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Because these are used items that have had something wrong with them, returned back to apple, and repaired. They cant sell them as new so they drop the price and sell it as refurbished. I purchased a white imac, and it has been a solid machine..I wouldnt hesitate to do it again..
 
It has nothing to do with the quality. The machines come in flawless condition. Apple cleans the display, makes sure there's no scratches/fingerprints on the casing, replaces the battery, and cleans out the OS completely.

In fact, refurbs generally can be of HIGHER quality than new machines, simply because they've been tested. How many new machines do you think are tested? Probably very few in the assembly line. ALL refurbs are tested.

I'd be willing to place a bet that you could simply replace a refurb machine with a new machine and no buyer would ever be able to tell the difference. The issue is, Apple legally can't do that. Therefore, they offer refurbs at a relatively significant discount.

Rest assure, buying a refurb is essentially EXACTLY the same as buying a new machine. The difference? You don't get the :apple: unboxing experience.
 
It has nothing to do with the quality. The machines come in flawless condition. Apple cleans the display, makes sure there's no scratches/fingerprints on the casing, replaces the battery, and cleans out the OS completely.

In fact, refurbs generally can be of HIGHER quality than new machines, simply because they've been tested. How many new machines do you think are tested? Probably very few in the assembly line. ALL refurbs are tested.

I'd be willing to place a bet that you could simply replace a refurb machine with a new machine and no buyer would ever be able to tell the difference. The issue is, Apple legally can't do that. Therefore, they offer refurbs at a relatively significant discount.

Rest assure, buying a refurb is essentially EXACTLY the same as buying a new machine. The difference? You don't get the :apple: unboxing experience.

I agree totally.

I have two refurb iMacs, a year old, no probs at all.


 iMac 17" 2.0ghz Intel Core 2 Duo 10.5.7 w 3gb memory (White one)
 iMac 17" 1.8ghz Intel Core 2 Duo 10.5.7 w 1gb memory (White one)
Internal 160gb plus External 500gb x 2 plus 120gb USB Flash memory
 
no sorry i meant why are some refurbs less expensive than other refurbs. EG. if one 2.66 mbp is $200 off and one is $300 off same specs. Unless that's a fluke. Thanks
 
no sorry i meant why are some refurbs less expensive than other refurbs. EG. if one 2.66 mbp is $200 off and one is $300 off same specs. Unless that's a fluke. Thanks

While they may be the same specs, they may not be the same model or have the same processor type.

I've noticed the difference in prices also, and I discovered that while the specs on one machine might be identical to another, they are in fact different models of the same product. One might have been a high-end model released in 2007, then the other is actually a mid-range model released in 2008.

Also, just to clear up what other posters have said above: Most "refurbs" are either items that have failed initial quality control tests before being shipped out (in which they are repaired and then sold as refurbs) OR, surprisingly, a lot are bulk returns from large orders for items that have been cancelled for various reasons. The boxes might have never been opened, let alone the items turned on, but because they have been sold and returned, they cannot be re-sold as "new" items.
 
I know what you are talking about. I have seen it on iMacs and MacBooks. A couple of days ago, for instance, there was the last gen white Macbook with the 2.1 gHz proc and Intel graphics for the same price as the current gen Mac book with the 2.0 processor/DDR3/9400m graphics. Yeah, the older model is .1GHz faster, but it has slower RAM and the graphics aren't as good. I believe it had less RAM, as well. I have seen the same thing on some iMacs and wondered why anybody would buy the lesser machine for the same money.

My suspicion is it has to do with the original price of the machine. They tend to lower the prices by about the same amount, and if the model originally sold at a higher price, it will be about the same price as current models in the refurb store.
 
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