Should You Buy A Refurbished Macbook? I Tried One From Back Market - Here's My Verdict

Kyle Kucharski/ZDNET

I retrieve erstwhile group utilized to scoff astatine refurbished tech. Buying a utilized telephone aliases machine was for illustration rolling nan dice: you ne'er knew precisely what you were getting. 

Well, nan times surely person changed. And, successful this economy, nan prices connected refurbished tech are looking much and much tempting. Consumers are challenging this thought that we're each expected to bargain marque caller phones and laptops each fewer years, and successful nan process, nan marketplace for refurbished tech has blown up. 

Also: Should you bargain a refurbished iPad? I tried 1 from Back Market and here's my verdict

Having ne'er purchased a refurbished merchandise myself, I was very funny arsenic to really nan acquisition would spell pinch a caller (used) laptop. So, I connected pinch nan folks astatine Back Market and acquired a $950 MacBook Pro M1 from 2021 to trial retired arsenic my main driver for a fewer weeks. 

I'll opportunity correct now: it wasn't a perfectly seamless experience, but buying marque caller tech seldom is, either. Here's really it went, and what I've learned from nan process. 

How Back Market works 

MacBook Pro M1 (14-inch)

Kyle Kucharski/ZDNET

First point you should cognize is that nan retailer offers different tiers of products: you tin bargain a MacBook successful Fair, Good, Excellent, aliases Premium condition, pinch nan prices scaling higher pinch amended condition. If you're wondering what Fair information looks like, it could see immoderate visible signs of use, but ultimately, nan soul parts person been inspected and verified by Back Market to beryllium successful bully moving order. 

After choosing nan level of deterioration you're comfortable with, you past spell done and take nan processor, representation amount, storage, and colour of your caller MacBook -- conscionable for illustration you would a marque caller one. 

Also: Your MacBook is getting a awesome upgrade for free - 5 MacOS 26 features I'm trying correct now

Lastly, you tin take to see a trade-in pinch different instrumentality arsenic portion of nan purchase. This process consists of a Back Market rep appraising your instrumentality and giving you an connection successful a dollar amount. You past person 21 days to vessel nan point to Back Market, and erstwhile they get it, they'll trim you a rebate check.

Can you spot a refurbished item?

MacBook Pro M4 (14-inch)

Kerry Wan/ZDNET

I don't blasted you for being wary of utilized tech. But support successful mind that Back Market only takes successful products it knows it tin resell, and moreover then, it has to walk a 25-point inspection trial to guarantee they're successful bully capable condition. 

This testing, repair, and parts replacement process is what sets a refurbished MacBook isolated from a utilized 1 you'd bargain consecutive from nan hands of personification connected Facebook Marketplace, for example. 

Besides a fewer signs of deterioration and tear (which you tin realistically expect from a instrumentality successful nan Fair aliases Good categories), nan superior point to see is nan device's artillery life. Luckily, you tin spot your MacBook's artillery capacity successful nan settings, on pinch a big of different information, including really galore cycles it's gone through. 

Also: MacBook Pro vs. MacBook Air: How to determine which Apple laptop you should buy

The norm of thumb is to switch a artillery that has dipped beneath 80% capacity, truthful a instrumentality purchased done Back Market should beryllium supra that mark, pinch Premium tier devices certified to beryllium supra 90%. 

The MacBook Pro M1 I sewage from Back Market arrived successful nan Premium tier, truthful location was really not a scratch aliases dent connected nan instrumentality astatine all. The surface looked flawless. The artillery capacity was astatine 95%, and I had nary issues pinch nan keyboard aliases trackpad. 

The only rumor I knowledgeable was that a time aliases 2 aft I first group it up, it randomly booted up successful betterment mode, prompting maine to reinstall nan latest OS. I did so, and it hasn't happened again since. 

How overmuch do you save?

Here's nan large question. How overmuch are you really saving? Let's break it down based connected 3 different comparable MacBook Pros from different generations: nan M1 Pro I sewage from 2021, nan M2 from 2023, and nan latest MacBook Pro connected nan market, nan M4 from 2024:

The refurbished M1 is not disposable caller from astir retailers, but you tin still get caller M2s from Amazon. As you tin see, it's importantly cheaper -- complete $600 little -- than nan adjacent procreation up pinch comparable hardware. The quality betwixt nan M2 and M4, however, is smaller; conscionable a fewer 100 dollars. 

If you're wondering really they compare, CPU benchmarking results from Geekbench put nan M1 and M2 10-core CPUs rather adjacent together, pinch nan M4 understandably a spot further off. These numbers mention to nan CPU's capacity limits nether a dense load, showing that nan newer MacBooks person much powerfulness nether nan hood connected nan apical end. 

Also: The MacOS 26 nationalist beta is present - How to instal (and which models support it)

But nan differences are not earth-shattering, here. When it comes to mundane tasks for illustration moving retired of a browser, moving productivity software, and multitasking pinch different apps crossed nan latest MacOS, nan quality successful capacity is not arsenic easy to identify.

And yes, the M1 MacBook Pro will beryllium capable to upgrade to nan all-new MacOS 26 Tahoe erstwhile it comes retired this fall, meaning it'll person nan aforesaid operating strategy arsenic newer MacBooks. 

The last verdict

MacBook M1 Pro moving nan MacOS 26 Tahoe nationalist beta.

Kyle Kucharski/ZDNET

So, should you bargain a refurbished MacBook? If you want to bask nan latest features for illustration iPhone mirroring, nan caller and improved spotlight, and nan liquid solid UI redesign successful MacOS 26 and don't request nan top-of-the-line processing power, past absolutely, yes. 

You tin get a refurbished MacBook Pro M1 pinch 16GB of unified representation for $841 little than a MacBook Pro M4 pinch a 10-core CPU. If you're not editing 4K video, animation, aliases rendering ample image files, a top-tier processor mightiness beryllium overkill. 

Also: How to make immoderate MacOS app commencement astatine login - to prevention you clip and clicks

That being said, by choosing a refurbished laptop, you'll want to cautiously measurement nan trade-offs. Make judge you're opting for capable section retention to future-proof your device, determine what benignant of beingness information you're comfortable with, and make judge nan instrumentality you take has a patient battery. 

Lastly, support successful mind that Back Market is not nan only spot to acquisition refurbished MacBooks, Apple has its ain official refurbished store wherever you tin acquisition everything from MacBooks to iPads to Apple Watches.