The median, either 55 to 65% of the prices.
High Price – From 75% to 85% of the highest price, the most I recommend if u cant get it cheaper.
EX+ – Last 10% or so, sometimes I cap it because it gets rediculous.

Apple Serial number
Yeah you should go to EveryMac Serial Numeber LookUP , type in the serial number so you can see the specs of the laptop. It’ll give info for the CPU, RAM, GPU. SSD may be incorrect if it is removed, downgraded or upgraded. Also consider that some people will swap bottom covers on the laptops, so the specs may not be identical. You’ll see this ifo at About This Mac when the computer is on. However if both don’t match and the seller doesn’t say anything about it, or has completely different specs in description AND title… well don’t expect any of them to match, u may get the shitty Macbook 13.

Model Number – A####
A 5 digit alphanumeric numbers, starting with A and followed by 4 numbers.
I assume this is just for like the basic frame of the laptop, motherboard and LCD may be different.
You’ll see this on the bottom of the laptop, and it will have cover various years and CPUs.
There is also 4 more numbers that follow it, known as the EMC. This is usually a certain year that laptop is configured for, or in some cases a certain motherboard Logic Board type.
M—-LL/A – Apple Order No.
Think of it like IBM’s MTM number. Apple normally has at least two configurations for each laptop model, usually based on the CPU. Typically we have a base CPU config, a higher clocked version often paired with more storage and maybe more ram, and a third option, that may have it’s own Order No., or simply known as CTO or BTO, Configure / Build To Order, and that can be anything upgraded.
Due to sellers doing their best to click farm, I’ve had to resort to using this as a search, because if I type “Mid 2014 MacBook Pro 2.5GHz”, I’d get fucking other laptops like MacBook Airs, or even a 2010 Core 2 Duo… However in some cases I’ve resorted to that in searches because the sold number is too low.

IG – Integrated Graphics
DG – Dedicated Graphics
A few models don’t have discrete graphics, which is fucking insane but whatever. iGPUs during this era actually were fairly good all things considered. All this is nullifed w/ the Apple Silicon power leap.
10C/30G or 12C/38G – CPU core count and GPU core count
This applies to Apple Silicon only, Apple at this time has 3 chip options that has replaced the Intel chip & dedicated graphics. The chip has both CPU cores and Graphics cores. I am not including the “neural engine cores” or whatever the fuck it is because thats’s too fucking much to write about and honestly I don’t even know if buyers or power users really look after that.
768GB, 1TB or 1-2TB – Specialized search
I just search for the max storage option there is to give a ballpark of what one would pay. I don’t do searches for each storage configuration as it would just over complicate searches.

Each “model” has a link to eBay for that specific search I did for sold listings. So click on it, then untick sold/completed listings to see whats available. I only search this about once a year (or every other year), so the prices will normally be lower from what I’ve looked up.

A1298 Retina MacBook Pro 15″ 2012 – 2015

• 2.3 i7-3615qm
• 2.6 i7-3720qm
• 2.7 i7-3820qm
  • Either 8Gb or 16GB
  • nVidia GT 650m w/ 1GB RAM
  • and Intel HD 4000 on battery
• 85W Magsafe 2
  • From 2012 to 2015, all models
• Proprietary SATA III SSD format
• 256GB, 512GB, or 768GB SSDs
  • I think these are the same CPUs as the non-retina

• 2.4 i7-3635qm – 8 or 16GB, 256GB
• 2.7 i7-3740qm – 16GB, 512GB
• 2.8 i7-3840qm – 8 or 16Gb, 256 or 512GB
  • nVidia 650m 1GB
  • and Intel HD 4000 on Battery
• same SATA III SSDs
  • slightly faster CPUs from 2012

