Apple Now Selling Refurbished 13-Inch MacBook Pro With Touch Bar

[tigerintank]

My assumption is simple - this is and always has been a route for Apple to discount without being seen to discount.

I'm sure there are also refurbished devices in there as well.

Either way I dont see much risk in buying from the refurbished pages

 

[phillytim]

Fair and reasonable MacBook pricing died with Steve Jobs.

Such the friggin' truth.
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8 GIGS of ram is a slap in the face. 16 gigs should be base now enough already apple.

Such the friggin' truth!
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Agreed, and 512GB should be the base storage too.

If not 1Tb; but we're batting 1000, folks!

 

[a.gomez]

Yeah, because people realize they were crazy for buying it and returned it. Still not worth it for a nonsense touch bar.

 

[cult hero]

I decided to turn on the Touch Bar in Xcode today and can't say it's something I would use very often. A lot of the shortcuts and things for more complex apps like Photoshop are faster using keyboard shortcuts. It's just a glorified toolbar that's too narrow and out of the way to be super useful in most situations. The only neat thing I see is Touch ID but my Apple Watch can unlock the newer Macs and I don't give a crap about Apple Pay on my Mac.

In my own experience I've found the Touch Bar is pretty much worthless in applications that I'm familiar with and have a decent workflow with. This doesn't really bother me because the same is true of the function keys as well.

In apps that I'm not familiar with, it can be pretty nice. I like it in Preview a lot.

I also like the control strip a lot. I like the long press bringing up sliders and I like being able to customize it.

Nothing about the Touch Bar has been mind-blowing by any stretch of the imagination but I think it's an improvement over what it replaced (albeit a rather expensive improvement!).

TouchID is really nice on the laptop itself. That's been way nicer than I expected (and I say this as someone who generally unlocks the machine with my watch).

 

[- rob -]

I wonder if the reason the Macbook has not been updated is because Apple is trying to keep attention focused on the MBP.

For example, even with the discounts coming out for the 2016 MBP the price points are still higher than that of the Macbook. And if a customer is happy with the MBP they might as well buy the more expensive product.

 

[bigjnyc]

I used to be a big fan of buying refurbished products from Apple. But after having had the past 2 items I bought in a row both fail within a week or so of purchase, I have to say I'm not bothering to try again. Did Apple do right by me as a result? Yes, they honored their warranty and took care of the issue. However, the headache of dealing with a brand new product failing really left a sour taste in my mouth, so I'm going to be passing from now on for purchasing refurbished items.

Except you didn't buy a brand new product, you bought a refurbished product.

 

[Mr Retina]

The only thing bad about refurb machines is that they're not available to buy at launch for obvious reasons . Never had issues with mine, and I would always recommend them to customers when I worked for the fruit stand a couple years back. Refurbs go through more intimate QC testing compared to fresh machines being tested in batches.

 

[auriconis]

Except you didn't buy a brand new product, you bought a refurbished product.

You have a fair point, I misspoke. I meant to say a product that is supposedly refurbished to being in a state of being presented as being as good as a new product. They even put a guarantee on the site that the refurbishment process is rigorous and the products are guaranteed. Quote: "Before we put an Apple Certified Refurbished product up for sale, it undergoes a rigorous refurbishment process to make sure it’s up to Apple’s high standards. We back it with our standard one-year limited warranty. And you have the option of purchasing AppleCare to extend your coverage further." As I said, unfortunately I have had bought 2 separate refurbished Apple products direct from Apple, both of which failed rather quickly (within a week or two) and had to be replaced. So I do not plan on buying them anymore.

 

[SamIchi]

Touch bar should've been implemented in the Macbook Line, and then brought to the Pro. In most ways, it makes the workflow more complicated compared to hotkeys. I feel like they just didn't have a cool new feature for the new MBP's. The Touch Bar always seemed like a casual feature.

 

[Vjosullivan]

I'll purchase my next Apple laptop when Apple comes out with a laptop that I want and at a price I am willing to pay.

As opposed to what exactly? Or were you in the habit of buying laptops you didn't want for prices you were unwilling to pay?

 

[melendezest]

Fair and reasonable MacBook pricing died with Steve Jobs.

2011 lineup

Yep, I'm still on the one on the end (right side).

Them having soldered RAM kept me from buying the Retina model, but now soldering both the RAM and the SSD is a deal-breaker.

It looks like I will NEVER buy another Apple laptop.

For the money I'd rather buy an ACTUAL powerhouse like the Razer Blade Pro and either live with Windows, hackingtosh it or go the Ubuntu route.

 

[The Game 161]

Yeah, because people realize they were crazy for buying it and returned it. Still not worth it for a nonsense touch bar.

you know this how? all reports it sold well considering the negative reviews at the start.
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In my own experience I've found the Touch Bar is pretty much worthless in applications that I'm familiar with and have a decent workflow with. This doesn't really bother me because the same is true of the function keys as well.

In apps that I'm not familiar with, it can be pretty nice. I like it in Preview a lot.

I also like the control strip a lot. I like the long press bringing up sliders and I like being able to customize it.

Nothing about the Touch Bar has been mind-blowing by any stretch of the imagination but I think it's an improvement over what it replaced (albeit a rather expensive improvement!).

