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Refurbed M1 Mac Mini major discount - worth it?

retta283 said:
Hi, I'm looking at picking up an M1 Mac Nini just for development purposes and I see Apple refurb has them at $589. This is a major discount, but it's major enough that it gives me fears of potential issues. I've always heard Apple refurbs are excellent, but I wanted to see about M1 Mini in particular. This machine should last me for many years so I don't want it have premature wear. Also, any way to see stock for their refurbs or just anyone who knows how often the Mini appears in the refurb store (base model)? I might be waiting until next week to buy it due to financial constraints. Thank You in advance.
Click to expand...
Hi Retta,

For some perspective, I bought a refurb 16/2 Mac Mini last month and have experienced lots of problems with it. For no reason, my browsers stop working until I reboot and last week my wife and I were copying and pasting in different MS Office docs — me Word, her Excel — and were getting each others pasted text.

After doing digging on my own, I found message board questions on Apple Communities and MS Office about these same problems involving Mac Minis (before and after the release of M1).

I've been working with Apple CSRs and their development guys to get these problems solved, to the point of uploading work logs behind the scenes. If they don't have a solution that solves the problem, my CSR will be lobbying for me to get a brand new model, because the iMac I really want — one with a bigger screen — isn't on the market yet. Thank goodness for AppleCare and warranties and that the problem showed up early on.

All that said, I wouldn't hesitate to buy another refurb. I think I have an odd one with weird problems...

Cheers!
 
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Wayne Beamer said:
Hi Retta,

For some perspective, I bought a refurb 16/2 Mac Mini last month and have experienced lots of problems with it. For no reason, my browsers stop working until I reboot and last week my wife and I were copying and pasting in different MS Office docs — me Word, her Excel — and were getting each others pasted text.

After doing digging on my own, I found message board questions on Apple Communities and MS Office about these same problems involving Mac Minis (before and after the release of M1).

I've been working with Apple CSRs and their development guys to get these problems solved, to the point of uploading work logs behind the scenes. If they don't have a solution that solves the problem, my CSR will be lobbying for me to get a brand new model, because the iMac I really want — one with a bigger screen — isn't on the market yet. Thank goodness for AppleCare and warranties and that the problem showed up early on.

All that said, I wouldn't hesitate to buy another refurb. I think I have an odd one with weird problems...

Cheers!
Click to expand...
It does seem like sometimes bad machines or 'lemons' make it through the system sometimes. About 10 years ago I bought a 2011 iMac brand new and it was never as fast as it should've been, constant beach balling and crashing of apps. Sometimes when first opening a new app the whole system would lock up and I'd have to restart it with the power button. Returned it and the next computer was fine.

That office problem is quite scary, I wonder how that even happens...
 
I probably would've snagged that one if I saw it in time, I was at work... Thanks for the heads-up, hopefully I find one soon. I'm still looking at that site once a day and so far I haven't found a config I'm willing to jump on.
 
retta283 said:
I probably would've snagged that one if I saw it in time, I was at work... Thanks for the heads-up, hopefully I find one soon. I'm still looking at that site once a day and so far I haven't found a config I'm willing to jump on.
Click to expand...
Generally (but not daily), I've noticed stock gets refreshed later in the day, around 6 pm Pacific timezone.
 
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retta283 said:
It does seem like sometimes bad machines or 'lemons' make it through the system sometimes. About 10 years ago I bought a 2011 iMac brand new and it was never as fast as it should've been, constant beach balling and crashing of apps. Sometimes when first opening a new app the whole system would lock up and I'd have to restart it with the power button. Returned it and the next computer was fine.

That office problem is quite scary, I wonder how that even happens...
Click to expand...
Hi Retta: Still wrestling with Apple Support with no solution in sight. If I don't hear anything from my Apple Support tech by tomorrow, I'm heading to a Genius Bar for a replacement.
 
retta283 said:
It does seem like sometimes bad machines or 'lemons' make it through the system sometimes. About 10 years ago I bought a 2011 iMac brand new and it was never as fast as it should've been, constant beach balling and crashing of apps. Sometimes when first opening a new app the whole system would lock up and I'd have to restart it with the power button. Returned it and the next computer was fine.

That office problem is quite scary, I wonder how that even happens...
Click to expand...
Hi Retta!

Just in case you're still following this thread, I returned the refurb m1 Mac Mini to Apple yesterday, and hope to get a brand new model very shortly. I contacted Apple Support before the two-week return window ended. The pile of support people was long, but I finally got someone who was determined to help me find a solution. Your mileage may vary indeed...
 
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Wayne Beamer said:
Hi Retta!

Just in case you're still following this thread, I returned the refurb m1 Mac Mini to Apple yesterday, and hope to get a brand new model very shortly. I contacted Apple Support before the two-week return window ended. The pile of support people was long, but I finally got someone who was determined to help me find a solution. Your mileage may vary indeed...
Click to expand...
Last time I had to deal with Apple returns was with a 16-inch MBP in December 2019, luckily I was able to just go straight to the Apple Store and resolve it on the spot, but doing everything online will certainly complicate things. I finally got a Mini last week, taking delivery of it by Thursday. Usually Apple has been faster, but I understand there are delays currently. Hopefully you get your new one soon and all is okay with it.
 
My Mini 10/1T/10GB was bought on the refurb store as soon as the 10GB units showed up. Frankly it has been nothing but trouble. Intermittent black screens mouse disconnects, and restarts. Also has constant core sync and other issues that show up after restarts. I'm hoping that none of these actually have anything to do with it being a refurb, but maybe Monterrey is corrupt. As such I will be cleaning and reinstalling from scratch this weekend, but it's been a PITA. I've had ZERO issues with either my original 13" M1 MBP or my newer 14" M1Pro. Frankly, the Mini lives to serve content to my AppleTV's, but I am thinking I may move this to PLEX only QNAP just ditch the desktop. Or maybe put the trusty iMac Pro back into service. Pulling the iMac Pro to go with the Mini is not the smartest thing I ever did anyway. I guess I dove right into the hype. The iMac Pro has been my workhorse and has been flawless except for some dust shaking into the corner of the screen.
 
BayouTiger said:
My Mini 10/1T/10GB was bought on the refurb store as soon as the 10GB units showed up. Frankly it has been nothing but trouble. Intermittent black screens mouse disconnects, and restarts. Also has constant core sync and other issues that show up after restarts. I'm hoping that none of these actually have anything to do with it being a refurb, but maybe Monterrey is corrupt. As such I will be cleaning and reinstalling from scratch this weekend, but it's been a PITA. I've had ZERO issues with either my original 13" M1 MBP or my newer 14" M1Pro. Frankly, the Mini lives to serve content to my AppleTV's, but I am thinking I may move this to PLEX only QNAP just ditch the desktop. Or maybe put the trusty iMac Pro back into service. Pulling the iMac Pro to go with the Mini is not the smartest thing I ever did anyway. I guess I dove right into the hype. The iMac Pro has been my workhorse and has been flawless except for some dust shaking into the corner of the screen.
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Hey Bayou: Reports like yours are why I haven't updated my Mac OS to Monterrey on my M1 Mac Mini or 2019 MBA laptop. I can't take a risk at the moment that anything will be bricked.
 
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