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Apple Begins Selling Refurbished 2019 iMacs
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It always intrigues me where “all” these refurb units come from. It’s barely 3 months old so either a lot of warranty issues resulting in plenty of returns or plenty of early buyer remorse leading to returns?
Additionally they typically (not uniquely) always have only the higher spec units available as refurb, I wonder why?
Additionally they typically (not uniquely) always have only the higher spec units available as refurb, I wonder why?
My personal opinion is that the previous generation iMac was closer to perfect, given you could upgrade the HDD & RAM a lot easier than the current models. It got too thin and it was too much of a trade off. Just my opinion of course.
Anyway, are refurbished Mac's treated to a new case? Or could they be delivered with bashes/bruises/marks/scratches/scuffs?
They could rethink several things: the plugging in problem; now, just where in the hell is that port. The chin; to chin or not to chin, chin is the question. The speaker problem; loud, but funnelled speaker sound, thanks to the shape of that bottom. I’ve tested the older, thicker bottom side-by-side and it has clearer sound. It may not be louder, but it did sound more pleasing. Form over function; the Apple-design disease.
They could half the chin, make it black glass and drill it with many small holes for a sleek front-facing stereo speaker setup (or a soft material there for acoustic transparency); may alleviate some of that funnel-factor. Or get rid of chin completely, and return the bottom to a slightly wider profile—“we rethought the bottom entirely, with premium audio in mind. And check out our new clever port solution to the finding-that-port problem”.
There are many changes they could make to the iMac to make it better. Including, a return to some user access re hard drive and RAM. It’s time for iMac and Macs in general to become more practical again. Not that Jony is gone maybe some of that will happen?
No cable management, no status lights? These factors help no one.
Not necessarily a new case, in the case of an iMac. But certainly won’t be marked in any way. In that case, new case.
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I just now did this.
A military discounted, refurbed, i9 w/ Vega48 1TB SSD then ordered 32GB of RAM off Amazon, added AppleCare.
Several hundred to almost a grand off of normal price.
I did a similar buy several weeks ago for work and picked a military discounted, refurbed 18core iMac Pro 64GB RAM/Vega 64 for a heck of a discount.
I'm going to be set on desktop for quite a bit.
They never sell exactly what I need anymore. I’m always stuck with a Fusion drive, or a worse video card, or a small SSD, or a maxed CPU, or not the RAM I want. Either i’m always late to the perfect model or they’ve caught on to how I shop and never have a perfect system for cheaper lol
Ah great, you got one as well. I've been googling for several countries and couldn't find European options (and the official only mentioned US).
My 2012 classic is really starting to feel its age. I’m hoping to hold out for another year. I would love a quad core air (if it ever happens).
Apple has everything from the bottom (3.0GHz/8/1TB/570X) all the way up to the top of the line (3.6GHz/64GB/2TB SSD/Vega 48) in the listings. I think there is a combo of both buyers remorse and some issues that undergo repair and the user may have received a replacement along the way, but who knows...and does it really matter?
I have just purchased a brand new i5 9th gen chip 27" iMac simply because of the rumour surrounding possible redesigns. The current iMac is a true 'classic' and certainly in the UK we appreciate classic designs and aesthetic beauty. Not everyone wants to tear everything down and start again.
Perhaps it's an age thing?
How upgradable are the 2019 machines? I'm guessing not, but can the SSD and RAM be changed for the brave/foolish?
Sometimes it's worth more than the discount. I bought a refurb iMac earlier this year that was listed as 8GB of memory. When I got it and checked it out, it has 16GB.
I loved my old 27" 2011. Too bad got hit with the AMD GPU issue. You could chage CPU, GPU (still Apple models only or you'd lose brightness and boot screen), HDD, SSD, the whole deal.
Make it 35", slap thing bezels and same "thiccness" with removable/replaceable internal components and would be incredible.
Canadian prices are ridiculous? I hear that all the time here
Exchange rates are a thing. If an iMac is USD3,499 here, and CAD4,499 for you in Canada, that’s not a thousand dollars more expensive. That’s you getting about CAD100 discount compared to the price we pay in the States.
You bring up some good points!
A wider edge on the bottom (asymmetrically) might look odd, it would be more functional! Maybe just the middle area is pushed out giving space underneath for a few ports with only a symbol on the front in the middle of port. Pushing upwards into the port if the edge of the port was curved it could help align the plug in.
The edge & chin area should be reduced and the use of magnets should come back to hold the display with a bit of Velcro. The chin area should be vented for the speakers. I could see Apple reusing the MacBook Pro speaker design here.
