Reviewed: A used, year-old MacBook Pro from Apple's Refurbished Mac store that saved me $450 (AAPL)

2016 macbook pro

Apple has a gorgeous "mid 2017" MacBook Pro with fresh and powerful specs available to buy right now — but if you like to save money, it might not be your best option.

Me? I went for the 2016 model. And no, it's not a brand new, unsold 2016 MacBook Pro that Apple had left over. It's a previously used and refurbished unit I bought from Apple's little-known Refurbished Mac store.

It's easy to see why someone wouldn't want a previously used device; it begs the question as to why the previous owner returned it. Was it defective? What was wrong with it? Why wouldn't previous owner want to keep it?

All that matters is whether or not the device still works properly and whether you're getting some kind of discount because the device has, indeed, been used before.

I saved $450 by going with the 2016 MacBook Pro I bought from the Refurbished Mac store. And if its working and aesthetic condition is anything to go by, I'd say Apple does very good work at making sure refurbished devices look good and work as if they were new.

Check out a used, 2016 MacBook Pro and how it stacks up against a 2017 MacBook Pro that costs $450 more:

My refurbished MacBook Pro came in a plain white box with the word "MacBook Pro" on it and the words "Apple Certified Refurbished" in a lighter color at the bottom.

The regular retail packaging for MacBook Pros features a nice photo of the laptop on the top cover, but that's about all the difference there is.

I was surprised to find the MacBook Pro in a frosty-coated plastic protective sleeve, which gives off the impressions that it's a brand new device, even though it's not.

The protective plastic wrapping looks a little crumpled because I had already removed it and stored it inside the box for about a week. Otherwise, it was like taking out a brand new laptop when I first opened the box.

I was even more surprised to find a thin protective sheet of paper between the screen and the keyboard.

The piece of paper separating the screen from the keyboard was also a little crumpled from a week of storage. I can assure that it was pristine when I first opened the computer!

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