This might be the worst MacBook I've ever bought...

After years of being very meticulous and getting very lucky buying cheap used Macs, I've finally struck out! This one is probably the worst MacBook ever, a truly terrible Mac that sucks in basically every way. Today I'll walk you through why the 2017 13 inch MacBook Pro, and this cheap MacBook in particular, are absolutely abysmal.

Gear:
*Amazon Links are affiliate codes and generate small commission to support the channel*

[justanormaluser]

Maybe you should send it to Louis Rossmann as a sort of collaboration. I’m quite certain the board is saveable and it won’t be too expensive

[ConorORegan]

As bad as the performance on 2016 era MacBooks might’ve been, you can’t deny they look great

[magfal]

The slow speed might be a failed sensor reporting -126 degrees and the CPU being locked to 700mhz. This can also happen if communication with the battery doesn't fully work.

[MattTalkTech]

Great video Luke, you are right about Apple Silicon Macs dropping in Value slowly. But you can pick up a M1 MacBook Air for around $600 now. I found one for $660 with 8GB of Ram and 256GB of storage two months ago on eBay. It still had 5 months Warranty on it as well with box, charger etc... Definitely worth every cent/penny!

[notavery]

I had always wanted a MacBook since its design always appealed to me, but man I am so glad I waited until M1 to buy into the mac ecosystem. I don't have a single complaint about my M1 Air and the horror stories I hear of my friends Intel MacBooks all the time REALLY makes me glad I waited.

[Steve_Sn]

I had a similar problem with my 2017 13" non touchbar MacBook Pro. The problem started a week after Apple replaced the swollen battery. I ended up replacing the ssd which solved the problem.

[lucasdebarros]

Had this exact same machine with the exact same issues. After one year struggling with apple they gave me a new one. Apparently the issue was with the SSD.

[akashsarda]

The design is unbeatable though. I prefer it to the new 14 and 16 inch models.

[danlivas]

I remember having undiagnosable issues with both 2016 and 2017 Macbook Pros. Had to meticulously explain every detail to Authorized Repair who looked at me like I was crazy. Inconsistent wifi, inconsistent thunderbolt, system hangs under specific GPU loads, corrupted file exports. Replaced the motherboards and sold them off

[ItsMeEllenB]

I had a 2017 non-touch bar MacBook Pro, which I bought in September 2018 for uni. In March 2021 I upgraded to the M1 MBP because my 2017 laptop was unusable. The battery lasted 2 hours at best, it would freeze with just microsoft word open, zoom and other similar applications would constantly crash (which wasn't great for online school), and it would become so hot it could double up as a hot water bottle! My M1 MBP is still, a year later, miles better than my 2017 MBP ever was. I don't think I've heard the fans once on this laptop, yet that was an hourly occurrence before - I can't believe they were the same price when I bought them.

[AvocadoAtrocity]

Please call Louis Rossmann and collab on this MacBook. 😂

[lifeisabeginning]

I got a 2017 macbook pro for $1300 and it was the worst laptop I've ever purchased by a country mile. Somehow managed to sell it for $500.

Now I have a 2020 m1 air that has been an absolute workhorse for over 2 years.

[kingneutron]

Luke, I would be interested to know if this cursed laptop stabilizes when running from an external drive. Use Carbon Copy Cloner to copy the OS + everything to a Samsung T5 or similar and boot from that. If it runs stable then it's likely an SSD issue. Otherwise it sounds like maybe electrical short or overheating, have you tried MacsFanControl?

[dgpsf]

Trade it in to Apple!! I got $190 for a 2012 13” and $200 for an original 12” MacBook. I know I could have gotten more on eBay but anyway, the main point is, with it appearing working at first glance, and being in good cosmetic shape, it has a good chance of passing the cursory inspection they do before (probably) shredding it, as Apple loves to do with any device they get back 😂

[SavingSpace]

I paid $220 for a cursed laptop. This is how horror movies start…

[KZCU]

I still have and love my 2015 13" MacBook Pro with 16GB RAM/256GB SSD/512GB MicroSD Card. It's an i5 and it's not a custom build. I bought it from Apple directly 1 day before they ceased sale of them upon releasing the Touch Bar MacBook Pro. I read some horror stories then and certainly couldn't forego my USB-A ports for 4x USB-C. The Mac to this day works flawlessly, never have any system issues, battery is still awesome. The Mac is running on Catalina. I'm not going any higher. This software version may not be 100% perfect but I don't like the look of Big Sur or Monterey. The best MacOS IMO would be Snow Leopard. As for iPhones. I have pretty much every model from the 3GS and above. I have stopped at iPhone SE 2nd Gen. I am satisfied with it and it's Dual Line capabilities, battery life is good, camera does the job. Not interested in getting a phone that costs the same price as a computer!

[lukeFugate]

Yeah, I'll stick to my 2012 MBP. Very good machine, especially since upgrading to 16 gb ram, SSD and the improvement that made the most difference was going from Catalina to MX Linux. It is now lightning fast.

[weok-doing-things]

so I have a 2017 15inch MacBook Pro. I have had repaired it like 4-5 times. and 4 times out of it it was in the first year of use. The repair included full replacement of top case part of the body - including keyboard, speakers, unibody and all other things. The first thing was died left speaker. Then right speaker, then keyboard and then keyboard again. This is just 1st year. And this is just a Touch Bar model. As far as I knew at this point the models without touch bar were much more stable in that areas and many my friends didnt have any problems.

[movdqa]

Dual Core anything from 2009 to 2020 is a bad time.

[ilyasg]

that MacBook has to have an issue with some type of power circuit that isn't tested on the diagnostic. could also be the reason for the battery drain