Great option for beginning with macOS.
Great option for beginning with macOS.
Are you considering a new MacBook? If so, opt for a fresh laptop or start with an entry-level Mac to familiarize yourself with macOS. For those looking to begin, two options come to mind: choose the 2012 Mac Mini, which is easy to modify and upgrade with an SSD, or the 2012 MacBook Pro, which also allows SSD installation once opened. I recall my first Mac experience—disliked it—but later embraced macOS more often after shifting away from gaming. Now I’m a regular Mac user.
The i5-7360u offers notable speed improvements compared to the i5-520. Over time, consistent gains haven't been huge since Intel hasn't introduced major jumps, but overall minor performance increases add up across generations. This applies only to the CPU; the display also sees a big upgrade—from 1280x800 to 2560x1600—and delivers more vivid, accurate colors. The graphics card is another area where Iris Plus 640 outperforms HD3000.
I purchased the 2010 model, specifically the i5 2520m with a 520MB cache. The upgrade to a 1GHz processor and a 100MHz boost shouldn't significantly impact performance. I secured a good price of $300.
I owned a Lenovo laptop featuring the same processor (520MHz). A thief recently took it, but it performed all my requests, such as streaming 4K videos and using the Steam service.
I worried the decade of the 2010s might not receive as many updates as the one in 2012.