Apple Macbook Air 13" (2017) (S&D)

I wanted to get an older Intel Mac for the sake of hauling it around and doing some things to it that are “off label” so to speak. I had low expectations, but for under $200, I figured, worst-case, I’d throw some flavor of Linux on it and use it as a secondary device. While it isn’t as fast as my M3 MacBook Air that I use mostly at home, it is incredibly serviceable. It is refurbished, mine came with a brand new battery and for this particular device the battery life is really great, even under a bit of load it’s 4+ hours, and I’m a bit of a heavy user so you may get more. Upgradeable (just ordered a larger SSD for it because I am using it so much that I’m investing in more storage, the specialized drive for it runs around $60 or you can get the NVMe SSD of your choice with an adapter if you have a spare lying around you want to use.) OpenCore will get you to Sequoia and I’ve heard some people are able to run Tahoe Beta. Without modification though it runs Sonoma which for most people will do just fine. You’re not getting the greatest screen with an 8 year old computer but the screen actually looks really good. The i5 Processor and 8 GB of RAM are not powerhouses these days but if you have a $200 budget and have to choose between this and one of those new budget laptops with a Celeron or N95/100/etc. this will do much better! Just remember, this is an 8 year old device as far as the tech. It does great. But if you’re expecting an experience similar to the new M-series processors, you won’t get it. I would suggest looking into a refurbished Air with an M1 if you want that experience. That said, it packs a lot more punch than I thought it would and I am currently using it as my out of the house daily driver. It does get a little warm under load but not hot. If you’re just web browsing, YouTubing, doing school or office work, maybe some very basic photo or video editing, this machine will do just fine. For people with a little less tech experience, I would suggest making sure you save files to the cloud or a USB drive (also has an SD card slot if you want to go that route.) This does NOT have USB-C and Thunderbolt 2 does not natively connect to current Thunderbolt/USB-C. There are adapters for that on Amazon if you need it for any reason. With the right cable that port can also be used to connect to an external monitor if you need it. OH. And! Keyboard and Apple Logo are both backlit. I believe this was the last MacBook Air with a backlit Apple Logo. If nothing else that increases its “cool factor.” Bigger bezels than new devices, but honestly, they don’t bother me and I think most people won’t find them excessive. I would say this laptop is for: Students Children who you want to give a first computer to where you don’t need them to have the latest and the greatest. People who have been using Windows and want to try a Mac but don’t want to commit big money to the ecosystem yet People who have a Chromebook budget but don’t want a crappy underpowered machine that is effectively a web browser with mobile apps and don’t know how to use the Linux environment People who are interested in the Hackintosh community but would rather have the real thing. People looking at those sub-$300 computers with EMMC memory and 4 GB of RAM and underpowered processors Hope that this helps people who are thinking about this computer but are on the fence. It’s truly a great machine. And while Apple has dropped support for Intel, security updates should continue to roll out for a few years in case safety is a concern.