Confused by refurb pricing

Likely the dedicated ATI video card, still that price is high...

Ray Brady said:

Right now, the midline 2011 Mini is available in Apple's refurb section for $699. It's a 2.5GHz dual core i5, with 4GB RAM and a 500GB hard drive.

The baseline 2012 model has those exact same specs, but is listed for only $599. So what makes a refurb of the old model worth more than the new model?

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Yes, something seems off. If you read my thread below:
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1502212/
You'll see they had a higher spec model from July, 2011 2.7GHZ i7 for $679. I thought maybe that was underpriced but perhaps the 2.5 model is overpriced.

There was a mini just like that one, only with 8G ram and was already marked at this price (same price). This 4G ram was more expensive, 15% off and the same price as the 8G model that has sold already.

I noticed the same thing about the prices.

I snagged a 2.7, i7, 8gb RAM, 256 SSD for $899.
I have never seen this model at this price in the refurb store.
$200 more than the i7, 2.7, 4gb RAM, 500 HDD.
Order went through.

I was having second thoughts about the Mini vs iMac and when I checked the iMac prices, I notice the strange pricing.

Ray Brady said:

So what makes a refurb of the old model worth more than the new model?

Click to expand...

Nothing. It's just that Apple doesn't price refurbs based on some objective comparative specs, it simply takes the original list prices, and knocks a few dollars off. You'll often find that older models or similar models will have different prices. As with anything, you have to do your own research to know what something should cost. People who rely on the seller to do that for them are always going to get cheated.

Perhaps some of the "refurb" Minis on the Apple refurbished page are not "refurbs" at all, but are instead "new old stock" for sale alongside actually refurbished models...

This always happens when a new model comes out

The refurb store is based off the original MSRP and does not take into account the specs of the newer model.

Usually there will be a drop in price on the older model only when the new models start to show up on the refurb store. However, that price drop is still way too small and still won't make sense. It can take a LONG TIME for the old model to adjust its price back to where it makes sense again. I'm talking about SEVERAL months.

As you've already noticed, the 2011 refurbs are not priced well at all. If you can hang in there a while, I strongly suggest waiting for 2012 refurbs to start showing up. If you cannot wait, then I'd just get a 2012 Mini.

The 2011 Mac Mini that is a refirb has a separate AMD graphics chip - NOT integrated Intel graphics.

Will you use the HDMI port to connect to a monitor? There are issues with the Intel graphics Mac Minis. Blank screens and fuzziness.

I use two monitors and NEED the HDMI port to work so I just got a NEW one from BH Photo for $649.00 and discounted AppleCare for $52.

Unfortunately it is now listed as discontinued on their site (though they do sell Mac Mini AppleCare for $104).

Hope this helps.

Apple already has a page up for the refurbished 2012 2.3ghz server model, which will sell at $849.

The page currently shows "out of stock" and is hidden from public view.