2014 MacBook Pro Purchase Decision Need Help

[Hoshbo]

I have the opportunity to buy a Mid-2014 MacBook Pro i.5 2.8 16GB 512GB with approximately 80 battery cycles in the original box for approximately $375. Seems like a very good deal, however the 2015 model seems to be superior although appears to be selling for at least $100 more. I realize that this computer will probably go vintage pretty quickly and obsolete within the next couple of years. Therefore it may not allow many more operating system upgrades. I use a laptop primarily for document management and web surfing. I don’t do gaming, video editing or any other kind of highly processor dependent activity. I am comparing this computer against a similar 2015 model that has a Force Touch trackpad, faster SSD especially on read, and upgraded GPU. I am wondering whether these upgrades are worth me passing on the 2014 and looking for a 2015 at a good price? The other advantage of the 2015 of course, is that based on when manufacturing stopped, it would probably buy me an extra couple of years before it goes obsolete and not supported by current operating systems. I currently have a 2011 MacBook Air 11” Non-Retina i5 2GB 64GB, which is quite convenient but no longer supports a current OS. I also have a 2012 Mac mini that I use as my desktop computer. Any advice or perspective on this would be very helpful. Does this 2014 MacBook Pro seem to be an amazing deal that I should not pass up, or should I look for a 2015 version of it? Finally, is the 2014 MacBook Pro really portable, or is it pretty heavy to lug around? I am really torn on what to do.

 

[pigoo3]

Any advice or perspective on this would be very helpful. Does this 2014 MacBook Pro seem to be an amazing deal that I should not pass up, or should I look for a 2015 version of it, or just wait until the new Mac notebooks hit? finally, is the 2014 MacBook Pro really portable, or is it pretty heavy to lug around? I am really torn on what to do.

I hate to say it...but you're all over the place as far as what you're interested in.

- If your interested in an older/less expensive Apple computer...then stick to that purchase strategy.
- If you are interested in a brand new or soon to be released product...then stick to that purchase strategy.

By considering all of this you're creating a lot of confusion & unecessary complexity for yourself. And of course the difference in purchase budget is drastic. With the older products you're talking $375-$475...with the newer products you're talking $1299 or more.

"Slim" things down a bit...and firmly stick to one strategy or the other (older or new/unreleased).

- Nick

 

[MBAmtloin]

i would buy a 2014 macbook pro for that price.
how is the cosmetics? any dead pixels?

 

[Hoshbo]

No. Screen is perfect, and cosmetically a ding or two if any. Looks virtually flawless.

 

[Hoshbo]

Good point. Question pertains to 2014 vs 2015 MacBook Pro.

 

[pigoo3]

Good point. Question pertains to 2014 vs 2015 MacBook Pro.

For the prices you're seeing...$375 for a 2014...or about $100 more for a 2015 ($475)...I would think either of these would be a pretty good deal.

Can I assume we're talking both are 13" display models?

Nick

 

[pigoo3]

By the way...I would consider a 2014 13" 2.8ghz MacBook Pro for $375 to be a "kick-butt" price!

With 512gig of storage (decent)...16gig of RAM (probably an upgrade at time of purchase)...and only 80 battery cycles...this is a nice setup.

- Nick

p.s. If it were me...I would try as much as possible to target models with 16gig of RAM only...especially if you tend to keep your computers for a long time (years). I would rather have 16gig of RAM and 256gig of storage...than 8gig of RAM and 512gig of storage. In this case you get both!: )

 

[Hoshbo]

By the way...I would consider a 2014 13" 2.8ghz MacBook Pro for $375 to be a "kick-butt" price!

With 512gig of storage (decent)...16gig of RAM (probably an upgrade at time of purchase)...and only 80 battery cycles...this is a nice setup.

