In some e-waste bin I found an entry level M1 MacBook Pro. The display didn’t work (visible crack lines on the panel and the screen lights up but only shows black), but everything else about the computer is totally fine, I determined after testing.

I managed to factory reset the thing and now I have an extra computer on my hands. And a good one, at that, because I think even an entry level M1 is still a good computer.

I already have a laptop, desktop, and an old server. So I feel like all my needs are met. But are there creative uses with an extra Mac?

  • morgan423@lemmy.worldEnglish
    6·
    9 days ago

    Hook it up to your living room TV, and make it your entertainment station? With a good set up, you can stream on it, play retro games and emulation, miscellaneous media… I could see it being much more useful than a standard Roku / Fire / et cetera USB stick.

  • FireWire400@lemmy.worldEnglish
    4·
    8 days ago

    You could sell it for way too much on ebay, those M1 Macbooks are still worth a fair bit. I recently tried to get a water damaged M1 Pro Macbook and people outbid me like crazy; went for 150€ in the end despite being almost certainly a total dud.

    Even ones without a working display go for 170€, which is far more than I’d pay for a fully working non-workstation laptop from that time…

    Edit: Just looked at the listing again and the water damaged M1 Pro went for 234€. According to the listing it sat around for 2 years after it stopped working from water damage. 234€.

  • CarrotsHaveEars@lemmy.ml
    23·
    9 days ago

    If you don’t have a need, do not purchase.

    If you have purchased without a need, consider returning or selling it.

    A broken laptop can simply be used as a desktop with an external monitor.

    • GnuLinuxDude@lemmy.mlOP
      5·
      9 days ago

      It was in an e-waste bin. I didn’t purchase it. I just picked it out of a pile of electronics.

      • CarrotsHaveEars@lemmy.ml
        3·
        9 days ago

        Oh my god. I couldn’t believe people throw that away. When you say e-waste bin I thought of it as some kind of flea market.

        Nice find, bro.

        • GnuLinuxDude@lemmy.mlOP
          2·
          9 days ago

          Probably the only reason I found it is the busted display 😅. I guess to someone that either meant it didn’t work at all, or they just stopped caring and didn’t want to deal with it anymore.

          Maybe one day I’ll find a matching macbook pro where the computer doesn’t work but the display does. And then I’ll mix-and-match them and have one fully working laptop and one fully broken one 😀