When will late 2012 27" iMacs be available refurbished?

Wombat Slayer said:

Well, still no refurbished late 2012 27" iMacs available yet, but since I first posted, I've saved up enough to purchase one (I need it May 1). Do I,

1. Wait until early April and just buy new?
2. Wait until late April and hope the one I want shows up refurbished?
3. Buy new in early April and cancel the order if a refurbished one shows up?

Would welcome any suggestions. If I can save $400 by buying it refurbished, I'd love to.

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Since you've got the cash in hand, I'd be looking at the refurb section daily to see if they show up, and be ready to jump on it once they do. If you are getting a stock iMac, you can bide your time as shipping dates have improved dramatically.

Even if one shows up AFTER you've purchased yours, you have 14 days after you've received your product to send it back for refund/exchange.

I did this when I purchased a 2008 iMac from the refurb store. Between the time I purchased a 2007 iMac refurb and the day I got it, Apple announced the 2009's and the prices on the 2008's plummeted. I was able to get a 2008 refurb with better specs for the same price as a 2007 refurb the week before. I had already gone through the return process (calling customer service, having them email me a return shipping label with FREE return shipping, etc.) and when my 2007 arrived I slapped the return label on it and handed it right back to the FedEx guy. A week later my 2008 refurb arrived. No questions asked, easy peasy.

I'm not sure how you handle Apple Care on a returned product. However, you CAN wait up to 1 year before buying Apple Care and still get the 3 year warranty. What you give up is telephone support after 90 days if you don't buy Apple Care until the end of the first year. So you could wait up to 90 days to buy Apple Care and still have the exact same coverage for the first 90 days.

Wombat Slayer said:

Yeah, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't checking the refurb page daily.

I'll be ordering mine with a 1 TB Fusion drive and a 680MX, so I'll still need to deal with the longer shipping times.

Do you know if returning/exchanging would be more complicated if I had Apple Care on the first machine?

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Not sure how much this will help, but I recently had my late 2012 27" iMac swapped out for a new machine due to a logic board failure. I was told at the Apple Store that I need to call AppleCare and they will either (a) transfer AC to the new machine or (b) refund my initial purchase of AC and give me the option to buy AC for this new machine.

Wombat Slayer said:

Yeah, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't checking the refurb page daily.

I'll be ordering mine with a 1 TB Fusion drive and a 680MX, so I'll still need to deal with the longer shipping times.

Do you know if returning/exchanging would be more complicated if I had Apple Care on the first machine?

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If you had AppleCare on the first machine, exchanging is no big deal. You just call Apple and give them the old and new serial numbers and they deal with it. AppleCare takes the original purchase date of the first computer, though. If the exchange was within 30 days (it should be), Apple can reset the AppleCare to the date of the exchange. Yes, 30, not 14 days.

Wombat Slayer said:

Well, time is running out. I need to purchase my iMac (new or refurbished) by Monday the 15th, and there are still no 27" 2012 iMacs on the refurbished page.

I am still hoping against all odds that my dream machine will show up refurbished at the 11th hour so I can save $400, but it's looking less and less like it's going to happen.

The most likely scenario is that I'll buy it new, enjoy it for 3 days, and THEN they'll show up refurbished. Murphy's Law for buying Apple products.

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I wouldn't hold your breath on seeing the 2012 27" iMacs in the Refurb store anytime soon. They were on very short supply for months so there just enough. If want a 27" iMac you will probably have to buy new or continue waiting but I don't think you will see them in the next 30 days. However who knows I could be very wrong.

Wombat Slayer said:

Well, time is running out. I need to purchase my iMac (new or refurbished) by Monday the 15th, and there are still no 27" 2012 iMacs on the refurbished page.

I am still hoping against all odds that my dream machine will show up refurbished at the 11th hour so I can save $400, but it's looking less and less like it's going to happen.

The most likely scenario is that I'll buy it new, enjoy it for 3 days, and THEN they'll show up refurbished. Murphy's Law for buying Apple products.

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if that happens ,you have the option to return your new machine and order the refurb .

Looks like they are available NOW!
http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/specialdeals/mac/imac/27

azentropy said:

Looks like they are available NOW!
http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/specialdeals/mac/imac/27

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400 off isn't bad at all with 1tb fusion and 680mx. Be curious what a SSD lands for, discounted from 999 or 1299?

