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New or Refurb?

hirtaza

hirtaza

macrumors member
Original poster
Apr 20, 2014
48
74
Toronto
Hi,
Long time reader and first time poster, First of all I love these forums and the community so hopefully I will get a useful reply here, here it is

I've never ever used a mac in my life and I'm finally jumping on the bandwagon, I'm a student and looking to get a macbook pro 15 inch retina! base model since I can only afford that! however I was looking on the apple website and I can get the top model (16gig with 512gb ram and ofcourse the dedicated graphics) for only a $159 more!

My question is since this is my first time ever jumping to a MBPr or any mac Obviously I would like a brand new laptop that has never been used before however the refurb model is quite attractive for what it has to offer interms of price! from your experience or in your opinion is there a difference between refurb/ new (obviously other than something was wrong with it before and it got fixed) but interms of your educated opinion in using the laptop itself, would it make a difference to you if you were to get a new one or a refurbished one! thank you in advance.
 
I am a huge fan of the Apple Store-refurbs. I've bought MacBooks, MacBook Pros, iPods, and iPads and never had a moment of trouble.
 
I've heard nothing but positive reviews/comments about the refurbs. I am considering a refurb, but spec for spec, I would only be saving about $100 off a new one. Without an upgrade, I am not sure if that is worth it for me personally.

However, in your case, that it a very nice upgrade for that money. I would go for the refurb path. Keep in mind, that it is still new to you.

Keep in mind, I do not believe you get the fancy boxes that a new one comes in. Just my two cents as I am also looking at the refurb models.
 
Hammie said:
I've heard nothing but positive reviews/comments about the refurbs. I am considering a refurb, but spec for spec, I would only be saving about $100 off a new one. Without an upgrade, I am not sure if that is worth it for me personally.

However, in your case, that it a very nice upgrade for that money. I would go for the refurb path. Keep in mind, that it is still new to you.

Keep in mind, I do not believe you get the fancy boxes that a new one comes in. Just my two cents as I am also looking at the refurb models.
Click to expand...

yeah I know what you mean the base model for me would be 2200 including tax and right now the refurb top of the line model is for $2149 ..so from the above two posts basically having an actual "Brand New" laptop vs a Refurbished model isn't an important buying decision factor as long as the value is good for the refurbished one right?
 
Both my wife's 2011 MacBook Air and my 2013 iPad Air were refurbs and they came in the standard Apple retail boxes.
 
hirtaza said:
yeah I know what you mean the base model for me would be 2200 including tax and right now the refurb top of the line model is for $2149 ..so from the above two posts basically having an actual "Brand New" laptop vs a Refurbished model isn't an important buying decision factor as long as the value is good for the refurbished one right?
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If I'm reading this right, a new base model is 2200 and a refurbished one that has a bunch of upgrades is cheaper? That's a no brainer. Get the refurb, save $50, and have a better computer.
 
556fmjoe said:
If I'm reading this right, a new base model is 2200 and a refurbished one that has a bunch of upgrades is cheaper? That's a no brainer. Get the refurb, save $50, and have a better computer.
Click to expand...

yeah but obviously after taxes the refurb is going to be $2428 and new 2200 and honestly the whole point of this thread was if the people here actually mind getting a refurb'd one or a new one! To me personally refurbished product meant okay yeah something clearly went wrong with the product and was returned and then got fixed n now its available so stay away from them and just get a new one but looking at people's responses here so far and how amazing it have worked for them I'm def leaning towards the refurbished one now
 
I bought my late '08 MBP as a refurb the day after the '09 models came out and saved $650. Still have it too; my son uses it for all his Minecraft sessions. :)

I bought a 2006 white MacBook as a refurb and it was still working last year when I sold it for parts to someone who had theirs stepped on.
 
hirtaza said:
yeah but obviously after taxes the refurb is going to be $2428 and new 2200 and honestly the whole point of this thread was if the people here actually mind getting a refurb'd one or a new one! To me personally refurbished product meant okay yeah something clearly went wrong with the product and was returned and then got fixed n now its available so stay away from them and just get a new one but looking at people's responses here so far and how amazing it have worked for them I'm def leaning towards the refurbished one now
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Tested and or repaired machines, same warranty, same opportunity to purchase applecare on it. No reason to not purchase refurb.

For me, it was actually cheaper to buy new. Picked a base model 15" retina from Best Buy on sale, plus my educational discount that Best Buy honored.
 
pricej636 said:
For me, it was actually cheaper to buy new. Picked a base model 15" retina from Best Buy on sale, plus my educational discount that Best Buy honored.
Click to expand...

interesting how much was your educational discount again? for us here in Toronto its $100 bucks
 
hirtaza said:
yeah but obviously after taxes the refurb is going to be $2428 and new 2200 and honestly the whole point of this thread was if the people here actually mind getting a refurb'd one or a new one! To me personally refurbished product meant okay yeah something clearly went wrong with the product and was returned and then got fixed n now its available so stay away from them and just get a new one but looking at people's responses here so far and how amazing it have worked for them I'm def leaning towards the refurbished one now
Click to expand...

Not sure of what Apple considers refurb, but in my experience with Canon cameras, all refurb may mean is that it was a model that an employee pulled off the assembly line to spot check. So it's entirely possible that refurb is actually better than new as it's had a more stringent quality control inspection. This of course, would not be the case for any third party refurbs unless they came directly from Apple.
 
