ZDNET
If you’ve been thinking about getting a secondary laptop for work, school, or travel, you might want to consider a refurbished 13-inch MacBook Air from Back Market. Right now, ahead of Labor Day, the thin and light laptop with the Intel Core i5 processor for as low as $116 — a substantial discount for a device that was once $1,000.
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You can get higher-tier refurbished laptops certified as being in “Excellent” condition for as low as $164 on the site, meaning they have essentially no visible signs of use and have batteries that work like new (above 90% health).
Back Market certifies each laptop it sells with a blank slate: a fresh OS install with a factory reset and thorough testing of the hardware and software. This is a great deal for the MacBook Air from 2017, especially for anyone looking for a secondary laptop or travel device that can browse the web, keep you connected with email, and sync with your iPhone for FaceTime and iMessage.
The 2017 MacBook Air comes with an Intel Core i5 1.8GHz processor, and 8GB of RAM, making for a thin and light laptop that’s not only expressly portable, but also set the standard for other ultraportables for years to come. At 2.9 pounds, this is something you can easily through into a bag and forget about it.
In terms of connectivity, the 13-inch MacBook Air is streamlined with two USB-A ports, Wi‑Fi 802.11ac, and support for Bluetooth 4. Note that this version is not the MacBook with the (rather unpopular) touchbar — just the normal QWERTY keyboard.
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Note that this version of MacBook Air will run up to MacOS Monterey, which is optimized for the hardware on this machine. It’s not the newest OS, but it’s got the core suite of apps that make Macs so well-suited for everyday tasks. If you’re using this device for work, you’ve got Google Chrome, Microsoft Office, PixelMaster Pro, and, of course, AirPlay.
So why consider buying a refurbished device? First off, Back Market certifies all of its products with a free no-questions-asked 30-day warranty, along with a verified refurbished program that requires all of its laptops to be physically inspected by a pro. In the case that something isn’t up to snuff, it’s replaced before being sold.
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One of the biggest concerns is battery life, and for all refurbished laptops, Back Market maintains a minimum of 85% battery life. For “Good” or “Excellent” quality items, that number is 90% or 95%. This means the battery has undergone a minimal amount of wear, and you won’t have to worry about it dying on you.
The 13-inch display on this laptop was top-of-the-line when it came out in 2017, and still looks great today. You’ve got a 13.3-inch widescreen display with a standard 1440 x 900 resolution and 300 nits of brightness.
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