Best place to buy a refurbished MacBook or Mac
Macworld Apple makes great computers, but aside from the MacBook Neo they’re not cheap. Even if you are happy to pay the entry price for a new iMac or MacBook Pro, you’ may’ll be painfully aware that each step up in the technical features—more RAM, larger storage, etc—adds a few hundred extra dollars or pounds. But can you justify the extra spend? Luckily you don’t have to, because often you can find a previous generation Mac—and sometimes even the current generation model—on sale for less at Apple’s Certified Refurbished store. U.K. users will find their local Apple Certified Refurbished store here. It’s not only Apple that offers refurbished Macs though. There are other places you can buy used Macs that have been refurbished—but not all refurbished Macs are as good as the ones Apple sells, so you should beware of the pitfalls. Luckily we will be running through the things to look out for, choose or avoid in this article, so you can be confident you will get the best refurbished Mac or MacBook for your needs. We’ll also explain what the Apple Certified Refurbished Store is, what price you can expect to pay for a refurbished Mac or MacBook, and other ways and trusted places to buy a cheap Mac. We also highlight some of the best refurbished Mac deals available right now. After these tips we discuss which older Macs are still worth buying and list some of the principal differences between the different processor generations of Macs that might help you choose between the M1, M2, M3, M4 and M5 when choosing an older Mac. Apple Should you buy a refurbished Mac? We have an article dedicated to this question here: Why you should buy a refurbished Mac. To summarize, there are lots of reasons why buying a Mac from the Apple Certified Refurbished Store is a good idea.  The Refurbished Store is a section on Apple’s website where you can buy refurbished Macs and MacBooks, as well as other Apple products including the iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, HomePod and Apple TV. These refurbished Macs could be models from a previous year, or they could be current models. A reconditioned Mac could be an ex-demonstration model used during Apple teaching programs, or it could be a unit sold to a customer who decided to return it under the standard sale-and-returns procedure. (Apple allows any customer to return a Mac bought from the Apple Store within 14 days for a refund. See Apple’s Standard Returns Policy U.S. and Standard Returns Policy U.K.). It’s also possible that a customer returned the Mac due to a fault, but—fear not—as that fault will have been rectified by Apple engineers before the Mac can be resold. In fact, Apple states that: “Every Apple Certified Refurbished product completes a rigorous refurbishment process that includes full testing that meets the same functional standards as new Apple products. Your refurbished device is truly ‘like new.'” In addition, each Mac: Will be thoroughly cleaned and inspected Includes Apple’s standard one-year limited warranty Includes up to 90 days of complimentary technical support Comes with all accessories, cables, and operating systems Is packaged in a brand-new white box Is dispatched with free shipping and returns Can be purchased via financing options And can be delivered next day The important thing to note is that Macs bought from the Apple Certified Refurbished Store are not discernibly different from new ones bought directly from the Apple Store. All Macs bought from the Refurbished Store are cleaned, checked, tested, and visually indistinguishable from brand-new models. Apple Reasons not to buy refurbished Macs As you can see there are plenty of good reasons to buy a refurbished Mac from Apple. Are there any disadvantages? One disadvantage is that buying refurbished Mac will likely mean that you aren’t buying a current generation model, although, as we have already said, it is possible to find current generation Macs on the Apple Refurbished Store, but not until at least half a year after launch. Right now the store is selling a lot of M5 and M4 Macs, and these are pretty recent models. The other downside to buying from Apple’s Refurbished Store is that it may not always have the model you’re after. Since the stock depends on the number of returns made or traded in, Apple may have more of one item than another, which is when you may need to turn to other retailers. Another disadvantage is that the discounts you get from buying on the Apple Refurbished Store aren’t always as good as you would get if you bought the same model from somewhere else. But buying from someone other than Apple can be risky. For example, you can get refurbished Macs on Amazon U.S. and Amazon U.K., but the majority of these tend to be old Macs and not models we would recommend buying. There are various other places that sell refurbished Macs and MacBooks that we will run through below. There are many other places that will sell you a ‘refurbished’ Mac, but not everyone performs the same checks as Apple does. Find out why we don’t recommend buying a Mac second-hand if the Mac isn’t certified refurbished in Should I buy a used Mac? Where to buy refurbished Macs Apple isn’t the only company to resell second-hand, refurbished Macs. You could also pick up a refurbished and reconditioned Mac from resellers listed below: In the U.S.: Apple Amazon Back Market MacBooks Back Market Macs Best Buy Gainsaver OWC Mac Of All Trades Refurb.me In the U.K.: Apple Amazon BackMarket Hoxton Macs Laptops Direct MacFinder Mac 4 Sale Music Magpie Buying refurbished, even if it’s not from Apple, should mean that the Mac has been inspected by an authorized Apple technician and, if necessary, faulty parts replaced (but we advise that you check this). Buying the same Mac second-hand for less might look attractive, but it’s not guaranteed to work. It’s worth paying a little extra for a refurbished model for peace of mind. It’s like buying a car from a garage rather than someone on Gumtree. Just be aware that you don’t have to buy a refurbished Mac to get a good discount are not equal. Amazon, for example, often discounts previous-generation Mac models, so you could buy a fairly new model at a discount. The difference is that while Apple could be selling a model that had been returned due to a fault (which has been repaired), the other reseller