I found my sisters old mac stuffed in the closet whilst over visiting and figured I would pull it apart and see what was causing it not to work.
Battery looks like it somewhat expanded and even broke one of the screw holders which was holding it in place.
Is it worth trying to find a replacement battery and even an SSD to re-sell this thing or use as a cheap spare? Just after some thoughts since I have absolutely no idea.
Cheers in advance,
Chthonic
I had a feeling since I've heard they have a tendency to die with age… Guess I was right since it is the case ;)
I guess the more general question would be: is this worth putting any time into…
It's worth it… but do you have the time?
I would say buy a replacement battery for it from eBay, and change it yourself. You can use thin double-sided tape to stick the battery to the chassis if that one screw is a concern. Boot it up and retrieve your files. I'd probably flash it clean/install. Maybe even do a free upgrade to a later OSX version if you can. Once you're all done, and you've had your nostalgia trip, consider it as a TV-PC, a hand-me-down to a niece/nephew, or sell it for cheap on gumtree so at least it can be useful for the less fortunate.
If its got a decent 128GB SSD and Core i5 2000-series (Sandy Bridge)… it'll still be fast enough for daily tasks like a modern Core-M laptop. And remember its got that super-handy MagSafe charger and No-Dongle-Life, unlike the newer crappier models.
I'll echo this. I have a 2012 I use everyday, upgraded to an SSD and 16gb ram. It runs very very well and can be upgraded to High Sierra. SSD cost around $70 (I used a 120gb as I store large files on my server) and ram was $150ish. I am guessing a battery would be around $50-$100. So, lets call it $300 and you have a great portable machine. The ram isn't even necessary if you've already got 8gb.
It's a great machine. I'll be VERY sad when mine dies.
I would get apple to fix it as the battery did expand instead just worn out and not holding the charge.
Yep take it to Apple first - they can be really good with these things if the issues caused by an expanding battery etc, even with old machines (source used to work for Apple).
13in models are dual-cores and not ideal.
15in models are quad-core with a GPU. If you upgrade to 8-16GB RAM and SSD, it'll be a solid machine. All this is easily accessible under the bottom cover, along with battery (ebay).
The only problem with the 15" earlier models are common for the GPU BGA solder to die hence becoming a dud motherboard. As a result, "Lights on nobody home" situation.
Look at Gumtree/Ebay and you'll see the usual, many "15 MBP Not working" ads
If I take it to apple I'm assuming they're going to charge me? Or will they look at it for free and suss it out?
Give em' a buzz, I think it's possible to ring the actual Apple store.
I'd definitely try and do an upgrade if possible; I'm still running my mid '10 MacBook White for iTunes and it's slow but it still runs and is usable, which is pretty incredible I reckon since it's also got the latest OS on it too. I did upgrade the RAM to 8 GB but.
I would highly recommend researching an independent computer shop that specialise/repairs apple macs as you will save heaps because you'll get absolutely thrashed with the cost to repair from an Apple store.
You'll have to take a seat for Apple Store to give you a quote. I reckon it will be around $450.
You can buy the same machine (if not newer) second hand for $450
Cheers
They will replace battery for you at OK price, but RAM and SSD upgrades will either not be possible or will be insane cost. Not worth It, just check fixit guides. The 2012 is very accessible.
And thank you everyone so far for the comments and advice, really appreciated :)
Its a common problem. Normally when the battery expands, the trackpad stops clicking too. Get yourself a battery from ebay and use youtube/ifixit guides to replace it. Still a beast of a machine.
Were you hoping to magically find a diagnosis inside the machine upon opening it up? hahaha