Good Older Budget Mac Laptop?

Anything under $500 is almost certainly going to be a Mac that's old enough that it will no longer get support from Apple and probably won't run any of the last two or three versions of macOS (if not even farther back). That doesn't mean that it will be useless, but it may be limited in the apps it can run or other features that it will not support. And asking for an internal DVD drive is going to limit it even further, so I'd suggest not worrying about that. Pretty much any Mac for the last decade or so will have no problems with an external DVD/CD drive, be it a SuperDrive or a third-party drive.

You can get an idea of the sort of MacBooks available by looking at what OWC/MacSales offers:

https://eshop.macsales.com/shop/Apple_Systems/Used/Macs_and_Tablets

You can and should of course shop around, but be wary about buying any used Mac that you can't personally inspect unless the seller is, like OWC, highly reputable, or the site offers reliable buyer protection. Otherwise there's too much chance of you being scammed.

Regards.

i67darrin wrote:

Greets Community:

I'm admittedly a PC guy, mostly tech-deaf (lol), but seeking recco's on a functional older budget Mac laptop I can use as a secondary backup unit (I own a handful of other devices). Seeking one that I can run my itunes library on (for casual listening) and preferably one with an internal dvd drive? (Or aternatively a model I can still add an Apple Super Drive to)?

Apple has not made Mac notebooks with internal optical drives for many years. The last ones were the

• MacBook Pro (13-inch, Mid 2012) – Introduced June 2012, discontinued October 2016
• MacBook Pro (15-inch, Mid 2012) – Introduced June 2012, discontinued October 2013

These were the last MacBook Pros with internal bays for mechanical drives. They do not have Retina screens and cannot run any version of macOS later than Catalina.

You can get external optical drives for current Macs, and if you don't need a bus-powered portable drive (like the Apple USB SuperDrive), I'd suggest looking at a desktop drive with its own power supply, from a place like Other World Computing (MacSales).

And one functional for casual internet searching (although processing speed isn't mission critical). Yeah, I know these are dinosaur requests in light of current tech/specs. Making this post to avoid buying something that isn't supported with a near-useless OS. Recco's on specific model #'s, current supported OS's installed on any such advice, etc. Ideally something that won't turn into a paperweight in the next few years, digg? Probably along the lines of the oldest Mac OS's still functional & supported that aren't in danger of going bye-bye anytime real soon?Budget: $500 (give or take).

Vendors like Adobe and Microsoft have a policy of supporting only "the most recent three". Those are currently macOS 13 (Ventura), 14 (Sonoma), and 15 (Sequoia) – and in recent years, Apple has consistently come out with one major release of macOS per year (somewhere in the September – November time frame).

macOS Sequoia is compatible with these computers - Apple Support

macOS Sonoma is compatible with these computers - Apple Support

macOS Ventura is compatible with these computers - Apple Support

In terms of long-term support, you would probably be best off with an Apple-Silicon-based Mac notebook that is compatible with Sequoia (and would likely still be in the running to receive future updates).

AFAIK, it is possible to run the current versions of Firefox and LibreOffice on versions of macOS as old as Catalina. The current versions of the Chrome and Brave browsers now require at least macOS 11 (Big Sur).

There is the Certified Refurbished section of the online Apple Store.

Refurbished Mac Deals - Apple

It pays to know the history of Mac models and configurations. Apple's refurbishment process is very thorough – so quality and warranty support shouldn't be issues. But the selection is "catch of the day" and they only offer prices that are about 15% less than original list price. Whether this is a good deal for an older model may depend, in part, on what improvements have been made to its successors.

Note that you cannot upgrade RAM or internal SSD storage on any recent Mac notebook after the sale. Both will be soldered in. Unless you are planning to store your iTunes/Music library on an external disk, you will need to take the size of your library into account when deciding what minimum internal SSD size to shop for.