Apple MacBook Air 13.3" MQD32LL/A Silver 2017

This MacBook Air's reliability is in the 97th percentile, making it a durable choice, but its CPU is a sluggish 11th percentile performer. The 128GB SSD and 8GB of RAM are both in the bottom 10% of all laptops we've tested. Only consider this if you find it for a steal and your workload is extremely light.

Let's be real: the performance here is a weak spot. The Intel 5th Gen Core i5 processor is a dual-core chip running at 1.8GHz, and it's one of the slowest CPUs in our laptop database, sitting in the 11th percentile. You'll feel this in app load times and multitasking. The integrated Intel HD Graphics 6000 is a strange case, scoring in the 96th percentile for GPU, but that's a statistical quirk of comparing it against other ultra-low-power chips from its era. It won't play modern games, as the 19.7 gaming score confirms, but it handles macOS animations and 1440p video playback without a stutter.

The 8GB of LPDDR3 RAM is the real bottleneck. At the 5th percentile, it's one of the lowest amounts we see. You can forget about having dozens of browser tabs open alongside a few other apps. The 128GB SSD is fast for what it is, but its capacity is in the 9th percentile, meaning you'll be living off external drives or cloud storage almost immediately. This machine is for focused, single-task workflows only.

Stacked against a modern budget machine like the Lenovo IdeaPad 82VG00TYUS, this MacBook Air feels ancient. The IdeaPad will offer a newer processor, more RAM, and a 1080p display for a similar price to a high-priced Air. The HP Pavilion 15.6" FHD Touchscreen gives you a larger, sharper screen and a touch interface, though it's much heavier. Even the old Microsoft Surface Pro 4 has a sharper display and a more versatile form factor. The Air's only real win against these competitors is its unibody aluminum build and that stellar reliability score, but you're sacrificing raw performance and modern features to get it.

Value is a tricky proposition here. Prices for this refurbished model swing wildly from $70 to $999 across vendors. At the low end, if you can snag one for under $150, it's a decent deal for a couch laptop or a writing tool. But anywhere near the $999 mark is a complete non-starter. For that money, you're deep into brand-new laptop territory with modern processors, double the RAM, and significantly better screens. The sweet spot for this machine is purely as a budget secondary device, and only if you find it at a steep discount.

The Apple MacBook Air MQD32LL/A is a 2017-era ultraportable that still turns heads for its build quality and reliability, landing in the 97th percentile for reliability in our database. It's incredibly light at 1.34kg and scores a 92 for compactness, making it a fantastic travel buddy. But the specs sheet tells a story of a machine that's been left in the dust by modern standards. The 128GB SSD is in the 9th percentile for storage, and the 8GB of LPDDR3 RAM sits at a disappointing 5th percentile. You're getting a gorgeous, durable chassis wrapped around internals that were modest even when new.

For basic tasks like writing, browsing, and streaming, this MacBook Air is still a pleasant experience. The backlit keyboard is comfortable, and the port selection is surprisingly good for an ultrabook of this age, scoring in the 83rd percentile with its mix of USB-A, Thunderbolt 2, and even an SDXC slot. But push it with anything more demanding, and that dual-core 5th-gen Intel Core i5, which ranks in the 11th percentile for CPU performance, will make its age known. This is a machine for a very specific, light-duty user in 2024.

Anyone who needs more than one or two apps open at a time should skip this. The 8GB of RAM is a severe limitation, and the CPU will choke on anything beyond the basics. If you need to store files locally, the 128GB SSD will fill up in a heartbeat. Gamers, creative professionals, and even students running specialized software should look at almost any other modern laptop. This is strictly a machine for undemanding, single-task use cases.

The 2017 MacBook Air is a beautifully built relic. Its reliability and portability are still best-in-class, but its performance and storage are among the worst we've seen. We can only recommend this if you find it for a rock-bottom price, under $150, and your needs are strictly limited to word processing, email, and light web browsing. For anyone else, even a modest budget will get you a much more capable and modern Windows laptop or Chromebook.