could be selling an identical Mac that’s never been used. If you want to find a deal, check out our articles about the best iMac deals, best Mac mini deals, the best MacBook Pro deals, and the best MacBook Air deals to look for the best discounts on new Macs and MacBooks. Make sure that the model that you find on Apple’s Refurbished Store isn’t being sold as new by someone else. Best deals on the Apple Refurbished Store These deals change frequently so may not be still on offer when you are reading this but the links will send you to the right place to look for what you need. U.S. Apple refurbished Mac deals MacBook Air on the Apple Refurbished Store – save up to $170 MacBook Pro on the Apple Refurbished Store – save up to $590 iMac on the Apple Refurbished Store – save up to $290 Mac mini on the Apple Refurbished Store – discounts available Mac Studio on the Apple Refurbished Store – discounts available U.K. Apple refurbished Mac deals MacBook Air on the Apple Refurbished Store – discounts available MacBook Pro on the Apple Refurbished Store – save up to £750 iMac on the Apple Refurbished Store – save up to £260 Mac mini on the Apple Refurbished Store – discounts available Mac Studio on the Apple Refurbished Store – discounts available Again, it’s worth comparing whether other retailers are offering better prices for the same models when buying new. Amazon and other stockists often have good discounts on new Macs. To find the best prices have a look at our deals round-ups: Best MacBook Air deals Best MacBook Pro deals Best iMac deals Best Mac mini deals Where to buy a Mac or MacBook How much cheaper are refurbished Macs and MacBooks? The price for reconditioned Macs on Apple’s Refurbished Store changes frequently, but is typically 15 percent less than the original price, as you can see from the prices quoted above. With Macs commanding a high retail price, this can be quite a significant difference. Keep in mind that stock is limited on refurbished models from Apple, and you’re unlikely to find every style of Mac at all times. Other Mac resellers might offer even lower prices than the Apple Refurbished Store, so it’s worth shopping around—particularly during sales events like Black Friday. What if I have a problem with a refurbished Mac? If you buy from Apple you are in good hands. Apple states: “All Refurbished Mac models include full functional testing, genuine Apple part replacements (if necessary), a thorough cleaning, the original Operating System or a more recent version, a brand new box with all accessories and cables.” More importantly, a reconditioned Mac or MacBook from Apple comes with a one-year warranty (extendable to three years with AppleCare protection). You also get the same sales and return procedure with Apple as you would with any new model, so you can return a Mac bought from the Refurbished Store within 14 days if you’re not happy with it. (But note you’ll have to post it back, as Apple will not accept returns to a physical Apple Store on refurbished products). Not that we think you will need to return your Mac. We have plenty of experience buying from Apple’s Refurbished Store and have yet to pick up a Mac from the Refurbished Store and find it wanting. Want to sell an old Mac? Here are our recommendations: How to sell a Mac or MacBook. You can also trade in your Mac to save money on a new one, including trading in your old Mac at Apple. The old-style MacBook Air is beautiful but, running on an Intel processor, is too old to still be supported by Apple’s security updates.Apple Which older Macs are still worth buying? What’s the oldest Mac I should buy? Any Mac with an Apple M-series Silicon processor (M1, M4, etc) is still a viable computer. The higher the number, the faster the processor is broadly correct, but later Macs also often have higher specs in terms of memory (RAM) or storage, plus faster or more able ports and webcams. If your needs are basic productivity tasks—web browsing, Word etc—even the M1 Macs are very capable computers, but you might notice a difference when comparing it to an M3, for instance. M1 and M2 Macs also are limited to supporting just a single external display, but you can get round this limitation by following our workarounds for connecting more than one monitor to your M1/M2 Mac. M1/M2 Pro/Max Macs support two external displays. Differences between M1, M2, M3, M4 and M5 Macs Apple now makes its own processors, known as Apple silicon, in a series titled with an M. The first Apple chip found in Macs was the M1, and by 2026 Apple started releasing M5 Macs. Each new generation will be faster than the previous, plus offer improved features as listed below. Note that Pro, Max and Ultra versions of each chip (e.g. M2 Pro, M4 Max, etc) will be faster and more capable still. Differences between M1 and M2 Macs The M2 is around 10-18% faster than the M1 in terms of performance. It also offers faster charging. The M2 MacBooks have a better webcam (1080p vs 720p) than the M1, and include the MagSafe 3 power connector. Differences between M2 and M3 Macs The M3 is around 15-20% faster than the M2. The base M3 MacBook supports two external displays with the laptop lid closed (clamshell mode), where the M2 supports only one. Differences between M3 and M4 Macs The M4 is around 20-25% faster than the M3. The base M4 MacBook supports two external displays with the lid open, whereas the M3 Air required the lid to be closed (clamshell mode) for dual-monitor setups. The M4 MacBooks include a superior 12MP Center Stage camera, compared to the 1080p FaceTime cameras of the M3 line. Differences between M4 and M5 Macs The M5 is around 15-30% faster than the M4, and new SSDs in M5 models offer 2x faster read/write speeds. The M5 series of Macs features Thunderbolt 5 (across all Pro and Max models) compared to Thunderbolt 4. M5 Macs utilize Apple’s N1 chip that upgrades wireless standards to Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6.0 (up from 6E and 5.3 on the M4). Should you buy an Intel Mac? We don’t recommend you buy Macs older than the M1, as their Intel processors are not supported after macOS 26 Tahoe. Macs older than seven years may not run a version of macOS that Apple supports with security updates. Even if the Mac you buy now is supported by Apple it may only be the case for a year or so. See: How long does Apple support Macs and MacBooks?

