MBP 2017 self repair selling

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Hello everyone!

Intro: (SKIP if not interested in the background story lol). I'm new to the forum so sorry if I'm posting this question on the wrong subform (or even website). I have a MacBook Pro 2017 (function keys, 2 cores/4 threads base model with a 256gb SSD) which I need to sell. I need a laptop with much more computing power and it has to run Windows because of work. I see a more powerful MBP as a bad option given the prices of used MBPs and the fact that mobile ryzen chips are so much more competitive than Intel's, and bc I've loved using my Desktop Ryzen 3600 for more than a year now.

Issue: I've happily used my MBP 2017 for over 4 years now, but it recently fell from a short bench (thanks to my cat) and started having strange behaviors. First, CoconutBattery reported 0% battery and charging was impossible according to OS X. Then the CPU started capping out at 1.5ghz while using all 4 threads (but actual CPU performance was like 1 fifth of "normal "according to benchmarks). Then the fan stopped working and CPU/GPU started throttling even more. Then OS X didn't allow me to configure the trackpad, saying there was no external trackpad to configure (even though the internal one was working fine). I did some Google/YouTube research and ended up "diagnosing" the first problem as a faulty connector (the one in the battery daughterboard), thinking this would at least make the battery work properly and I would take it from there.

The thing is, switching that specific cable for a new one FIXED EVERYTHING. This was like 2 weeks ago, and I've been using it since. The first or maybe second time I switched it on, OS X said it didn't recognize my keyboard, but it worked just fine so I didn't worry, and haven't had anything like that happen since. The time after that, the keyboard background light keys stopped working, but they did once I turned the Mac off and on again. It's been 12 days or so and I haven't had/found any other problems. It works just like new (I also reinstalled OS X from scratch).

The real problem is, I'm "convinced" I found the root cause of MOST if not all of the problems, and I'd like to think the keyboard thing was just some software issue and will not happen again. BUT I also want to sell it at a fair price and I don't want to sell something that works "just fine" for a few months and then starts having problems (because of the fall and/or my "faulty" "repairing" skills). Is there any way I can test all the components and make sure they all work as they should? I've thought of a few options: I can do CPU/GPU stress test, and I guess I could try checking every key, one by one, to see whether they all work, which I've done to some extent but, is there any software or suite which can do that (other than Apple Diagnostics, which according to Louis Rossmann is useless in most cases)? Or should I just keep using it for a month and see what happens? Or should I take it to an UNAUTHORIZED repair center and have them check it out? (I don't trust Apple "certified" repair services because they switch whole components -i.e. motherboard, screen- instead of specific faulty parts -transistors, backlight- and thus charge insane prices and produce a ton of waste, and also I'm in Mexico so I don't currently have access to an Apple Store, and I trust "certified" services here even less).

Thank you if you've made it this far. I really appreciate it.
 
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Or should I just keep using it for a month and see what happens?

This seems like a good place to start.

Another option might be to just keep it, use it as a backup laptop, the one you take to the beach, lend to a friend in need etc. But, you said you need to sell, so maybe not.

I could very well be wrong on this, but 2017 might be the year Apple laptops had the notorious keyboard issues. If yes, selling could be problematic.

Wait, I know, MacOfAllTrades buys used machines, and they are [insert unprintable description here] kinda guys. If you can get them to take it, that would be nice. :) However, that might require you to buy a machine from them in return, so maybe not.
 

Cory Cooper

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Hello and welcome.

I agree...it may be best to use it for a while and see what happens. Then, you can always sell it at a fair price with full disclosure.

Apple Diagnostics works very well to do a basic test all of the hardware in your Mac. Yes, it has its shortcomings, as it doesn't do a full surface scan of the drive, or test things like individual keyboard keys/trackpad surface/display resolutions/camera functionality/etc. But, it does ensure that main components are present, communicating, and functioning within the testing parameters.

Officially, all Apple Authorized Service Providers (AASP), and even Apple Geniuses (Genii), don't do component-level repairs. Apple's repair ecosystem is based-on board-level repairs, as the replacement parts are only available to AASPs, and defective components/parts are returned to Apple for diagnosis. Yes, there are some AASPs that may do component-level repairs, but that is outside Apple's service guidelines and will void any active AppleCare warranty.

Hope that helps.

C
 
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It would be useful to have a thread detailing how to buy a used Mac.

