Do you absolutely trust Apple's refurbishing?

[ctjack]

I checked the battery with coconut battery app and found out my machine was 6 months old and had 96% max charge and 4 cycles. I was a little surprised it was this "old". The exterior was perfect, and look brand new. To some this is worth it if its a work machine, but I'm not bleeding edge nor use it for work, and hold on to my stuff. I ultimately bit the bullet for a new one because of the battery. My current Macbook Pro is almost 7 years old. It has 275 cycles and 95% battery capacity. Knowing this, for a few hundred less was NOT worth it to me. My .02. I will say tho, it is a beautiful machine. LOVE the updates. The keyboard and speakers are awesome! New one was 1.5 months old.

Coconut battery is good if you know how to use it.
For example, I do have 2012 Retina MBP 13", and coconut says it was produced in September, 2013. Should have been last batch before next gen.
In your case, of course it is 6 month old, because at the announcement event, it should be ready to ship within a week.
So they can't make it out of thin air. They have already inventories stocked, sitting and waiting for shipment.
Also, Coconut battery doesn't know how much mAh in a macbook, nor it knows how many health it has.
It only knows its' voltage and calculates everything else by the formulas. So your actual battery health is just projected guess taken from your current usage. Also coconut needs longer periods to make better guess. Also even with new things, battery chemicals differ one from another. You could have it better or worse. That is why Apple doesn't guarantee you the health of the new battery, because retaining 100% health is a problem of a good luck and chemicals.
The only thing that Apple guarantees, is that after 1000 cycles you should have at least 80% of health. So if you are under warranty, and it drops below 80% before 1000 cycles, you'll be covered.

 

[Steve686]

Coconut battery is good if you know how to use it.
For example, I do have 2012 Retina MBP 13", and coconut says it was produced in September, 2013. Should have been last batch before next gen.
In your case, of course it is 6 month old, because at the announcement event, it should be ready to ship within a week.
So they can't make it out of thin air. They have already inventories stocked, sitting and waiting for shipment.
Also, Coconut battery doesn't know how much mAh in a macbook, nor it knows how many health it has.
It only knows its' voltage and calculates everything else by the formulas. So your actual battery health is just projected guess taken from your current usage. Also coconut needs longer periods to make better guess. Also even with new things, battery chemicals differ one from another. You could have it better or worse. That is why Apple doesn't guarantee you the health of the new battery, because retaining 100% health is a problem of a good luck and chemicals.
The only thing that Apple guarantees, is that after 1000 cycles you should have at least 80% of health. So if you are under warranty, and it drops below 80% before 1000 cycles, you'll be covered.

Coconut Battery simply reports your Mac's system info in regards to battery life and capacity. You don't "use" coconut battery, you observe it and keep track of your battery history to assess the degradation.

Coconut battery "knows" what the Mac is reporting. That's it. It can't predict your battery life confidently.

And Apple may very well replace your battery before 1000 cycles and 80%, especially if 1 or 2 months after purchase your battery is showing 83% capacity and 25 cycles. This would not be considered "normal" battery life. There are bad batches of batteries that appear from time to time.

 

[aleni]

You've seen this done firsthand?

what do you think? They just repackage and sell it as a refurbished item without inspecting the problems in detail?

 

[1193001]

after watching Louis Rossman videos, I don't really trust apple refurb than 3rd party

 

[AustinIllini]

Coconut Battery simply reports your Mac's system info in regards to battery life and capacity. You don't "use" coconut battery, you observe it and keep track of your battery history to assess the degradation.

Coconut battery "knows" what the Mac is reporting. That's it. It can't predict your battery life confidently.

And Apple may very well replace your battery before 1000 cycles and 80%, especially if 1 or 2 months after purchase your battery is showing 83% capacity and 25 cycles. This would not be considered "normal" battery life. There are bad batches of batteries that appear from time to time.

However, and I posted this in another thread, there appear to be a handful of factors that affect Coconut battery's readout. My machine went from 83% health and 50 cycles a few days ago to 54 cycles and 96% health today.

Collect data over multiple days and draw conclusions based on that.

 

[Plutonius]

(hopefully) My last question before pulling the trigger.

Is there any good reason not to be a refurbed MBP? Its a pretty solid savings, enough to get Applecare and still save over new. As of today the 16" could potentially be up to a 4 month old machine. How much damage can someone do in four months? Is there any way to tell (before you buy) how much its been used?

