Something with an Intel Core i5 or Core i7 will prove more capable for a longer than a lower-end Mac powered by a dual-core i3, and this is especially true if you've got a machine more than five years old. If you can, also try to get your hands on something that had reasonably high-powered components when it was initially released. That way, you should have access to software updates for at least a few years, and of course, a newer Mac will last for a longer period. Whatever you get, make sure it has an SSD, rather than a spinning hard drive.Īlthough you should be fine (depending on what kind of work you need to do) with a MacBook even several years old, try to get something as close to new as possible. Don't get something old enough that it still uses a spinning hard drive. Speaking as someone who went to college with a laptop that used a spinning disk, you absolutely want an SSD in your MacBook.
This is because if it's a MacBook Air from that time period, or a MacBook Pro with Retina display, which debuted in 2012, it will include SSD storage as standard. What you're looking for in any used Mac laptopįirst thing's first: whether you're getting it as a hand-me-down from a relative, finding it on eBay, or buying it from Apple's own Certified Refurbished store, you're going to want something from no further back than 2012 or 2013.