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This $80 platform can replace your entire AI stack
Macworld TL;DR: Pay just once for 1min.AI and get an AI toolkit for content, images, video, and more—with no monthly fees. Most people don’t realize how many separate tools they’re juggling until something like this comes along and replaces all of them at once. 1min.AI is designed as an all-in-one AI workspace. For $79.97 (reg. $540), the lifetime Advanced Business Plan gives you writing tools, image generation, video creation, audio editing, and document AI into one platform. On the content side, it handles everything from blog posts and summaries to keyword research and social captions. Need visuals? It can generate images, edit them, remove backgrounds, or even create variations. There are also tools for working with PDFs, translating documents, and pulling insights from files without switching apps. It goes further into audio and video, too. You can generate voiceovers, transcribe audio, create videos from text or images, and even summarize YouTube content. It pulls from multiple AI models, so you’re not locked into a single engine. That flexibility matters when you’re working across different types of content. The 1min.AI Advanced Business Plan is available for a one-time $79.97 (reg. $540) for a limited time. 1min.AI Advanced Business Plan Lifetime SubscriptionSee Deal StackSocial prices subject to change.

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Sunday Reboot: Big change, DOJ sassiness, and the Apple Vision Pro
In this week's "Sunday Reboot," a changing of the guard, the DOJ becomes a tattling schoolchild, and the expensive Apple Vision Pro saves Disney money.John Ternus, the DOJ, and the Apple Vision ProSunday Reboot is a weekly column covering some of the lighter stories within the Apple reality distortion field from the past seven days. All to get the next week underway with a good first step.This week, Apple Music users aren't listening to AI-generated music that's now flooding the service, Apple won't benefit from the tariff refunds for months, and the company faces a $38 billion fine in India as part of an App Store antitrust investigation. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums

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Sunday Reboot: Big change, DOJ sassiness, and the Apple Vision Pro
In this week's "Sunday Reboot," a changing of the guard, the DOJ becomes a tattling schoolchild, and the expensive Apple Vision Pro saves Disney money.John Ternus, the DOJ, and the Apple Vision ProSunday Reboot is a weekly column covering some of the lighter stories within the Apple reality distortion field from the past seven days. All to get the next week underway with a good first step.This week, Apple Music users aren't listening to AI-generated music that's now flooding the service, Apple won't benefit from the tariff refunds for months, and the company faces a $38 billion fine in India as part of an App Store antitrust investigation. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums

