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Buying a MacBook that's Refurbished

hallidc

hallidc

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Sep 26, 2013
497
75
Hey everyone,

I have a quick question. I have the opportunity to purchase a late 2014 maxed out 15" retina MacBook Pro for $1900CAD (2.8ghz, i7, 1TB flash drive, 2gb memory, 16gb ram) The MacBook has extended AppleCare until 2018.

I've never purchased a refurbished product before and am a little hesitant on it. Is purchasing a refurbished apple product worth it? Or should I just purchase brand new?

I look forward to hearing your advice.
 
hallidc said:
I have a quick question. I have the opportunity to purchase a late 2014 maxed out 15" retina MacBook Pro for $1900CAD (2.8ghz, i7, 1TB flash drive, 2gb memory, 16gb ram) The MacBook has extended AppleCare until 2018.

I've never purchased a refurbished product before and am a little hesitant on it. Is purchasing a refurbished apple product worth it? Or should I just purchase brand new?
Click to expand...

Purchasing a refurbished Apple product directly from Apple is the smartest decision you can do! You save a ton of dough and get essentially a brand new MacBook just in a plain white box. Who can argue with that? :)
 
Apple is also the ONLY place where you should purchase a refurbished Mac.
Unless I have missed it - Apple Refurbished Macs do not include extended AppleCare at no cost, although you can always add it to the purchase.
Where exactly are you getting this "refurbished", if not direct from Apple?

But, cool if that comes with AppleCare for no extra charge! Decent price for a used high end rMBPro, too.
 
DeltaMac said:
Apple is also the ONLY place where you should purchase a refurbished Mac.
Unless I have missed it - Apple Refurbished Macs do not include extended AppleCare at no cost, although you can always add it to the purchase.
Click to expand...
Yeah that's what I was thinking too. Apple never includes the extended Applecare with refurbished Macs.

I am thinking he is buying it from an online store claiming that they refurbished it but it's probably used that happens to have the extended Applecare from the previous owner.
 
z31fanatic said:
Yeah that's what I was thinking too. Apple never includes the extended Applecare with refurbished Macs.

I am thinking he is buying it from an online store claiming that they refurbished it but it's probably used that happens to have the extended Applecare from the previous owner.
Click to expand...
Purchasing it on my local classifieds. The seller has all original paperwork from purchasing from Apple directly.
 
hallidc said:
Purchasing it on my local classifieds. The seller has all original paperwork from purchasing from Apple directly.
Click to expand...

In that case, do a thorough examination of the machine for obvious accidental damage (liquid, drops, etc.) and also verify the serial with Apple online to be sure the AppleCare is legitimate.
 
hallidc said:
Purchasing it on my local classifieds. The seller has all original paperwork from purchasing from Apple directly.
Click to expand...
I'd meet at the Apple Store, and have them check it out. I've purchased older MacBooks (found in storage, like storage wars), and taking them in to the Apple Store after purchase.

A few things I do (these are general instructions, and the "why" on them is put in parenthesis):
(I have a Snow Leopard DVD, so this is the fallback position for the older ones)
1. Check the Apple store to make sure it's not stolen.
2. Check the S/N on the Apple Site for the AppleCare coverage.
3. Replace the hard drive. (You may not want to do this, as a 1 TB Flash drive is not a bad deal. I'd secure format it, at the very least. The spinning HD are easy enough to replace, and it is incredibly disgusting what I have seen on peoples' HD). I then destroy the HD. Not erase it, but take a hammer to it. (I know this sounds extreme, but physical destruction is the safest way to ensure that you don't have anything that is illegal on the HD. Possession is 9/10 of the law, and if these creeps are downloading this kind of stuff, who know what else they are downloading?)
4. Run the full checks on it.
5. Install the O/S on it (the Snow Leopard disk is what I use for older Macs, and for newer ones, I have a Mac Server with the Installation Image on the network).
6. Enjoy!
 
the general rule of thumb i tell people is that refurbished items are only as good as to who does the refurbishing.

refurbishing can mean anything
 
JeffyTheQuik said:
3. Replace the hard drive. (You may not want to do this, as a 1 TB Flash drive is not a bad deal. I'd secure format it, at the very least. The spinning HD are easy enough to replace, and it is incredibly disgusting what I have seen on peoples' HD). I then destroy the HD. Not erase it, but take a hammer to it. (I know this sounds extreme, but physical destruction is the safest way to ensure that you don't have anything that is illegal on the HD. Possession is 9/10 of the law, and if these creeps are downloading this kind of stuff, who know what else they are downloading?)
Click to expand...

