Macbook Recommendations Appreciated

[kingston73]

Hello all,

I am a long time ios user but have never had a macbook and know very little about them. I am trying to help my friend buy her high school daughter a laptop and would like input as to what to look for if she decided to go with Apple. Are there specific models and/or years she should avoid (assuming she buys used)?

If she buys refurbished from apple what should she look for?

She would probably use it for 2 years (junior and senior year of high school) and then pass it down to her younger sister so the ability to continue getting updates is pretty important.

Thanks all.

 

[Nbd1790]

Best bang for the buck is going to be the MacBook Air. Great processor that can handle just about anything that you throw at it, future proof without a doubt. Bump the memory to 16gb from the baseline 8gb and add some extra storage.

Generally speaking (whether its new or used) I would aim for a MacBook with an M1 processor.

 

[0128672]

Hello all,

I am a long time ios user but have never had a macbook and know very little about them. I am trying to help my friend buy her high school daughter a laptop and would like input as to what to look for if she decided to go with Apple. Are there specific models and/or years she should avoid (assuming she buys used)?

If she buys refurbished from apple what should she look for?

She would probably use it for 2 years (junior and senior year of high school) and then pass it down to her younger sister so the ability to continue getting updates is pretty important.

Thanks all.

I'd recommend an Apple refurb MacBook Air base configuration with 8GB RAM and 256GB SSD for $849. Refurbs come with the same one year warranty and you can purchase Applecare+ for it as well. 16GB MBA refurbs are hard to come by and you'd have to check often; once they appear in the refurb store, they go quickly.

 

[beach bum]

Second the recommendation for the MacBook Air. Apple's refurb site has the 8gb/256gb and 8gb/512gb M1 MBAs priced anywhere between $849 to $1059 which should be fine for schoolwork, emails, browsing the web, etc.

 

[kingston73]

Thank you for the suggestions, very helpful and exactly why I asked here 👍

I really should just go ahead and get myself a macbook, don't know why I've held out so long but my very old windows laptop is too old for win11 so this may be what I needed to make the switch.

 

[yitwail]

Thank you for the suggestions, very helpful and exactly why I asked here ?

I really should just go ahead and get myself a macbook, don't know why I've held out so long but my very old windows laptop is too old for win11 so this may be what I needed to make the switch.

Another advantage to switching is that you’ll get excellent built-in apps that can work with Office documents, like Pages and Numbers.

 

[crimlarks]

Also, if you are a Costco member the base MacBook Air is on sale for $799, although they are currently showing as out of stock. That's a heck of a price.

 

[kingston73]

Thank you all for the recommendations, it's been very helpful. My friend successfully found a good deal on a new mac.

I have a follow up question for myself. I really can't afford a brand new macbook but my windows laptop has finally ended it's life, or is near the end at least. I'm considering getting a used macbook, probably from swappa.

What is the oldest version you'd recommend? Or worded differently, what should I be aware of and avoid?