Post your favorite Intel Mac here!

[sekker]

With Speedy's post from an Apple Intel Mac firesale, it reinforced to me that I am not going to be buying any new Intel Mac iron. It's Apple Silicon for the foreseeable future. So it's time to play - name your favorite Intel Mac!

I've owned them from the beginning, with a first gen MacBook Pro to a work-purchased 16" laptop. Some with ports, some without. One I loved after I put in an SSD - a Santa Rosa model - that worked so well except when it had its 3 motherboard failures. One that I purchased reluctantly - the 2012 Retina model I still own, but I hated that it was terrible to repair (and the 'Service battery' light has demoted it to a portable desktop). From all of these, do I have a favorite? I am going to list my 16" laptop, the audio (microphone and speakers) are really amazing. One of my least favorite is the machine I replaced with the 16" - a 2016 13" 'no port' model that always seemed to be a compromise. The worst was an early Intel iMac that Apple never fixed properly, despite me dragging it into the Apple Store at least 4 times and showing the recurring failures when run under load.

Post your favorite (and most infamous!) Intel Macs here!

[pdq]

I think those thin MacBooks (that could nevertheless drive a great big monitor in a desktop setting) set a design standard in terms of portability, usability, and sexiness that still reigns today.

I personally love the 11” models since they were so tiny and portable when on the move.

[Sarcany]

Favorite: 2012 Mac Pro.

Runner-up favorite: 2008 MacBook Pro 15-inch Core 2 Duo with ExpressCard slot.



Least favorite: Retina MacBook.*

Runner-up least-favorite: It's a tie between the 2006 Mac Pro and the 2006 iMac.



*If you're going to make a laptop that's totally reliant upon a single USB port, you could at least make it a fast USB 3.1 Gen 2 port. Going with Gen 1 is insulting. And WTF is the point of making a laptop with a fragile keyboard that breaks as soon as you try to type on it or let it get a little dusty??

[btfc]

Love the Mid 2012 MBP.

[AllGold]

Probably my mid-2012 (non-retina) MacBook Pro. This model also happens to be the hi-res matte screen version.

Since getting an M1 Air, I no longer use it, but it's still a great machine. Fast enough to do anything I need and easily upgradeable, both RAM and hard drive (SSD). I suspect if I'd ever gotten around to getting a 2015 15" MBP then that might be my favorite.

I also like my 2012 Mac Pro, but I recognize it's already well past its sweet spot in terms of usefulness.

[Ombligo]

btfc wrote:
Love the Mid 2012 MBP.

This times five, the last great Mac.

[S. Pupp]

I have had only a limited number of Intel Macs, a 2007 white MacBook, two 2009 white MacBooks, a late 2008 15" MBP, and a 2017 15" MBP (retina, touch bar). Only the last two were purchased the year of release; the MacBooks were purchased in 2018 for $30 each for a buy-fix-sell plan that never panned out (got too distracted by life to put them up on eBay).

Although the 2017 15" MBP is by far the best machine of the lot on paper, I preferred using my dearly departed 2008 MBP. The presence of physical F-keys, all the ports I needed, an ExpressCard34 slot for an SD card reader, and the ability to carry extra batteries for long trips all made it an immensely versatile machine.

[Golfer]

2010 17" Macbook Pro

[rz]

I (or someone in my family) have owned the following:

2006 Macbook (white, and black)
2010 Macbook Pro
2009 Mac Mini
2014 Mac Mini
2010 iMac
2008 Mac Pro
2012 Mac Pro

Of those, I'd have to say the 2012 Mac Pro is my favorite. But I really liked the 2008 Mac Pro too. Coming in 3rd for me would be either of the 2006 Macbooks, but mainly for nostalgic reasons.

[MindMeld]

Ombligo wrote:
[quote=btfc]
Love the Mid 2012 MBP.

This times five, the last great Mac.
This.