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Sunday Reboot: Big change, DOJ sassiness, and the Apple Vision Pro
In this week's "Sunday Reboot," a changing of the guard, the DOJ becomes a tattling schoolchild, and the expensive Apple Vision Pro saves Disney money.John Ternus, the DOJ, and the Apple Vision ProSunday Reboot is a weekly column covering some of the lighter stories within the Apple reality distortion field from the past seven days. All to get the next week underway with a good first step.This week, Apple Music users aren't listening to AI-generated music that's now flooding the service, Apple won't benefit from the tariff refunds for months, and the company faces a $38 billion fine in India as part of an App Store antitrust investigation. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums

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Sunday Reboot: Big change, DOJ sassiness, and the Apple Vision Pro
In this week's "Sunday Reboot," a changing of the guard, the DOJ becomes a tattling schoolchild, and the expensive Apple Vision Pro saves Disney money.John Ternus, the DOJ, and the Apple Vision ProSunday Reboot is a weekly column covering some of the lighter stories within the Apple reality distortion field from the past seven days. All to get the next week underway with a good first step.This week, Apple Music users aren't listening to AI-generated music that's now flooding the service, Apple won't benefit from the tariff refunds for months, and the company faces a $38 billion fine in India as part of an App Store antitrust investigation. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums

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How Will Apple Change Under Its New CEO?
How will Apple change in September under its new CEO — former hardware chief John Ternus? The blog Geeky Gadgets is already expecting "significant updates to the iPhone over the next three years," as well as streamlined internal engineering (plus durability enhancements and high-capacity batteries). 2026: Foldable display 2027: Bezel-less iPhone 20 (celebrating the iPhone's 20th anniversary) CNET's web sites (which include ZDNET, PCMag, Mashable and Lifehacker) are even hosting a contest "to see which of our readers can make the best Apple predictions for 2026. Answer five questions in any of our three rounds of the contest to be entered to win [$applePrize] in September." But the blog 9to5Mac already has a list of new upcoming Apple products, courtesy of Bloomberg's Mark Gurman (who appeared on the TBPN podcast this week "to talk about Apple's CEO transition, what to expect from John Ternus, and more." As part of the conversation, Gurman said: "There are six major Apple products in development right now, six major new product categories." Here's the full list he shared: 1. AI AirPods 2. Smart glasses 3. Pendant 4. Smart display 5. Tabletop robot 6. Security camera [...] Gurman has reported on the Pendant before as a new AI wearable that's an alternative to AI AirPods and Glasses. All three products are expected to rely heavily on a paired iPhone for Siri and other AI features. The smart display ('HomePad'), tabletop robot, and security camera are all brand new Apple Home products. The AI features arrive "thanks to the revamped Apple Foundation Models trained by Google Gemini," reports the AppleInsider blog (citing Gurman's Power On newsletter at Bloomberg). The smart doorbell camera will include "an Apple Intelligence-upgraded version of the facial recognition already included with HomeKit Secure Video. Today, HSV can utilize the Apple Home admin's tagged faces in their Photos app to label people that are viewed on the camera. When a known person rings the doorbell, Siri will announce them by name over the HomePod chime." Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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The New York Times Printed the Wrong Crossword Grid Last Sunday, and I Find That Timing Serendipitous
Software brain says *Go faster; do more; the only mistake you can’t fix is having gone too slow.* Hardware brain says *Slow down; do less; focus; strive for perfection and never settle for less than excellence; mistakes are forever.*

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Acorn 8.5
Brings a new Shape Processor and Arrow shape style, plus several SVG improvements. ($29.99 new, free update, 87.7 MB, macOS 14+)

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Quicken Classic 9.0
Updates the financial management app with several new and improved features. ($77.88/$101.88/$143.88 annual subscription, free update, 3.2 MB, macOS 13+)

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John Ternus could borrow from Microsoft’s playbook to reinvigorate Apple
Microsoft recently announced something rather interesting – a voluntary employee buyout. In short, if your age and tenure at the company add up to 70 or greater, you’re able to voluntarily leave the company, retire early, and receive a (likely) hefty payout. It’s a less hostile form of layoffs, and while I don’t think Apple would implement it for the same reasons as Microsoft, I think it could serve a unique purpose for transforming the company. more…

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What to expect from Apple's Q2 2026 earnings on April 30
Apple will announce its second-quarter financial results for 2026 on April 30. Here's what happened in the quarter, and what analysts think is going to be revealed.Apple CEO Tim CookThe Q2 2026 financial results will be shared by Apple in a press release on April 30. A short time after, at 5 P.M. Eastern, it will hold its usual analyst and investor conference call.That call will involve both current CEO Tim Cook and CFO Kevan Parekh discussing the quarter and providing guidance for future quarters. There will also be questions from analysts about the quarter and expectations for Q3 and beyond. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums

