Advice please - refurbished MacBook Air

Forums › Laptops and mobile computers › Advice please - refurbished MacBook Air

mlkbtk

10 posts

Wannabe Geek

#318505 24-Jan-2025 20:04

Shopback is having a 15% rebate on Apple tomorrow (to a maximum of $250), so I’ve decided to hit go on purchasing a refurbished MacBook.

I have no idea which of these options is preferable?I only need it for general home usage.

https://www.apple.com/nz/shop/product/FRXV3X/A/Refurbished-13-inch-MacBook-Air-Apple-M3-Chip-with-8-Core-CPU-and-8-Core-GPU-Midnight?fnode=1a09286adf160d0ee6af159e9996c1dcc561b2496504a8b568caac319ae664d97f2bc478aa2cd7e01f1c0985f12b7760e4f0cb684f0f10a64a776af67c0adc05ecf943469956aba28451a4bd384b6c94

This one looks like the newest model, but then there are older ones that are more expensive?

https://www.apple.com/nz/shop/product/G15S3X/A/refurbished-13-inch-macbook-air-apple-m2-chip-with-8%E2%80%91core-cpu-and-8%E2%80%91core-gpu-space-gray?fnode=f4026134c0aaa51aea39f54668220b5cba6a33c59c90061927d3e29ae5cc096165f5dcec169f734dbee71d8513151082e6c21d313615a747faee077dbc2a684746113abff7f9b55c4a8788ce5a716ddd

Or am I just as well off with the cheaper one?

https://www.apple.com/nz/shop/product/FLXW3X/A/refurbished-13-inch-macbook-air-apple-m2-chip-with-8%E2%80%91core-cpu-and-8%E2%80%91core-gpu-space-gray?fnode=f4026134c0aaa51aea39f54668220b5cba6a33c59c90061927d3e29ae5cc096165f5dcec169f734dbee71d8513151082e6c21d313615a747faee077dbc2a684746113abff7f9b55c4a8788ce5a716ddd

Any thoughts would be much appreciated.
Thanks in advance!

RunningMan

8954 posts

Uber Geek

#3335379 24-Jan-2025 20:12

1st is the most recent model.

3rd is the predecessor to the 1st.

2nd is like the third but with more RAM.

All else being equal, I'd go for the most recent model as it will be supported with software updates for the longest time. For general use you probably won't notice any performance difference between models.

mlkbtk

10 posts

Wannabe Geek

#3335380 24-Jan-2025 20:16

Perfect, that’s just what I needed.

Thank you so much!

jonherries

1395 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Subscriber

#3335392 24-Jan-2025 21:46

There is something about the speed of the ssd storage on some models - so worth checking. Not sure on which of the models but a quick google should confirm.

Jon

mlkbtk

10 posts

Wannabe Geek

#3335393 24-Jan-2025 21:48

Great, will do that. Thank you!

nova

250 posts

Master Geek

Trusted

#3335489 25-Jan-2025 08:41

Be careful, as two of these are only 8GB RAM, and Apple has now increased the base spec to 16GB. The refurbished prices don't reflect this, they base the discount on the original price, and so right now the refurbished deals aren't that great.

The M2 with 16GB of RAM is currently $1538 new at Noel Leeming, so it doesn't make sense to pay $1649 for a refurbished one:

https://www.noelleeming.co.nz/p/apple-macbook-air-13-inch-%28m2%29-16gb256gb--8-core-cpu-8-core-gpu----midnight/N233790.html

The M2 with 256GB was the one with the problem with the slower SSD speeds, as it was a single 256 GB chip vs 2 x 128GB on the M1 and M3, but in reality the SSD doesn't affect the user experience much, and having 16GB RAM would be my primary concern.

Apple is likely to bring out an M4 Macbook Air in the next few months, and the rumour is that they will keep the M2 as the cheaper variant and drop the M3 from sale when they do this. I would expect price rises when they bring out the M4 as the NZD is quite weak at the moment.

mlkbtk

10 posts

Wannabe Geek

#3335515 25-Jan-2025 10:31

Appreciate that. I have purchased 16GB RAM and new with the education pricing. Thanks for your help!