Intel 4th Gen Haswell Models

• 2.0 i7-4750hq – IG only, 8GB or 16GB
• 2.3 i7-4850hq – IG or DG, 8GB or 16GB; 16Gb on DG only
• 2.6 i7-4960hq – IG or DG, 8GB or 16GB; 16Gb on DG only
  • IG models default to 256GB on base config
  • DG versions have 512GB default
  • 512GB or 1TB SSD options, 768GB dropped
  • PCIe 2.0 x4 speeds, but proprietary
• Iris Pro 5200 on iGPU
• nVidia GT 750m 2GB if dGPU
  • Next gen CPU, next gen GPU

• 16GB RAM default on all systems, nothing more or less
• 2.2 i7-4770hq – IG only, 256GB as standard
• 2.5 i7-4870hq – 512GB as standard
• 2.8 i7-4980hq – 512GB as standard
  • 1TB max, 512GB optional if u get that base CPU IG machine
    • I think there are 1.5TB and 2TB non-OEM SSDs available
• Iris Pro 5200 on iGPU
• nVidia GT 750m 2GB if dGPU
  • Sligtly faster CPU speeds but same gen, same GPUs lol

• 16GB RAM default on all systems, nothing more or less
• 2.2 i7-4770hq – IG only, 256GB as standard
• 2.5 i7-4870hq – 512GB as standard
• 2.8 i7-4980hq – 512GB as standard
  • 1TB max, 512GB optional if u get that base CPU IG machine
    • I think there are 1.5TB and 2TB non-OEM SSDs available
• Iris Pro 5200 on iGPU
• AMD Radeon R9 M370X w/ 2GB if dGPU
  • CPUs are the same vs last year, just AMD graphics now

TouchBar MacBook Pros 15″ 2016 – 2019

These systems have soldered SSDs from now on

• 2.6 i7-6700hq
  • 256GB base
  • Radeon Pro 450 w/ 2GB
• 2.7 i7-6820hq
  • 512GB
  • Radeon Pro 455 w/ 2GB
• 2.9 i7-6920hq
  • 256GB base
  • Radeon Pro 460 w/ 4GB
• 1TB and 2TB SSD options
  • SSDs are now soldered on!
• 16GB LPDDR3 RAM default on all
• Space Gray “black” MacBook Color added hence two Apple Order No.’s
• TouchBar function row keys
  • infamously remembered for becoming even more unreliable from now on
    • LCD cable too short so it breaks contact with screen
    • Butterfly keyboard switches, that misses key presses due to dust from normal use
• Fucking SD card slot removal
• USB-C Introduced, four ports on 15″ model
• 87W USB-C charger needed (all ports can charge!)
  • Good charger for all 15″ touchbars, 16″ requires more power!
• Huge as fuck touchpad

• 2.8 i7-7700hq
  • 256GB
  • Radeon Pro 555 2GB GDDR5 as base, 560 optional
• 2.9 i7-7820hq
  • 512GB
  • Radeon Pro 560 4GB GDDR5
• 3.1 i7-7920hq
  • 256GB base
  • Radeon Pro 555 or 560 GDDR5
• Same 1TB or 2TB SSD options like last year
  • Newer CPU and GPU generations
  • No real improvements otherwise
    • Supposedly they put a new butterfly scissor switch on keyboards but its still shit

Six & Eight Core Models

• 2.2 i7-8750H Six Core
  • Radeon Pro 555X 4GB GDDR5
  • 560X optional $100 upgrade
  • 256GB standard
• 2.6 i7-8850H Six Core
  • Radeon Pro 560X 4GB GDDR5
    • optional Radeon Pro Vega 16 or 20 4GB HBM2
      • specific search provided for Vega/CPU system
  • 512GB standard
• 2.9 i9-8950HK Six Core
  • Radeon Pro 555X or 560X 4GB GDDR5
    • or Radeon Pro Vega 16 / 20 4GB HBM2
      • specific search provided for Vega/CPU system
  • 256GB or 512GB storage as default
    • I believe any Vega GPU system had 512GB as standard
• 4TB SSD as an option, 1TB & 2TB still offered
• 16GB or 32GB DDR4 2400MHz on these systems
  • More cores! Newer CPU Gen.
  • Vega has HBM2 speeds that was hyped to be much faster than GDDR5
    • GDDR6 completely nullifies HBM2’s speeds nowdays
  • This and later systems can run 2024’s MacOS Seqouia

