Is a ten year old MacBook still a good option in 2023?

Is a ten year old MacBook really still a good option in 2023?

Yes, a 2013 MacBook Pro is still a good option for day to day tasks at a much cheaper price, but you have to get the right one. 

I initially had a 2013 13-inch Retina with integrated graphics, and it was sluggish when I went into the photos app. The main problem was video, and any 4K video playback was out of the question. For other basic tasks, it was just fine. For this reason alone I would avoid getting the 13-inch laptops, especially if you want to do any type of basic video editing.

If you want to experience top of the line 2013 specs, you want to get the 15-inch laptops with the built-in GPU. I decided to go all out and get a maxed out 15-inch model with the NVIDIA GT 750M and with a 1TB SSD, thanks to sound advice from Louis Rossman . The good thing with these laptops is that you can swap out the hard drives, so you can go as cheap or expensive with the storage if you need to. 

You won’t get the amazing battery life of Apple silicon Macs, but it is still good enough to last at least 3-4 hours. I tend to use mine at around 75% brightness, but if you lower your requirements, it can probably last longer. 

Now what do I use it for? Basic web browsing in both Chrome and Safari (because we still live in a world where not everything works on Safari). My work based stuff works better on Chrome, so I get to enjoy the battery drain that Chrome does on intel based Macs. I also use the stock Apple suite of apps, mainly Calendar, Notes, and iMessage. In 2022 I even used it for editing videos with DaVinci Resolve, and it was able to handle it pretty well.

I really love the keyboard of this generation. 2015 was the last year of the classic keyboard before Apple went with their infamous butterfly keyboards, and the 2013 is the same body style and experience as the 2015 models. The one thing I like about these older keyboards is they have a more satisfying clicky sound and feel that just isn’t there with the M1 Pro my wife has (which used to be mine, but that’s a story for another day). I also love the keyboard brightness keys. I honestly prefer these much more than the new dictation and focus mode keys. 

You obviously don’t get any biometrics, but you can use your Apple Watch to unlock this laptop. It keeps the unlock experience more modern and you don’t have to worry about typing your (hopefully strong) passcode. My only gripe is that sometimes the Apple Watch to unlock is too good of a feature, and my kids can easily open the laptop and get access to it.

These laptops did have a serious cosmetic flaw with screen delamination, but if you’re buying an old used laptop, you don’t really care about it being in pristine condition. Honestly, after using this laptop for more than 4 years, I don’t even notice the delamination, especially when the screen is on. You do have to look at it in certain lighting to notice the delamination on the bezels, but it’s not something that will really bother you. 

You can’t notice it when actually using it day to day. I had to get in direct sunlight for this picture.

I use this laptop as my go to “beater laptop.” If I am going somewhere public where I might have to leave my laptop unattended for a few minutes here and there, or if I will only use it for maybe a couple of hours, this will do the job just fine. I also will have more peace of mind not having to leave a multi-thousand dollar laptop unattended. 

When budgeting for this laptop, remember that it uses MagSafe 2 for charging and you will probably have to spend an additional $80 to get the official Apple charger. If you have the original MagSafe cable, you can purchase an adapter directly from Apple for $10 instead. 

Now why would you need to buy an additional charger if you're getting one on eBay?

When I bought this used on eBay back in 2018, it came with a charger, but I found out soon enough that it was a fake charger. Check out this link for why you would not want to take a chance with a fake charger. From my own experience, I saw sparks coming out of the pins when connecting it to the MacBook. Per Ken’s article, those sparks signify a full power delivery that is not regulated by a microcontroller like the genuine MagSafe charger:

Only when a microcontroller inside the charger detects that the charger is connected to a laptop does the charger switch to the full output power. (Details are in my Magsafe connector teardown article.) This is a safety feature of the real charger that reduces the risk from a short circuit across the pins. The counterfeit charger, on the other hand, omits the microcontroller circuit and simply outputs the full voltage at all times. This raises the risk of burning out your laptop if you plug the connector in crooked or metallic debris sticks to the magnet.

Needless to say, you shouldn’t be getting any sparks when connecting your MacBook to a MagSafe charger. It’s not worth risking your laptop catching on fire. After all, these batteries are not going to be brand new. 

The one I got looked real and didn’t have any suspicious gaps. I really had no way of telling it was fake until I tore it down myself. It matched up real well with the fake ones in Ken’s posting. I was able to get a partial refund for the fake charger from the eBay seller since I had to fork out $80 for a real one. I could have gotten a full refund, but I would have to return the whole laptop, which I fell in love with and didn’t want to return. 

The 2013 models unfortunately stop at macOS Big Sur, so you don’t get a lot of the fancy options such as Universal Control and Continuity Camera. I can live with those compromises, and will gladly trade the savings for a retina 15.4 inch display.

When you include the cost of the MagSafe 2 charger, I paid almost $900 back in 2018 to get this laptop (which was a bit overpriced at the time). Now you can get these on eBay for around $400. That is one of the greatest MacBook values you can get right now.

I would highly recommend the 15-inch with dual graphics since it provides a good value for those looking for the most bang for the buck with decent battery life, a great visual experience, and solid reliability.

P.S. The multi-touch trackpad on this 10 year old laptop is still better than most laptops today!