M1 MBA - Refurb or Education New

[KO7]

Hi all, old-ish geezer here who’s excited about a career change and returning to school in a few months after my former employer shut down our Western Canadian operations.

Looking at getting the base M1 MBA. I see that the education-discounted one new, comes out to $78.40 CAD more than the similar specced refurbished.

Would you get new or refurbished in this case? Guess the savings could go towards a protective sleeve, etc.

Thanks in advance!


Edit: Pulled the trigger on a refurbished Space Grey base.

 

[Bazza1]

Re: Your edit: Congrats on the refurb purchase!
But further to your original question, if you are having second thoughts / or others are considering the same -

If you're looking in the Apple Refurb store (https://www.apple.com/ca/shop/refurbished/mac), obviously you have to time out the purchase to when an M1 is in stock, but I've never had a issue with my purchases there.

There might even be the argument that the refurb'd unit goes through a more thorough individual inspection than one rolling off an assembly line. And it'll comes with the standard Apple Warranty and is eligible for AppleCare+, too. What with trips to school and back, and it being version 1 of new guts in a MBA, you might want to take a look at the latter - just in case. But the money saved could most certainly go towards a protective sleeve (excellent idea) or towards the ports brick / dongle you may need if you are looking at connecting up legacy peripherals (USB - B/C printers, thumb drives, etc) to it.

So a slight advantage over an Education price purchase, I suppose.

Slightly unrelated, but worth noting as an 'experienced' individual returning to school - if you anticipate using Microsoft Office 365 - you can actually get much of the Suite as a download for free, if the school provides you with a student email address (https://www.microsoft.com/en-ca/education/products/office). There may be other ways of proving you're eligible if you don't get an address - it may just need a bit of dig around on their site to find that.

 

[KO7]

Re: Your edit: Congrats on the refurb purchase!
But further to your original question, if you are having second thoughts / or others are considering the same -

If you're looking in the Apple Refurb store (https://www.apple.com/ca/shop/refurbished/mac), obviously you have to time out the purchase to when an M1 is in stock, but I've never had a issue with my purchases there.

There might even be the argument that the refurb'd unit goes through a more thorough individual inspection than one rolling off an assembly line. And it'll comes with the standard Apple Warranty and is eligible for AppleCare+, too. What with trips to school and back, and it being version 1 of new guts in a MBA, you might want to take a look at the latter - just in case. But the money saved could most certainly go towards a protective sleeve (excellent idea) or towards the ports brick / dongle you may need if you are looking at connecting up legacy peripherals (USB - B/C printers, thumb drives, etc) to it.

So a slight advantage over an Education price purchase, I suppose.

Slightly unrelated, but worth noting as an 'experienced' individual returning to school - if you anticipate using Microsoft Office 365 - you can actually get much of the Suite as a download for free, if the school provides you with a student email address (https://www.microsoft.com/en-ca/education/products/office). There may be other ways of proving you're eligible if you don't get an address - it may just need a bit of dig around on their site to find that.

Thanks a lot, really appreciate the tip about the MS Office suite! Also for the further reassurance regarding going the refurbished route

Cheers

 

[Apple_Robert]

Your refurb will probably look brand new. It will certainly run as new. Congrats.

I really enjoy using my M1 MBA.

 

[KO7]

Your refurb will probably look brand new. It will certainly run as new. Congrats.

I really enjoy using my M1 MBA.

For some reason, I’ve always been under the impression that the shell isn’t replaced, and *maybe* the battery is. Pleasantly surprised darn near everything is brand new

 

[Apple_Robert]

For some reason, I’ve always been under the impression that the shell isn’t replaced, and *maybe* the battery is. Pleasantly surprised darn near everything is brand new

A lot of people get brand new looking devices. You may get lucky. If you don't, I think any blemish will be minor.

Why Refurbished

Save up to 15% and get a one-year warranty with the Apple Refurbished purchasing program. Read more on the Apple Refurbished promise.

www.apple.com

 

[hikikomori16]

Congrats on your M1 purchase! I bought a refurb M1 MBP mainly for the savings, but since I wanted the 16gb version, it was a two week wait if I ordered it brand new (I'm in the US). Ordering refurbished took a whole two DAYS. I'm loving the M1 experience after coming from a 2011 17" MBP, and I swear this machine is brand new.

