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Would you buy Apple Refurbished?

barebackbadger8

barebackbadger8

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Mar 23, 2009
277
1
Wolverhampton, UK
Hi
Bit undecided whether i want the 11" or 13" macbook air, but thats another story.
Anyway i have been looking at the apple store uk refurbished section
They have a macbook air 11" for £639 (128gb, 4gb etc)

But i could risk purchasing through education and get it new for £644

My max budget is £700 for the 11" or £750 for the 13" so walking in the store is a no go
But was wondering what are peoples experience of purchasing refurbished?
I know you still get the 1 year warranty etc but worried about dents and scratches
 
I've bought loads of Apple gear from the refurb store. The trick is to find something that has the specs you're after but once you do that, what you'll get has a full guarantee and everything looks brand new. I've never had anything delivered that was in any way marked or looked like it had even been used. It was brand new but cheaper. The only difference from the full price stuff is it arrives in a plain white box but all the parts will be there.
 
Posting from a refurb now. Purchased many refurbished items from Apple over the years. Very satisfied with each one.
 
If you purchase a current model, it may be nothing more than a returned item. If someone returns one, they can't resell that as new, at least in the US.
 
I bought a 2014 MBA from Best Buy middle of last year.

The first one I got had a slightly crooked hinge, such that the bottom right of the screen was a little lower than the bottom left when the laptop was opened.

A quick way to check for this is to look at a laptop straight on, and notice how the top case (keyboard part) of the laptop can obscure your view of the rubber ring around the screen from certain angles. Now move your head up and down and see if the right side of the rubber ring is obscured before the left side.

This is an admittedly small problem but it was annoying me. I went to a different Best Buy and a couple of Apple Stores and checked to see if their MBAs suffered from the same problem. About half of them did.

So I exchanged my laptop for a different one, and that one's hinge is perfect. Couldn't be happier.

But, it means I also wouldn't trust my luck with a refurb unit which I might not be able to exchange as easily.
 
barebackbadger8 said:
Hi
Bit undecided whether i want the 11" or 13" macbook air, but thats another story.
Anyway i have been looking at the apple store uk refurbished section
They have a macbook air 11" for £639 (128gb, 4gb etc)

But i could risk purchasing through education and get it new for £644

My max budget is £700 for the 11" or £750 for the 13" so walking in the store is a no go
But was wondering what are peoples experience of purchasing refurbished?
I know you still get the 1 year warranty etc but worried about dents and scratches
Click to expand...

Refurb's are generally a good deal. However if it's only £5 difference between a refurb and a educational discount, why not just buy that one.
What I will say about the refurb store (in the UK at least), is when you see something on there you want, don't delay. They don't stay on there for long.
 
Thanks all, good to know that the refurbs as a rule tend to be ok

I could purchase through education, but i am not in education :)
Someone gave me a link to their uni store and i know its rare apple chase up whether or not you are in ed, but its a risk
However in the uk pc world say they sell the 8gb models of the macbook air
£749 for the 11" with 8gb
£849 for the 13" with 8gb

I only surf the net and manage my itunes so i know 8gb is massively OTT, but this will have to keep me going for at least 3 years (wife said haha)
 
posted from a refurb macbook air. Not sure what a new one would look or perform like but this one looks as new. Very happy and would buy again.
 
I purchased a refurb MBA and two refurb AppleTVs last year. They all looked just like new and have been problem-free. I believe the only possible issue is that some credit cards will double the warranty for a new item but not for a refurb. That may only apply to purchases in the US however.

I also purchased a new Mac Mini last year from B&H photo. When you included sales tax on a refurb from Apple, the new Mini was only $5 more, so I went with the new one. This was a US-specific issue again though. :)
 
If they had a MacBook Air with the specs I was looking for then I would of gotten one from the refurb store rather than getting a new one.
 
Apple has the same no-questions-asked return policy for the refurb items as it has for new ones. There is no risk at all to buy a refurb. If you get really unlucky and receive one with dents, you can always return it.
 
My last Mac (not current one) was refurbished. Apart from the box you wouldn't even know it was. Mint casing, same 12 month warranty. If it saves you a couple of hundred £'s then it's definitely worth doing.
 
Yes - but only an official APPLE refurb

If you order online from the Apple Store, you are good to go, done this many times, not "like" new, indistinguishable from new, with replacements of key parts (listed on the Apple Store refurb department).

If you order from other outlets, like Walmart here in the States, who knows what you get - usually other companies' ideas of refurbs are "customer returns, looks new to us" without even a boot-up to check it out.
 
well went to pc world and decided on the MBA 11"

thankfully Apple still had the base one available for £639 online so ordered that :)
download.png


cant wait till wednesday..

thanks for all your help and comments
 
I've had couple of refurbished Mac products, both times it was like new and never had any issue with either products.
 
I've heard many great success stories with Apple's refurbished products. Typically they are simply orders that have been cancelled or returned within the return period, and they get a thorough check over and a clean bill of health before being resold. Not only that, you get a full 1 year warranty and the ability to purchase additional AppleCare on it within that period just like a new machine.

What I wouldn't recommend doing is purchasing any open box or demo model computers from third party retailers, since you never know what has been done to them (and in the case of demo units have likely been running 24/7 for months).

And congratulations on your purchase. I'm sure you'll love it! :)
 
Good choice. The real question is: why would't you (buy an Apple refurb)? Answer: only if you really wanted the white box. ;)
 
barebackbadger8 said:
Hi
Bit undecided whether i want the 11" or 13" macbook air, but thats another story.
Anyway i have been looking at the apple store uk refurbished section
They have a macbook air 11" for £639 (128gb, 4gb etc)

But i could risk purchasing through education and get it new for £644

My max budget is £700 for the 11" or £750 for the 13" so walking in the store is a no go
But was wondering what are peoples experience of purchasing refurbished?
I know you still get the 1 year warranty etc but worried about dents and scratches
Click to expand...

I'd buy refurbish any day of the week and twice on Sunday. These units are as good as new.
 
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