Open box, 2013 MBA. What should we look/test for?

[ritmomundo]

So my sister just bought an open-box mid-2013 11" MacBook Air from Best Buy today at an amazing price. The salesperson said someone had returned it because he just wanted "more memory," but we can't be sure if the clerk knew that for sure or just made up that answer. The machine was released 2 months ago, so it can't have been used for too long.

Upon visual inspection, the exterior of the machine looks flawless. But she wants to be sure about the internal hardware. Specifically, what should we look for/test to make sure everything is in working order. She's got 15 days to decide whether to keep it. Any help/advice/pointers would be greatly appreciated.

So far, we did a Youtube dead pixel test, and didn't see any dead pixels.
We also checked all the USB ports and the headphone outlet to make sure they're working. (We don't have any Thunderbolt accessories to test the TB port).

 

[DisplacedMic]

sounds like you're on the right track... obviously look for the two mics on the side to verify that it's a 2013, make sure every key works as do the keyboard lights etc.

take a look at the system profile to make sure you've got what specs you paid for... barring that i'm not really sure - unless you want to go nuts and check to see which brand display and ssd you have it sounds like you've covered your bases

 

[mattferg]

So my sister just bought an open-box mid-2013 11" MacBook Air from Best Buy today at an amazing price. The salesperson said someone had returned it because he just wanted "more memory," but we can't be sure if the clerk knew that for sure or just made up that answer. The machine was released 2 months ago, so it can't have been used for too long.

Upon visual inspection, the exterior of the machine looks flawless. But she wants to be sure about the internal hardware. Specifically, what should we look for/test to make sure everything is in working order. She's got 15 days to decide whether to keep it. Any help/advice/pointers would be greatly appreciated.

So far, we did a Youtube dead pixel test, and didn't see any dead pixels.
We also checked all the USB ports and the headphone outlet to make sure they're working. (We don't have any Thunderbolt accessories to test the TB port).

Do the Apple Diagnostics test.

See here:

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5781

 

[macs4nw]

Do the Apple Diagnostics test. See here:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5781

Absolutely!

So my sister just bought an open-box mid-2013 11" MacBook Air from Best Buy today at an amazing price. The salesperson said someone had returned it because he just wanted "more memory," but we can't be sure if the clerk knew that for sure or just made up that answer. The machine was released 2 months ago, so it can't have been used for too long.

Upon visual inspection, the exterior of the machine looks flawless. But she wants to be sure about the internal hardware. Specifically, what should we look for/test to make sure everything is in working order. She's got 15 days to decide whether to keep it. Any help/advice/pointers would be greatly appreciated.

So far, we did a Youtube dead pixel test, and didn't see any dead pixels.
We also checked all the USB ports and the headphone outlet to make sure they're working. (We don't have any Thunderbolt accessories to test the TB port).

If the Apple Diagnostics test mattferg above suggested, also comes up without any issues, you have little to worry about. For ultimate peace of mind, get AppleCare. If the previous owner had actually used it briefly, some of your standard 90/365 warranty is probably gone. Cheers!

 

[Jefe's MacAir]

You still get the 1 year warranty with the open box item. You can add AppleCare at any time up to one year from original purchase date. I would hold off on AppleCare unless you need the CS phone support. If you have any issues within that 1 year period Apple will fix it. If you are then a bit worried you could add AppleCare at that time.

What was the "amazing" price she got?

 

[DarkSel]

You still get the 1 year warranty with the open box item. You can add AppleCare at any time up to one year from original purchase date. I would hold off on AppleCare unless you need the CS phone support. If you have any issues within that 1 year period Apple will fix it. If you are then a bit worried you could add AppleCare at that time.

What was the "amazing" price she got?

No, Apple does NOT renew the warranty on an open box or display model unit. The warranty will start when the store originally purchased the unit.

You can still add AppleCare at your own cost and extend the warranty as long as the machine is still within the original one year warranty (which it should be).

 

[ritmomundo]

sounds like you're on the right track... obviously look for the two mics on the side to verify that it's a 2013, make sure every key works as do the keyboard lights etc.

take a look at the system profile to make sure you've got what specs you paid for... barring that i'm not really sure - unless you want to go nuts and check to see which brand display and ssd you have it sounds like you've covered your bases

Every key works, and the profile checks out. Thanks
ps. LG/Sandisk. Not ideal, but she doesn't care. The LG was a bit washed out looking, so I set the MR color profile for her, and now it actually looks a bit better than the Samsung display on my 2 year old MBA...

Do the Apple Diagnostics test.

See here:

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5781

"No Issues Found." Thanks for the link!

If the Apple Diagnostics test mattferg above suggested, also comes up without any issues, you have little to worry about. For ultimate peace of mind, get AppleCare. If the previous owner had actually used it briefly, some of your standard 90/365 warranty is probably gone. Cheers!

You still get the 1 year warranty with the open box item. You can add AppleCare at any time up to one year from original purchase date. I would hold off on AppleCare unless you need the CS phone support. If you have any issues within that 1 year period Apple will fix it. If you are then a bit worried you could add AppleCare at that time.

No, Apple does NOT renew the warranty on an open box or display model unit. The warranty will start when the store originally purchased the unit.

You can still add AppleCare at your own cost and extend the warranty as long as the machine is still within the original one year warranty (which it should be).

I think she will be getting AppleCare now that everything else seems to check out. The warranty started on June 19 (the date Best Buy received it from Apple), but we called and they will be changing the date to August 17. For open box items, the warranty date starts from the date Best Buy receives the item plus 90 days, or the date of purchase, whichever comes first. I think this 90 day period is part of a relatively new rule, as I hadn't heard about this before.

What was the "amazing" price she got?

The computer was listed as open box at $759 (already a decent price). But my sister is amazing at haggling. She told the manager that with the student discount and the sale going on at Best Buy, she could buy a brand new system at $799 ($100 sale discount and $100 student coupon). They went back and forth a bit, and the manager did a price adjustment and gave an additional $100 off to reflect the sale, AND allowed her to use the student discount (which normally doesn't work on open-box items), bringing the total down to $569.


Thanks for the replies everyone!

----------

Also, I set up her new MacBook Air by doing a Time Machine backup of her old MBP, and then used Migration Assistant to "restore" her new system using the Time Machine backup. Did this transfer absolutely everything or are there files that typically straggle behind that I need to transfer manually? I already fixed a couple applications (ie Office) where the license needed to be re-entered. Anything major I'm missing?

 

[Jefe's MacAir]

bringing the total down to $569.

That IS an amazing price. Good job on your sis. Skip AppleCare. The price would be nearly 50% of the purchase price of the Air and frankly, unless you NEED the CS support for a year, it's not worth it.

 

[DisplacedMic]

awesome!

 

[Mr Rabbit]

No, Apple does NOT renew the warranty on an open box or display model unit. The warranty will start when the store originally purchased the unit.

This is mostly true, with two exceptions...

1) The warranty starts when the sale is reported to Apple or when the Mac is registered, whichever occurs first.

2) It IS possible for Apple to reset the warranty for resellers but the process usually involves a little back & forth with form submittals and verification. Smaller resellers will often do this but I haven't heard of many big box resellers going through the process.

With that said, you're more than likely right in that the Mac will simply have the remainder of it's one year warranty left and that the OP's sister should consider purchasing AppleCare. I would take the MacBook Air into the Genius Bar or call AppleCare to find out the exact date that the warranty is set to expire. While at it you can also ask about previous service history just to see if it's had any previous repairs before making it's way back to Best Buy.

Congrats on the good deal!