• 2.6 i7-9750H Six Core
  • 256GB as standard
  • Radeon Pro 555X 4GB GDDR5
• 2.3 i9-9880H Eight Core
  • 512GB as standard
  • Radeon Pro 560X 4GB GDDR5
• 2.4 i9-9980HK Eight Core
  • 256GB or 512GB depending on config
  • Radeon Pro 555X or 560X 4GB GDDR5
    • same Radeon Pro Vega 16 or 20 4GB HMB2 CTO upgrades
• Same 1, 2, 4TB SSD options
• 16GB or 21GB DDR4 RAM, just slightly faster at 2666MHz

16″ MacBook Pro

A2141 Systems – Intel 9th gen – 2019 & “2020”

• Same FUCKING CPUs from the 15″ model…
  • 2.6 i7-9750H
    • 512GB as standard now
    • Radeon Pro 5300M 4GB GDDR6
  • 2.3 i9-9880H
    • 1TB as standard now
    • Radeon Pro 5500M 4GB GDDR6
  • 2.4 i9-9980HK
    • 512GB or 1TB depending on CTO
    • Radeon Pro 5300M / 5500M 4GB GDDR6
  • The “2020” system is only a GPU upgrade from the 2019 models
    • It cost $700 more, and it has the same CPU/RAM/SSD loadout
• New 16″ Screen
  • 3072 x 1920 pixels
• 16GB, 32GB and now 64GB DDR4 RAM
  • still clocked at 2666MHz
• 8TB SSD option now, still can get 1TB, 2TB or 4TB across all
• 87W USB-C Charger required now
  • Bigger screen, better res
  • “new Magic KB” 1mm travel, probably shits itself, haven’t researched it
    • Same CPUs as 15″, similar GPUs too i guess
      • Consider you can get a 9th gen system with 16GB VRAM for less…

Apple Silicon

Note these systems have multi core CPUs that consist of Performance cores, and Efficiency cores, I will be simply abbreviating them as P and E. Who cares what the difference is, I dont have benchmarks for it.

M1 2021

• All systems clocked at 3.2Ghz
  • 10 Core M1 Pro – 8P/2E & 16 Core GPU
    • 512GB standard, 1TB configed too
  • 10 Core M1 Max – 8P/2E & 24 Core GPU
    • 512GB standard
  • 10 Core M1 Max – 8P/2E & 32 Core GPU
    • 1TB standard
• “Notch” 16.2″ Screen
  • 3456 x 2234 resolution! big AF
• 140W MagSafe 3
  • First MagSafe w/ a removable cord if it frays, USB-C too
    • Touchbar removed! hahahahahahah
    • ARM CPUs GO BRRRRRRR $$$$
    • Honestly the MBA or 13″ MBP may be gud for Photoshop or light vid rendering
      • >shilling adobe software
      • >shiggy
        • I didn’t say anything about purchasing… 🦜

M2 Early 2023

• All systems have 8 Performance cores and 4 Efficiency scores
  • 3.49GHz M2 Pro is the “base” model
  • 3.68GHz M2 Max is the mid & top level
• Only the GPUs are different for each model
  • 19 Core M2 Pro
    • 512GB standard, 1TB optional
      • 16GB standard or 32GB CTO
  • 30 Core M2 Max
    • 512GB standard, 1TB configed too
      • 32GB standard or 64GB CTO
  • 38 Core M2 Max
    • 1TB standard
      • 32GB standard, 64GB or 96GB if $$$
    • All systems can have 2TB, 4TB or 8TB SSDs from the factory
      • Just a newer chip, check benchmarks if u want