Woot! (which is owned by Amazon) just kicked off its Back to School Sale on computers and tech, including some great deals on Apple Macbook Air and MacBook Pro laptops and iMac desktop computers. Although the sale officially ends on August 20, the best deals usually go out of stock much sooner than that. These used MacBooks are categorized from "Refurbished" to "Scratch and Dent," but in return you're paying prices that are hundreds, even thousands less than buying new. Woot also includes a 30-day return policy and its own 90-day limited warranty.
Apple MacBook Discounts During Woot's Back to School Sale
Which MacBook is right for your needs?
Nowadays Apple Macbooks come in just two models: the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro. We've already picked out our favorite MacBooks you should get, but in a nutshell, the MacBook Air is a thinner laptop that's easier to carry around whereas the MacBook Pro can be equipped with more powerful components for creators or professionals or as a mobile desktop replacement. For most people, the MacBook Air is our recommended pick because it's less expensive, it's a more practical laptop if you need to carry it around often, and it still offers plenty of power for all but the most intensive tasks.
Once you've picked out a laptop you want to go with, you're not done yet. Each model is available in different screen sizes and can be equipped with a more powerful CPU/GPU or extra memory and storage. In general, Apple upgrades can get very expensive, so you don't want to overcompensate "just because". In general, I would recommend at least 16GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD. The Apple M-chip is the base level CPU, but it's both capable and energy efficient and perfect for most use cases. The next level up is the M Pro chip and the most premium model is the M Max chip. The number of the chip represents its generation, so the M1 chip is the 1st generation chip and the M2 is the 2nd generation. Note that a newer chip doesn't mean it's better than the higher end variants of the older chip. An M2 chip is not as powerful as the M1 Pro or M1 Max; it has a slightly higher single-core clock speed but the M1 Pro and M1 Max have more cores and a better GPU.
Eric Song is the IGN commerce manager in charge of finding the best gaming and tech deals every day. When Eric isn't hunting for deals for other people at work, he's hunting for deals for himself during his free time.