I second using the savings on getting a USB-C hub. Best of luck on your career change

 

[Bazza1]

For some reason, I’ve always been under the impression that the shell isn’t replaced, and *maybe* the battery is. Pleasantly surprised darn near everything is brand new

Bear in mind that "Refurbished" may be misleading. While it is possible a device going through the process had a problem and that's why it was returned and Apple has chosen to fix it and resell it, its also possible the product was returned because of buyer's remorse, or the buyer decided they needed a different Mac, or it was the wrong colour. Once the Mac's box is unsealed, its no longer 'new' and is Open Box. And Apple doesn't 'do' Open Box in their retail stores. So it may end up at the Refurb store, possibly having never been turned on.
Apple does it's full inspection - cleans up or replaces anything that seems squiffy (and that includes the shell or battery, if anything at all) - and then offers it for sale at a discount.

It does nothing for their 'Brand' if they were to sell returned Open Box devices (possibly with issues) in their retail stores, but looks good to sell a fully inspected one on their own online site.

 

[JPack]

Buy new of course.

Your credit card will double the warranty on the new model, but not so for refurbished products.

Unlike refurbished iPhone and iPad, refurbished Mac does not guarantee a new chassis or battery.

 

[KO7]

Buy new of course.

Your credit card will double the warranty on the new model, but not so for refurbished products.

Unlike refurbished iPhone and iPad, refurbished Mac does not guarantee a new chassis or battery.

Ah I thought my CIBC card doubles refurbished warranty as well. May need to double check that.

 

[KO7]

Congrats on your M1 purchase! I bought a refurb M1 MBP mainly for the savings, but since I wanted the 16gb version, it was a two week wait if I ordered it brand new (I'm in the US). Ordering refurbished took a whole two DAYS. I'm loving the M1 experience after coming from a 2011 17" MBP, and I swear this machine is brand new.

I second using the savings on getting a USB-C hub. Best of luck on your career change

Thanks, much appreciated! Mine shipped same day and is arriving Friday .

Any sleeve recommendations? Saw a nice cognac-brown leather one on Etsy that piques my interest...

 

[JPack]

Ah I thought my CIBC card doubles refurbished warranty as well. May need to double check that.

In virtually all cases, refurb products are not covered because there are all sorts of refurb quality. Otherwise, can you imagine the warranty claims the card issuer would have to eat?

 

[Apple_Robert]

Get a Thunderbolt Dock instead of a hub. I have a OWC Thunderbolt 4 Dock and it works great.

 

[tps3443]

I think refurbished MacBooks are mostly just retuned devices. And I’m glad apple can just repackage them and get 93% of the original asking price. What a waste if they couldn’t.

I purchased a brand new MacBook M1 Air 8GB/512GB (8 core GPU) I babied the machine for 9 whole days.

^ Then I decided that I was going to exchange it for a Macbook Air M1 16GB/1TB model and pay the extra $380 dollars for double ram, and double storage.

I was happy with either model of course. But I loved the M1 Air so much, I just wanted the higher spec model for long term usage..

Long story short, my M1 air that I exchanged was MINT. If apple re-wrapped that machine. Someone would think it was brand new.

 

[dizmonk]

I'm kinda in the same boat.. I have a refurbed 16gb/1tb m1 Air that according to Coconut Battery is about 4-5 months old but only 4 battery cycles... I'm torn as to whether to return it and get a new model for near the same price... Any thoughts?

 

[ignatius345]

I've bought new and refurbished Macs over the years and would never be able to tell the difference between the two, except for the plainer box the refurbs come in. There are never blemishes or marks on the cases. The keyboards feel and look brand new, and the displays are spotless. The batteries in laptops are new. And they're covered by the same exact warranty. I guess somewhere inside the machine there are parts that were powered on before? I don't know, but functionally they're identical.