A friend wants to gift me an old macbook pro he no longer uses. Specs follow:
MacBook Pro, Core i5, 2.8 GHz (I5-4308U), model A1502 (EMC 2875), Retina Mid-2014 13", MacBookPro11,1, RAM 8 GB, VRAM 1.5 GB, Storage 512 GB SSD
Out of principle I don’t use anything made by that brand and the only way I see myself using the hardware is if I can nuke the software and install any linux distro, ubuntu is the distro I know best.
Can it be done?
Any drawbacks?
It’s a model with a screwed aluminum case, meaning I cannot unplug the battery when I don’t need it. How long does it last?
Alternatively, what could I use this notebook for? Is there anything apple does better than linux that deserves I don’t nuke it?
I have a 2013 “air” that was updated to 10.15 (so 64bits) ; I bought it dirt cheap secondhand for one specific app, and out of the box it did update itself when I connected it not so long ago. I changed the battery, too - most resellers include the impossible screwdrivers needed to open the strange tri-lobe screws.
If OP has a use for it, it’s not bad hardware with backlit keyboard, a decent screen, lightweight. With a new battery it’s a decent all-day workhorse. My main machines are 5th gen Intel, and I remember nothing wrong with 4th gen.
Any distro will run on it, or should. I’d bet you’ll get the spinning cube & wobbly windows easy peasy. If it’s free, just try it out.
Have fun!
I didn’t say they shouldn’t buy it to run Linux on it, just that I wouldn’t buy some old hardware just to run an already unsupported OS on it.