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Brounmoney

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jan 31, 2012
361
0
What are your experiences with refurbished ipad? Good experiences or bad ones. I have been having problems with my ipad 2 screen and AppleCare said they wanted me to take it to get replaced.
 

ZZ Bottom

macrumors 6502a
Apr 14, 2010
829
258
If you get it from an Apple store, request to open it up and inspect it on the spot. I've heard of many doing this without any complaints from staff.

Any functional problems like troublesome LCD or battery can be addressed with another replacement. Apple has an above average reputation for refurbish quality, and its quite possible the refurb you get was only a return with no problems in the first place.
 

Brian Y

macrumors 68040
Oct 21, 2012
3,776
1,064
If you get it from an Apple store, request to open it up and inspect it on the spot. I've heard of many doing this without any complaints from staff.

Any functional problems like troublesome LCD or battery can be addressed with another replacement. Apple has an above average reputation for refurbish quality, and its quite possible the refurb you get was only a return with no problems in the first place.

The refurb will be as new, probably going through better quality control than a new iPad. It will have a brand new screen, rear housing and battery.

You will have to inspect it there and then anyway, since they'll send yours back in the box the new one come in - they don't just give you a box and send you on your way!
 

ZZ Bottom

macrumors 6502a
Apr 14, 2010
829
258
The refurb will be as new, probably going through better quality control than a new iPad. It will have a brand new screen, rear housing and battery.

You will have to inspect it there and then anyway, since they'll send yours back in the box the new one come in - they don't just give you a box and send you on your way!

Do you have a source on the LCD claim? I would assume they would only replace the top glass on the refurbs to give it a brand new appearance. Replacing an entire LCD that had no issues would be a colossal waste of resources.
 

Defender2010

Cancelled
Jun 6, 2010
3,131
1,097
Physically you can't tell the difference from the outside which is a refurb and which is new.
 
Last edited:

Medic311

macrumors 68000
Jul 30, 2011
1,659
58
i only had 2 issues with a refurbished iPad

1) iPad 2 16GB wifi refurb - screen typed by itself

2) iPad 2 16GB wifi refurb - after about 4 months the adhesive holding down the bezel separated from the aluminum shell

both were replaced without issue. the 3rd iPad 2 16GB wifi refurb has been without issue for almost a year. my brother has it now, no problems.

i now have an iPad 3, 64GB LTE-Verizon refurb that i bought. flawless. the screen is perfect as well - no light bleeding, no pink/yellow tint, no dust under the screen.


to put it into perspective, i went through 2 iPad Minis (one had light bleed and the other had a machining defect where there was a large gap between the bezel and the aluminum rear shell. i also went through an iPad 4 which had such severe back light bleeding that you could actually see the individual LEDs on the left side when in portrait mode



the iPad 3 refurbs are the best value right now in my opinion. if you can get away with a 16GB, the $379 price tag is phenomenal for what you get. i have a lot of movies and video podcasts so i had to get a 64GB. i use my iPad a lot as a LTE hot spot so i needed the LTE model. it cost me $679. compared to what it was brand new, i saved $150. compared to the refurb prices before the iPad 4 came out, i saved $100. can't ask for something better than that
 

Boob

macrumors member
Sep 3, 2012
97
0
Bought a refurbished iPad 2 from apple.com a few months back and it was practically brand new. Couldn't even tell if someone had used it. Typing from it now and still enjoying the hell out of it.
 

Brian Y

macrumors 68040
Oct 21, 2012
3,776
1,064
Do you have a source on the LCD claim? I would assume they would only replace the top glass on the refurbs to give it a brand new appearance. Replacing an entire LCD that had no issues would be a colossal waste of resources.

That's what I meant - as in the touch screen/digitiser.
 

CoMoMacUser

macrumors 65816
Jun 28, 2012
1,017
322
I have a refurbished iMac and Time Capsule. The experiences with both are good enough that I wouldn't hesitate to buy a refurbished iPad.
 
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