Which used MacBook should she buy?

[EEzycade]

I have a friend who's a girl. She wants to buy a computer, as she doesn't own one and is sick of her using her mom's outdated slow Windows laptop. She had the idea to buy a pixel book, which I promptly but politely shot down as ChromeOS is limited, not to mention the price tag. She also does not have that kind of budget. I suggested that she save for a few months and then buy a decent midrange sub-1000 dollar Windows laptop. An alternate suggestion I offered was to buy a used MacBook of some kind. However, I am biased towards MacOS. So, if she chooses to come over to Apple, which used MacBook would be a good buy? I realize this question needs some additional context.

Use case: General. No photo or video editing. Web browsing, YouTube, documents for school. Typical stuff
Price range: Under 1000 dollars.

Thanks for any advice or suggestions. A secondary question would be, are there any red flags I should look out for on eBay/Swappa/craiglist/offerup listings? Thanks again!

 

[glenthompson]

She would probably do well with a MacBook Air. Bought one on Woot a couple of years ago for $800. That was for a 512gb version. I would actually prefer an older one without the butterfly keyboard. Apple refurbished store currently has some models for about $800. Comes with 1 year warranty and eligible for AppleCare.

Local sales are generally better than eBay since you get to see and use it before buying. I bought my MBP on Craigslist 8 years ago. Still going strong. Did a little research on the seller and found that his step-father was a local policeman. We did the transaction at the police station so we both felt secure.

 

[Fishrrman]

Sounds like one of the NEW (not the previous version) MacBook Airs may do the job for her.

 

[Ericdjensen]

New base Macbook Air, $899 with education discount(which requires no proof online).

 

[retta283]

I agree with the posters above me. Sure you could go for a pre-2016 MBP, but those are getting old and will not have any sort of warranty. The big sticking point for a long time was the butterfly keyboard, which has now been resolved. Try to get EDU discount, but the new MBA is really the way to go.

 

[Saturn007]

“would actually prefer an older one without the butterfly keyboard. Apple refurbished store currently has some models for about $800. Comes with 1 year warranty and eligible for AppleCare.”

That. might have been true two months ago, and a couple did sneak in recently, but they are no longer available.

Far better to spend $900 or $1,000 on a 2020 MacBook Air. That would suit her needs to a tee — would be brand new, would have excellent resale value, and a much, much better display than the old version.

 

[algoy]

2020 base Macbook Air with edu discount...those are no-brainer even here in Europe!