{"id":1823,"date":"2017-07-06T11:00:35","date_gmt":"2017-07-06T16:00:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/swappa.com\/blog\/?p=1823"},"modified":"2021-11-19T19:12:34","modified_gmt":"2021-11-20T01:12:34","slug":"buying-a-used-macbook-the-essential-guide-on-computing-power","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/swappa.com\/blog\/buying-a-used-macbook-the-essential-guide-on-computing-power\/","title":{"rendered":"Buying a used MacBook, the essential guide on computing power"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Computing power is the headliner of your used or refurbished laptop shopping show. We won\u2019t go too deep into defining what the RAM and processors for each configuration will get you. Instead, let\u2019s just think on a high level what kind of power and speed you\u2019ll need out of a <a href=\"https:\/\/swappa.com\/buy\/macbooks\">MacBook<\/a> on a day to day basis.<\/p>\n<p>Factors for computing power:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Processor<\/li>\n<li>Memory<\/li>\n<li>Storage<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>For all of these factors the <a href=\"https:\/\/swappa.com\/buy\/macbooks\/macbook-pro\">MacBook Pro<\/a> is boss, offering up the fastest&nbsp;processor, most memory, and most storage.<\/p>\n<h2>What kind of MacBook will I need?<\/h2>\n<p>There are three general categories we\u2019ll use to help you determine the memory and storage that may work best for you. We\u2019ve broken use into three categories with some brief descriptions in the table below. Depending on where you fit on the usage scale, take a look at the possible processing combos for guidance.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_1824\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1824\" style=\"width: 1140px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/swappa.com\/buy\/macbooks\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1824 size-full img-responsive\" alt=\"\" src=\"http:\/\/swappa.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/Screen-Shot-2017-07-05-at-12.38.30-PM.png\" width=\"1140\" height=\"658\"><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-1824\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Possible uses for a refurbished <a href=\"https:\/\/swappa.com\/buy\/macbooks\">MacBook<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>As mentioned above, the <strong>13\u201d and 15\u201d MacBook Pro\u2019s<\/strong> are usually the go to devices for those who seek the top of the line computing prowess. Choosing between the two will come down to the portability considerations mentioned earlier.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_1827\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1827\" style=\"width: 262px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/swappa.com\/buy\/devices\/apple\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1827 img-responsive\" alt=\"\" src=\"http:\/\/swappa.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/A-used-MacBook-can-be-perfect-for-work-on-the-go.jpeg\" width=\"262\" height=\"175\"><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-1827\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Used MacBooks, used iphones and used tablets are available from Swappa to keep you connected no matter where you are.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Once you\u2019ve determined what level of work you\u2019ll put your used MacBook through, you can narrow in on things like storage and memory. In the following tables you\u2019ll see how each of the models has changed relative to computing prowess over the years. You\u2019ll find many, if not most of these configurations available on Swappa at any given time.<\/p>\n<p>If you\u2019re thinking of buying a <a href=\"https:\/\/swappa.com\/buy\/macbooks\/macbook-pro\"><strong>used or refurbished MacBook Pro<\/strong><\/a>, then you\u2019ll have plenty of choices on Swappa. There have been several updates and changes to these devices over the years, so here\u2019s a table to help you compare the 15\u201d MacBook across the years.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-1990 img-responsive\" alt=\"\" src=\"http:\/\/swappa.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/1522-MBP.png\" width=\"1364\" height=\"832\"><\/p>\n<p>As you can see from the table below, a used 13&#8243; MacBook Air will give you great battery life in a lightweight package. A<strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/swappa.com\/buy\/macbooks\/macbook-air\">used or refurbished MacBook Air<\/a><\/strong> won&#8217;t be a disappointment if you&#8217;re looking for a lightweight device that will probably go most of the day unplugged. &nbsp;This would be a great used MacBook for a student doing research, writing and light computing<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-1991 img-responsive\" alt=\"\" src=\"http:\/\/swappa.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/1322-MBA.png\" width=\"1388\" height=\"620\"><\/p>\n<p>The light and nimble <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/swappa.com\/buy\/apple-macbook-retina\">12&#8243; MacBook<\/a><\/strong> is the lighted and smallest of the bunch, but the years for a used device likely will be limited to the most recent 2015 and 2016 models. This could be the best&nbsp;used laptop to buy if most of the apps you use are in the cloud.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-1992 img-responsive\" alt=\"\" src=\"http:\/\/swappa.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/1222-MBR.png\" width=\"1386\" height=\"596\"><\/p>\n<p>You&#8217;ll notice that the most current models of the <a href=\"https:\/\/swappa.com\/buy\/macbooks\/macbook-air\">MacBook Air<\/a>&nbsp;only have the one USB-C port. If you are looking to use your laptop as a desktop and want to hook up an external monitor or just want the convenience of more ports, you may want to consider a different model.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Questions to ask yourself about computing power:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Are most of the apps I want to run cloud based?<\/li>\n<li>Am I willing to trade in a more powerful laptop for less battery power and portability?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Next, explore other important features such as computing power and our summary that gives a few more purchasing guidelines.<\/p>\n<p>Skip to the next section using these links:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"ul1\">\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/swappa.com\/blog\/2017\/07\/07\/buying-a-used-macbook-the-essential-guide-intro\/\">Intro<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/swappa.com\/blog\/2017\/07\/06\/buying-a-used-macbook-the-essential-guide-on-price\/\">Price<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/swappa.com\/blog\/2017\/07\/06\/buying-a-used-macbook-the-essential-guide-on-portability\/\">Portability<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/swappa.com\/blog\/2017\/07\/06\/buying-a-used-macbook-the-essential-guide-on-accessibility\/\">Accessibility<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/swappa.com\/blog\/2017\/07\/05\/buying-a-used-macbook-the-essential-guide-summary\/\">Summary<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">Snag the best\u00a0deals on\u00a0<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/swappa.com\/buy\/macbooks\" target=\"_blank\">used MacBooks<\/a>\u00a0deals wherever you go. Download the\u00a0<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/swappa.com\/app\" target=\"_blank\">Swappa App<\/a>\u00a0today!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><a href=\"https:\/\/apps.apple.com\/app\/apple-store\/id1572540049?pt=117971450&amp;ct=blog&amp;mt=8\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/swappa.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/iOS-App-Store-transparent.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-24302 img-responsive\" width=\"180\" height=\"60\"\/><\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Computing power is the one of the main features you&#8217;ll want to look at when choosing a used Mac. In this article we offer up some possible memory and storage combos that may work for you depending on how you&#8217;ll use your machine. We&#8217;ve also created some useful tables to compare how some of the features have changed over the years.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":26,"featured_media":1825,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,16,278,13],"tags":[287,281,283,282,332],"products":[],"class_list":["post-1823","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-apple","category-buyer-tips","category-macbook","category-protips","tag-apple-macbook","tag-macbooks-on-swappa","tag-sell-used-macbook","tag-used-macbooks","tag-where-to-buy-used-macbooks"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/swappa.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1823","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/swappa.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/swappa.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swappa.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/26"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swappa.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1823"}],"version-history":[{"count":23,"href":"https:\/\/swappa.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1823\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24879,"href":"https:\/\/swappa.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1823\/revisions\/24879"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swappa.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1825"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/swappa.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1823"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swappa.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1823"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swappa.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1823"},{"taxonomy":"products","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swappa.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/products?post=1823"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}