Will buying a used 2012 MacBook Pro right choice in 2025?

If you want to run 32-bit games that were designed for machines of that era – and for which no 64-bit updates have been released – that Mac might make sense as a platform for running. If you are in that boat, you likely already have those games (purchased for another Mac of similar age), and are just looking for a way to keep them running.

If you want to run current games and applications, that Mac is way too old. It will not be able to run any version of macOS later than Catalina. Catalina is several versions behind the "most recent three" (Ventura, Sonoma, Sequoia) that vendors like Adobe and Microsoft support.

Lots of games are "hungry" when it comes to CPU and GPU power. Even that 2012 MacBook Pro is a high-end 15" model with a 2.8 GHz Intel Core i7-3840QM and a NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M GPU, the CPU and GPU both compare poorly to the ones in an entry-level, "price point" M2 MacBook Air. We're talking about the Air scoring maybe 3x to 4x higher on single-core CPU performance, multi-core CPU performance, and GPU performance.

You'll find that basically nobody is writing new games that will run on that machine. Although Macs are not as much of a gaming platform as high-end Windows PCs are, you will find that there are a number of games that can run on a M2 MacBook Air, M3 MacBook Air, or M4 MacBook Pro. Including some designed for iPads.

My suggestion would be that if your goal is to run current applications – not to preserve vintage software – you'd be well-served to pass over that Mac in favor of a current one.

Clanky846 wrote:

I’ve been thinking of getting a 2012 MacBook Pro for playing video games, doing homework and working on my YouTube channel. But I’m not too sure if it’s the right choice in 2025.

The 2012 Mac is obsolete/vintage. It will not run current apps/MacOS and it is no longer supported for repairs and security updates. I would not spend any money on a no longer supported computer.

It’ll get to macOS 10.15 — six major versions back — and apps increasingly aren’t supporting macOS that far back.

Past three versions is dicy for some apps and for security updates, and that Mac won’t work with current Microsoft Office, for instance.

It’s also Intel x86-64 system, and a transition to Apple silicon has completed.

Mac also isn’t a big gaming platform, any Apple advertising aside. See if the games you want are even available. PC and console and Steam Deck will have more choices, there.

Servant of Cats wrote:

…Lots of games are "hungry" when it comes to CPU and GPU power. Even that 2012 MacBook Pro is a high-end 15" model with a 2.8 GHz Intel Core i7-3840QM and a NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M GPU, the CPU and GPU both compare poorly to the ones in an entry-level, "price point" M2 MacBook Air. We're talking about the Air scoring maybe 3x to 4x higher on single-core CPU performance, multi-core CPU performance, and GPU performance…

To confirm that: Geekbench 751 and 2589, versus 2495 and 2495, single core and multicore respectively.

This meaning the single core entry-level MacBook Air M2 very nearly matches the Intel i7 multicore score.

Memory and storage and graphics performance are all massively better on M2, too.

It all depends on whether or not the apps you want to use are available on the versions of macOS that will run on a 2012 MBP.

When released in 2012, that model came with OS X Lion (10.7.x). It can run later versions of OS X/macOS up to and including macOS Catalina (10.15.x). You can run older, 32-bit apps on that model up to & including macOS Mojave (10.14.x) ... but Catalina (10.15.x) will only run 64-bit apps.

I have a 2012 MBP running macOS High Sierra (10.13.6) and it's running perfectly fine. For web browsing I use Firefox ESR 115.18.0 (latest release, Nov. 2024). Officially that's the final version for Sierra, High Sierra & Mojave but Mozilla released additional ESR versions subsequent to the official EOL date. If you upgrade to macOS Catalina then the current version of Firefox will work (133.0.3).

I strongly suggest you think long and hard about getting a MacBook Air instead. Just be sure you get MORE than 8 GB RAM.

We never know when the 'next big thing' will make all older computers just obsolete junk. And that next big thing MIGHT be Apple Intelligence. (not available on Intel Macs).

Macs have never been very good for playing games. There are some games which may work fine, but Apple is not a gaming platform. If you want to play games, then get a system that meets or even exceeds the Recommended System Requirements for each game you wish to play. Better yet, get a game console system where they the games are guaranteed to work at a certain performance level.

A 12 year old computer is definitely not a gaming computer. At best you may be able to play games that would have been released in 2012 or earlier that meet the Recommended System Requirements of your 2012 laptop.

You need to buy a computer that is able to play the specific games you want and even then you will want to thoroughly review the games' forums to see if there are any performance issues. Keep in mind later game updates may completely change the games' system requirements & behavior so reviewing current posts & issues is a must.

Unfortunately the games' system requirements can be confusing when it comes to Apple hardware. Older games do not necessarily update their system requirements to exclude newer systems. For example a game that mentions a "2018+ model" may not have been updated to consider an M-series Mac. Or if the requirements mention "macOS 10.13 or later", may not have considered how the later 10.15 Catalina OS no longer supports 32bit software...many older games may require 32bit software support. So that " + ", or " Or Later" part may not be entirely true. Do your research.

I wouldn't. If you want to browse then the versions of the browers you'll be able to run will be out of date, potential security risks and some sites won't open with them.

Clanky846 wrote:

Will buying a used 2012 MacBook Pro right choice in 2025?

No.

Commentary: All you people are typing way too much. Usually I'm the one doing that. In this case, the answer is simply: "No"

MrHoffman wrote:

To confirm that: Geekbench 751 and 2589, versus 2495 and 2495, single core and multicore respectively.

Typo? MacTracker and the Geekbench Browser show the M2 MacBook Air as having multi-core scores of 9650 and 9692, respectively.

Servant of Cats wrote:

MrHoffman wrote:

To confirm that: Geekbench 751 and 2589, versus 2495 and 2495, single core and multicore respectively.

Typo? MacTracker and the Geekbench Browser show the M2 MacBook Air as having multi-core scores of 9650 and 9692, respectively.

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(Accidental duplicate deleted.)