I'm looking to replace my aging MacBook Pro, and am planing to buy a refurbished unit. I'm wondering if the older refurbs such as the 2026 and 17, would likely to have had their keyboards replaced by Apple, just aa a precautionary measure? Or would I have to be worried that somewhere down the line I will possibly have problems with it? Should I maybe just bite the bullet and buy a 2019 model?
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Macbook Pro Refurb Question
- Thread starter vandrv
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I would assume they have their standard keyboard. I don't believe the 2017 keyboard gets replaced with anything other than a 2017. The 2018 may be replaced with a 2019, although some users have said that this didn't happen to them. But allegedly it does.
If you can wait we're about to get a refresh, apparently, with a new keyboard.
If you can wait we're about to get a refresh, apparently, with a new keyboard.
Doubt it, unless the keyboard was worn or defective to begin with. The keyboard repair program covers 4 years after your purchase.
Until the scissor mechanism is introduced this fall, they're all susceptible.
Definitely wait and see. Always the best choice if you can do it. You may also want to do as I am, get a new one now while they're on sale and then flip it for a small loss next June or whenever the entire line is reset with the new design and we have enough time to see just how reliable the new KB, etc are. It's also entirely possible that this last batch of machines with iteration 4 (or 4.5?) of the butterfly keyboard will be a better laptop than whatever Apple hits us with in the upcoming 3-9 months, and worth keeping for a few years to come. I've learned to be very wary of anything new Apple trots out, particularly first gen. Maybe we'll get a better keyboard, but will it come with an across the board price hike in year one? Probably. But will Apple up base configs on the MBP to 8/256 or even 16/256 to make those price hikes easier to stomach? Mmm, that does seem possible, if a little unlikely.
It actually might make the most sense to just buy a new one. I’ve seen some sales st places like B&H or Adorama that look like new might be less than refurb. I’m currently using a 2012 MacBook Pro so obviously I don’t need something on the cutting edge. From looking at the prices on used Macs I’m sure if something better comes along I can always sell without too much loss
I've been debating the same thing - get a new base model 13" 2019 MBP, or a refurb 2018 13" ? They're practically the same price right now. Either one would have 8GB RAM/512 GB. The 2018 has 4 TB ports and the 2019 only 2. Both have the unwanted Touch Bar but I don't see any way around that now without going back to slower processor and worse keyboard. Think they'll ever do a non-Touch Bar model again?
But I'm more concerned about the keyboard, and would love to wait for a new scissor model, but worry it will be just too expensive to jump on that new model whenever it might come out. So - new 2019 with faster processor and later-gen keyboard? Or 2018 with more ports and maybe keyboard that will end up having to be replaced? Feeling stuck.
btw, I'm still using a mid 2011 13" MBP that I upgraded to 8GB RAM and 500 GB SSD and it's been quite the workhorse. But the ol' gal is starting to get sluggish.
But I'm more concerned about the keyboard, and would love to wait for a new scissor model, but worry it will be just too expensive to jump on that new model whenever it might come out. So - new 2019 with faster processor and later-gen keyboard? Or 2018 with more ports and maybe keyboard that will end up having to be replaced? Feeling stuck.
btw, I'm still using a mid 2011 13" MBP that I upgraded to 8GB RAM and 500 GB SSD and it's been quite the workhorse. But the ol' gal is starting to get sluggish.