Ipad 2s are refurbished in China?

[jkandell]

I just got a refurbished ipad 2 from the apple store, and the federal express tracking log shows it came from SHENZHEN CN! Does Apple send ipads to china to refurbish? Is it the same Foxconn factory? It looks new, came in a new box, but does have the DK serial number indicating "refurbished".

p.s. I bought my refurbished ipad on black friday, when the new ipad was selling for only $9 more, so I'm a cheap fellow.

ps.2 I love it! I had an Imac till it was stolen from my home, this ipad feels like coming home.

[tips]

What difference does this make ?,
I prefer factory refurbished, and better if its fixed in the original factory than
someone from Apple Campus in Cupertion.

Also does anyone know, why there are so many refurbished ipad2 units around ?,
If the quality is so good, what is breaking, and what is about-to break those have not broken yet <.

[matt90036]

the quality was not so good when they first came out. there were lots of issues with yellowing of the screen, bleeding, bazel coming off, etc. after several months they got their quality up. that's why. it's also the reason why I will always buy apple products half a year behind their release date.

[184550]

FWIW, when I got my refurb iPad 1 last year it shipped from California.

[jkandell]

Originally Posted by makyvix

Foxconn make almost every product for Apple. If the iPad2 is refurbished by Foxconn, I think the quality would be without any problem. I just don't get why it shipped from china directly. Or only for refurbished products?

I'm not worried about quality. So far it looks fine, without yellowing or bleeding. In fact, i was even wondering if it was really new because it came in a "real" box, not the generic brown described by others for refubished. I just thought it was odd a refurbished unit would be sent back to china. After reading these comments I'm wondering if there were enough defective early units for apple to justify a shipment back to the original factory.

[X Cruz 187]

Yes last Christmas when I bought my Refurbed iPad, it came from China & the box was regular white not brown. That being said two reasons this could be?

1. these are refurb: from Europe or Asia, so then why would they send it to Apple.

2. Apple is dumping over stock for the holidays in preparation for iPad 3?

Who really knows?

[griz]

I found this thread because I just ordered a refurb iPad2. Couldn't resist for $319. 5% Discover cashback takes it down to nearly $300. So, all other refurb products I have bought came from Cali. I'd prefer it ship from china as factory refurbished and would be great of it comes in the original box. It's just curious since all the refurb macs come from Cali.

[wes2006ag]

$9 really?

[slimjim.dj]

Enjoy it

[iEvolution]

Originally Posted by jkandell

I'm not worried about quality. So far it looks fine, without yellowing or bleeding. In fact, i was even wondering if it was really new because it came in a "real" box, not the generic brown described by others for refubished. I just thought it was odd a refurbished unit would be sent back to china. After reading these comments I'm wondering if there were enough defective early units for apple to justify a shipment back to the original factory.

The white box that says iPad is the standard refurb box, they dont use the brown ones anymore.

Refurbs can actually be better because they are throughly examined while retail comes straight from an assembly line.

I just ordered a ipad 3 64gb and I hope I dont have the screen issues people been describing, but I am not that picky anyway so it probably wont bother me.

[student_trap]

Originally Posted by iEvolution

Refurbs can actually be better because they are throughly examined while retail comes straight from an assembly line.

I thought this, but am not so sure. I have only ever bought 2 refurb products.

1) 3rd Gen iPod, brown box, slight chip in dock connector.
2) 1st Gen iPad, White box, immaculate external condition, a couple of dead pixels.

If they were so scrupulously checked, mine would not have shipped with a cluster of dead pixels. On the other hand, it cost me very little so I don't mind.

[Gol27]

Originally Posted by student_trap

I thought this, but am not so sure. I have only ever bought 2 refurb products.

1) 3rd Gen iPod, brown box, slight chip in dock connector.
2) 1st Gen iPad, White box, immaculate external condition, a couple of dead pixels.

If they were so scrupulously checked, mine would not have shipped with a cluster of dead pixels. On the other hand, it cost me very little so I don't mind.

Well it probably was noticed. Apple has a policy of there having to be a certain number of dead/stuck pixels before its deemed a fault. Not ideal from a consumer stand point but makes business sense I suppose, they could end up scrapping hundreds of thousands screens a year due to one or two dead pixels.. And where do you think they will try to make up the lost revenue..

[Juliank]

Pardon my ignorance but where do I buy a refurbished iPad from?

[isalex]

Wirelessly posted (iPhone)

Here you go.

http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/specialdeals/ipad

[RNGypsy03]

I also agree that a refurbished unit is superior because it is hand-checked as opposed to coming straight off the line. However, I purchased an IPad 3 for my daughter for Christmas, that shipped from China. It came in a white box, that looks exactly like my iPad 4 box except it is printed with the word refurbished in a small font on the front. In every way this iPad is new. It is cosmetically and functionally perfect. These units are clearly overstocks. They have never seen human use. So, they are not really refurbished per se... Doing it this way is a genius move for price-point protection of the iPad 4. Apple doesn't tarnish it's reputation by offering "last-year's mark downs". It keeps things classy and not looking like a bargain basement. Also, they only release a few refurbished at a time, so as not to flood the market. It's all very well thought out. But, IMO it's a win-win for Apple and me.

We were so impressed with the first unit, we ordered another iPad 3 refurbished with cellular, for the grandmother in our family. She's been terrified of computers and has never had an email address, but when she saw her 2 year old great-grandchild "face-timing" with family..gramma decided she could do it too!

Buy these units with confidence, and save a few bucks...even $9 is almost 2 gallons of gas...LOL. Happy New Year!

[giraffeboy27]

Hi, glad to see you had a good experience with refurbished products Out of interest, what IOS version did your ipad come with? (I'm considering getting a refurbished iPad 3 and am wondering if it comes with IOS 5 so I can jailbreak it)

[Esoom]

They have to ship something back in those empty containers, might as well be units to be refurbed.

[thewitt]

Originally Posted by jkandell

I just got a refurbished ipad 2 from the apple store, and the federal express tracking log shows it came from SHENZHEN CN! Does Apple send ipads to china to refurbish? Is it the same Foxconn factory? It looks new, came in a new box, but does have the DK serial number indicating "refurbished".

p.s. I bought my refurbished ipad on black friday, when the new ipad was selling for only $9 more, so I'm a cheap fellow.

ps.2 I love it! I had an Imac till it was stolen from my home, this ipad feels like coming home.

Units that need to be repaired go back to the factory.

Units that were returned for other reasons ship from California.

Apple's policy is that no returned units may be sold as new, so every unit returned may be used as a warranty replacement or refurb.