Here's a page I found yesterday which goes in to some detail regarding testing a Mac yourself.


What would be more interesting to me, and perhaps more useful to more people, would be a list of used Mac vendors known to do professional testing of the machines they sell.

In the right circumstances, used Macs can be an excellent solution for many people. My wife bought a used Macbook Pro (around 2012 I think) for $300, running El Capitan. It's a beautiful machine, and works perfectly well for basic uses.

The challenge seems to be finding a reliable vendor who both tests their machines prior to sale, and who has adequate inventory.
 
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Another option I've considered is to buy new with the three years of AppleCare. Yes, that's expensive, unless you think of it as a rental, or like leasing a car.

As example, say you bought a $1500 machine plus three years of AppleCare for another $300 (guessing this price) which totals to $1800. Yea, that's a pile of cash. But, if you divide it by 36 months it comes to $50/month. If you use your Mac for hours a day like I do, $50/mo is a pretty reasonable expense.

When the 36 months is up, sell the machine or trade it in, and buy a new machine on the same terms. So after the first 3 years your monthly cost would be something less than $50 due to income from the sale of first machine.

In this case, you'd always have a new machine, and would never have to worry about repairs.

I have the money to easily choose this option, but seem to never do so. Hmmm.... In my case, I don't really need a new iMac or laptop, and in my mind when it comes to Apple newer does not automatically equal better. And, the last time I bought a new Mac for $2000 it blew up just out of warranty, so that didn't help my attitude too much.

All that said, many or most people probably won't suffer from these attitude obstacles.
 
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This seems like a good place to start.

Another option might be to just keep it, use it as a backup laptop, the one you take to the beach, lend to a friend in need etc. But, you said you need to sell, so maybe not.

I could very well be wrong on this, but 2017 might be the year Apple laptops had the notorious keyboard issues. If yes, selling could be problematic.

Wait, I know, MacOfAllTrades buys used machines, and they are [insert unprintable description here] kinda guys. If you can get them to take it, that would be nice. :) However, that might require you to buy a machine from them in return, so maybe not.
Well, I hope mexican buyers are not as informed as international ones regarding the 2017 Apple Keyboard mess :p... that said, I would do everything I can to ensure I don't sell a Mac with a crappy keyboard. The last option seems a bit out of reach given my location, and the trade thing is not an option. But thanks for the recommendation (using it for a while), seems to be popular and I trust the wisdom of the masses in this situation at least. Thanks!
 
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Hello and welcome.

I agree...it may be best to use it for a while and see what happens. Then, you can always sell it at a fair price with full disclosure.

Apple Diagnostics works very well to do a basic test all of the hardware in your Mac. Yes, it has its shortcomings, as it doesn't do a full surface scan of the drive, or test things like individual keyboard keys/trackpad surface/display resolutions/camera functionality/etc. But, it does ensure that main components are present, communicating, and functioning within the testing parameters.

Officially, all Apple Authorized Service Providers (AASP), and even Apple Geniuses (Genii), don't do component-level repairs. Apple's repair ecosystem is based-on board-level repairs, as the replacement parts are only available to AASPs, and defective components/parts are returned to Apple for diagnosis. Yes, there are some AASPs that may do component-level repairs, but that is outside Apple's service guidelines and will void any active AppleCare warranty.

Hope that helps.

C

Thank you very much. I will use Apple Diagnostics (and I'm sure the "private" version Apple uses would be of much help too). In this case, Apple Care is long gone (actually like 6 months or so), but I also didn't like the fact that I was elligible for an SSD firmware update having received an official email from Apple, but was required to go to the ONLY Apple Store in Mexico to get it, as no "Apple Authorized Service Provider" of any kind would even have the tools/permissions to do it. There are around 12 AASPs near me, I tried 5 of them, both stores and service centers, and gave up. The official Apple Store (or Mac Store or however it is called) is about an hour and a half drive (yes, nothing terrible), but it involves long lines, leaving the machine for more than a day, and then driving all the way back for it. I HATE driving (my bad) and I wouldn't take any computer over $400 into public transportation in this city (Mexico City) for any reason whatsoever. I could take an Uber, but I just hated the fact that even AASPs of ANY kind were not given the permission or tools to get this seemingly simple repair done.