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The new iPhones have a problem turning back on after the battery runs out
Last night, my iPhone Air battery went to zero about 11 PM. I plugged in the USB-C charging cable within seconds of it shutting down, assuming it would immediately boot up again, like you expect. But it didn’t. Minutes passed and nothing happened. There was no low battery indicator visible on the screen; the display was just black. It was like the phone was dead. It turns out this is a thing. There are several threads online with posts from other iPhone owners describing the exact same issue, seemingly across all iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone Air models … more…

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Why the timing of Apple’s CEO transition matters
On September 1st, 2026, John Ternus will officially become Apple’s CEO. Here’s why that timing maters for both Ternus and Apple. more…

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Anker’s Prime 25W MagSafe stand is an ideal 3-in-1 charger for iPhone [Hands-on]
If you’re in the market for an excellent 3-in-1 charging stand to use with your Apple devices, Anker’s new 3-in-1 Prime MagSafe charger could be an excellent pick. It offers 25W MagSafe charging with Qi2.2 support for iPhone, as well as support for Apple Watch and AirPods – making it an excellent pick for Apple users. more…

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Apple's AI push alone will generate three new hardware categories
The long-awaited Apple Home Hub and more will finally arrive thanks to the revamped Apple Foundation Models trained by Google Gemini. The release window is still in question, though.Apple's Home Hub tablet will attach to various products via magnetsThere have been rumors about various AI-centered products for years. However, their release has been pushed back with each Apple Intelligence upgrade delay.According to the Power On newsletter, Apple is focused on releasing three AI-powered smart home products. This is repeat information shared on Thursday with details that have been repeated ad nauseam since the products have been ready for production for some time. Rumor Score: 🤯 Likely Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums

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Giant folding iPad may remain an unreleased experiment
While the iPhone Fold is nearing launch, the future of the often-rumored folding iPad is still in question, as it may never actually make it to consumer hands.What a large folding iPad could look like - Image Credit: AppleInsiderThe rumor mill has been infatuated by the idea of the folding iPhone, which is widely believed to be on the way later in 2026. However, Apple has also been working on another foldable device with less chance of becoming a reality.Writing in Sunday's "Power On" newsletter for Bloomberg, the foldable iPad is a real thing being developed behind closed doors. Described as a tablet with a super-sized 20-inch display, it has been a priority of incoming CEO John Ternus while in his hardware chief role. Rumor Score: 🤔 Possible Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums

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Today in Apple history: It’s the beginning of the end for Mac OS Copland
On April 26, 1996, a key exec behind Apple's eagerly anticipated, but much delayed, Mac OS Copland operating system for Mac left the company. (via Cult of Mac - Your source for the latest Apple news, rumors, analysis, reviews, how-tos and deals.)

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4 reasons you should stop tracking Apple’s sleep score
Is tracking your rest with the Apple Watch sleep score helpful? Here are four ways it might make your day worse, plus how to deactivate it. (via Cult of Mac - Your source for the latest Apple news, rumors, analysis, reviews, how-tos and deals.)

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You don’t need a scanner anymore — just this $25.97 app
Macworld TL;DR: Get a lifetime subscription to iScanner for $25.97 (MSRP $199.90) and scan, edit, and manage documents directly from your phone. There’s always that moment when you need to scan something — a receipt, a form, a contract — and suddenly you’re stuck without a printer, a scanner, or the patience to deal with either. Taking a photo works… until it doesn’t. That’s where something more purpose-built starts to make sense. This iScanner App lifetime subscription is down to $25.97 (MSRP $199.90), turning your phone into a full-on document hub. Instead of snapping messy photos, iScanner automatically detects edges, straightens pages, and cleans up the image so your scans actually look like proper documents. It can export files in multiple formats like PDF, Word, or JPG, and even pulls text from scans using OCR so you can edit or search them later. The app also doubles as a lightweight editor and file manager, so you can sign documents, organize files, and keep everything in one place. iScanner turns your phone into the ultimate document hub Scan documents, IDs, receipts, and notes in seconds Convert files to PDF, Word, Excel, and more Edit, sign, annotate, or merge documents Use AI tools to clean up scans and extract text Organize everything with folders and secure storage It’s built for real-life use — quick scans on the go, not perfect desk setups. Until May 3, grab a lifetime subscription to iScanner for $25.97 and stop fighting with your home scanner. iScanner App: Lifetime SubscriptionSee Deal StackSocial prices subject to change.

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