Refurbished MacBooks

Buying a refurbished MacBook

MacBooks hold their value well and are built to last, which makes them a natural fit for refurbishment. A well-refurbished MacBook gives you the full macOS experience — excellent build quality, a great trackpad and sharp display — at a significantly lower price than buying new.

Apple silicon or Intel?

Apple moved its Macs from Intel processors to its own Apple silicon chips (M1, M2, M3 and later) starting in late 2020. The difference is significant:

• Apple silicon MacBooks are faster, run cooler and quieter, and have much longer battery life. They are also expected to receive macOS updates for longer.
• Intel MacBooks can be more affordable and support running Windows natively through Boot Camp, which some specialist software needs.

For most buyers, an M1 MacBook Air or newer is the best-value choice.

MacBook Air vs MacBook Pro

• MacBook Air — light, fanless on Apple silicon models, and ideal for study, writing, browsing and office work.
• MacBook Pro — adds more performance headroom, better cooling and, on many models, brighter displays and more ports. Better for sustained video editing, music production and development work.

What we check on every MacBook

• Activation Lock and accounts — every MacBook is checked to be free of the previous owner's Apple ID.
• Battery — cycle count and condition are measured. Apple publishes a rated maximum cycle count for each model (1,000 for most recent MacBooks).
• Keyboard, trackpad, display and ports — tested as part of our refurbishment process.

You can also check a MacBook's battery yourself — see how to check battery health. Before buying, make sure any software you need runs on macOS. Compare grades on our condition grades page.