Refurbished MacBook Pro Under $300 Just Days Before Black Friday

It’s not even the holiday shopping season yet, but we’ve already spotted a rare sub-$300 price on a MacBook Pro in the presale rush, with a Grade A refurbished 13-inch model from 2017 falling to $299.97.

For those who want macOS, Retina display and premium build quality without a premium price tag, this is one of the strongest pre–Black Friday laptop deals we’ve seen all season.

What You Get Under $300 on This Refurbished MacBook Pro

This configuration matches up a 3.1GHz dual‑core Intel Core i5 (Kaby Lake) processor to 8GB of RAM and a spacious 512GB SSD.

The 13.3-inch Retina panel brings the same crispness by today’s standards and resolution (2560×1600) as before, with up to 500 nits of brightness for text, photos, and streaming in particular. You also get the Touch Bar with Touch ID for quick shortcuts and secure logins, along with four Thunderbolt 3 ports (including two on either side of the chassis) for charging, displays and high-speed storage connections.

At just over three pounds, this aluminum model is still super travel-friendly, and Grade A refurbished approximately means little to no cosmetic wear and fully functional components.

For anyone entering the Apple ecosystem (or re-entering after a few years), this is a complete, capable starter setup that powers up fast, feels premium and has all the core apps most people live in every day.

How It Compares With the Latest Macs and Apple Silicon

There’s no getting around the more than two-ton elephant in the room that is this dual‑core Intel chip versus Apple’s modern M‑series of processors. M1 / M2 will blow the doors off of a 2017 dual‑core for heavy multitasking, video transcoding and code compilation. In third-party tests, Apple Silicon laptops consistently deliver up to three times as fast multicore performance and significantly longer battery life.

But it’s value that rules the day here. And even on sale, a comparable current-generation MacBook is usually a few hundred dollars more. If your workload revolves around web apps, Office or Google Workspace and emailing, with a bit of lightweight photo editing thrown in now and then, along with Zoom calls and note-taking tools such as Notion or Obsidian, this Pro from 2017 still feels responsive — helped no doubt by its SSD as well as macOS optimizations plus the fast RAM/SSD combo. The built-in Intel Iris Plus 650 graphics can handle casual creative work like creating slideshows and editing 1080p timelines, but more intensive video editing (4K-heavy) and high-end 3D work are out of scope.

Software Support and Realistic Limits for This Model

This version fully supports macOS Ventura. Apple tends to keep security updates available for more recent macOS variants, so you’re not stepping into abandonware. Still, run through your must-have apps for Ventura compatibility first — particularly if you depend on niche plugins or enterprise software.

One catch: 2016–19 MacBook Pros had the butterfly keyboard mechanism. Most of the units clicked along without a hitch, though some got sticky or repeated. Apple’s Keyboard Service Program has typically covered qualifying models; you might want to look up the serial number status before buying and evaluate the return options if you run into a known issue.

Battery health is another common sense check on any refurb. Cycle counts differ by device and refurbisher. If you’re going to be untethered, plan for future battery replacement if it happens. Apple’s out-of-warranty battery service for 13‑inch MacBook Pro models has typically been around the ~$199 mark, which is some useful context when considering longer-term value.

Real-World Use Cases for Students, Creators, and Pros

Students and writers receive a crisp display, comfortable form factor and swift wake times for lectures or deadlines. Entrepreneurs can quickly and easily connect to dual displays and peripherals with an individual USB‑C dock. If you’re a web stack or scripting developer, you’ll enjoy the Unix underpinnings of macOS (keeping in mind that heavy container workloads won’t be quite as fast as on modern M‑series hardware).

Connectivity covers Wi‑Fi 802.11ac and Bluetooth 4.2, which connect well to the latest generation of routers and peripherals. The four Thunderbolt 3 ports are a subtle argument in its favor: connect eGPUs (when supported!), extreme-flavor fast NVMe drives, or 4K displays, and charge up on either side — flexibility that competition from many cheaper Windows machines still struggle to accept.

Why the Price Makes Sense for a 2017 MacBook Pro

This configuration was originally priced at around $1,499 so this sub‑$300 price point is about 80% off from MSRP. Refurbished electronics from established sellers have long been recommended by Consumer Reports and other testing labs as a way to save money with minimal real-world downside, assuming you receive a clear warranty and return window.

There’s also the sustainability angle. (Vassil Donev/DPA via AP) Refurbishing work prolongs device lifecycles and cuts down on e‑waste, a fact underscored in recent years by the United Nations’ Global E‑waste Monitor report indicating an increase in global electronics waste. Opting for a refurb also keeps perfectly decent hardware out of landfills and in-service, and helps save on the cost end.

Bottom Line: Should You Buy This Refurbished MacBook Pro?

If you’ve been waiting for the right price to jump on a MacBook for everyday work and creative light-lifting, this Grade A 13‑inch MacBook Pro at $299.97 is your outlier opportunity.

It won’t beat Apple Silicon, but it gets the fundamentals right: a good screen, quick storage, a premium build, flexible ports and that macOS polish. Stock is limited as is usual with standout refurb pricing so it shouldn’t hang all that long.