Best refurbished MacBook deals: Get a MacBook Air for $159 and more
Buying a refurbished MacBook is a popular way to get one of Apple's laptops for much cheaper than their usual price, and here are the best offers right now.
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By
Lucas Coll
September 26, 2023 5:40AM 
If you want to buy one of Apple’s MacBooks but you’re strapped for cash and the discounts that you see in the usual MacBook deals at retailers like Amazon and Best Buy don’t get them cheap enough, there’s another option for you — buy a refurbished MacBook. You’ll have to get the device from a trustworthy source though, so that you’ll be sure that the device will be fully functional, in excellent condition, and backed by a warranty. To help you narrow down your choices, we’ve rounded up the best refurbished MacBook deals that you can shop right now. Taking advantage of any of these offers will save your wallet from getting emptied, but you need to act fast because we’re not sure how long they’ll last.
MacBook Air 11.6-inch (2015) — from $159
AppleOnce the latest MacBook Air but now eight years old and still competent, the MacBook Air 11.6-inch (2015) is a great starting point for anyone new to macOS or who just needs something financially on par with a Chromebook. It’s a refurbished model but it comes with a one-year warranty so there’s peace of mind here. It won’t run the latest macOS unfortunately, but its Intel Core i5 processor, 4GB of memory and 128GB of SSD storage helps you perform the basics. It still has all the style of a MacBook so we’re thinking this could be a good entry point as your child’s first MacBook or if you want a project.
MacBook Air Retina 13.3-inch (2017) — from $254
AppleThe MacBook Air Retina 13.3-inch (2017) is a refurbished model but comes with a one-year warranty. It’s a little newer than other refurbished models at this price although you still won’t be able to use the latest version of macOS. Fortunately, macOS Monterey is still pretty good. Also, its Intel Core i5 processor is reasonably speedy for its age, it has 8GB of memory, and there’s 128GB of SSD storage. Its Retina display is the highlight here with 1440 x 900 resolution and a sharper quality than other budget laptops.
MacBook Pro Retina 13.3-inch (2017) — from $351
AppleAnother refurbished model that offers a one-year warranty, the MacBook Pro Retina 13.3-inch (2017) is a stylish option if you don’t mind missing out on the latest macOS. Space gray is a particularly good-looking type of MacBook while its 13.3-inch screen achieves a resolution of 2560 x 1600 so it looks super sharp. An Intel Core i5 processor powers proceedings while there’s 8GB of memory and 256GB of SSD storage. There’s USB-C support here alongside the ever-useful webcam and microphone combo, but there’s no HDMI output. For a basic MacBook Pro though, it’ll do the job.
MacBook Air Retina 13.3-inch (2020) — from $539
Mark Coppock/Digital Trends / Digital TrendsA little newer, the MacBook Air Retina 13.3-inch (2020) has a gorgeous Retina screen with 2560 x 1600 resolution. It has an Intel Core i3 processor along with 8GB of memory and 256GB of SSD storage. It has two USB-C ports which is handy for a little future proofing, while three microphones ensure you can be clearly heard while on video calls. There’s also Bluetooth 5.0 support so you’ll benefit from fewer dropouts when connected to Bluetooth devices. While this is a refurbished model, you get a full one-year warranty so there’s peace of mind here even if it’s an older model.
MacBook Pro Retina 13.3-inch (2020) — from $650
Digital TrendsA little more powerful than the alternatives here, the MacBook Pro Retina 13.3-inch (2020) on sale is a refurbished model but comes with a one-year warranty. It has an Intel Core i5 processor along with 16GB of memory and 512GB of SSD storage. Effectively, everything is a little better than before. Also, there’s a Retina display so you get a 2560 x 1600 resolution to ensure everything looks great. It also has stylish extras like the Touch Bar seen on select MacBook models. Four USB-C ports give you plenty of options for accessories while there’s also Bluetooth 5.0 connectivity.
MacBook Pro Retina 16-inch (2019) — from $694
Digital TrendsThe MacBook Pro Retina 16-inch (2019) has a powerful Intel Core i7 processor along with 16GB of memory and 512GB of SSD storage so it’s a pretty potent combination even despite its age. A refurbished model, you get a one-year warranty so you won’t have to worry about any issues. Thanks to its hefty 16-inch screen, you gain a 3072 x 1920 resolution with a crisp Retina display ensuring it looks great. There’s a touch bar for added functionality while there’s even a dedicated graphics card in the form of the AMD Radeon Pro 5300M although we wouldn’t count on this being much of a gaming system given its age. USB-C ports round off the package well.
Editors' Recommendations
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Lucas Coll has been a freelance writer for almost a decade and has penned articles on tech, video games, travel, cars, and…
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Best external hard drive deals: Portable SSDs, game drives & more
Whether you’re a content creator, a gamer, or you just have too much digital stuff for your computer’s internal storage capacity, an external hard drive is worth adding to your work setup. They’re convenient, often portable, and even the best external hard drives tend to be quite affordable these days. There are a lot of them seeing deals right now, and we’ve done the heavy lifting of tracking them down for you. You’ll find external hard drive deals on brands like Western Digital, SanDisk, and even Samsung among them, with many of them tailor-made for things like gaming and content storage.
Today’s best external hard drive deals
If you’re looking for as much storage as possible, one of today’s best external hard drive deals is on the Western Digital Easystore external hard drive. It comes in with a whopping 22TB of storage space and an impressive price point of just $400. This is a savings of $200 from its regular price of $600. Many of the best SSDs also make a great external storage option, as they’re even more portable than external drives with spinning disks, as well as much faster. The 2TB SanDisk Extreme Pro external SSD is seeing an impressive discount of $120 right now, bringing its price down from $295 to just $175.
External hard drive deals FAQ
How to choose an external hard drive
The first two steps of choosing an external hard drive are setting your budget and determining what size you need. As cheap as storage is per gigabyte nowadays, the classic trade-off of hard drive size versus portability still holds; basically, is your primary consideration storage space or physical size? If your external hard drive is for home and office use at a single workstation and will more or less sit in one place, then storage space is more valuable than mobility. If, on the other hand, you’re frequently ferrying data around from one PC to the next, then a portable hard drive might be a better choice, even if you're sacrificing some storage space for a smaller footprint.