I only ask, because my last iMac was a refurb, from Apple. It worked/lasted fine, until an accident took it out. I took it to an Apple mechanic and the motherboard was toast (it took a good hit). BUT... when he showed me the guts, he pointed out an interesting detail. The motherboard had a sizeable dent in it, but in the front. As in, whatever did this came through the screen... likely why it was sent back originally? The hit that took it out was in the back and could not have possibly caused the dent. It was a decent dent, though obviously didn't have any lasting effects... that i know of. Thing is... a laptop is a lot more delicate, and if they'd do that to an iMac, would they do it to a MBP? I dont like the idea of my laptop taking a good whack... even if it 'tests out' fine.

I want a NEW computer for this kind of money. Any chance, or way of getting a 'new' refurb (if they have one)... no scratches, keyboard gloss at all... etc. Or do you just have to take what they send you?

When i bought my iMac, i was told refurb from Apple meant new... but didn't work/used once/didn't like, and sent back. Someone here said they got a refurb with 6 months of use before it was sent back to Apple.

I buy Apple refurbished where ever possible.

The one exception is that I would never purchase a refurbished 2016 - 2019 MacBook Pro.

The design had too many issues.

I would have no problem buying a refurbished 16" MacBook Pro.

 

[Steve686]

what do you think? They just repackage and sell it as a refurbished item without inspecting the problems in detail?

So. No.
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However, and I posted this in another thread, there appear to be a handful of factors that affect Coconut battery's readout. My machine went from 83% health and 50 cycles a few days ago to 54 cycles and 96% health today.

Collect data over multiple days and draw conclusions based on that.

What factors affect its readout?

It doesn’t report its own analysis.
It reports what is in system information. Always.

 

[DieBeachballDie]

Apple didn't make you spend $4000

It's up to their standards for them to sell it for $4000. If you don't like it, there are other options...

Actually, they kinda did. The other options... are used (and not really with used prices). With what i need from a computer, thats not really the best option. Much as i hate Apple now, i'll never buy a PC. Ever. I have friends that have them, and love them, but they are all computer guys, and they love tinkering. Just like i love my old hotrod, and dont mind tuning it, tinkering on it infrequently. I am NOT a computer guy, i just need it to work like its supposed to. No different than non-car people buying a car. All they want is for it to perform to the standards they have, and to not break. If your livelihood depends on your GOOD high-performance vehicle never breaking down, then you're not going to be shopping bottom-line domestics...

 

[Tozovac]

I buy Apple refurbished where ever possible.

The one exception is that I would never purchase a refurbished 2016 - 2019 MacBook Pro.

The design had too many issues.

I would have no problem buying a refurbished 16" MacBook Pro.

I’m on the fence myself about a new 13 vs an AAPL refurbished 16. To me, the above line of thought re: 2016-19 MBP’s resonates too much about the 16” MBP, with what I perceive to be an above average amount of grumbling by new owners re: thermal issues, jitter, screen blur (I’m probably quoting the wrong description - I read something about an odd peripheral view issue on the outer edges of the screen). At any rate, the one discussion point I’m surprised to have not read more about in this thread is risk about getting a boomeranged 16” MBP having some type of functional issue that’s “in the grey area“ of acceptability for1st owner but maybe which AAPL considered to be within the realm of expected function or variability such that it was polished, repackaged, maybe cosmetically enhanced if needed, then re-sent out the door.

In other words, I *think* I’m sensing on macrumors, YouTube, etc., a higher than average amount of grumbling over certain facets of the 1st-gen 16” such that it makes me leery about a new 1st gen 16” MBP itself let alone a refurb with a statistically higher than average chance of having some discernible functional oddity, no matter how high the battery life %, how low the battery cycle count, or how cosmetically perfect.

Now ironically, at least from what I’ve read in this thread, there seems to me more happy refurb owners than in other new 16” MBP threads...

Edit: I’ve bought a mix of new & refurb AAPL products. Ones I’ve bought new include an HP iPod, iPod nano, 2006 Mac Pro, 30” Cinema Display, iPhone 4, and 1st gen iPad. Refurbs: iPad Air 2, iPad Air 3, 2013 MacBook Air. My next MBP....tbd.