Still wish I could find a compelling reason to jump from late 2011 models, I keep telling myself wait for the Mac Pro to see if anything fun arises there first. I am going to run out of excuses.

azentropy said:

Looks like they are available NOW!
http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/specialdeals/mac/imac/27

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Was waiting to buy again since I returned my first one...$2199 for the high end version. Still $240 less than what I can get it at w/ education discount. Add to cart

Nismo73 said:

Was waiting to buy again since I returned my first one...$2199 for the high end version. Still $240 less than what I can get it at w/ education discount. Add to cart

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That's a nice one right there. I got an email from refurb.me a little while ago that the fusion 27" iMacs were out. I wish I could swap out our 4-month old 2011 model, but oh well.

Wombat Slayer said:

Unbelievable timing. 6 more days and I would have purchased new. Woo hoo! My very first iMac (1 TB Fusion, 680mx) is on the way.

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Congrats on your new imac and may it perform well for you for a long time!

DOA Refurb 27 iMAC

Wombat Slayer said:

Any ideas/guesses when the late 2012 27" iMacs will start showing up on the refurbished page?

I understand they will only appear as units become available, but I've never waited for a refurbished Mac before, so I don't know what to expect the turnaround time to be. 13" Retina MBPs took only 4 months, but that's apparently rather quick.

I have some flexibility on the timing of my purchase, so I'm ok waiting it out, but not if it's going to be like 8 months... Thoughts?

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My refurb 3.4 i7 iMAC showed up today NO VIDEO AT ALL...it's going back not happy at all with the support i have been getting in this matter. I'dthink long and hard before i got a refurb late 2012 iMAC. I have purchased lots of refurbs from them this was a disappointment QC was not watching out so good this time.

beeinformed said:

Congrats on your new imac and may it perform well for you for a long time!

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Suppose to pick up mine today at apple store ... Still says "shipping to store" as order status... I am suppose to get an email when it's ready to be picked up

I also ordered one today. Decided on 27" 1tb fusion, 8gb, 680mx - all together came up about 200-300 less then brand new with education discount. I also ordered additional mem to bring total to 24gb. Very excited about getting my first mac - it should be a blast compared to my previous desktops/hackintoshes.

MARKO65 said:

My refurb 3.4 i7 iMAC showed up today NO VIDEO AT ALL...it's going back not happy at all with the support i have been getting in this matter. I'dthink long and hard before i got a refurb late 2012 iMAC. I have purchased lots of refurbs from them this was a disappointment QC was not watching out so good this time.

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You got unlucky. That's all. Get a replacement.

mlody said:

I also ordered one today. Decided on 27" 1tb fusion, 8gb, 680mx - all together came up about 200-300 less then brand new with education discount. I also ordered additional mem to bring total to 24gb. Very excited about getting my first mac - it should be a blast compared to my previous desktops/hackintoshes.

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How are you guys ordering extra memory? When I see the refurbs it gives me the option to "add to cart" and that's it. No way to add fusion drives or extra memory.

??????

AgRacer said:

How are you guys ordering extra memory? When I see the refurbs it gives me the option to "add to cart" and that's it. No way to add fusion drives or extra memory.

??????

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They most likely picked a configuration equipped with the fusion drive, then ordered the memory sticks separately. I don't think Apple offers a 24GB option new or refurbished so that would have to be bought somewhere else.

AgRacer said:

How are you guys ordering extra memory? When I see the refurbs it gives me the option to "add to cart" and that's it. No way to add fusion drives or extra memory.

??????

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You cant customize refurbs , they are what they are. Every possible configuration will be listed as a different model when available for purchase.

mlody said:

I also ordered one today. Decided on 27" 1tb fusion, 8gb, 680mx - all together came up about 200-300 less then brand new with education discount. I also ordered additional mem to bring total to 24gb. Very excited about getting my first mac - it should be a blast compared to my previous desktops/hackintoshes.

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i didnt know Apple does educational discount on Refurb. iMac Ed. discount on 'New' is set at $100 i believe-correct me if i am wrong.

Red Fuji said:

i didnt know Apple does educational discount on Refurb. iMac Ed. discount on 'New' is set at $100 i believe-correct me if i am wrong.

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You're correct. There is no education discount on refurbs. But they were just stating that the cost of a brand new one with the educational discount applied was more expensive than the cost of the refurb.