This is why I would never buy a refurbished product.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Apple Now Selling Refurbished M1 Pro and M1 Max MacBook Pro Models
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
I (and many others here) have had great success buying Apple refurbed devices. YMMV.
I have to wonder, when they turn a return into a refurb, do they ALWAYS use a new outer shell and battery?
Seems like it would be wasteful to do that with a machine that was used for a week then returned in mint condition.
Apple Refurbished is indistinguishable from new, apart from the box that looks almost identical says "Refurbished" in tiny print on the front.
Inside, I would bet you $100 you couldn't tell the difference.
I bought a refurb 15” MacBook Pro back in 2013 and still using it today. Only problem I’ve had is the battery needs to be replaced. Upgraded the hard drive twice, ram, added a second drive and can run windows on it when I need to. Much more versatile machine than they offer today. Sad.
I'm guessing they would actually resell them for profit, because once the initial preorders shipped that first week, anyone else wanting one that was late to the party would need to wait 3-4 extra weeks.
You never know what the previous owner did with it. A lot can happen in 30 days. Maybe it was abused to hell with benchmarks, battery has 30 cycles in it already. Maybe it was even dropped. You won’t be able to tell from the outside. This is a used machine. And it is too expensive for that.
I have a MacBook Pro 16 M1Pro. Liquid damaged in December and repaired by Apple. It bricked when I loaded MacOS 12.3. Send it to Apple and it still would not install 12.3 until 12.3.1 came out. Bottom line: buyer beware of refurbished Macs. You might get mine one day.
I didn't know that brand new MacBook's were flawless and had zero issues with them. Nice to know.
All I know is every refurb Mac I've bought has been like new.
For the Apple Watch at least, they don't always. My Series 1 was a refurb and had some slight scratching on the bottom crystal - I assume from being set down on a rough surface. Still worked fine though.
Thank you for sharing that fascinating tidbit that made all our lives immediately better. What would we do without you.
Then refurbished will also have that issue. That is what warranty for.
I’ve seen youtubers unboxing top end Macbook Pros and throwing it around as it was nothing to them. Guess what… it was nothing to them. You bet he sent that $5K device back after he abused it for a month. I am not rich enough to buy a used device for 98% of the new price.
Just a head's up. As others have said, these are not good deals at all. For example, the 14" Pro that is on the refurb store for $2249 was that exact price at Best Buy a few weeks ago. Even if you want BTO, you are still only saving $50 from the EDU pricing which has been easy to get historically.
This isn't 2015 anymore. Apple isn't selling their refurbs as cheaply as they used to and Apple devices are almost constantly on sale now.
This isn't 2015 anymore. Apple isn't selling their refurbs as cheaply as they used to and Apple devices are almost constantly on sale now.
I don’t get it. The air config I got my wife a year ago for 1200 is now selling refurbed for 1400? What’s up with that?
Yep, you probably mean like this **** https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLo11Rczpzuj3cxc9ysGB1wu9Mctg1Oi24
You’re welcome ..And thank you for being such a fascinating smart a**. What would we do without you?
Last edited:
Apple doesn't claim to put in a new outer shell or battery in refurb MacBooks, so the answer is definitely no.
MacRumors editors messed up.
Because Apple doesn't claim it, you're sure it doesn't happen? Doesn't seem like sound proof to me. Do you work for Apple that you know for sure they don't do it?
Eh? It's almost the same dimensions and weight as my old 15" 2012 Retina MBP. Hardly a tank. Haha.
I often buy rerfurb — never had an issue. They are thoroughly reviewed and are like new aside you don't get the original box. You still get the 1 year warranty and can add Apple Care. For those wanting to save a few dollars it's a good way to go.
Got an open box base 14 from a BB marketplace seller for $2000 Canadian a month ago. Pretty pleased, it was literally brand new.
Threw AC+ on it and there you go.
Apple doesn't claim they don't use plutonium in the MacBook chassis, so maybe it uses it? Apple doesn't say they didn't put a satellite radio in iPhone 13, so maybe it has one? Who the heck uses that logic?
On refurb iPhone, iPad, and iPod pages, Apple clearly lists "new battery and outer shell" as a selling point. None of the Mac products do.
Yeah, the YouTube reviewers are getting better at reviewing and returning them ASAP. That's good news for real buyers looking for a deal. ?
