i was thinking about getting a refurbished macbook air from apple store for 830 us dollars, its 130 dollars less than the price of the new mba, is it worth it?or should i spend 130 dollars extra to get it new?how well are refurbished laptops?
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Refurbished products for Apple store
- Thread starter Sam235
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
IMHO, refurbs are even better than new ones.
they come with the same warranty as new units and are eligible for AppleCare.
they come with the same warranty as new units and are eligible for AppleCare.
There's a wide variety of reasons. Sometimes it's buyer's remorse, and they return it or exchange it for another computer within the two week window, but opened (Apple can't legally resell those as new, so they go to the refurb store). Sometimes there was a problem, and since it was brand-new, Apple just swapped it, fixed the problem, then sold it as refurbished. Sometimes the shipping box was damaged and they had to pull it out and sell it as refurb (I don't know 100% for certain that they do that, but I would imagine it's likely).
Basically, there's no way to know for sure, but you have two guarantees: The computer was not used by anyone for more than 2 weeks, and any problems, if they existed, have been fixed (if there were more than a few small scratches, the casing was replaced as well). Often, you get a machine that's been better tested, in a sense, and since the warranty's the same, there's really no disadvantage expect the possibility of small scratches.
jW
FWIW, over the years I've purchased a Mac Mini (PPC), a Mac Mini Server, a Time Capsule, and a Mac Pro as refurbs. Although I purchased the AppleCare with all of the computers, I only physically used it twice with the Mac Pro and the Apple store replaced a video card both times.
It's a great way to save a little money or spend more on RAM or other peripherals.
It's a great way to save a little money or spend more on RAM or other peripherals.
The computer in my sig is a refurb. All my apple laptops have been refurbs as well as my Airport extreme base station. The savings are well worth not getting a retail box. I'll never buy new when a refurb is readily available.
