Apple Certified Refurbished or Education Discount?

[Gizzygone]

Looking for a MacBook Pro: I qualify for the Education Discount.

I can order an M3Pro 12/18, 32GB, 2TB for $2920…. AND I can use my apple card to finance it.

Or: I can get the same M3Pro from the Apple Certified Refurbished for $2720 (But no financing option…)

Just curious if it’s worth $200 to go brand new on essentially the same model? (Would prefer the financing, but I could certainly move things around to pay it off without accruing interest also…)

 

[Gizzygone]

Also: Curious about Resale: will I make less money if/when I try to resell it down the road (versus a new model)

 

[Le Big Mac]

If you resell, it will just be considered used.

 

[Bigwaff]

Personally I see no difference between new vs refurb from the Apple Store. Both have the same warranty and eligibility for AppleCare+. Save yourself a couple hundred bucks. As for future resale value, nobody should care, especially if you are the original purchaser.

 

[Gizzygone]

If you resell, it will just be considered used.

Wasn’t sure if the ”blank boxes” that they used affected resale.

 

[za9ra22]

I would say to go for new via education discount rather than refurb. The reason is that while I have bought a number of items from the refurb store, and for the most part they are as perfect as new, that isn't always the case.

The only resale value question is an Apple trade-in, where the serial number of a refurb is likely to give you slightly lower trade-in value. (I've experimented!)

 

[bladerunner616]

Personally I see no difference between new vs refurb from the Apple Store. Both have the same warranty and eligibility for AppleCare+. Save yourself a couple hundred bucks. As for future resale value, nobody should care, especially if you are the original purchaser.

If you buy new a wider range of credit cards will give an extended warranty. For refurbished,Monet a few select Amex cards give extended warranty IIRC.

 

[KPOM]

Looking for a MacBook Pro: I qualify for the Education Discount.

I can order an M3Pro 12/18, 32GB, 2TB for $2920…. AND I can use my apple card to finance it.

Or: I can get the same M3Pro from the Apple Certified Refurbished for $2720 (But no financing option…)

Just curious if it’s worth $200 to go brand new on essentially the same model? (Would prefer the financing, but I could certainly move things around to pay it off without accruing interest also…)

As long as you can pay it off without incurring interest on something else I’d go with the refurbished models. They are mostly returns and are just as good as new, sometimes better because they are inspected and if necessary repaired. They used to not ship with a separate box (the shipping box doubled as the product box) but now the only difference is that the box doesn’t have a fancy picture on it.

 

[KPOM]

Wasn’t sure if the ”blank boxes” that they used affected resale.

In 2 or 3 years no one cares. It’s just a used Mac. The boxes are only missing a fancy picture. Many Macs sold on eBay and Swappa don’t even have the box.

 

[Yebubbleman]

Looking for a MacBook Pro: I qualify for the Education Discount.

I can order an M3Pro 12/18, 32GB, 2TB for $2920…. AND I can use my apple card to finance it.

Or: I can get the same M3Pro from the Apple Certified Refurbished for $2720 (But no financing option…)

Just curious if it’s worth $200 to go brand new on essentially the same model? (Would prefer the financing, but I could certainly move things around to pay it off without accruing interest also…)

I don't believe you can use things purchased with an education discount as a tax write-off. Similarly, if you are trying to qualify for any of Apple's business programs, things purchased with an educational discount do not apply. Otherwise, if what you want is a specific customization (e.g. a MacBook Pro with a low-end CPU, but maxed out RAM, GPU, and storage), academic is often your only option. If we're talking purely about value, refurbished is always going to be cheaper.

Of note, you can still buy AppleCare+ for an Apple Certified Refurbished unit with an educational discount and still end up saving $50ish.