Used/Refurb MacBook Pro recommendation?

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Level 1

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Used/Refurb MacBook Pro recommendation?

I'm a veteran voice talent who needs a reliable MacBook Pro when on the road for broadcast clients who must have something urgent cut and delivered right away...much as I hate doing it on vacation anymore.

I've gone through multiple generations of MacBooks and currently my go-to is a 2015 MBP 15" Retina... which has been sufficient in the past but my 'legacy' audio software that I've always preferred has held me back due to requirements that only allow it to 'write' audio in a 32-bit environment, (and HFS+ formatting) hence, in this case, High Sierra was the end of the line for it on a MBP...while on my studio Minis I can run Mojave with the internal HD formatted APFS for the app, and 'write' the files to an external drive formatted HFS+

That said, seems I must finally give up using the legacy app for travel because I can't use certain newer plugins and noise reduction apps which run only in OS 12 or higher.

So long story a little shorter, I guess I need to buy a more modern, reliable rugged used or refurb replacement for the 2015 MBP to run any newer, compatible recording app Monterey and higher, OS. I've been out of the market for years and really haven't paid attention to model upgrades in recent years 'cuz my existing systems have "just worked" and been fine for my needs. That said, now I have to sift through the universe of data and make a choice. I would prefer robust processing power and write speed... and optimal RAM -- but don't need anything more than "enough" for fairly basic audio recording and sometimes rather intensive editing that tends to draw heavily on the CPU..

I'd prefer not to spend more than somewhere in the 500-800 ballpark, and have almost always bought used/refurb.

Any suggestions of specs to look for...models to check? I know it's a rather vast question but maybe the type of usage I'm describing could help define or narrow it down a bit? Oh, the other thing is the 'butterfly' keyboards. I've had to replace the one on my 2015 MBP so i'd want to avoid that design. Thanks for any thoughts!

Posted on Aug 10, 2023 11:58 AM

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Answer 1

MIKEinMICH Author

Level 1

20 points

Aug 10, 2023 2:27 PM in response to Tom Gewecke

Thanks. Interesting about booting from the external. Hadn't really thought about it. Thing is, I'm looking at a pretty amazing noise reduction app

which is minimum OS 12 but its processing time is radically slower on the Intel macs than the M1 and beyond... It takes advantage of the neural engine. Not essential but i can see where if i want to drop a noisy file into it (it's a standalone app) to let it do its "AI" thing and then shoot that file off to a client, speed would be a factor... sooo... kinda weighing whether to pick up a dedicated MacBook, like, the 1st gen /2020 M1 - which would let me use this thing and a newer compatible record/edit app...and i could bounce files over to it just to use the one app, from another machine for that matter. That said, maybe I should toy with the idea of Monterey external SSD on the 2015 first, just to see if it would be sufficient. I'm assuming then, that I could set things up for dual boot...and run two different OS's on the 2015 MBP? Like, Mojave OR Monterey? Or..no.?

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Answer 2

Aug 10, 2023 7:08 PM in response to MIKEinMICH

https://www.idropnews.com/faq/faq-which-macbooks-have-the-butterfly-keyboard/172306/amp/

if you look in Apple’s official technical specifications for any Mac laptop made in 2019 or later, and you see the marketing phrase “Magic Keyboard,” that indicates that the laptop has a scissor-switch keyboard instead of one of the infamous butterfly keyboards.

(Apple previously used the term “Magic Keyboard” for desktop keyboards, but I don’t know if the term had any special meaning there.)

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Answer 3

Aug 10, 2023 12:08 PM in response to MIKEinMICH

Your MacBook Pro 15-in Retina 2015 can also run 10.14 Mojave, or 10.15 Catalina, or MacOS 11 Big Sur, or MacOS 12 Monterey.

Almost all software that can use HFS+ drives works fine with APFS drives as well. I think you might be being too cautious.

If you move up to MacOS 10.15 Catalina or later, you just need to stop using your 32-bit Apps. The file system is not the show-stopper you are assuming. the File System is largely backward-compatible.

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Answer 4

MIKEinMICH Author

Level 1

20 points

Aug 10, 2023 12:32 PM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

Yes, I may be a little over the top about this. There is actually only an issue with this particular editing app I prefer. It became 'broken' by its' 32-bit requirement...and for whatever coding and architecture reasons, it is also unable to 'write to' or 'save to' the Mojave APFS volume it resides on. Hence, to use that, it does require assigning an HFS+ formatted external drive to write to. The App runs on Mojave, it just won't record to an APFS volume. That app aside, I do see where I could just reformat this MBP to OS 12 which would allow me to use a compatible recording platform with a noise reduction app that is extremely useful for less than ideal recording environments as is the nature of recording on the road - sometimes literally. (Actually a parked car interior in a quiet area is acoustically great for recording as it's built to deaden exterior sound --but I digress : ).

All that said is it physically impossible to format the 2015 MBP internal HD to allow for a dual-boot where I could have and log into Mojave (or High Sierra for that matter) on one partition, OR OS 12 on the Other partition/volume ?

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Answer 5

Tom Gewecke

Level 10

122,688 points

Aug 10, 2023 2:18 PM in response to MIKEinMICH

Your present machine does run Monterey, if you were in doubt about that

macOS Monterey is compatible with these computers - Apple Support

Booting from an external ssd will often produce a huge performance boost

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Answer 6

Aug 10, 2023 3:22 PM in response to MIKEinMICH

<< I could set things up for dual boot...and run two different OS's on the 2015 MBP? >>

while that CAN be done, it is a complete Pain, and takes double the disk space.

You have NOT yet made a compelling case for multiple OS versions on one machine.

I DO run multiple OS on one machine, but it is a Mac Pro 42 lb silver tower, and each OS is on its own drive.

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Answer 7

Aug 10, 2023 3:20 PM in response to MIKEinMICH

APPLE refurbished computers sold in the Apple online store refurbished and clearance section are PRISTINE. They meet ALL the standards for new computers except do not meet the letter-of-the-law to be treated as New under the US uniform commercial code. They are eligible for the same warranty, except: if Dead-on-Arrival, cannot be exchanged for new, they must be returned to the source for replacement instead.

I bought a 16-in M1 system the day the M2 was available, and saved some money that way.

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Answer 8

Tom Gewecke

Level 10

122,688 points

Aug 10, 2023 6:19 PM in response to MIKEinMICH

MIKEinMICH wrote:

I could set things up for dual boot...and run two different OS's on the 2015 MBP? Like, Mojave OR Monterey?

I do this routinely, between Monterey and Ventura, but on an Intel machine, where it is very simple. I have read that it is more complicated on an M machine.

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Answer 9

Aug 10, 2023 12:47 PM in response to MIKEinMICH

you can use a physically small external drive on your macBook, connected via USB.

or:

.

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Answer 10

MIKEinMICH Author

Level 1

20 points

Aug 10, 2023 1:07 PM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

Thanks! That would be handy and more convenient if I at least step up from High Sierra to Mojave for that one legacy app.

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Answer 11

Aug 10, 2023 7:15 PM in response to MIKEinMICH

Even buying used/refurb, $500 to $800 (USD?) is going to be a pretty restrictive budget for a Mac laptop with “robust processing power and write speed... and optimal RAM.”

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Used/Refurb MacBook Pro recommendation?

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