This afternoon, I took advantage of the rain to tidy up and clean my desk, as well as part of the cabinet to my right, which houses the switch and the Raspberry Pi 4 (powered by FreeBSD) that I use for various services.
I came across my old laptop again: a 2019 16" MacBook Pro, the last Intel model. I think it was one of the worst devices I’ve ever owned: sluggish, fans always loud, and the case 'polished' down quickly just from my hands. I used it for about a year, then passed it to my wife when I got the M1 Pro MBP - which I’m still using - in early 2022. By comparison, the Apple Silicon model feels brand new, even after four years of fairly intense use.
My wife had to stop using the 'old' one because the battery, despite having very few charge cycles, is practically dead. It doesn’t hold a charge, but that wouldn’t even be the biggest issue. The real trouble is that without a functional battery, it has become incredibly slow, with the fans constantly blasting, making it unusable. I tried turning it on again, but it even struggles to launch the macOS installer. I’m stuck: replacing the battery would cost 289 euros (from what I’ve read, the entire top case needs to be replaced), but I hate to leave it like this, as the hardware and screen still have a lot to offer.
I’ve thought about selling it as-is, but I think it would be difficult - an inexperienced buyer wouldn't understand that the slowness is caused specifically by the battery issue.
Any advice?