TouchID is really nice on the laptop itself. That's been way nicer than I expected (and I say this as someone who generally unlocks the machine with my watch).

touch ID for one would be worth it to me..sure is a pain putting in a password so often on my 2015 MacBook pro

 

[satchmo]

There're probably a lot of returns because of the relatively poor battery life (compared to the previous model).

Perhaps we'll get back to previous battery life with more power efficient Kaby Lake processors...since a return to a thicker chassis is highly unlikely.

 

[- rob -]

My MBA is a refurb and while I've had iPhone and other Apple product issues in the last few years the refurb has functioned without issues.

Touch bar should've been implemented in the Macbook Line, and then brought to the Pro. In most ways, it makes the workflow more complicated compared to hotkeys. I feel like they just didn't have a cool new feature for the new MBP's. The Touch Bar always seemed like a casual feature.

It really does. It seems like a light weight idea and I'm surprised the company didn't give it one of its 1000s of Nos. It would have been enough to release the machine as is at a lower price point and follow it up this year with the updated battery design and minor spec bumps.

you know this how? all reports it sold well considering the negative reviews at the start.

I returned the 13" tbMBP due to the battery not living up to claims and price.

 

[The Game 161]

My MBA is a refurb and while I've had iPhone and other Apple product issues in the last few years the refurb has functioned without issues.

It really does. It seems like a light weight idea and I'm surprised the company didn't give it one of its 1000s of Nos. It would have been enough to release the machine as is at a lower price point and follow it up this year with the updated battery design and minor spec bumps.


I returned the 13" tbMBP due to the battery not living up to claims and price.

did you do this recently? as thought an update was suppose to fix battery issues

 

[iop]

> 2.9GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 processor, 256GB flash storage, 8GB of RAM, and Intel Iris Graphics 550 is available for $1,529

This is absolutely ridiculous even for Apple. I got a late 2013 15" mpb pro with 16/512 GB and discrete video for $1,600.

 

[DEMinSoCAL]

Did no one read the article? The base configuration and the "high-end" configuration are listed as the same thing, but different prices. I assume that is a mistake. I wonder which config was listed incorrectly...hopefully the "high end".

 

[Mirascael]

You have a fair point, I misspoke. I meant to say a product that is supposedly refurbished to being in a state of being presented as being as good as a new product. They even put a guarantee on the site that the refurbishment process is rigorous and the products are guaranteed. Quote: "Before we put an Apple Certified Refurbished product up for sale, it undergoes a rigorous refurbishment process to make sure it’s up to Apple’s high standards. We back it with our standard one-year limited warranty. And you have the option of purchasing AppleCare to extend your coverage further." As I said, unfortunately I have had bought 2 separate refurbished Apple products direct from Apple, both of which failed rather quickly (within a week or two) and had to be replaced. So I do not plan on buying them anymore.

Would you care to elaborate which products you bought when and what defects they had?

 

[Abazigal]

https://mobile.twitter.com/KensingtonRoyal/status/854215999310229504/video/1

Interesting point of note - Prince William uses the touchbar on the MacBook Pro to answer a FaceTime call. I think the touchbar is one feature where the non-pros are more likely to adopt than Pros.

 

[iop]

https://mobile.twitter.com/KensingtonRoyal/status/854215999310229504/video/1

Interesting point of note - Prince William uses the touchbar on the MacBook Pro to answer a FaceTime call. I think the touchbar is one feature where the non-pros are more likely to adopt than Pros.

He flies helicopters which have notoriously difficult controls, so I'm not really surprised. I'm more of an airplanes type of guy. I used to have an HP laptop with a "touch bar", and it was notoriously difficult to use without tactile feedback

 

[a.gomez]

you know this how? all reports it sold well considering the negative reviews at the start.
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touch ID for one would be worth it to me..sure is a pain putting in a password so often on my 2015 MacBook pro

Where exactly do you think refurbished stock comes from?, It is basically used or open box returns from retail. This thing has been out for 5 months and they already have enough refurbished stock. And that even includes the time for recertification.

 

[The Game 161]

Where exactly do you think refurbished stock comes from?, It is basically used or open box returns from retail. This thing has been out for 5 months and they already have enough refurbished stock. And that even includes the time for recertification.

I'm sorry but that isn't a deciding factor at all. There are plenty of refurbished stock for every apple product that comes out over time. Stock appearing in april is hardly a surprise. Certainly for a product that isn't needed for everybody. It's not like the iPhone after all.

issues that the MacBook pro had by all reports have been fixed for most due to the updates that have come out with the MacBook

 

[johnnyturbouk]

Nice discount, but still overpriced. I'll wait for Kaby Lake.

The express checkout of this item onto the refurb store suggest sales may have been a little limp, validates that it was more of a gimmick or a beta, than a serious contender.

 

[tubeexperience]

Perhaps we'll get back to previous battery life with more power efficient Kaby Lake processors...since a return to a thicker chassis is highly unlikely.

Why not?

Were there a lot of complains that the old Retina is too thick or something?

 

[cult hero]

issues that the MacBook pro had by all reports have been fixed for most due to the updates that have come out with the MacBook

10.12.4 made almost all of my woes go away. Battery life is still "meh." But stability issues and other oddness has pretty much vanished. I haven't had a single crash since that OS update.