Shoppers on a budget can pick up a refurbished Apple MacBook Pro 13-inch Core i5 128GB for £159 on deals website Wowcher. The laptop first launched in 2013 with an original retail price of £1,249, meaning the deal saves over £1,600 against the cost of a brand-new MacBook.
Apple's latest MacBook Pro 14.2-inch, equipped with an M5 chip and 16GB RAM, is currently priced at £1,824 on Amazon. Given that many students heading to college or university in the autumn won't have this kind of budget, the Wowcher offer provides a cheaper alternative suited for everyday admin or research, if shoppers don't mind sacrificing more up-to-date levels of speed and quality.
What the £159 MacBook includes
The refurbished MacBook Pro comes with 8GB RAM, a 128GB SSD and a retina display, delivering sharp and vibrant visuals. Its slim, lightweight build makes it a practical choice for university life or frequent travel, and it can also handle video streaming for entertainment.
Every second-hand device sold on Wowcher is thoroughly tested, with the site promising that "everything works perfectly". However, it warns that there may be "a few signs of wear-and-tear", so the laptop is unlikely to look as pristine as a brand-new model.
Customer reviews
Some shoppers who have bought refurbished tech from Wowcher have left positive reviews on Trustpilot. One customer wrote: "I have ordered a few laptops from Wowcher and they say refurbished, but they arrive as if they're new. Brilliant deals." Another said: "Purchased a refurbished MacBook Pro in 2023 at an unbelievably reduced price! As a MacBook user for over a decade and a half, I am impressed with the quality of the product - as good as new."
Not every experience has been positive, though. One reviewer shared: "Got a refurbished iPad as a second iPad so not really expecting anything great. Would not look to repeat, all too often I put it down because it takes too long to load a page, or I can't access an app because the iOS doesn't support it and won't accept the latest update."
Other places to find refurbished MacBooks
Wowcher is not the only platform selling second-hand MacBook Pros at a discount. Amazon Resale, formerly known as Amazon Warehouse, lists more than a dozen options starting from £509.77 for a 2020 Apple MacBook Pro at the time of writing. Meanwhile, second-hand retailer Back Market offers a 2015 MacBook Pro for £176.
For shoppers who prefer a brand-new laptop, Dell's most affordable model is the Dell Chromebook 11 Laptop at £412.98. Described as "optimised for educational excellence", it features a MediaTek Kompanio 540 processor, dual-mic cameras and an anti-glare 11-inch HD display. Acer's most competitively priced Chromebook, the Acer Chromebook Plus 514, costs £549.99 and includes a 14-inch Full HD narrow bezel display with anti-glare coating, up to twice the speed, memory and storage of older top-selling Chromebook models from 2022, plus 12 months of Google AI Pro free.