- Nick

p.s. If it were me...I would try as much as possible to target models with 16gig of RAM only...especially if you tend to keep your computers for a long time (years). I would rather have 16gig of RAM and 256gig of storage...than 8gig of RAM and 512gig of storage. In this case you get both!: )

Thanks, Nick! Yes, I am referring to 13” models! When I indicated that I have seen 2015 models for approximately $100 more, they have almost never been in the box in the condition of this 2014. And when I have seen them, they had sold very quickly. Generally speaking, I am seeing compatible 2015 models going for $550 +/- or more, and 2014 13” models for $475 +/-. I am just wondering whether the SSD speed increase, force touch trackpad and upgraded Iris graphics in the 2015 is worth the additional cost as compared to a 2014? Also, the 2015 would have a longer model life as it was discontinued more recently. The 2014 was discontinued right at the beginning of 2015. I am concerned about it not having many OS upgrades left? But you are right in that it seems like a great deal for the configuration and condition! I just don’t wanna end up in the situation I am in with my MacBook error that cannot be upgraded to the latest iOS I just don’t wanna end up in the situation I am in with my MacBook error that cannot be upgraded to the latest OS!! Do you have experience with both the 2014 and 2015 13”? Thanks for your help!

 

[pigoo3]

Thanks, Nick! When I indicated that I have seen 2015 models for approximately $100 more, they have almost never been in the box in the condition of this 2014. And when I have seen them, they had sold very quickly and have been a bit suspect. Generally speaking, I am seeing 2015 models going for $550 +/- or more. I am just wondering whether the SSD speed, lack of force touch trackpad or upgraded Iris graphics in the 2015 is worth the additional cost of getting a 2015. Also, the 2015 would have a longer model life as it was discontinued more recently. The 2014 was discontinued right at the beginning of 2015. I am concerned about it not having many OS upgrades left? But you are right in that it seems like a great deal for the configuration and condition! Do you have experience with both the 2014 and 2015?

It does sound like the 2014 MacBook Pro is a really nice unit (cosmetically & specifications)...and for $375 a pretty good price. If you haven't already...head over to www.ebay.com and see what they're selling for there (same condition & specs)...just so you have all info possible before making a decision.

As far as 2014 vs. 2015:

- CPU perfomance is basically the same.
- If we're talking both 13" units...both have integrated GPU (Iris 5100 vs. Iris 6100). 6100 is between 5% & 20% faster depending on the test (see GPU comparision link below).
- Force touch trackpad...meh...I wouldn't let this be the big decision maker.
- As far as OS upgrades. 2015 might have one extra upgrade vs. the 2014. But ya never know with Apple. Since they are pretty similar...both may have the same number of OS upgrades left.

Other than these things...both units are very similar.

Intel Iris Graphics 6100 vs Intel Iris Graphics 5100 vs Intel Iris Pro Graphics 6200

It would seem to me...that with the 2014 & 2015 being pretty similar...and the $375 price being a good bit below the price you might find for a 2015. $375 in the grand scheme of things is a pretty low outlay of cash.

If you used it for 3 years...that's only $125/year...and after 3 years you could probably resell it for $250. In that case...your net-cost-per-year would only be about $42! That's pretty cheap!!!

- Nick

 

[Hoshbo]

It does sound like the 2014 MacBook Pro is a really nice unit (cosmetically & specifications)...and for $375 a pretty good price. If you haven't already...head over to www.ebay.com and see what they're selling for there (same condition & specs)...just so you have all info possible before making a decision.

As far as 2014 vs. 2015:

- CPU perfomance is basically the same.
- If we're talking both 13" units...both have integrated GPU (Iris 5100 vs. Iris 6100). 6100 is between 5% & 20% faster depending on the test (see GPU comparision link below).
- Force touch trackpad...meh...I wouldn't let this be the big decision maker.
- As far as OS upgrades. 2015 might have one extra upgrade vs. the 2014. But ya never know with Apple. Since they are pretty similar...both may have the same number of OS upgrades left.

Other than these things...both units are very similar.

Intel Iris Graphics 6100 vs Intel Iris Graphics 5100 vs Intel Iris Pro Graphics 6200

It would seem to me...that with the 2014 & 2015 being pretty similar...and the $375 price being a good bit below the price you might find for a 2015. $375 in the grand scheme of things is a pretty low outlay of cash.

