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Ask HN: What do you do with your old Intel MacBooks?
11–20 of 23 posts
Re: Ask HN: What do you do with your old Intel MacBooks?
#12I have an 2012 MBP (upgraded 500 SSD, 4GB RAM) which runs great on Linux Mint (lightweight) or even Fedora. The battery is only about 2.5 hours, but I guess when replaced it would also last much longer.
Re: Ask HN: What do you do with your old Intel MacBooks?
#13Linux should work well on it, so, if that's your thing, go for it. You can, however, keep the machine running unsupported newer version of macOS. That's what OpenCore Legacy Patcher does - it patches a newer macOS to recognise and run on an older Mac. YMMV, of course, and there will be a point when there are no Intel versions of macOS whatsoever.
> should work Do you have any links on what's the best way to get all drivers? I have a 2015/2017 MacbookPro. I've tried this a few times but there was always something missing and most of the "How to" sites appear to be abandoned after a few years.
It was always a proposition with marginal value. The original macOS is a decent Unix and Macs weren't very competitive price-wise in relation to x86 laptops, so I wouldn't be surprised if tutorials aren't very up-to-date. That said, once it gets working, chances are it gets some support from the biggest distros. I wouldn't be surprised if Ubuntu or Fedora got everything working. I think it'd be worth a try at least.
Things like haptics, touchbar, and other more unique features, I wouldn't bet too much.
Re: Ask HN: What do you do with your old Intel MacBooks?
#14I'll be clearing it of all my data and unlinking it from my accounts, making sure it's updated, and mailing it to a friend who'll pay me a token amount plus the shipping costs. It'll go to his kids to use as a spare computer. If he wants, he knows how to install Linux or Windows on it. We've done this with several of my older computers and he still has most of them up and running for the kids, I think the oldest one I sent him is now recycled though.
I got 7 years out of it before it became worth replacing for me, they'll probably get another 5 at least before it gets retired. I'd keep it and put Linux on it but my wife is already annoyed by my (now reduced) large and often disorganized book collection, I don't need an electronics collection adding to the issue.
Re: Ask HN: What do you do with your old Intel MacBooks?
#15Ubuntu is highly likely to fully support your old laptop and is probably the simplest thing that might work. On the other hand if you want to make tinkering around to fix Linux a new hobby, Arch is probably the simplest thing that might work. If you want to do something impactful with your old laptop, auction it on Ebay and give all the proceeds to a food bank. Good luck.
Re: Ask HN: What do you do with your old Intel MacBooks?
#16I traded it in (Apple Trade-in) to pay for its replacement.
Re: Ask HN: What do you do with your old Intel MacBooks?
#17You can also put Windows on it. That's what I do with my 2013 MBP.
Re: Ask HN: What do you do with your old Intel MacBooks?
#18It's my home assistant server (running in a vm), with a built in UPS ;)
Re: Ask HN: What do you do with your old Intel MacBooks?
#19> What do you do with your old Intel MacBooks?
Trade it in. At the time of M1 release, I traded in my Intel MacBook Pro at the Apple store for a M1 mac mini.
Re: Ask HN: What do you do with your old Intel MacBooks?
#20It appears no-one have adressed the issue of wifi/bluetooth support, so I will weigh in.
I have installed Debian derivatives on both a Macbook Pro 2008 and a Macbook Air 2017 and had issues with bluetooth/wireless.
The solution was to identify the wireless chip through the terminal, download the specific DKMS module for that chip to a file on another computer, transfer the module over to the Macbook via USB, blacklist old module, install new, reboot.
This have worked flawlessly for me so far. If you want a tip on a beginner-friendly distro with decent Macbook support, try Pop!_Os.