Apple's Refurbished Mac Mini Pricing Has a Problem

[Lounge vibes 05]

That one confused me a bit, I wonder if that hurt Mac sales since people knew the M4 was coming soon.

Unlikely, back to school shopping still happened throughout the summer.
Plus the M3 MBA launched that same spring.

 

[Frantisekj]

It's an IQ test.

lol I would change title from

Apple's Refurbished Mac Mini Pricing Has a Problem
to​

Apple Has a Problem with Refurbished Mac Mini Pricing
​

Mac mini has no problem 😃

 

[Lounge vibes 05]

M4 coming to the iPad Pro first made a lot of sense if you were actually paying attention to the chip roadmap and such.
The M3 was mostly just a stopgap chip with a new CPU and GPU but a barely bumped MPU and on the first generation of a new process.
The M4 was the true next generation chip, and the iPad Pro only gets an update every 18 to 24 months or so.
They very much wanted to brag about the efficiency improvements by putting it in one of the thinnest products they make, plus they sell more iPads than Macs and certainly wouldn’t want to produce that many on the low yield N3B process.

 

[goodcow]

Apple's pricing on M2 products is out of line? Color me shocked. They're still charging full price for M2 Studios despite the fact that they've been out for years and they're now two generations of chips old.

Apple almost never adjusts the pricing on hardware until a refresh, and I don't recall it ever happening in the post-Steve return era on the Mac line.

 

[goodcow]

That’s nothing new. Education is usually the best discount you can get for current model Mac hardware.

The refurb discount is typically 15%, whereas the Edu discount is usually 10% (especially on BTO options). The exception is the Mini, where the $100 price cut is a 16.67% price difference on the base model.

 

[oneMadRssn]

iPad Pros should have the option to "boot camp" into macOS. Give it something special for the $1000+ they cost. It's a niche device intended for Pros. Let the Airs/base iPads not run macOS -- nobody expects it for $299 but for $1299? I sure do.

The annoying part is that at this point we know for sure there is no technical reason they couldn't run MacOS. Back in the A-series on iPad and Intel on Mac days, at least there was some semblance of possibility that the A-series didn't have some functionality that MacOS required. But today, it's the same SoC and same hardware for the most part. Today the only reason we can't run MacOS on iPad is because Apple is actively making it so.

 

[Rychiar]

Paying more than $499 is crazy

 

[Astuces iOS]

It’s not a problem. It’s a strategy from the crack marketing team to make you buy the m4 Mac mini !

 

[Plutonius]

Apple probably should have an additional % off for old items that are no longer being produced.

 

[familychoice]

I kept checking the refurb prices before my recent MBP purchase, and the meagre savings just weren’t there. Yes I could get a MBP for a couple of hundred quid less, but it would be an older model with a slower chip. And effectively second-hand.

The refurb store just can’t keep up with the fast pace of new chips.

 

[riskymoth]

Amazing bargain! Thanks, Apple!

 

[currocj]

Apple's pricing on M2 products is out of line? Color me shocked. They're still charging full price for M2 Studios despite the fact that they've been out for years and they're now two generations of chips old.

This is the reason to hate Apple. Greedy and unfair. They will continue to offer that refurbished M2 mini at an unsellable price because of some “we never have discounts” philosophy.

Can’t wait for Apple to be driven into the ground due to their arrogance!

Competition is good for consumer. $200 for $256GB of SSD, is terribly bad for the consumer

 

[klasma]

The M2s have more ports and an accessible power button.

 

[JosephAW]

Thinking of taking my M2 mini to the Apple Store to trade it in and get the $265 gift card and then use that gift card towards a refurbished online store M4 Mac mini.

 

[JosephAW]

Well Apple needs to take those M2 minis and refurbish them and upgrade the RAM or the memory on those, oh wait, never mind.

Apple does provide free recycling, hint hint Apple.

 

[Trusteft]

There is only one fair solution that Apple should implement. Increase all 3 prices. Because they care.

 

[zombierunner]

don't buy m2 now for Tim's sake

 

[iMacDragon]

We knew it was bad when the M4 hit the iPad Pro first, a device that clearly didn't need it first.

iPad Pros should have the option to "boot camp" into macOS. Give it something special for the $1000+ they cost. It's a niche device intended for Pros. Let the Airs/base iPads not run macOS -- nobody expects it for $299 but for $1299? I sure do.

I thought it did need it specifically? to be able to control both layers of the OLED and still be able to connect to external display also.

 

[deevey]

If you've got a server rack or dock designed for the older version you might be happy you can still get one (even if the price is high).

 

[Gabebear]

Extra stock to handle AppleCare?

I figured they kept old stock like this for repairs/replacements.

 

[xraydoc]

Apple has a lot of pricing problems. This is but one of them.

 

[alchemistmuffin]

Apple has not revised its refurbished Mac mini prices enough to account for this difference

Apple will likely not revise the prices, and will likely pull the product within next few days. Most likely anyone buying M2 Mac Mini refurb now will likely get the M4 Mac Mini at no extra charge and in fact will refund the differences.

 

[Blackstick]

I thought it did need it specifically? to be able to control both layers of the OLED and still be able to connect to external display also.

I suppose that's a possibility, it does have the M4 GPU. That being said, now that it does have the M4, it's just Apple's stubbornness to not allow it to dual boot macOS as an option.

It's not gonna cannibalize any sales. Hell, limit it to those higher end iPad Pros with 16GB RAM if they must. It'd be a $1800 solution mostly for digital artists/editors and road warriors who want a 1 pound device, not grandma or a tyke who wants to watch Netflix.

 

[kalafalas]

They know what they are doing. Lots of server racks and zoom rooms with slots for the old body style, and companies will be fine with the price as long as they can still get one.

 

[Manzanito]

There isn't perfect logic in Apple pricing. They price things as they wish and where things conflict, people rationalize the differences or not. If not, Apple might adjust another day... or dump inventory into third party store deals where pricing can be cut without it looking like Apple themselves cut pricing lower than "normal" (for refurb).

Upgrade RAM & storage and see the conflicts of Mini core specs vs. Mac Studio.

Apple RAM vs. market RAM? Apple SSD vs. market SSD? $1000 monitor stand? $600 wheels? $20 hanky? Etc.

ASD used to be the same monitor with a whole Mac built inside for ASD pricing. Isn't it illogical (through our consumer lens) to jettison the computer + keyboard + mouse but leave the price the same? And yet, we fall all over ourselves to not just pay iMac price for a noMac screen but also passionately rationalize it to each other like it's the one and only monitor anyone should consider.

Pricing in general can be a mess across the lines. But this is nothing new and they've become richest company in the world at times on the same sort of thing. Until customers as a group opt to STOP buying over illogical pricing, Apple just keeps banking "another record quarter" over and over again. How can they see anything wrong with anything while the revenue keeps pouring in at record levels?

If the goal is to make a logical argument for a bigger discount on M2 Mini, Apple- if they wanted to address this- might go the other way and fix it by RAISING the price of M4. This latter option nets them MORE money so it's not like it takes a lot of persuasion to get them to choose more money over less. In many decisions, it seems like its towards ALL they care about anymore. 💰💰💰

Not even the usual apple apologists can rationalize their way out of this one.