MacBook Air M1 - refurbished a good route to buy?

[OMITN]

I am close to saying stuff it and spending some money (ahem... ignoring the recent tool purchases for work on the car )

I need access to a computer that isn't my work laptop (so locked down I can't access lots of stuff) and isn't the (aged) iMac now taken by our daughter during the lockdowns and being used for high school work.

Since we're Apple users (iMac, iPhones, iPads, family Apple Music etc.), a MacBook makes sense. Doesn't need to be uber powerful, so thinking of the new M1 Air.

Before I go nuts and make an expensive error, please keep me honest!

1. Is there any reason not to buy through the Apple Refurbished store? A base M1 Air is £850 vs £1000.
2. The base model is 8GB RAM with a 265GB SSD. Any sense in pushing either of those to their maximums (16GB/512GB)?

Thank you...!

[mmm-five]

Refurb store is the cheapest way to get a fully-guaranteed, as new Mac...I do it regularly for home purchases...unless I'm impatient or in desperate need of a specific CTO/BTO (configure to order / build to order) option.

Be aware that these machines are not internally upgradeable, so whilst you can add external storage relatively cheaply (even though it will never be as fast as the internal SSD) you cannot upgrade the RAM (which is shared with the integrated GPU).

Also be aware that the entry-level model has 1 GPU core less than the higher-end version. But when configured to the same RAM/SSD it's about £50 more for the higher-end model. Whether that's important or not to you I don't know!

Unfortunately the incremental storage/RAM increases are not particularly cheap - but I'd recommend going for 512GB SSD and the 16GB RAM option (1TB or 2TB SSD is probably overkill and not worth the £400/£800 premium over the 256GB - especially when you can get an external 2TB SSD drive with USB-C for about 1/4 of that).

Currently the price of a new 13.3" M1 MacBook Air in 16GB/512GB config is £1449 - whereas a refurb of the same config is £1229.

Edited by mmm-five on Friday 3rd September 13:06

[Durzel]

There's a good chance a new significantly redesigned MacBook Pro is going to be announced this year, isn't there? Maybe wise to wait until the dust settles from that.

[Jonathan27]

I'm in a very similar situation, right down to my daughter having commandeered my old MacBook air! There are some pretty decent offers on Amazon at the moment, also if your kids are at high school or Uni you could look in to using the education discounts - my kids are still primary age, so not an option here.
As for waiting for the new model, I fell for this a few times over, before realizing that apple always has something new on the horizon. if you wait for the new model, you'll never end up buying.
Have yo been tempted to spend a little more and get a MacBook Pro? I'm struggling not too.

[Durzel]

I meant more that people will sell their ones when the new one comes out, so there might be a corresponding drop in price depending on how big a jump the refresh is.

[mmm-five]

Durzel said:

I meant more that people will sell their ones when the new one comes out, so there might be a corresponding drop in price depending on how big a jump the refresh is.

But they'll be people selling used MacBookPros with zero warranty, and will probably expect a similar price to what you could get from the refurb store.

[Jonathan27]

Durzel said:

I meant more that people will sell their ones when the new one comes out, so there might be a corresponding drop in price depending on how big a jump the refresh is.

sorry, I thought you were suggesting waiting for the new model as an option to buy. I guess the apple fan club may well trade in their 'old' M1 Macs once the new one comes out, thus driving down the price.

[OMITN]

Cool. Thanks all.

Yes, acutely aware of the "new thing round the corner" speculation that Apple loves to create.

For usage I think an Air is sufficient. I'm not doing anything particularly heavy (maybe some light photo editing), but just want access to a computer..! So I'm not sure a Pro justifies itself over an Air for usage.

As for educational discounts, my daughter has just started high-school and my wife is a university academic, so we can access those. But I think I'll hold that back in case we choose either to upgrade the iMac (it's late 2012 and, even with maxed out RAM - 32GB - and a recent install of OSX Catalina, it's getting slow) or get a laptop for our daughter.

I think the answer is a refurbished Air 16/512.

Thanks all..!

[megaphone]

My 2009 iMac was from refurb store, so was my 2013 Air, both where 'as new' bot are still going strong.

I have also purchased a few others over the years for customer projects, all 'as new'.

[tim0409]

I recently purchased a base MBA from John Lewis for £879 (now £899) and it’s more than fast enough for me, and I suspect most people. I’ve bought refurbished Apple stuff in the past and it’s always been perfect, but for such a small difference I would buy new at JL. If I recall refurbished items come in a plain box unless that’s changed; resale may be easier with a retail box.

[bitchstewie]

New M1 Air's at Amazon are £899.

[mw88]

I bought my Intel MacBook Pro from the Apple Refurb store a year or so ago, and it turned up looking brand new - Wouldn't know it was refurbed. I've had no issues with it at all.

Was a bit more of a saving than £150 though, £1200 instead of £1700, for a < 6 month old MacBook Pro

[Phunk]

You don't need the 16GB of ram.

I have an 8/512 M1 MacBook air and for 99% of tasks including 4K video editing the performance is identical to my 2019 16" MacBook Pro with 32GB of ram.

[richard-8zwx3]

OP If your daughter has a school email account she could order from here:
https://www.theedustore.co.uk/mac/macbook-air
£830 for new one