Nice suggestion, and I understand the reasoning. One hurdle though, unless it's replaced under warranty by Apple (and they need a good reason to do so, like it ACTUALLY failed), you're not going to easily find a replacement drive for the system in question. Put simply, NOBODY except Apple makes/sells them. One could buy a "take-out" one off eBay, but those are usually "take-outs" because someone swapped out the small drive for a larger one bought SOMEHOW, or it was pulled from a system that was damaged but the SSD came through unscathed. Replacing the drive yourself can also void the warrant if Apple discovers it as there are no longer any parts considered user-replaceable.
 
hallux said:
Nice suggestion, and I understand the reasoning. One hurdle though, unless it's replaced under warranty by Apple (and they need a good reason to do so, like it ACTUALLY failed), you're not going to easily find a replacement drive for the system in question. Put simply, NOBODY except Apple makes/sells them. One could buy a "take-out" one off eBay, but those are usually "take-outs" because someone swapped out the small drive for a larger one bought SOMEHOW, or it was pulled from a system that was damaged but the SSD came through unscathed. Replacing the drive yourself can also void the warrant if Apple discovers it as there are no longer any parts considered user-replaceable.
Click to expand...
I was caught by that on my iMac, and you raise a good point. The alternative is to do the secure reformat of the entire drive.

I replaced my HD on my iMac (2008), and a few years later (2012, my AppleCare had expired), the computer wouldn't boot to the GUI, and I brought it in, and when they discovered the non-Apple HD, they told me they couldn't work on it anymore. It turned out to be the video card, and the local Apple Service (not an Apple company, but a certified repair place) fixed it for $200 and 10 days in the shop.
 
You can get away with buying used/refurbished macbooks (or computers in general) as long as you're comfortable looking it over and know what to look for. If it has active AppleCare then bring it to an Apple Store ASAP and get it checked out.
 
JeffyTheQuik said:
I'd meet at the Apple Store, and have them check it out. I've purchased older MacBooks (found in storage, like storage wars), and taking them in to the Apple Store after purchase.

A few things I do (these are general instructions, and the "why" on them is put in parenthesis):
(I have a Snow Leopard DVD, so this is the fallback position for the older ones)
1. Check the Apple store to make sure it's not stolen.
2. Check the S/N on the Apple Site for the AppleCare coverage.
3. Replace the hard drive. (You may not want to do this, as a 1 TB Flash drive is not a bad deal. I'd secure format it, at the very least. The spinning HD are easy enough to replace, and it is incredibly disgusting what I have seen on peoples' HD). I then destroy the HD. Not erase it, but take a hammer to it. (I know this sounds extreme, but physical destruction is the safest way to ensure that you don't have anything that is illegal on the HD. Possession is 9/10 of the law, and if these creeps are downloading this kind of stuff, who know what else they are downloading?)
4. Run the full checks on it.
5. Install the O/S on it (the Snow Leopard disk is what I use for older Macs, and for newer ones, I have a Mac Server with the Installation Image on the network).
6. Enjoy!
Click to expand...


secure erasing ,
hmmm

one pass erase is not supported by flash

the best way to secure erase a hard disk is either
make at least 3 passes, the more the merrier, not only do you securely erase your hard disk, but you also prove
that you have no unknown bad sectors. and your hard disk is fully operational

ssd
the other best way to secure erase a ssd ( or regular hard disk) is simply turning on file vault 2, and then erasing the disk. once the disk is encrypted and the keys are lost, its going to be difficult to break AES 256, this is exactly how an iPhone erases itself.
 
Within the last two(2) years I have bought "Refurbished" directly from the Apple Store: Two(2) Mac Minis with Applecare(AC), Airport Time Capsule and Express, Ipad2, two(2) Apple TV with AC and to-date I do not have one(1) complaint with the quality and operation of these devices.
 
hallidc said:
Hey everyone,

I have a quick question. I have the opportunity to purchase a late 2014 maxed out 15" retina MacBook Pro for $1900CAD (2.8ghz, i7, 1TB flash drive, 2gb memory, 16gb ram) The MacBook has extended AppleCare until 2018.

I've never purchased a refurbished product before and am a little hesitant on it. Is purchasing a refurbished apple product worth it? Or should I just purchase brand new?

I look forward to hearing your advice.
Click to expand...
 
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