I Bought A NASTY $30 Retina Macbook... From eBay!

So... I bought a $30 12" 2016 Apple Retina Macbook off of eBay. It's in horrible condition and definitely needs a clean, if it even works at all. Let's take a look at what I got! #napwithmanta #mantasleep #apple

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Nathan Sivewright
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Macbook Specifications:
Early 2016 12" Apple Macbook
1.1GHz Intel Core m3 Skylake processor (M3-6Y30)
Intel HD 515 Graphics
256GB SSD (Not removable)
8GB LPDDR3 1866MHz Ram

[robsquared]

Wow a several year old M3. It must have traveled through time. That's a keeper.

[walpoleandworcester]

I’d love for Apple to bring back this form factor and call it the MacBook SE and put a binned Apple Silicon M3 chip in there and a regular one for a bit more money. Two options and it would probably sell like crazy! Nice work trying to fix this old Intel M3 MacBook Air!

[johncundiff]

Thanks for showing this video.. just proves that not all ebay purchases are perfect, sellers can be creeps and misrepresent their goods, and sometimes.. things don't always go as planned! Great video! Keep them coming!

[DJAtomic]

That MacBook was ahead of its time tbh. With Apple's current M series chips, this is the perfect laptop to have that chip instead of the underpowered Intel chip it had at the time.

[woodant]

Where are these cheap project macs on eBay where I am. Theyre all "ran over by truck late 09 Core 2 Duo rare know what I have" 150 or best offer ads. Very annoying

[UltraCenterHQ]

I love when laptop keyboards goes edge to edge. It makes them look very slick

[netii]

You know the previous owner treated their device like trash when they couldn't even be bothered to spare the 2 minutes it would've taken to tape over the webcam properly. The paper and tape going over the screen would have made furious within minutes of using it.

[juskim]

1:07 when I heard M3 model, I was so confused until I realized Intel also made an m3 processor awhile back 😂

[getrektboy]

i love how the 12 inch macbook looks. the keyboard that fits the body with little space on the edges makes it aesthetically pleasing. the overall design of it still looks modern to this day.

[drewpatterson]

I had the 12" MacBook when it first came out. It actually had MAJOR promise and I LOVED it for what I used it for. Apple needs to release a new version with the M1 as a "budget" MacBook

[mustangeek]

I bought one from a college garage sale a few years ago, and still use it for basic stuff, I can go all day still on the battery. Also its a machine I bring on over night trips that I need to pack really light.

[telsan]

The form factor, screen and build quality still hold up today however the repair time & costs far exceed what it’s worth even in the used market as you can buy a functioning one for not much more

[songsan]

What a ride. I purchased $30-$50 MBA and MBP from eBay and Mercari and most of the time just needed to put in an SSD, Ram, battery, or power adapter and I am done. I always make sure no issue with the screen. I don't think my little heart can handle that crazy screen and battery replacement.

[i_dont_want_a_handle]

4:32 NO! Cutting a battery off with scissors will short circuit it! Never do that!

[NebukadV]

4:30 cutting the leads to a battery (cell) both at once with a metal tool is the worst thing you can do and much worse than simply leaving it dangling around for a while. You create a direct short for at least 2 of the cells within the pack. If there was any energy left in those cells, there would have been sparks.

5:55 replacing the thermal interface material with paste was also a disservice. The heatsink is designed to have a certain distance from the DIEs and the original material filled that space while staying in place. Mostly liquid thermal paste like MX4 is meant for directly pressing the heatsink onto the DIE, which does not happen here. It will move about and end up not making contact in most places.

But these 12" MacBooks are a waste of time anyway. The only question is whether the CPU oder SSD cooks itself first.

[azamolnarlevi]

You should create a "headless" laptop out of it. Remove the screen and connect it to an external one.

[ronlevin]

If battery was not used for a lot of time, it still might be working, BMS is just locked. You can try to charge it by external power supply (with variable voltage and current) or sometimes even each of it cells separately.

[Evie]

If the Logic Board has no problems with it, that alone is absolutely nuts for $30! You can use it on other 12" MacBooks that have a good display and battery, but dead Logic Boards for example :D

[djGreenALERT]

Ahhh mate! With all that messing about and being let down, I was really routing for ya to turn things around with that device. You definitely deserved better.

[TheSpotify]

Shame that this form factor can't be brought back with the M1/M2/M3 series CPUs! Though I'm not a fan of how the battery is glued into place.
The seller of the 2nd battery probably didn't lie as it may well have worked fine when the battery/bottom case was removed from their old laptop. Once the cells sit around for too long, issues can occur, especially if one or more of the cells reaches a critically low voltage level.
Under those circumstances it is not possible to charge the battery via the laptop, you have to use dedicated external tools to slowly bring the battery back to a decent voltage level, so that the laptop detects it.
That is probably what happened to your battery given it only had 9 charge cycles!