I agree RAM and secondary storage should be more accessible. The iMac's need both T2 storage (soldered) and the option for additional in system storage. Having only T2 storage is too limiting. I would love to see Apple embrace M.2 SSD's and offer dual PCIe slots in the 27" and just one in the 21.5"
Just as upgradeable as the previous 2012-2017 iMacs. So, for the 27”, DRAM=EASY, SSD and HDD, not so much. For the 21.5” = Not so much.
Please see applicable disassembly instructions on iFixit and/or YouTube.
Try to contain your enthusiasm...FYI, you also get the benefit of Apple calculating the 15% refurbished discount using the revised pricing on the higher storage tiers, so while the lower tiers (1TB, 2TB, 3TB Fusion and 256GB, 512GB SSD) prices aren’t any different than before, the 1TB and 2TB SSD refurbished models have some very nice savings. For instance, the Core i9/8GB/1TB SSD/Vega 48 used to retail for $3649, now retails for $3449 after yesterday’s price drops, currently costs $2929 on the Apple Refurbished Store, which is a total drop in price of $720 in the space of 24 hours. The Core i9/8GB/2TB SSD/Vega 48, which retailed for $4249 on Monday, now retails for $3849 and for $3269 on the Apple Refurbished Store, for a total savings of $980 in the space of 24 hours.
For those who waited for Refurbs, the savings are significant and for those who prefer not to purchase a Refurb, stretching another $200 to go to the 1TB SSD instead of the 512GB SSD on the 27” model or opting for one of the larger SSDs even one of the Core i5/Radeon Pro 5xxX models when you need the extra space, but not the GPU horsepower, these discounts make it a bit easier on the wallet.
The Mac mini, which could be maxed out at $4199 when it launched in November of last year is now $3199...and while that is still no drop in the bucket for a computer without a dGPU, those users who benefit from the higher storage tiers, or say, just want the 1TB model and add their own DRAM, just saved $200, which makes a 32GB upgrade over a 16GB upgrade very palatable.
Apple’s pricing is still a bit much, and has been since prices began moving up with the 9.7” iPad Pro introduction in March of 2016. Others may contend it started earlier, but to me that hike over the iPad Air 2 was when Apple felt comfortable enough to move pricing up across the line.
So, I buy refurbs and closeouts...I haven’t paid Apple Retail pricing on any devices except my iPhones in the last 10+ years...and have been pretty satisfied. YMMW.
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There were a metric crap ton of Refurb iMacs there last night, I am having trouble understanding what “unique” configuration you need that they don’t have, if not initially, at some point.
Unless you are absolutely set on buying a refurb iMac with factory DRAM, that’s one less criteria to have...the configuration you are looking for may be popular and as such, goes fast. You sometimes have to camp out and when you see it, you gotta buy it...you can’t hem and haw about it. Just my 2¢.
If Apple dropped their prices 15% across the board it would be quite the event. There is no reason to buy a non-refurb if the item you want is in the refurb store. It's the same thing but 8-15% cheaper.
I think that these "refurbs" are just a channel for Apple to push devices into the market at a lower price point. This is only necessary if the demand is lower than the stock of the product so that might be the explanation why the iMac is earlier in the refurb store than the iPP.
The iMac (not the iMac Pro) is still one of the best upgradable Macs in the lineup (apart from the new Mac Pro which is only for the "chosen few"...). You can still upgrade the RAM trough the RAM door and you can upgrade the storage with a Thunderbolt SSD/NvME like the Samsung X5. This small device did not need a power connection so you can tape it to the back with velcro tape...
If Apple can put a notch on the front of iPhone X, they can teardrop the iMac chassis for an audio-focused redesign. If done right it could be as elegant as a MBA. Incidentally, before MBA got rid of that annoying port door, I was discussing on AI they should ditch the door and go to a more right-angled teardrop design. I was basically called crazy over there for suggesting this idea, and within some months Apple did it. So they can get sense.
The door didn’t make sense, like the shape of iMac and port situation doesn’t make sense now. The design is impractical. A teardrop design allows for a lovely set of stereo speakers to be added, and provides an opportunity for additional air ventilation/cooling.
As for the ports, an idea, off the top of my head that might help is if they were angled upward about 30°—at typical iMac use height I find I lean my head over to top in trying to get a glimpse during reach around. A slight tilt upward may make all the difference in the world. The port area could stick out just ever so slightly to achieve this (in a lovely soft curved manner). Design is how it works, indeed. Would be a lovely addition.
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