UK Apple Refurb Store M1 Mini

[kwaka6]

Hi all UK readers

Just a heads up.

Apple UK Refurb Store has the base model M1 Mini for £589. Thats a massive £110 off.

Just took the plunge myself

 

[LeeW]

They have been available consistently over the past few weeks. It is interesting as it means there must have been a lot of returns.

 

[polyphenol]

Hi all UK readers

Just a heads up.

Apple UK Refurb Store has the base model M1 Mini for £589. Thats a massive £110 off.

Just took the plunge myself

That is exactly what has been sitting on my desk for a few weeks.

Am happy with it.

 

[One2Grift]

They have been available consistently over the past few weeks. It is interesting as it means there must have been a lot of returns.

Not necessarily. We’d get our Apple refurb stock from varying ways. If you ship 2 million units and just .02 percent have a cosmetic defect, a key that won’t unstick, display that had issues, a drive that quit, power supply that’s goose got cooked,shipping damage etc. that’s 400 units. 50 get cannibalized with some replacement modules thrown in to net 350 for retail. But Generally on newer products the amount we could refurb for sale was low. So expect the refurb inventory to go fast on most occasions.

If you see refurb inventory for many weeks on a new device, then either they aren’t selling many refurbs, abnormal high fail rate, returns are padding (to be)refurbed inventory.

 

[polyphenol]

Not necessarily. We’d get our Apple refurb stock from varying ways. If you ship 2 million units and just .02 percent have a cosmetic defect, a key that won’t unstick, display that had issues, a drive that quit, power supply that’s goose got cooked,shipping damage etc. that’s 400 units. 50 get cannibalized with some replacement modules thrown in to net 350 for retail. But Generally on newer products the amount we could refurb for sale was low. So expect the refurb inventory to go fast on most occasions.

If you see refurb inventory for many weeks on a new device, then either they aren’t selling many refurbs, abnormal high fail rate, returns are padding (to be)refurbed inventory.

Availability has been variable. When I decided to go for one, they disappeared for a few days, then came back - at which point I clicked to buy. This seems to have been the pattern for months. Which suggests relatively small numbers.

 

[LeeW]

If you see refurb inventory for many weeks on a new device, then either they aren’t selling many refurbs, abnormal high fail rate, returns are padding (to be)refurbed inventory.

Perhaps, but the likely reality appears to be that many are testing the M1 and using the return period.

Up until a few weeks ago, they were near impossible to get on the refurb store (UK). Unless you were watching closely and acted fast.

Only in the last 3/4 weeks, there appears to be quite a few on a regular basis. Not selling as many? Strongly doubt it. High failure rates? We would know about it.

 

[agregson]

I jumped in and bought one on UK refurb store - base model.

Super machine. Excellent performance and very impressed. All was going well ….

The wake from sleep issue. Three monitors all suffering same issue. Leave the Mini for a while, goes to sleep. Click mouse and machine wakes up as confirmed on Apple Watch just as on my iMac. Screen stays asleep. Press power button on monitor to force wake and comes on after a delay. Monitors are Acer Predator x34p 3440x1440, LG 25UD58 2560x1080 and LG 24UD58 3840x2160. All 3 monitors wake from sleep almost instantly and very reliably when using a Gigabyte Brix i7 with Windows 10 via HDMI and DP.

Also noticed that the mini cannot control display audio volume from macOS yet Windows 10 can achieve this perfectly. A few other little quirks.

I have had numerous iMacs since 2005 - current iMac is 2017 5k. Had hoped to go mini and modular with my choice of peripherals and one of above monitors. Now not so sure.

I can see my mini being added to the return …. A very nice machine but too many issues at the moment for me.

One thing does annoy me … rang Apple support and they were not at all helpful nor even admitting of the issue. Clearly we know from this forum it is an issue.

I wonder how many of the returning mini filling refurb stocks are returned for these reasons?

I have to make a decision now. Return mini then what? Keep 5k or sell on while still has value and go for iMac 24. Not sure I am prepared to persist with the mini.

 

[sublunar]

Perhaps, but the likely reality appears to be that many are testing the M1 and using the return period.

Up until a few weeks ago, they were near impossible to get on the refurb store (UK). Unless you were watching closely and acted fast.

Only in the last 3/4 weeks, there appears to be quite a few on a regular basis. Not selling as many? Strongly doubt it. High failure rates? We would know about it.

There have been a variety of M1 Minis on the refurb store over a matter of months recently, my impression is the same as a few of the posters here. They do go quickly so if you don't consistently look they may appear to be rare or plentiful.

I jumped in and bought one on UK refurb store - base model.

Super machine. Excellent performance and very impressed. All was going well ….

The wake from sleep issue. Three monitors all suffering same issue. Leave the Mini for a while, goes to sleep. Click mouse and machine wakes up as confirmed on Apple Watch just as on my iMac. Screen stays asleep. Press power button on monitor to force wake and comes on after a delay. Monitors are Acer Predator x34p 3440x1440, LG 25UD58 2560x1080 and LG 24UD58 3840x2160. All 3 monitors wake from sleep almost instantly and very reliably when using a Gigabyte Brix i7 with Windows 10 via HDMI and DP.

Also noticed that the mini cannot control display audio volume from macOS yet Windows 10 can achieve this perfectly. A few other little quirks.

I have had numerous iMacs since 2005 - current iMac is 2017 5k. Had hoped to go mini and modular with my choice of peripherals and one of above monitors. Now not so sure.

I can see my mini being added to the return …. A very nice machine but too many issues at the moment for me.

One thing does annoy me … rang Apple support and they were not at all helpful nor even admitting of the issue. Clearly we know from this forum it is an issue.

I wonder how many of the returning mini filling refurb stocks are returned for these reasons?

I have to make a decision now. Return mini then what? Keep 5k or sell on while still has value and go for iMac 24. Not sure I am prepared to persist with the mini.

This is the issue I have had with the my old Mini, and from the forums it seems to affect the 2014 and 2018 too so perhaps a fault with the design. We know that there's a reported wireless issue possibly to do with Bluetooth too, especially if you plug in USB3 peripherals close to the case.

This might be why an M1X Mini will reportedly come with a redesign with a (more radio friendly?) polycarbonate top - not something Apple would do lightly with Colocation guys in mind.

My own plan would have been to snap up one of these refurbs too as my 2012 is soon going to be out of luck for official OS upgrades as a 589 quid base model is good for an evaluation but I have seen many configurations come and go on the refurb store without snapping one up.

The reported issues are a factor in my prevarication even though an M1 Mac for less than 600 quid is tempting.

The iMac 24 is an option but it's not reportedly as silent as the Mini and obviously hasn't turned up in the refurb store either yet.

 

[kwaka6]

They have been available consistently over the past few weeks. It is interesting as it means there must have been a lot of returns.

I did notice a couple of higher spec M1s a while back but was interested in a base model. This was my first check of refurb stock in a while so jumped at the chance.

Haven’t opened it up yet though. Thinking i’d better get it checked out sooner rather than later though in case it needs to go back.

Does anyone have any experience of the retuns process in the UK?