Pros and cons of Apple MacBook Pro Retina 15" 2017

hgabor84 wrote:

Dear Community,

Is it worth it to buy an Apple MacBook Pro Retina 15" 2017 Touch Bar computer nowadays? It's advertised as quite underpriced (for family reasons), working and in nice condition, so I'm thinking about it. What are the pros and cons of such a machine?

Best Regards,

Gabor

Just because you are offered a bargain does not mean you will be happy with the computer in daily use. Here are some pros and cons:

Pros:

• Modern WiFi
• Modern and fast ports
• Can run Ventura, which is not too bad
• If used mainly for web browsing and email, would likely be ok

Cons:

• Obsolete (or soon to be)
• 7 years old already, hardware will be wearing out. Most companies (like mine) require replacing laptops after three years. I don't do that for my personal devices but still, 7 years is vintage.
• Battery condition should be checked. Not only is replacing the battery inconvenient, but battery issues can result in swelling and damaged electronics that are located nearby, as well as keyboard and trackpad issues.
• Ventura is ok today, but will soon be two MacOS cycles out of date, security updates will stop in about a year as will updates for products like Office 365. Some web sites will stop working as time goes on. Some products like TurboTax will also stop running on older Macs like this in a year or so (TurboTax tax year 2024 requires Ventura or later). You won't be able to use the latest Adobe software either.

Personally, I would not purchase a Mac more than 2 years old. (This is from someone who still has a working 2010 MacBook Air, 2013 MacBook Air, and a 2015 iMac, as well as modern Macs up through 2024 M3 MacBook Pro.) I actually don't get Macs used at all, but if I did, they would be newer than two years old.

These laptops have the dreaded Butterfly Keyboards which tend to fail quite often. Plus they have a bit higher likelihood of having Display issues due to possible display cable issues.

Keep in mind you have a 6 - 7 year old laptop. If the Battery or Top Case/Keyboard Assembly has never been replaced (or was replaced some years ago), then the Battery most likely is worn out or possibly even failing. The Cycle Count if it is high would be a warning sign, but you can have an old battery with a low cycle count. An old battery is just as bad as one with a high cycle count. If the Battery Condition is "Service Recommended" , or "Service Battery", or "Replace Soon", or "Replace Now", then you are going to need a new Battery.

However, this will not alert you to a battery which has a potentially bad cell. In my own personal experience supporting thousands of my organization's Apple laptops.....half of all bad batteries never show any of these signs. I've had to develop other tests to look for potentially bad batteries.

Keep in mind an official Apple Battery replacement/repair will be expensive (about $250 US).....this would provide you with a new built-in Keyboard as well since Apple would replace the entire Top Case Assembly which holds the Palmrest, Keyboard, Touchbar, Speakers, and Battery.

macOS 13.x Ventura is the last supported OS for this model. Ventura will stop receiving security updates & support at the end of 2025. At that point, many third party apps will likely no longer be receiving updates because they follow Apple's lead so any apps which require online access will slowly start to fail at that point.

FWIW, I would not buy an obsolete/vintage computer.

Obtaining service for your Apple product after an expired warranty - Apple Support

Hi,

I'm using MacBook Pro 15inch 2017 without no problem, except rubber around display is deterioration.

Spec is following.

MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2017) - Technical Specifications – Apple Support (UK)

I literally just bought one from OWC, as it is the newest MacbookPro that will run Sierra, which I need to have in another partition for a particular piece of software to run occasionally.