Apple Apple - Geek Squad Certified Refurbished MacBook Pro - 15" Display - Intel Core i7 - 16 GB Memory - 256GB Flash Storage - Space Gray Review

This is a 2017 MacBook Pro in 2024. Its 93rd percentile reliability and port selection are great, but its 41st percentile CPU and tiny 12th percentile 256GB storage are serious limitations. Only consider it if you find one for a few hundred dollars, not a few thousand. For basic tasks on a budget, it's okay. For everything else, it's outclassed.

This refurbished 15-inch MacBook Pro is a classic design with some very modern strengths and a few dated compromises. It scores a 63.5 overall in our database, which puts it in a solid spot for entertainment (69.1) and business (66.1) use. But that score tells a story of extremes: its reliability and port selection land in the 93rd percentile, while its storage capacity is down in the 12th. You're getting a legendary build and a stunning screen, but you're also buying into 2017-era internals.

Let's be direct about the numbers. The 7th Gen Intel Core i7 and Radeon Pro 555 GPU both hover around the 40th-50th percentile for performance. That means they're fine for everyday tasks and light creative work, but they're not keeping up with modern chips, especially Apple's own M-series. The 16GB of LPDDR3 RAM is also in the 34th percentile, which could feel tight. The real star here is the 15.4-inch Retina display, sitting in the 77th percentile. It's still a gorgeous, high-resolution panel that makes media consumption a joy. Just don't expect to edit 4K video on it smoothly.

The value proposition here is entirely about the price, and that's a wild ride. This model's price ranges from $280 to a frankly absurd $2400 across different vendors. At the low end of that spectrum, you're getting a fantastically built machine with a great screen for basic tasks. At the high end, you're being robbed blind, as that money buys you a brand-new laptop with several times the performance. Your mission is to find one of these near that $280 mark. If you do, it's a interesting deal. If you don't, walk away immediately.

Stacked against its modern competitors, the trade-offs are clear. Next to an Apple 14" MacBook Pro with an M4 Max, this Intel Mac is slower, hotter, and has worse battery life, but it has more ports and can be found much cheaper. Compared to a Windows workhorse like the ASUS Zenbook Duo, you lose out on raw performance, modern connectivity, and likely a better keyboard, but you gain macOS and that Apple ecosystem polish. Against a gaming laptop like the Lenovo Legion, there's no contest in raw power—the Legion smokes it—but the MacBook Pro is far more portable and professional-looking. It's a niche pick in 2024.

Developers and creative pros should look elsewhere. This MacBook Pro's weakest score is for developer tasks at 58.4, and its CPU and GPU percentiles (41st and 50th) confirm it. If you compile code, run VMs, edit high-res video, or work with large datasets, this machine will frustrate you. Also, anyone who needs more than 256GB of built-in storage—which is most people—should skip it, as that's a massive limitation sitting in the 12th percentile.

We can only recommend this specific MacBook Pro if you find it at a deep, deep discount (think the lower third of that $280-$2400 range) and your needs are very specific: you want a beautiful macOS laptop for web browsing, office work, and media consumption, and you value ports and build quality over raw speed. Its high reliability percentile as a refurbished unit is a major point in its favor. For anyone needing serious performance, modern battery life, or more than 256GB of storage, the data is clear: look at newer options.