If you used it for 3 years...that's only $125/year...and after 3 years you could probably resell it for $250. In that case...your net-cost-per-year would only be about $42! That's pretty cheap!!!

- Nick

What about SSD Speed? Don’t think you touched on that? It looks like it is almost twice as fast in the 2015 than 2014, especially on Read? Not sure when that would come and play with the kind of work that I do? But I am curious what you think about that upgrade. Everything else makes perfect sense. It is hard to evaluate sold auctions on eBay as it’s hard to tell exactly what condition their in sometimes! But from what I am seeing, generally, $375 is an amazing price if I can get current usage out of that for the next 2 to 3 years. Perhaps I should try to sell my old 11” MacBook Air 2GB 4GB, as somebody might want that for a couple hundred dollars as it is very portable. And that would offset this cost as well.


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[pigoo3]

What about SSD Speed? Don’t think you touched on that?

No I didn't touch on that...but again would faster a SSD out-weigh everything else mentioned...including the lower price & condition of the 2014?

Can you post a link regarding the SSD being faster info? If this 2x faster info is coming from Apple advertising...I wouldn't always trust that. Better to have actual benchmark test results for real-world results & comparisions.

But again...even if the SSD in a 2015 MBP is faster than the SSD in a 2014 MBP...is this really enough to out-weigh all the other positives of the specific 2014 MBP you've identified?

- Nick

 

[MBAmtloin]

I see 2012 MacBook pros for that price on craigslist here around the northern atlantic states and they do sell fast,
then i see the same unit for $200 or $300 increase several weeks later.
im looking for 2 beat-up MacBook airs 2010-2015 so i can drop a logic board instead of swapping drives or getting a larger drive and partition were 2 OSX are available, then i release i am just happy and lucky what i have today and enjoy typing on the macbook air now.
i would defiantly grab that MacBook pro the 16GB is a great deal!

 

[Hoshbo]

I see 2012 MacBook pros for that price on craigslist here around the northern atlantic states and they do sell fast,
then i see the same unit for $200 or $300 increase several weeks later.
im looking for 2 beat-up MacBook airs 2010-2015 so i can drop a logic board instead of swapping drives or getting a larger drive and partition were 2 OSX are available, then i release i am just happy and lucky what i have today and enjoy typing on the macbook air now.
i would defiantly grab that MacBook pro the 16GB is a great deal!

***Here is an excerpt RE Black Magic tests on 2014 vs 2015 13” MacBook Pro ...

Based on Black Magic, write speeds are quite similar in 2014 and 2015, and were actually better in the 256GB 2014 edition we tested than the 128GB 2015 MacBook Pro. We got 670-680MB a second speeds from the 2014 model and around 650MB a second write speeds from the 2015. [It’s with read speeds that we see a much bigger difference. The 2014 SSD reads at a similar speed as it writes, with 725-730MB/sec read rates. However, in the 2015 model that rockets up to 1250-1350MB/sec. Read speeds are phenomenal, providing incredibly quick access to data.] This improvement in flash storage seems to have been brought to the recently revamped 15-inch model too. Apple is claiming 2.5 times faster flash storage than the previous generation, with throughput of up to 2GBps.

How would this translate to the kind of work I described? Thanks for your patience. I am leaning towards buying the 2014 MBP at $375 and selling my old Air!!


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[pigoo3]

How would this translate to the kind of work I described? Thanks for your patience. I am leaning towards buying the 2014 MBP at $375 and selling my old Air!!

Thanks for the extra SSD info. Yes those SSD read speeds are quite different 2014 vs. 2015. The only other detail I would want to be 100% sure of is...is if these numbers are indicative of a 13" 2014 MBP vs. a 13" 2015 MBP. If some of these numbers are from 15" models...then that could confuse things...since 15" models can sometimes be superior to 13" models from the same model launch.

