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Refurbished Macbooks - price is not in line with specs?

G

gochi

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Mar 31, 2011
289
1
Refurbished 15.4-inch MacBook Pro 2.3GHz Quad-core Intel i7
Originally released June 2012
15.4-inch (diagonal) LED-backlit glossy widescreen display, 1440-by-900 resolution

4GB (2 x 2GB) of 1600MHz DDR3 SDRAM
500GB Serial ATA @ 5400 rpm
8x double-layer SuperDrive (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M with 512MB of GDDR5 memory
$1,449.00
Save $350.00
19% off
Select

Refurbished MacBook Pro 2.2GHz quad-core Intel i7

Originally released February 2011
15.4-inch (diagonal) LED-backlit glossy widescreen display, 1440-by-900 resolution
4GB (2 x 2GB) of 1333MHz DDR3 SDRAM
500GB Serial ATA @ 7200 rpm
8x double-layer SuperDrive (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
Intel HD Graphics 3000 and AMD Radeon HD 6750M
$1,489.00
Select


So as you can see, why is the 2012 model priced evenly to the 2011 model?

Why would anyone purchase a year old machine when they could get the newer model for the same price?

Is there something in the 2011/2012 models that is lacking in the 2012/2013 models that I am missing?
 
talmy

talmy

macrumors 601
Oct 26, 2009
4,726
332
Oregon
Somebody who wants to run Snow Leopard might go with the older system. Otherwise there is no reason to do so. Looks like a pricing slip-up.
 
S

snberk103

macrumors 603
Oct 22, 2007
5,503
91
An Island in the Salish Sea
A couple of important differences in the specs, which might account for the 2011's price.

Faster HDD (7200 rpm on the 2011 vs 5400 rpm for the 2012) and to my totally uninformed eye...it appears the 2011 has the two discrete GPU system (one low power card to save battery power, and 2nd fully card for when you need more powerful graphics). I don't know how the 2012 GPU compares in the area features - so this may or may not be an added benefit for the 2011.
 
T

The-Pro

macrumors 65816
Dec 2, 2010
1,453
40
Germany
snberk103 said:
A couple of important differences in the specs, which might account for the 2011's price.

Faster HDD (7200 rpm on the 2011 vs 5400 rpm for the 2012) and to my totally uninformed eye...it appears the 2011 has the two discrete GPU system (one low power card to save battery power, and 2nd fully card for when you need more powerful graphics). I don't know how the 2012 GPU compares in the area features - so this may or may not be an added benefit for the 2011.
Click to expand...

Hard drive, correct.
The 2012 has the same two GPU system. It just doesnt say HD 4000 and GT 650M

I think the pricing similarity is because:
The 2011 model listed was the Top of Line model (when released in February). It was the most expensive and has the 1GB 6750M.
The 2012 model is the low end model.

So because the 2011 was high end and 2012 low end model I think apple just doesnt want to drop the price too far.
It should still be cheaper though
 
S

snberk103

macrumors 603
Oct 22, 2007
5,503
91
An Island in the Salish Sea
The-Pro said:
Hard drive, correct.
The 2012 has the same two GPU system. It just doesnt say HD 4000 and GT 650M

I think the pricing similarity is because:
The 2011 model listed was the Top of Line model (when released in February). It was the most expensive and has the 1GB 6750M.
The 2012 model is the low end model.

So because the 2011 was high end and 2012 low end model I think apple just doesnt want to drop the price too far.
It should still be cheaper though
Click to expand...

Thanks for the clarification.

As someone who was in retail for a bit (as an owner, not employee) I can tell you that Apple products are prices by what the market will bear and not necessarily logic. If the 2011 model is listed at that price, then it's because they can sell them at that price. Period. People can then choose to purchase or not. Presumably they are deciding to purchase - otherwise, the price would go down. Free Market Theory and all that...
 
A

adamneer

macrumors 6502
Apr 18, 2013
420
747
Chicago, IL
one of the posts above gives a good explanation as to what affects the pricing for these particular models. You will find that there are listings that appear to be a no brainer to you because you see them based only your needs and not necessarily their full specs. Sometimes though, there are just ultra good deals to be had on some models, and not so much on others. For instance, I picked up my 2012 rMBP 2.3 quad i7 with 256gb hard drive and what was supposed to be 8gb or RAM for $1599 through the refurb store. I say "supposed to be" because they actually ended up sending me a 16gb RAM model for the same price, making my savings over new roughly $800. For this, I suggest that if you are in the market for a new computer, check the refurb store thoroughly and often.
 
roland.g

roland.g

macrumors 604
Apr 11, 2005
7,414
3,152
adamneer said:
one of the posts above gives a good explanation as to what affects the pricing for these particular models. You will find that there are listings that appear to be a no brainer to you because you see them based only your needs and not necessarily their full specs. Sometimes though, there are just ultra good deals to be had on some models, and not so much on others. For instance, I picked up my 2012 rMBP 2.3 quad i7 with 256gb hard drive and what was supposed to be 8gb or RAM for $1599 through the refurb store. I say "supposed to be" because they actually ended up sending me a 16gb RAM model for the same price, making my savings over new roughly $800. For this, I suggest that if you are in the market for a new computer, check the refurb store thoroughly and often.
Click to expand...

That is a well made point. One should never expect, but may sometimes get lucky with a refurb in getting a custom unit, which are never really listed separately. So any goodies like a bumped drive or extra RAM tend to just show up. But this is not the norm, so don't order expecting a treat.

Secondly, another aspect that may affect pricing is quantity on hand. It may also be that the 2012 model is in greater supply at the moment, and so they have dropped pricing to move quantity. However, Apple typically sets refurb pricing and doesn't move it up and down, so I would guess this may not be the hand and more accurately reflects what once was a top of the line vs. relatively lower spec'd model.
 
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