9 Months with a Refurbished MacBook Pro – Was It Worth It?
Hey everyone,
About 9 months ago, I made a big switch…I bought a refurbished MacBook Pro M3 Pro from Apple’s Certified Refurbished Store. As someone who had been using Windows PCs my whole life, this was a major change.
At the time, I needed a laptop that could handle 4K video editing without breaking the bank, so I decided to go with a refurbished model instead of buying brand new. The savings were significant ($530 AUD off the retail price!), but was it actually worth it?
After nearly a year of use, here’s my honest review of the experience—how it’s held up, what I love, and whether I’d still recommend going refurbished in 2025.
Why I Chose a Refurbished MacBook Pro M3 Pro
When I was looking for an upgrade, my options were:
Upgrade my old Windows PC’s graphics card (but that wouldn’t fix everything)
Buy a brand-new MacBook Pro (but that was pricey)
Go with a refurbished MacBook and save money
I ended up buying a 14-inch MacBook Pro with the M3 Pro chip, 18GB of RAM, and a 512GB SSD from Apple’s refurbished store. It arrived looking basically brand new—no scratches, a brand-new charger, and even a low battery cycle count of just 14 (meaning it had barely been used).
At first, I was a little nervous about switching from Windows to Mac, but I got used to macOS surprisingly quickly!
How It’s Holding Up After 9 Months
Now, after nearly a year of using this MacBook every single day for video editing, here’s how it’s performing:
Performance: Pretty good, even with 4K editing in DaVinci Resolve and multiple layers of footage with effects (no issues most of the time). I do slightly lower the playback resolution when I notice frame drops, but it generally keeps up.
Battery Life: Great, although most of the time it’s plugged into my dock on my desk.
Build Quality: Still looks brand new, no wear or scratches.
Software Updates: macOS updates have been seamless, no slowdowns.
The 512GB SSD hasn’t been an issue for me because I work directly from an external SSD. That keeps things fast and means I never worry about running out of space.
The only thing I would change? More RAM.
When I have multiple demanding apps open—like DaVinci Resolve, photo editing software, web browsing, and Notion—I can sometimes hit the RAM limit. It’s not a huge problem, though; I just close out some apps to focus on one thing at a time.
Should You Buy a Refurbished MacBook in 2025?
If you’re considering a MacBook, going refurbished is definitely worth it—but here are a few things to keep in mind:
Apple’s refurbished products are legit – They come with a 1-year warranty, new battery, and new charger.
You save a lot – I saved $530 AUD, and sometimes discounts are even bigger.
Stock is limited – If you see a model you want, grab it fast because it might sell out.
Would I buy refurbished again? Absolutely. The only thing I’d change is getting more RAM for heavy multitasking.
Final Thoughts
After 9 months, my refurbished MacBook Pro M3 Pro still feels like a brand-new machine. If you’re thinking about buying one, the refurbished store is 100% worth checking out—especially with how expensive new MacBooks are.
Have you ever bought a refurbished Apple product? Or are you considering one? Let me know—I’d love to hear your thoughts!
See you in the next newsletter!
– Sam