As far as the speeds go...yes faster is better...but sometimes it's about can you/humans really tell the difference. The 2014's SSD may do something in a "blink of an eye"...and the 2015's SSD may do something in "half of a blink of an eye". In either case...it's really fast.

Also remember that read speeds impact:

- Boot times (reboot & cold boot).
- Opening of apps.
- Opening of documents.

With an SSD all of these are going to happen pretty fast.

Overall...it would seeem that the 2014 MBP you've identifed is a pretty good deal. To get an equally configured 2015 MBP (and cosmetically similar)...you might have to pay $200 extra for a 2015. Which comes down to $375 for the 2014 MacBook Pro...or around $575 (maybe more)...for an equivalent 2015 model.

To me...the 2015 really doesn't seem to have any "gee-whiz"...gotta have features or performance...to make it worth the extra cash. And...it would seem that the 2014 @$375 is a below market value price.

Also remember the numbers I threw out earlier. At $375...you use it for 3 years...then resell it...works out to be about $42/year. Or another way of looking at things. You could purchase the 2014...use it for a year...and resell it for the same $375 you paid for it...or more!

- Nick

 

[Hoshbo]

Just an update that I am in the process of buying the 2014 MBP 16GB 512GB. Have some photos and the case and screen looks flawless, and the battery test reveals 71 Battery Cycles and the battery at 98% of its original maximum capacity. Will post another thread with a question of strategies to check screen pixel health!


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[Rod]

The price for the 2014 model is fantastic especially with low usage but despite the decreased RAM on the 2015 model I kinda like the fact that it hasn't been tampered with. I have a 13" 2015 MBP which I purchased in 2018 and I love it. It has the 2.9 GHz Dual-Core Intel Core i5. In my mind this is a superior device to the 2014 model but the differences are well described here and worth checking out before you decide.
Differences Between Mid-2014 and Early 2015 Retina MacBook Pro: EveryMac.com

 

[Hoshbo]

2014 MacBook Pro Purchase Use/Resale?

I posted the other day and received several helpful responses from very few people. I hope this is okay, but I am posting again to see if anyone else will chime in. I found a 2014 13” MacBook Pro 16GB 512GB in excellent condition for $375 that I am in the last phase of buying. It has 98% of battery capacity left and 71 Battery Cycles. However, I have been checking and find 2015 models for maybe $125-$200 more. Can’t tell if condition is comparable! So hard to value these used computers. The advantage of the 2015 Model is improved graphics Iris 6100 vs 5100, larger battery, faster SSD on read (twice as fast), somewhat faster Ram, somewhat faster processor Haswell 2.8 (2014) vs Broadwell 2.7 (2015) and an updated Force Touch trackpad on 2015. I will be using this largely for document management and web surfing. Want to keep it 1-2 years and upgrade. Should I pass on the 2014 and go for a 2015 or does this seem like a very good deal? I have been checking eBay, Offer Up, Craig’s List and Let Go and prices seem all over the board. OS may not be supported after Catalina (?). Will I get much out of the 2014 on the used market or should or should I look for a 2015 model? Will having 16GB make a difference in terms of resale. I know very little about the used market. Just hate the current Apple offerings other than the 16” and waiting until mid-2021 to see what is out at what price! Any thoughts will be appreciated.

 

[Raz0rEdge]

Threads merged - Do not post multiple threads about the exact same topic. Just add a new post to the existing thread.

 

[Hoshbo]

Threads merged - Do not post multiple threads about the exact same topic. Just add a new post to the existing thread.

Okay. Sorry, wasn’t sure how to that!


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[pigoo3]

Should I pass on the 2014 and go for a 2015 or does this seem like a very good deal?

I already expressed my opinon (in detail).

I broke down the costs for you...and if you bought the 2014 for $375...used it for 3 years...then sold it for $250...this computer would only cost you $42/year. That's dirt cheap!!!

I'm kinda of surprised the 2014 MBP hasn't sold already...it's a great deal. If it was in my area...I would have purchased it already.

- Nick