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The MacBook Air may prove challenging to use for those students who work with high-end scientific, engineering, or content creation applications. If you need something particularly small and light, you can still find some 11-inch MacBook Airs out there, even though it was discontinued in 2017. The MacBook Air is a great option if you need something small and light.
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USED 2012 MACBOOK PRO PRO
But even if it doesn't, if you can find a used or refurbished MacBook Pro for a decent price, a MacBook Pro will still serve you well in less technically-intensive fields. If your schoolwork involves using resource-intensive applications or video editing, you'll definitely want a MacBook Pro. Higher-end models are great for more involved work, such as using complex scientific and engineering programs. Even the lower-end models provide ample power for most tasks, such as writing, web browsing, and photo editing.
USED 2012 MACBOOK PRO SERIES
The MacBook Pro is a great series of Macs because it's the most flexible of Apple's lineup.
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MacBook Pros are flexible and great for a variety of tasks. If I were to give or sell this MacBook Pro to a student today, they'd probably have a solid machine for their educational needs for the next few years. It's still an excellent machine for browsing the web, researching, writing, and even photo editing (though that feels like it has slowed down). It's only now really beginning to show it's age. Until very recently, I had been using a 2013 Retina MacBook Pro as my primary computer. Instead, the MagSafe connector will just pop right out, keeping your MacBook safe on its surface. When your roommate comes traipsing through the living room and accidentally kicks your power cord while you're working, you won't have to worry about your laptop going flying. For students, MagSafe might just be a lifesaver. There's also a compelling reason to get an older, pre-2016 MacBook Pro or pre-2018 MacBook Air: MagSafe. If you're planning on keeping your laptop as long as you can, and not get a new one as soon as you graduate, you'll want as fast a machine as you can find. Something with an Intel Core i5 or Core i7 will prove more capable for a longer than a lower-end Mac powered by a dual-core i3, and this is especially true if you've got a machine more than five years old.
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If you can, also try to get your hands on something that had reasonably high-powered components when it was initially released.
USED 2012 MACBOOK PRO SOFTWARE
That way, you should have access to software updates for at least a few years, and of course, a newer Mac will last for a longer period. Whatever you get, make sure it has an SSD, rather than a spinning hard drive.Īlthough you should be fine (depending on what kind of work you need to do) with a MacBook even several years old, try to get something as close to new as possible. Don't get something old enough that it still uses a spinning hard drive. Speaking as someone who went to college with a laptop that used a spinning disk, you absolutely want an SSD in your MacBook. This is because if it's a MacBook Air from that time period, or a MacBook Pro with Retina display, which debuted in 2012, it will include SSD storage as standard. What you're looking for in any used Mac laptopįirst thing's first: whether you're getting it as a hand-me-down from a relative, finding it on eBay, or buying it from Apple's own Certified Refurbished store, you're going to want something from no further back than 2012 or 2013.
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