Apple MacBook Air 13.3" MQD32LL/A Silver 2017

This MacBook Air's CPU sits in the 10th percentile, making it one of the slowest laptops in our database for demanding work. It's saved by a 97th percentile reliability score and a featherlight 1.34kg body that's perfect for basic tasks. Only buy it if you find a deep discount and need a simple, durable Mac for writing and browsing.

Let's be real: this MacBook Air is not built for speed in 2024. The dual-core i5-5350U processor is a decade-old design that lands in the 10th percentile of our CPU rankings. You can browse the web, stream video, and type up documents without much fuss, but don't expect to edit photos or juggle a dozen Chrome tabs smoothly. The Intel HD Graphics 6000 is surprisingly ranked in the 96th percentile for GPU, but that's a quirk of comparing integrated graphics from this era against even weaker netbook chips. It won't game, with a gaming score of just 9.3 out of 100. The 8GB of LPDDR3 RAM is soldered and sits in the 5th percentile, which is a real bottleneck for multitasking. On the plus side, the SSD, while small, keeps boot times and app launches feeling snappy.

Stacked against the competition, this MacBook Air is a niche pick. The Lenovo IdeaPad 82VG00TYUS will offer a more modern processor and a 1080p display for a similar price on the used market. A Dell Latitude 7400 gives you a business-class build with better port selection and upgradeability. Even a Microsoft Surface Pro 4 has a sharper, higher-resolution touchscreen and a more flexible form factor. The MacBook Air's only real win here is its operating system and that classic unibody feel. If you're not locked into macOS, you'll get a lot more hardware for your money elsewhere.

Pricing on this refurbished model is all over the map, with a spread from $70 to $999 across vendors. At the low end, you're getting a well-built typing and browsing machine for less than a fancy dinner. But anywhere near the $999 mark is a hard pass, as you're deep into M1 MacBook Air territory, which obliterates this model in every performance metric. If you can snag one for under $200 and just need a couch laptop for light tasks, the value proposition starts to make sense. Just make sure to check the battery health, as some refurb units are reported to need a replacement right out of the box.

The Apple MacBook Air MQD32LL/A is a refurbished 2017 model that still turns heads for its build quality and portability, landing in the 92nd percentile for compactness in our database. At 1.34kg, it's a breeze to carry, and the all-aluminum unibody feels premium even by today's standards. The reliability score is a standout at the 97th percentile, which lines up with what we see from Apple's older machines. But the internals tell a different story. The 1.8GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 is a fifth-generation chip that sits in the 10th percentile for CPU performance, meaning it struggles with anything beyond basic tasks. The 128GB SSD is tiny, landing in the 9th percentile for storage, and the 1440x900 display is well behind the sharp screens we're used to now.

Anyone who needs to do more than web browsing and word processing should look elsewhere. The CPU is in the 10th percentile, so photo editing, coding, or even heavy multitasking will be a frustrating experience. Gamers should absolutely skip this, given the 9.3 out of 100 gaming score. If you need a sharp display for watching movies, the 1440x900 screen in the 9th percentile will disappoint. And if you need local storage for files, the 128GB drive will fill up in a heartbeat.

The 2017 MacBook Air MQD32LL/A is a beautifully built relic. It's a reliable, lightweight machine for writing, email, and streaming, backed by a 97th percentile reliability score that suggests it'll keep chugging along. But the 10th percentile CPU and 9th percentile screen are dealbreakers for anyone who needs more than the absolute basics. Only consider this if you find it for a steal, you're deeply tied to macOS on a budget, and you understand that its performance ceiling is very, very low.