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Oh, that's what you mean. What I meant is long before that proof was required for edu purchases. For example, when you bought in the early 2000s, Apple required proof for edu purchases or to buy at a campus computer shop which had the student pricing built-in.

I needed to send a proof in 2017. I took one from my brother's university I think and ordered on his name. But I think it was also possible to order with a .edu-address. But that could also have been in a reseller store.

I dind't find a way for to register one of those addresses for myself.
 
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Or people just decided it didn't meet their use case.

Yes, could just be "don't like" or simly "no reason" returns. It's a new form factor. The chance is high more people don't like it for whatever reason. Maybe "just" the power button's location.
 
I have purchased several things from Apple refurb, and a couple from OWC. In my opinion, they've all been in like new condition, and on most I've got several years of use on them. I never bothered with Apple Care and everything still works fine. That's not a guarantee of course, but an anecdotal track record that's saved me a lot of money.
 
Well, here it’s different. You need a student ID or a verified school account.
Not true! The country you order from in the EU could be a factor. Apple edu. Did not require any student ID and no questions asked when I placed an order for my son's Mac Mini M4 Pro.
 
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There's no reason not to buy from the edu store. Any parent or homeschool teacher is eligible. Since Apple doesn't provide a definition, virtually everyone is eligible.
What? Since when? It used to be in Canada that a active student number was required to buy from the Education store. To get around this, you needed to get either a currently enrolled student or a working K12 teacher or university instructor to buy it for you. Did Apple remove these checks?

Don't tell me I've been paying full retail price for years like a sucker in Canada.
 
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I have purchased several things from Apple refurb, and a couple from OWC. In my opinion, they've all been in like new condition, and on most I've got several years of use on them. I never bothered with Apple Care and everything still works fine. That's not a guarantee of course, but an anecdotal track record that's saved me a lot of money.
Yeah but the edu pricing (which doesn't require verification in Minnesota), is cheaper than the refurb, and also as mentioned, some credit cards will not provide their free extended warranty on refurbs even from Apple, but will for edu purchases.

I would be concerned that these Minis all had overheating problems. So many returns so soon? Red flag. I'll keep my M2 mini
1. Unwarranted concern about heat. First off, the M4 Mac mini is well known to sip power. The M4 mini idles around 4 Watts and playing videos maybe consumes about 6 W. My Apple SSD idles around 28 C, and the Power Manager Die Average idles in the mid-30s. Under load it increases of course, but it's well managed. Don't forget it has a fan.

2. Why would you even consider upgrading from the M2 Mac mini 2023 to M4 2024 anyway? The M4 is not aimed at you. It's aimed at people with no Mac mini at all, or people with older models looking for a significant upgrade. M2 to M4 is not a significant upgrade in most situations. Going from M1 --> M4 after four years makes sense, but going from M2 --> M4 after one year doesn't really make much sense for most people.

3. Believe it or not, it's already been 3 months since the M4 Mac mini launched. It's par for the course for refurbs to show up 3-6 months after launch. For your M2 Mac mini, it showed up 4 months after launch.

4. I wouldn't be surprised if the M4 Mac mini significantly outsells the M2, since the M4 got 16 GB base (a much better value), a new form factor, and some other upgrades too.

What? Since when? It used to me in Canada that a active student number was required to buy from the Education store. To get around this, you needed to get either a currently enrolled student or a working K12 teacher or university instructor to buy it for you. Did Apple remove these checks?
Apple removed these checks many, many years ago. Apple Canada hasn't checked in a very long time (unless you purchase in-store). I'm guessing it may be over a decade now. Don't quote me on the timing, but there were no online checks when I bought my 2017 Macs in Canada.

Yes I qualify as an educator, but I don't buy Apple edu with my educator email address so they wouldn't know whether I qualify or not.
 
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I needed to send a proof in 2017. I took one from my brother's university I think and ordered on his name. But I think it was also possible to order with a .edu-address. But that could also have been in a reseller store.

I dind't find a way for to register one of those addresses for myself.
What country are you in?

I didn't need an edu or similar address in 2017 in Canada, for my online Mac edu orders. However, non-Apple resellers will request proof for student pricing, assuming they are willing to facilitate that type of purchase at all. Also, if you buy in a physical Apple Store, they may request proof. I don't know if they always request it, but I do know they at least sometimes request it in-store. Actually, I do also know they sometimes ask if you're a student but don't actually ask for ID. So even in-store they are very loose with their verifications.
 
Yeah but the edu pricing (which doesn't require verification in Minnesota), is cheaper than the refurb,
Only for the base model.

A decked out M4 (32GB RAM, 1TB storage) is $1,189.00 on the refurb store.

Same spec on the EDU store is $1,259.00 .
 
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M2 pro 16/1tb $1269
M4 24/1tb $1019

That's some pretty out of whack pricing.
Yeah, but that's M2 Pro vs M4 non-Pro. Here is M4 Pro:

M4 Pro 24 GB / 1 TB = $1529

Only for the base model.

A decked out M4 (32GB RAM, 1TB storage) is $1,189.00 on the refurb store.

Same spec on the EDU store is $1,259.00 .
Fair enough, but I personally would still consider buying edu because I get an extra year of warranty with my credit card on the edu and not the refurb. I'd have to decide if the $70 / 6% difference is worth the extra year of warranty.
 
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Happy to see the M4 MBP in the refurb store. Still gonna wait to see what Apple does with the M4 MBA, but maybe a refurb MBP is the way to go.
 
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In most use cases it's been shown the M4 beats the M2 pro so it's a fair complaint that the older machine is more expensive.
That's a valid point. However, for me one of the concerns about Pro vs. non-Pro is the monitor support. Despite the big upgrade for M4 for monitor support on paper, resolution support on M4 is inferior to M2 Pro. I'm not sure why, but I suspect this is an intentional software limitation. For example, for the Apple Studio Display, M1, M2, M3, and M4 are all missing the 3200x1800 option. However, it's there for M1 Pro/Max/Ultra, M2 Pro/Max/Ultra, M3 Pro/Max, and M4 Pro/Max.

Also, M2 Pro has a much faster GPU than M4.
 
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Good to know about their availability. Not much discount on certain models. But good to see that they still have the 1 year warranty.
 
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Ive returned more than 30 units cause they all had dents in the screen. Why is nobody reporting about this manufacturing QC issue?

yeah, and after owning if for a week, you created a dent of your own? :D But to be serious, I gets to me sometimes too, when there is an add selling used MBP, perfect condition, but then you see dents on the screen..
 
When possible, I always buy from the Apple refurbished store.

I may be wrong but I believe that the refurbished product is examined / tested more than the products off of the assembly line. I don't mind saving some money too :).
Not true from my experience. I remember buying a MacBook 12 inch from the refurbished store and it came with a malfunctioning butterfly keyboard. Avoided that store since.
 
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