mid 2009 white MacBook a1181

[Apple4life60077]

Good morning, I just had a friend of mine who is the manager of my local Apple Store tell me that in his opinion the mid 2009 A1181 white MacBooks were the best quality MacBook that Apple produced. just wondering how true of a statement that is....

 

[pigoo3]

Are you talking the Apple Store at Old Orchard?

As far as "best quality"...how are you defining "quality"?

- Nick

 

[Apple4life60077]

it is the Apple Store in Old Orchard. he was saying that the A1181 seem to have less problems than the unibody and are far easier to upgrade hard drives and memory plus replacement batteries although no longer available from Apple are much cheaper than the later models on amazon and easier to install.

 

[pigoo3]

My opinion on "best quality"...not even close. All of the white plastic MacBooks suffered from cracks and chips in the plastic. The "Unibody" (2009 and 2010) white MacBooks were better than the previous design white MacBooks. But both designs suffered from cracking of the plastic in the palm rest area...and both suffered from cracks in the plastic in the hinge area. And the newer design white MacBooks suffered from the non-slip rubberized coating on the bottom flaking & peeling off.

- If you have a mid-2009 white MacBook (older design)...these are even worse. Since they were a "bear" to open up...and suffered MUCH more plastic cracking & chipping than the Unibody white MacBooks.
- The white plastic MacBook's also didn't have a backit keyboard.
- The older style white MacBook trackpads didn't support 4-finger gestures.

This Apple Store manager does not know what he's talking about!

From a build quality perspective...I think that the "unibody" aluminum MacBook Pro's are much better.

- Nick

 

[pigoo3]

he was saying that the A1181 seem to have less problems than the unibody

Are we ONLY comparing the older design white MacBook (from mid-2009 and before) to the newer design "Unibody" white MacBook from Late 2009 and 2010?

...and the newer designs are far easier to upgrade hard drives and memory...

Yes...the older design white MacBook is easier to upgrade the RAM and HD. But..."far easier" I do not agree with. To upgrade the RAM and HD on the newer design white MacBook...you just need to remove the 8 screws on the bottom...then you have VERY easy access to the HD and RAM.

It could even be argued that upgrading the HD in the older white MacBook is harder. If you've ever done it...you access the HD via the battery area on the older white MacBooks. An access panel with three screws needs to be removed. If someone has large fingers. This is a pretty tight area to work in. Removing the 8 screws and the bottom panel on the newer white MacBooks is pretty easy.

...plus replacement batteries although no longer available from Apple are much cheaper than the later models on amazon and easier to install.

Yes...the battery on the older white MacBooks is easier to install. But again. To replace the batttery on the newer white MacBooks...just need to remove the 8 screws on the bottom & remove the panel. It's really not bad at all to replace the battery on the newer white MacBooks.

Also...battery life on the older white MacBooks was up to 5 hours. Battery life on the newer white MacBooks was up to 7 hours. That extra battery runtime always comes in handy.

Replacement battery's are still available for both types. Yes the newer white MacBook battery is more expensive ($99) than the older white MacBook battery ($89)...but only by $10 from Macsales.com. And as mentioned...the runtime on a single charge for the newer white MacBooks is longer.

https://eshop.macsales.com/item/NewerTech/BAP13MBW56RS/
https://eshop.macsales.com/item/NewerTech/BAP13MBU65W/

I've owned both the older white MacBooks and the newer white MacBooks...and I definitely prefer the newer white MacBooks (better battery life, better display, better trackpad, better graphics hardware, etc.). Also...max RAM on the older style white MacBook is 6gig. Max RAM on the newer white MacBooks is 8gig.

And lastly. The Late 2009 white MacBooks are still able to officially run the latest Mac OS (Sierra). The older Mid-2009 White MacBooks (officially) do not meet the requirements for the lastest MacOS Sierra.

- Nick

 

[Apple4life60077]

I have a mid 2009 white MacBook running Sierra only thing that is an issue and that is if you want to call it an issue is the trackpad only works as a basic mouse. I also own either a mid or late 2010 white MacBook unibody it is a MacBook 7,1 that has a shattered screen, the only screen I can find locally is on the south side from a MacBook Pro or order one from amazon and wait.

 

[pigoo3]

...the only screen I can find locally is on the south side from a MacBook Pro or order one from amazon and wait.

Not sure how quickly you want to get that repaired. But if you had ordered that screen from Amazon 7 days ago...you'ld probably have it by now.

Of course you can keep looking locally. But damaged Apple computers from the 2009/2010 time frame don't show up very often these days.

Hang in there,

- Nick

 

[Apple4life60077]

personally I wouldn't mind going on the south side to get it, people are just to afraid to take risks, big reason I wouldn't mind going is the person selling it said they would connect it to show me it worked on my machine, granted it would be a white MacBook with a MacBook Pro lid and screen but at least I wouldn't have to learn how to install a screen.

 

[pigoo3]

personally I wouldn't mind going on the south side to get it, people are just to afraid to take risks...

Get your truck out of the shop! Or as I mentioned before...take a bus, the train, a taxi, or Uber.

You are in control of your own destiny my good man. No need to rely on others for a ride when you have other options.

- Nick

 

[Apple4life60077]

Just looked up what police district that area is in... It is Englewood district, don't think it is that terrible of an area