I need to purchase a used Macbook ASAP. Been doing research for past 24 hours and I'm getting nowhere. Way too many options and price differences with the macbooks and I have 0 experience shopping for macs. Never thought I would.

I was hoping to find best macbook under $750 used, 2013+.

Ranked in Importance to Me:

• CPU
• VRAM
• RAM

If anyone with some macbook knowledge has any ideas of where I can look at and compare specs easily, or have any recommendations let me know, I can't find any useable resources because there are way too many macbook versions, all with relatively bad specs...

I have no macbook knowledge but I can tell you that it's probably worth investing in a new laptop instead of going for an old one. The way I see it, if you're planning to use it a lot, then it's worth paying a little more and having a nice machine that will last you longer! Apple seem to have pretty poor hardware specs in comparison to competitors, but have very good software optimisation, so if you're looking for super-high numbers then maybe a mac isn't right for you. They're still amazing machines though!

 

As Apaec said, imo I look at Mac books as a cosmetic and fashion thing. You'll end up spending couple thousands on a Mac that has 1/3 of the performance of a laptop in the same price range.

Again, it's up to you, I say if you are spending that much on a machine, might as well get it brand new with insurance and all of that good stuff.

Since you're rating CPU as the highest priority you're better off looking in another category for CPU performance. Another reason why you should avoid a mac is as you said yourself: bad specs.

32 minutes ago, Jordan said:

I can't find any useable resources because there are way too many macbook versions, all with relatively bad specs.

On top of the already bad performance from macs getting a 2013 version would probably give you less computational power than a $500 2016/17 laptop. 

All I know is a have a 2009 era Macbook that's been in the dark places of the web and still run's like a champ :P

 

Good luck on your decision 

1 minute ago, IDontEvenBot said:

Since you're rating CPU as the highest priority you're better off looking in another category for CPU performance. Another reason why you should avoid a mac is as you said yourself: bad specs.

On top of the already bad performance from macs getting a 2013 version would probably give you less computational power than a $500 2016/17 laptop. 

Yeah, I know. Would never buy a mac otherwise, but It needs to be a mac. Creating cross-platform software, need mac for development/testing.

2 minutes ago, Jordan said:

Yeah, I know. Would never buy a mac otherwise, but It needs to be a mac. Creating cross-platform software, need mac for development/testing.

Use either vmware/VirtualBox if you want xcode to run on a windows machine. Also you can buy a normal PC and have dual boot for win 10/OS X El Captain. The latter option is my preferred one for a laptop since it uses less resources, the former is more suitable for a desktop with more power although both are viable options.

Performance of a generic macbook is dreadful, going by previous experience

bought a brand new MacBook myself. however, they are garbage! never again.

36 minutes ago, IDontEvenBot said:

Use either vmware/VirtualBox if you want xcode to run on a windows machine. Also you can buy a normal PC and have dual boot for win 10/OS X El Captain. The latter option is my preferred one for a laptop since it uses less resources, the former is more suitable for a desktop with more power although both are viable options.

Tried vmware and hackintosh, etc. Doesn't support correct levels of OpenGL, need opengl and sierra support. 

2013+ is going to be pretty damn hard for $750 under. 

Look on facebook market, found a 2013 around denver for $700. 

 

But only thing I have to say is, fuck mac. LOL. I used to be heavily into mac only. had around 5 macbook pros LOL. 

6 hours ago, Jordan said:

Tried vmware and hackintosh, etc. Doesn't support correct levels of OpenGL, need opengl and sierra support. 

I believe that would be a hardware compatibility issue if i'm not mistaken. If my understanding is correct depending on your graphics card you get different levels of OpenGL support. https://support.apple.com/en-ca/HT202823 This link shows what type of GPU provides what.

Is there a specific reason you need the MAC and cant get a windows os machine?

You're not getting any decent Mac for that price. If you need help you can skype me but good luck with that. 

Havent had any good luck with macbooks they always end up running pretty poorly and get damaged easily