Apple refurbs may well be faulty returns, but they are repaired and then put through extensive testing, presumably more testing than new ones go through. So you are less likely to get a lemon.
There is nothing to say that they weren't actually faulty but just returned in the 14 day window because the user decided they wanted a different model.

Barney
 
Refurb, without a doubt. Only reason to buy new is if someone else is paying for you -company. Or you HAVE to have the latest and greatest right away.
 
You didn't mention what you want to do with your Mac.

I'm typing this on used MacBook I bought from MacOfAllTrades.com for $400. It does 95% of what I want to do. They have a 90 day warranty which can be extended for an extra fee.

Depending on what you want to do with your Mac, it's possible you are considering spending way more money than you need to.

As example, if you bought two $400 used laptops, that would total $800.

If one laptop died, just toss it and fire up the next one. Nothing to worry about. Even more safe than buying a new machine.

And save about $1000 in the process.
 
Felasco said:
You didn't mention what you want to do with your Mac.

I'm typing this on used MacBook I bought from MacOfAllTrades.com for $400. It does 95% of what I want to do. They have a 90 day warranty which can be extended for an extra fee.

Depending on what you want to do with your Mac, it's possible you are considering spending way more money than you need to.

As example, if you bought two $400 used laptops, that would total $800.

If one laptop died, just toss it and fire up the next one. Nothing to worry about. Even more safe than buying a new machine.

And save about $1000 in the process.
Click to expand...

I'm mainly going to use it for school (finance) and just basic day to day use. However my aim towards this thread was more of whether people would lean more towards a refurbished apple unit based JUST on price because with the refurbished unit price above, I was actually tempted to go but now the thread has shifted more towards how perfectly fine it is / amazing experiences they have had with apple refurbished units and thats more of their reason to go for it as well as the price rather than just the price alone! I kind of like this shift because to me refurbished units were broken/ faulty units just fixed up and put on sale for the sake of sale (not much of a trust in a refurb unit) but the experiences I'm reading is a good thing here...what about you would you go for the refurb unit based on the price or you are more like me oh no its faulty new is a better choice (yes, i know they are tested i used to think that refurbished were a bad choice no matter what)
 
Imho, expensive refurbs ($1000-$2000+) aren't that interesting.

But if you get the price down in to the range where you could buy two or more refurbs for the same price you'd pay for new, then you start getting a kind of security that isn't available even from new units.

You've been concerned that the refurbs may not be reliable, which is an entirely reasonable question.

My point is that if you buy cheap enough, you need not have any concern of any kind. You can get almost perfect security, and save money too, if an older Mac will meet your needs.

If an older Mac won't meet your needs, then none of this will work. Thus, it helps to have as clear an idea of what your needs are as is possible.
 
hirtaza said:
I'm mainly going to use it for school (finance) and just basic day to day use. However my aim towards this thread was more of whether people would lean more towards a refurbished apple unit based JUST on price because with the refurbished unit price above, I was actually tempted to go but now the thread has shifted more towards how perfectly fine it is / amazing experiences they have had with apple refurbished units and thats more of their reason to go for it as well as the price rather than just the price alone! I kind of like this shift because to me refurbished units were broken/ faulty units just fixed up and put on sale for the sake of sale (not much of a trust in a refurb unit) but the experiences I'm reading is a good thing here...what about you would you go for the refurb unit based on the price or you are more like me oh no its faulty new is a better choice (yes, i know they are tested i used to think that refurbished were a bad choice no matter what)
Click to expand...

Refurbished 13.3-inch MacBook Air 1.3GHz dual-core Intel Core i5, 1,099.00 ask for business pricing sometimes it saves and sometimes it won't

http://store.apple.com/us/product/F...nch-macbook-air-13ghz-dual-core-intel-core-i5
 
hirtaza said:
yeah but obviously after taxes the refurb is going to be $2428 and new 2200 and honestly the whole point of this thread was if the people here actually mind getting a refurb'd one or a new one! To me personally refurbished product meant okay yeah something clearly went wrong with the product and was returned and then got fixed n now its available so stay away from them and just get a new one but looking at people's responses here so far and how amazing it have worked for them I'm def leaning towards the refurbished one now
Click to expand...

A lot of refurbs are machines someone bought, opened, then changed their mind. It doesn't mean something was wrong with it originally. Apple won't sell them as open box, so they take them in, recondition them, and sell them as refurbished models with a discount off the list price for a new machine.
 
I fully intend to get refurbed units next year for the wife and me Via my niece's ed discount we might be able to get $200 new units. But we can get refurbed units that are $500 off. Needless to say we will also purchased them on tax-free weekend in the fall. That can save another $150-200 per unit. Saving close to a grand on two top of the line rMBPs would indeed be grand. :D
 
As a number of others have already posted, refurbs are not necessarily 'faulty' units, (and if they are they have been individually gone through with the proverbial fine comb), but are units that have been returned for any one of a variety of reasons - such as availing of the 14 day grace return period.

My experience - and I have bought both new and refurb - is that they offer an excellent deal, in that you get a model - with all of the guarantees and warranties of a new model - for a decent - sometimes, a very decent - discount.

The possible drawback is that it might not be the latest version of the latest model, or that the precise configuration you want is not available at that price at that time; the advantage is that you can sometimes get a far higher specification model for an excellent price if you chance upon the refurb store on the right day.

In any case, I'm a big fan of the idea of refurb units.
 
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