How are the refurbished ones? Do they look and work just like an entirely new one? Or is there a possibility of marks or scratches? Do the refurbished ones always come with the exact some accessories and packaging?
Absolutely!
I wouldn't buy any other "refurbs" except Apple products. The cases look brand new, the batteries are new (worst case was 3 cycles on the clock, the warranty is the same and even the packaging is exactly the same these days (they dropped the "white box" packaging), except it'll say "Refurbished" on the box. I've bought my last 3 Macs that way and have never regretted it.
Unless a sales price on a new product exceeds or comes close to the refurb price, I'm always going to choose the refurb.
Also, for those looking to run older Mac OS X versions, there are occasionally 2012-2014 versions available.
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Ok. I bit the bullet. Bought the MBA 13/i5/8/128 at best buy for$899.99
If something comes out that blows my mind, I could return it, but I doubt they'll come out with a new MBA that'll dramatically beat my 2013 i7. At least that's what I'll tell myself.
If it helps, I'll tell you that as well
2013 was the year they increased the battery life dramatically and the '14/'15 only gained small incremental improvements. Also, I wish I could run Mavericks on mine still, but I wanted the faster SSD speeds in the newer 2015 MBAs. Not that I can tell the diff in day to day usage.
I've regretted having sold my 2012 Mac Mini i7-quad prior to the 2014 Mini coming out, thinking I'd be smart getting ahead of the game. Then a huge letdown with only dual cores. So this time, I've lowered my expectations and happy with what's available today, hence my refurb purchase of the 2015 MBA 8/256/i5.
Apple's dropping too many useful ports and messing with things that don't need messing with, like the Macbook keyboard.
AFAIK, there still isn't a Laptop with i5/i7 processors on the market that is sub 1.4kg weight and has a battery that seriously lasts a full day, or 12-14hrs.
Sure people criticize the display quality, but my point is, at home, I use external IPS Monitors, on the road, the TN panels is sufficient and battery life is more important to me than a prettier screen. Besides, the MBP 13" is exactly that, an MBA with more ports, an IPS panel and a larger/heavier battery.
