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Best back to school MacBook deals: new and renewed for cheap

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We’re seeing some great Apple deals today that are perfect for everyone heading back to school. We’ve picked out some of the very best back to school MacBook deals so you don’t have to go looking for yourself. That includes the best offers from the Amazon back to school sale as well as the Best Buy back to school sale. While you’re stocking up on key equipment ahead of returning to class, it’s a smart move to see what we’ve highlighted in the Staples back to school sale and the Walmart back to school sale as this is the perfect time to save big on some highly sought after items. Read on while we take you through some super cheap refurbished MacBook deals along with the latest and fastest hardware around.

Apple MacBook Air 2017 (Renewed) — $215

A MacBook Air 2017, opened.
Apple

Ideally, you really want to invest more than a couple of hundred bucks when buying a MacBook. If money is tight though and you absolutely must have a Mac, check out this 2017 Apple MacBook Air. It won’t ruin the latest macOS, but it’s still reasonably competent given the super low price. It has a 1.8GHz Intel Core i5 processor, 8GB of memory, and 128GB of SSD storage. There’s also a 1.3-inch LED-backlit display and the promise of a 12 hour battery life. As it’s renewed, it’ll be less than this in reality but again, if money is tight, you could do worse.

Apple MacBook Air 13-inch with M2 — $799, was $999

The screen of the MacBook Air M2.
Apple MacBook Air M2 Luke Larsen / Digital Trends

With a bit more power under the hood, the Apple MacBook Air with M2 may not be the latest model any more but the M2 chip continues to be impressively powerful. Besides that processor, there’s 8GB of memory and 256GB of SSD storage. As is often the way with MacBooks, the screen is spectacular too. It has a 13.6-inch Liquid Retina display with 500 nits of brightness, P3 wide color, and support for 1 billion colors. It also promises up to 18 hours of battery life while there’s a 1080p FaceTime HD camera, three-mic array, and four-speaker sound system with Spatial Audio. It’s a great all-rounder.

Apple MacBook Air 13-inch with M3 — $850, was $1,099

The M3 MacBook Air in front of a window.
Luke Larsen / Digital Trends

Topping our look at the best MacBooks, the Apple MacBook Air 13-inch with M3 is a great laptop which is built to last for a long time. It has the M3 chip with 8-core CPU and 10-core GPU while there’s 8GB of memory and 256GB of SSD storage. Its 13.6-inch Liquid Retina display looks great with support for one billion colors, P3 wide color, and 500 nits of brightness. It’s super lightweight but boasts 18 hours of battery life, while there’s all the nice quality of life additions like four speakers with Spatial Audio, three mics, and a 1080p FaceTime HD webcam. It’s the ideal companion for your life.

Apple MacBook Air 15-inch with M3 — $1,050, was $1,299

Bladur's Gate 3 being played on the M3 MacBook Air.
Luke Larsen / Digital Trends

Effectively the same as the above model but with a bigger screen, the Apple MacBook Air 15-inch with M3 is good as a desktop replacement that can also be carried around with you all day long. Its 15.3-inch Liquid Retina display looks great as expected while there’s the M3 chip, 8GB of memory, and 256GB of SSD storage. The backlit keyboard looks good, there’s Touch ID support, six speakers with Spatial Audio and up to 18 hours of battery life. It’s a laptop that you’ll buy today and still be using and enjoying for years to come, and a fantastic investment before you head to school.

Apple MacBook Pro 16-inch with M3 Pro — $1,999, was $2,499

Apple MacBook Pro 16 front view showing display and keyboard.
Mark Coppock / Digital Trends

If your studying requires you to edit a lot of videos, complete complex processes, or anything else that’s demanding, you need the Apple MacBook Pro 16-inch with M3 Pro. The M3 Pro is second only to the M3 Max chip so it’s powerful stuff with a 12-core CPU and 18-core GPU. Alongside the processor is 18GB of memory and 512GB of SSD storage. There’s also the delightful 16.2-inch Liquid Retina XDR display with Extreme Dynamic Range, 1,000 nits of brightness for HDR content, and up to 600 nits for SDR content. It looks fantastic so it’s perfect for all your creative ambitions. Up to 22 hours of battery life, plenty of Thunderbolt 4 ports, and a backlit Magic Keyboard round off the steady supply of great extra features.

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Jennifer Allen
Jennifer Allen
Deals Writer
Jennifer Allen is a technology writer with over 15 years of experience in the field. During that time, she's spent the past…
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