$99 NEW PC vs $99 USED Mac

Wandering through Microcenter on Black Friday I came across this; a brand new Windows laptop for just $99. I thought wow, that has to be a video. Why does a $99 new laptop need to exist and how does it compare to a $99 used laptop, in this case a 2012 MacBook Pro? Is there any benefit to a new Windows vs Mac, or a new laptop over a used one? Which is more useful, more powerful, more upgradable? Today we'll answer all of these questions!

Gear:
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#apple #tech #budget #pc #mac #deals

[lukemiani]

Which of these laptops would you pick? Is there a third option you prefer? 
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[jonathanbrooks]

I bought one of these a couple months ago when Microcenter had these even cheaper at $80. Out of the box it was pretty slow, but I went ahead and put in a spare NVME drive I had laying around, and installed Windows 10 LTSC instead of home. That made a MASSIVE difference in usability. For a basic machine, for kids, or for traveling absolutely go for it if you are able to upgrade it.

[petersziraki]

I think this little Asus should be revised again with an NVME SSD. If I saw it right, there was a slot inside for that. I bought a 240 GB NVME SSD for ~$10 and I know from personal experience, that it can mean a lot in terms of usability! Also, it is fanless, so less noisy. It is probably less heavy, the battery can probably last longer than the Macbook's battery, because that CPU only uses 6 W, vs the 30+ W of that i5 chip. So overall, I see why these low-end machines exist and in certain use cases, it can be better, than an older Macbook with the same price!

[TheKDKCollector]

If I only had USD $100 and can only choose between those 2 I’d obviously choose the MacBook! However if I had a 3rd option it’d definitely be a used Thinkpad. Thinkpads are my most favourite PC laptops due to their sturdy build quality, and ofc u can run Windows or Linux on them (or maybe even turn it into a Hackintosh if you have the appropriate skills!), or maybe a 4th option which is a Dell Latitude.

[ping]

I do agree with you that a used mac is a much better option than the windows laptop but in places like India you just cannot find macs anywhere near that price range. I personally own one of those mini laptops that my dad bought back in 2016 and it really comes in handy when I'm not at home and cant use my pc. They're really really light and have great battery life so I can just chuck it in a backpack(or carry it around in my hands) without a charger plus the new ones charge via type-C too. They're really useful if you cant get macs in your region and just need a laptop for basic tasks when you're out.

[sasch]

"It's like a Blackberry"

Damn. Performancewise definitely.

[kkjthouttunkal]

why didn't you buy a used Thinkpad and compare it to the used MacBook. would have been an interesting video.

[OlegAryutkin]

Used thinkpad. Last year i got a W series for my mom for like $200. It had an nVidia freaking Quadro, 32gb RAM, a quad core i7, magnificent keyboard and basically looked brand new. It is still more powerful than most users even need.

[itsonepixel]

It's kind of an unfair comparison, because, after all, that macbook once was a pro an premium device, while the windows laptop is brand-new, so it obviously has compromises. a much mure fair comparison would be 100$ used macbook vs 100$ used professional windows laptop of the same age.

[patricks]

Congratulations Luke, you purchased a $100 electronic door stop. 😂
Seriously though, I’ve been telling my friends for years you can still get good performance and reliability from an older MacBook Pro at a very reasonable price point. I rocked my 2012 13” for many years until the M1 Air came into my life, and I still use the MBP as my home server!

[cmantac]

Great video as always!! I like videos where you show comparisons and also show how good older apple computers still are. I have my own collection of older units and for some reason I always end up choosing to use them over my new products/laptops(yes this includes PBG4). Keep up the great work!

[goobfilmcast]

You should have done a few more side-by-side App comparisons....including Running Boot Camp in the Mac and doing direct Windows benchmarks....even if the MacBook could only run an Older version of windows itself.

[SynMusique]

Well, I used a cheap laptop like this a few years back for writing scripts. It was slow but I loved it and did whatever I wanted it to do which is obviously not much. Also I used it to record a few tracks in Reaper too. Crazy!

[PurpleNoseKitty]

I'm surprised you didn't mention the fact that the mid 2012 macbook pro is no longer recieveing OS updates which as I've learned with MacOS can be detrimental compared to windows (for example all web browsers still support windows 7, whereas trying to run the latest browsers or basically any software on Snow Leopard is a joke)

[GaetanoEsse]

Idk, it seems a bit unfair comparison, even the PC should be from the used market.. Sometimes you could find interesting deals with specs a lot higher than the Mac in this video

[caprature]

I will say having certain hardware decoders that are in the Celeron can make a huge difference for an average joe if that just watch videos or streams. Massive efficiency improvements. And typically in most chassis low heat and good battery. When I went from a t430 with a i7 3rd gen with intel hd 4000 to a celeron n4100, yes the performance was slower. But for general tasks 90% of us do. The celeron is superior.

[DengueBurger]

5:28 fuggedaboudit!! The Miani came out there!

[djt]

something to note is the bluetooth and wifi cards, don't get me wrong, i'd also pick the 10 year old mac, but with my experience in buying old macbook's, they will have older wifi cards, which tends to be a problem for me. maybe the internet speeds etc might be better on a newer windows laptop

[Itsraminstech]

I would go with the MBP. I have one as my main Mac with an SSD and 8gb RAM (that I installed) and with OCLP Ventura it runs really well!

[ViewpointUnique]

You can get decent 7-10 year old Dell Latitude in that range with similar or better specs than the MacBook. If you need a cheap Windows machine, that’s one good way to go.