Macbook Pro 2016 - worth keeping

[RabidGranny]

Morning All,

I bought a macbook pro a couple of years ago, 2016 model and i rarely if ever use it. The idea was to let the kids use it so they'd have the knowledge of using another OS from a fairly early age. Now I see there wont be any more updates for it from next year.. so I am wondering whether to keep it or sell it and get something for it now. Im not sure it will be of benefit to the kids now.

Option B is to keep it and use it to watch netflix on the train in the morning.

what do you all think?

[LimaDelta]

I have two 'vintage' MBPs, one from 2008, one from 2012. The 2012 runs Linux and is used for occasional browsing. The 2008 is bootcamped to Windows XP, and still works well. Not that I actually need either of them, but they don't seem to die. Worth it for the kids to use I'd say.

[LivLL]

I've got a 2010 which I still use daily, it's a bit of a lump but has only ever had an SSD upgrade and battery in all of that time. Keep it!

[page3]

I still use my 2012 MacBook Air, running the latest OS via https://dortania.github.io/OpenCore-Legacy-Patcher...

You’ll have no problem should you choose to update. If not, it’ll continue to run for many years to come anyway.

[Teppic]

I've got a 2012 MBP that I rescued from a skip at work! I was told I could have it as it was only going to be sent away to be crushed. Everything was fine except it had no HHD or RAM. The screen was perfectly intact and had no scratches on it. The case had some large scratches on it but it was otherwise fine.

I managed to find 16Gb of compatible RAM for it, then a 1Tb SSD and a new drive cable. I've even got it running Ventura with Open Core Legacy Patcher, and it's working like a charm.

My 2020 M1 Macbook Air pisses all over it from a great height, though.

So to answer to your question regarding whether a 2016 MBP is worth keeping, I'd say yes.

[RabidGranny]

page3 said:

I still use my 2012 MacBook Air, running the latest OS via https://dortania.github.io/OpenCore-Legacy-Patcher...

You’ll have no problem should you choose to update. If not, it’ll continue to run for many years to come anyway.

is this hard to do in reality?

[Deesee]

My 2014 is still performing, amazing really.

[mikeiow]

Deesee said:

My 2014 is still performing, amazing really.

Mine is about just reaching the end of the road (on another thread!)
Videos now have the fan whirring like crazy, one speaker is so crackly it is unusable & after not very long, the sleep function sometimes fails.

Maybe a reinstall (with plenty of associated pain!) might work....or maybe it is time to invest in something new....

[Deesee]

mikeiow said:

Deesee said:

My 2014 is still performing, amazing really.

Mine is about just reaching the end of the road (on another thread!)
Videos now have the fan whirring like crazy, one speaker is so crackly it is unusable & after not very long, the sleep function sometimes fails.

Maybe a reinstall (with plenty of associated pain!) might work....or maybe it is time to invest in something new....

Snap!! A little hard restart once a week or 2/3k on an upgrade..(I’m hard restarting)..

[RabidGranny]

Morning All

Sorry to resurrect this one, but quick question. Many of you are using old Macbooks that are no longer supported. are you not worried as to the threats of Malware etc? what do you use software wise to protect such machines? My machine runs on Monterey which i gather will no longer be updated post October, hence the q.

Thanks so much.

[Teppic]

RabidGranny said:

Morning All

Sorry to resurrect this one, but quick question. Many of you are using old Macbooks that are no longer supported. are you not worried as to the threats of Malware etc? what do you use software wise to protect such machines? My machine runs on Monterey which i gather will no longer be updated post October, hence the q.

Thanks so much.

Open Core Legacy Patcher enables you to install the latest OS on unsupported Macs. Using this I've managed to get my 2012 Macbook Pro running Sonoma 14.4 without problems. There are videos and walkthroughs on YouTube giving instructions on the process. It will wipe your disk though, so make sure you have an up-to-date Time Machine backup that you can restore from before you start.

Edited by Teppic on Wednesday 13th March 21:20

[nuyorican]

Great advice thanks. Running an absolutely awesome 2015 MBP on Monterey. I hope to use it forever.

[Stick Legs]

Still using a 13” MBP from 2012 & it’s still brilliant.

[RabidGranny]

Stick Legs said:

Still using a 13” MBP from 2012 & it’s still brilliant.

what do you keep it 'secure' if it is no longer supported O/S wise?

[megaphone]

I keep mine secure by not downloading any crap or visiting and crap links or websites. You can run Malwarebytes or Sophos or similar if you're worried.

As others have said, use open legacy core patcher and it will run the latest OS. I do that on my 2013 Air which runs as well today as it did 11 years ago.

I'm typing this on a 2009 iMac running Mojave.

Edited by megaphone on Wednesday 13th March 15:26

[Stick Legs]

^^^ Wot Ee said.

I use mine to watch YouTube, administer iTunes & write documents.

Banking etc is through my phone.

[eeLee]

RabidGranny said:

what do you keep it 'secure' if it is no longer supported O/S wise?

added to the "use your brain" advice, also run behind a DNS service that kills malware/Ads and so on or a Pihole/Adguard Home DNS server.

[mikef]

I really liked my MBP 2016, I was a great fan of the touchpad. Sadly, the lack of updates became an issue as it wouldn’t support XCode for developing for current iOS versions, so upgraded to a MacBook Air M2 (which is actually much quicker). I did get a surprising amount selling the MBP 2016 on eBay

[nuyorican]

Can I ask a question which seems quite pertinent to the thread?

How does one 'maintain' for the want of a better word a Mac? This is my first Mac after years on Windows. On Windows you used to do all sorts of things from clearing temporary files, messing with the registry, defragmenting etc. Or you could let programs like CCleaner handle it all for you. Or are all these things of the past? Like mechanical hard drives etc?

I ask, because, it being my first Mac, and not really knowing the ropes, I must've downloaded, installed, messed about with all kinds of settings whilst I get to know it and have it set up as I like. Is there anything worth doing or any apps worthwhile to keep things clean, tidy and running well? Or is it better to just leave it and just keep an eye on how full the SSD is getting and clear out unused apps occasionally like an iPhone.

Runs like lightning so I guess 'if it ain't broke...'. The fans come on when I'm doing video/audio work. But other than that, it's solid for its age.

[mikef]

In my experience, a Mac will look after itself. I don't do anything specific apart from backup file changes to Time Machine, and install updates when notified by Apple