What specs should I look for in a refurbished MacBook for photo editing?

The minimum specs vary based on the intensity of photo editing you will be doing. If it is a beginner level and or you are on a tight budget my best recommendation is the M1 MacBook Air. You can find many good deals for it new or refurbished on Best Buy, apple certified refurbished or amazon. If you were willing to spend a little more I highly recommend the M2 MacBook Air. Its updated design, faster chip and Liquid Retina screen makes it the overall best pick in my opinion. You would probably enjoy the display the most since you will be photo editing. The display of the M2 MBA is significantly better. If you don't care about your budget consider the M3 MacBook Air aswell. The only difference in this machine is its faster chip. Although it may be harder to find one for cheaper and refurbished.

In conclusion: Don't get a Mac with an Intel chip. At least get an Apple silicon based device. If you are on a tight budget or it's nothing serious the M1 MBA is your best bet. M2 is a little more expensive but for that you get Apple's newest design, an awesome display and more performance.

If you have more questions don't hesitate to reach out!

Best regards...

Adobe recommends at least 16 GB of RAM for Photoshop, Lightroom, and Lightroom Classic.

If you are working with very high resolution photos, many layers / HDR stacking, or stitching many photos into a panorama, you may want more.

RAM is not expandable after purchase on Apple Silicon Macs or on any Intel

Mac notebook released in the last 10+ years, so be sure to get a machine that already has as much RAM as you will need.