Refurbished MacBook Pro with Touch Bar deal around $325

The 13-inch MacBook Pro with the Touch Bar for $325 or so is the kind of sub-$400 MacBook deal sexy dreams are made of.

What a great opportunity to score an Apple laptop worthy of the pros — Retina display, Touch ID, four Thunderbolt 3 ports, and more — for a price that typically gets you all of precisely nothing on an entry-level Chromebook.

What you get with this 2017 13‑inch MacBook Pro deal

That setup is based on the 2017 13-inch MacBook Pro with Touch Bar, usually with a 3.1GHz dual‑core Intel Core i5 (Turbo Boost up to 3.5GHz), 8GB of RAM, and a fast‑ish 512GB SSD onboard.

The 2560×1600 Retina panel provides a peak brightness of up to 500 nits with support for P3 wide color, making it still look sharp and accurate in color, whether you’re working or playing.

If you want maximum connectivity, opt for the Touch Bar model, which has four Thunderbolt 3/USB‑C ports that let you connect fast storage, external monitors, docks, and charge from either side.

Touch ID provides one‑tap login and secure purchases, including in the App Store, iTunes, and Apple Books — so you don’t have to enter your password or billing information again and again.

Real-world performance of the 2017 Intel i5 MacBook Pro

And in daily use — email, 20-plus Chrome tabs, Office or Google Workspace, and some light photo edits in Lightroom — this Intel i5 machine is still flying.

In Geekbench 5 scores that are often cited, the 7th‑gen i5 in this model rests around the high hundreds for single-core and the mid-to-upper 2000s for multi-core — plenty good enough for productivity work and light creative tasks. Apple’s M1 and newer chips are much faster, but so what: You’re paying a fraction of the price for perfectly adequate performance without worrying about top benchmarks.

Those who edit videos or 3D models will move past this CPU/GPU swiftly, and cutting-edge games are out of reach. For nearly everyone else — students, writers, small-business owners, developers working in lighter‑weight stacks — it’s a useful daily driver.

Does the Touch Bar still have any real-world value today?

Apple has mostly abandoned the Touch Bar, but it can accelerate timelines in editing apps, scrubbing, emoji input, and app‑specific shortcuts. It’s a love‑or‑hate feature for avid function key tappers, although there is an option to customize them or stick with the traditional controls. All of us love Touch ID, though.

Refurbished quality: what “Grade A” refers to

“Grade A” typically means a unit that is in near‑mint condition, with only very minimal wear on the exterior, an SSD and a clean OS install included, and all components functioning. And refurbished resellers work with reputable refurbishers that test keyboards, screens, ports, batteries, and speakers (usually also coming with at least a brief warranty). Other language to know includes industry standards such as R2 or e‑Stewards certification, and ISO 14001 environmental practices, which are green flags to search for.

Inquire as to battery health (cycle count and maximum capacity). A lot of refurbishers aim to get at least 80 percent of the original capacity. If you require a little more runway, an out‑of‑warranty Apple battery replacement usually costs in the low hundreds of dollars, potentially still keeping your overall cost below buying a new model, based on repair pricing often cited by consumer tech repair networks.

Software support and expected longevity for this MacBook

This 2017 MacBook Pro can run macOS up to Ventura, according to official specifications. Apple has a history of issuing security updates for older macOS releases past their end‑of‑life date, as explained in Apple’s security update policy page. That means you still have a modern, secure platform for mainstream productivity — just know that the eligibility period for major OS updates is getting pretty short.

App support is strong — Ventura can handle browsers, Office suites, coding tools, and creative apps. If you’re a niche worker who needs the very latest Apple Silicon features, you’ll want an M‑series Mac. For the most part, it is fine for the general public with average expectations and can be used for years.

Ports, display, and daily use on the 13‑inch MacBook Pro

Four Thunderbolt 3 ports mean painless expansion — dual 4K monitors with the right dock, fast NVMe external drives, and quick charging. The 13-inch Retina display is bright enough and rich in color for photo work and binge‑watching. The speakers are better than the average ultrabook of its generation, and all told, this 3‑pound chassis is truly portable.

What to consider before you buy this refurbished model

The 2017 model features Apple’s butterfly keyboard design, which had a significantly higher failure rate than the scissor‑switch models, as has been documented by iFixit and widely reported across the tech press. Most of the units do run fine, but look for key repeat or sticking within your return window. Also note: the 720p webcam, Wi‑Fi 5 (not Wi‑Fi 6/6E), and a battery life that will be less than when it was brand new.

If you depend on virtualization or are dependent on machine learning libraries optimized for Apple Silicon, or you need all‑day unplugged battery life (rather than most‑of‑the‑day but not‑all‑of‑the‑day unplugged battery life), then an M1 — or later — MacBook Air might be a better fit. Used M1 Air models show up in the $500–$700 range on secondary markets and price trackers — it’s more money, but distinctly better performance and efficiency.

Who this refurbished MacBook Pro is best suited for

Students, remote workers, writers, and entrepreneurs looking for a luxury Mac experience — from email to documents to light content creation and web apps — will be getting incredible bang for their bucks here. With 512GB of speedy storage and 8GB of RAM, it’s ready for everyday tasks without the “lite” performance issues you typically see in budget laptops.

Bottom line: when this $325 MacBook Pro deal makes sense

The Grade A refurbished MacBook Pro with Touch Bar for around $325 is a no‑brainer recommendation for bargain hunters who need Apple build quality, one of the best displays on any laptop this side of four figures, and useful pro I/O. Refurb availability drives prices (and available inventory), so at this level you’re paying very little money for a lot of Mac.