I insist on not using AASPs as much as possible because I've been "taught" (by Louis Rossmann and other youtubers and articles) that switching the whole board instead of individual parts not only elevates repair costs for the consumer, but also creates a lot of waste, so Apple ends up throwing away a significant percentage of usable and repairable components only to discourage unauthorized repair and second hand market, "forcing" peoplel to buy new by discouraging them from repair and limit available components to non authorized repair centers. Yes, it's a biased view based on one or two prominent unauthorized repair people, but the waste is also ridiculous and bad for the environment (and the economy, outside of Apple's).

Anyway, Sorry for the rant. It does help a ton though, as I learned Apple Diagnostics is not useless.

Thanks again!
 
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Another option I've considered is to buy new with the three years of AppleCare. Yes, that's expensive, unless you think of it as a rental, or like leasing a car.

As example, say you bought a $1500 machine plus three years of AppleCare for another $300 (guessing this price) which totals to $1800. Yea, that's a pile of cash. But, if you divide it by 36 months it comes to $50/month. If you use your Mac for hours a day like I do, $50/mo is a pretty reasonable expense.

When the 36 months is up, sell the machine or trade it in, and buy a new machine on the same terms. So after the first 3 years your monthly cost would be something less than $50 due to income from the sale of first machine.

In this case, you'd always have a new machine, and would never have to worry about repairs.

I have the money to easily choose this option, but seem to never do so. Hmmm.... In my case, I don't really need a new iMac or laptop, and in my mind when it comes to Apple newer does not automatically equal better. And, the last time I bought a new Mac for $2000 it blew up just out of warranty, so that didn't help my attitude too much.

All that said, many or most people probably won't suffer from these attitude obstacles.
That was exactly my plan! I got Apple Care with this one and nothing failed until now (thanks to my cat, not Apple's fault at all). I was planning on upgrading soon anyway but my budget got cut in half :p aaand the new M1s seem to be great at most tasks, but they're no longer an option since they can't run Windows natively (which I NEED for my job), even if my budget increased (which it potentially could). And buying a second hand MBP with intel chips seems dumb given the price of Huawei laptops with mobile Ryzen chips (which beat the poop out of Intel in most tasks) and tend to have equal or better integrated graphics. I know, Huawei has had seemingly good components, but durability is questionable at best since they haven't been in the market for long. But man, the Ryzen 4600h (6c/12t) + 16gb RAM + 512gb SSD for under 1000 seems way better than any used MBP 2018 I could get for that price (2x CPU, 2x RAM, 1-2x SSD), considering I HAVE to run native Windows (plus Amazon offers "Huawei Care" for like 150 for 3 years. And it also just blows my current MBP 2017 (2c/4t, 8gb RAM) out of the water performance wise (like 5-6x in CPU and twice GPU, RAM, and SSD).

And you are absolutely right, if you don't NEED to get a new one there's no point in getting it. Enjoy it as much as you can, create less waste and give chinese children less labor (that one is arguably bad though, but you know, the global economy and stuff).

Thanks for the answer. It is a safe bet that Apple Care is statistically a waste of money though, otherwise they wouldn't offer it, but I also understand peace of mind has no price :p
 
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It would be useful to have a thread detailing how to buy a used Mac.

Here's a page I found yesterday which goes in to some detail regarding testing a Mac yourself.


What would be more interesting to me, and perhaps more useful to more people, would be a list of used Mac vendors known to do professional testing of the machines they sell.

In the right circumstances, used Macs can be an excellent solution for many people. My wife bought a used Macbook Pro (around 2012 I think) for $300, running El Capitan. It's a beautiful machine, and works perfectly well for basic uses.

The challenge seems to be finding a reliable vendor who both tests their machines prior to sale, and who has adequate inventory.
100% with you. Thanks for the link, I'll check it out right away. And yes, I also use a 2008 iMac (with Mojave, I think, using the unofficial installer) for light web browsing, PDF reading, editing small Office docs, etc. The screen is still GORGEOUS. I also upgraded the CPU to an unsopported one (2.93ghz dual core), so it can't wake from sleep :p (which I just disabled); added a hybrid SSD for "speed", which does seem to work to some extent; and increased RAM to 6gb. Different brands and models but switching places between the 2 and 4 gb sticks seemed to work perfectly. Haven't tried 8, but I've read it's not possible to make them work.
 
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It is a safe bet that Apple Care is statistically a waste of money though, otherwise they wouldn't offer it, but I also understand peace of mind has no price
Yes, it's like insurance, worthless until you need it. And a profit deal for Apple.
 

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