Are there refurbished Macbook Pro´s M2Max?

[JaraCz]

Hello, I am going to buy 16” Macbook Pro M2Max from local seller for very good price.

I do not want to believe that he is selling this macbook so cheap. Previously I was going to buy 16” M1Max from Apple premium reseller for great price but this shop offers me M2Max about around 100 USD more.

So my question is: Could it be refurbished? Are there alread refurbished Macbook Pros 2023 yet?

The seller wrotes me that it is brand new but I know that he is selling refurbished devices as well through eshop. I know that new models are available refurbished after 1 year or few months later.

What do u think I should check? I already let him send me IMEI for applewarrantcheck and everything looks valid.

The seller told me that he has 7 of this macbooks and sent me few photos of boxes and everything looks legit.
He give me warranty for 24 months as well..
But I still do not want to believe that he is selling brand new M2Max cheaper around 1500 eur than other shops..

I am quite good at knowing products but this does not mean I can be scammed as well.

Thanks for tips!

 

[russell_314]

I can't speak about if the seller is trying to pull a fast one on you but if it was refurbished from Apple it would be in a plain white box. At least that's my understanding. I haven't bought a refurbished Mac from Apple but I've seen many YouTube videos about it and that's one of the differences they pointed out. I think they do this to make sure there is no confusion when you buy it. Of course MacBooks refurbished by someone other than Apple could be in any packaging.

 

[JaraCz]

Thanks russel_314! I got refurbished iPhone Pro Max in the past from Apple Care+ and I was in plain white box. They call it: “service unit” but I did not know if they do the same with laptops.

The seller wrotes me that for retail price he would not sell any unit because in our country macbooks pros 16” witn Apple Silicon are crazy expensive - something around 4300 Eur for M2max.

I can get cheaper one when I buy from Amazin but it would come with German keyboard so I expect he is selling something like that.
But no, he sells our local distribution and the seller said the he god few pieces for bonuses they have at Apple. And that taxes..🤷🏻‍♂️

 

[dmccloud]

I plugged the serial from that box into Apple's support site and got the following...

That basically means that serial number has never been activated online. The trick is making sure that the serial number of the device actually in the box matches that label.

 

[JaraCz]

Yes. Exactly! I put here second box he send me (I did not want to show my future IMEI). It stated the same but I know from experience that this is how should look unactivated product. I will check inside and check for battery condition.

 

[Mr. Dee]

I hope its not stolen goods. Then again, the market is so saturated, he might have gotten them through a supplier who would just like to get rid of them.

 

[JPack]

It's not a refurb unit. A refurb would not have a part # starting with M. This is a new retail unit.

Looks legit.

 

[JaraCz]

It's not a refurb unit. A refurb would not have a part # starting with M. This is a new retail unit.

Looks legit.

Thanks, it looks legit. But only one weird thing is that coconut battery shows me that the battery was manufactured in 2013..

 

[JPack]

Thanks, it looks legit. But only one weird thing is that coconut battery shows me that the battery was manufactured in 2013..

Coconut's wrong, similar to most apps. They simply can't read the date code correctly.

 

[JaraCz]

I hope so

 

[instant_happiness]

Strange.
When I checked mine before purchase - it had already set purchase date (about a month ago) on Apple's support site.
Seller said it was purchased in US that date and never unboxed and activated.
Is it possible?

 

[FreakinEurekan]

Strange.
When I checked mine before purchase - it had already set purchase date (about a month ago) on Apple's support site.
Seller said it was purchased in US that date and never unboxed and activated.
Is it possible?

Sure, lots of people buy Apple products in USA and then resell them elsewhere. Of course the warranty starts at the date of initial purchase. Such a resale would not be something I’d prefer, but I live in USA so I don’t know how difficult it is to get Apple products where you live.

 

[instant_happiness]

Sure, lots of people buy Apple products in USA and then resell them elsewhere. Of course the warranty starts at the date of initial purchase. Such a resale would not be something I’d prefer, but I live in USA so I don’t know how difficult it is to get Apple products where you live.

Yep, unfortunately we don't have official stores of Apple...
My concern is - does it mean that the laptop was unboxed and activated if there is purchase date presented on the check serial number page?

 

[FreakinEurekan]

Yep, unfortunately we don't have official stores of Apple...
My concern is - does it mean that the laptop was unboxed and activated if there is purchase date presented on the check serial number page?

No way to tell ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

[JaraCz]

Sure, lots of people buy Apple products in USA and then resell them elsewhere. Of course the warranty starts at the date of initial purchase. Such a resale would not be something I’d prefer, but I live in USA so I don’t know how difficult it is to get Apple products where you live.

No, it was already activated before.
When you have unactivated product and you check Apple warranty, than you will get info, that purchase date can not be validated. But when you sign in Apple ID than you will get the purchase date.

 

[HDFan]

I would focus on the reseller first. Do they have a return policy? Do they have good reviews? Do you have a recourse if there is a problem?

If the reseller looks good and you can return it that will give you time to thoroughly checkout the unit.

 

[instant_happiness]

No, it was already activated before.
When you have unactivated product and you check Apple warranty, than you will get info, that purchase date can not be validated. But when you sign in Apple ID than you will get the purchase date.

Are you sure?
What about the new packaging (unboxed)?
I guess purchase date is filled the day it was released to buyer.

Why Apple doesn't distinguish purchase and activation date more clearly?

 

[dmccloud]

Are you sure?
What about the new packaging (unboxed)?
I guess purchase date is filled the day it was released to buyer.

Why Apple doesn't distinguish purchase and activation date more clearly?

Purchase date (should be renamed "activation") is not related to when it was released to the buyer. For example, if I bought my mom a MacBook Air for her birthday, it wouldn't be considered "activated" until the day she actually turns the machine on for the first time. Also, unless the Mac was bought directly from Apple, it would be difficult for Apple to even know the date of purchase.

 

[JaraCz]

Are you sure?
What about the new packaging (unboxed)?
I guess purchase date is filled the day it was released to buyer.

Why Apple doesn't distinguish purchase and activation date more clearly?

Yes, I am sure, I bought a lot pf Apple products and solve this in past when one shop sold me activated product.

Purchase date can be two days earlier.. for example when I bought M1Max from Apple store website, I got product which had product date earlier than I got it. But activation should be still the same - when you connect the Macbook to AppleID

 

[emraha06]

Strange.
When I checked mine before purchase - it had already set purchase date (about a month ago) on Apple's support site.
Seller said it was purchased in US that date and never unboxed and activated.
Is it possible?

Was there an unusual deformity on the package. Was it sealed? What was the battery cycle count out of the box before any charging?

 

[instant_happiness]

Was there an unusual deformity on the package. Was it sealed? What was the battery cycle count out of the box before any charging?

No, the packaging was quite ok with original "pull me" stickers.

The battery cycle count was 4.

 

[instant_happiness]

del

 

[emraha06]

No, the packaging was quite ok with original "pull me" stickers.

The battery cycle count was 4.

If i remember correctly, you have told battery cycle as 5 in another topic

If you have receipt, you can call Apple and make revision about warranty beginning

 

[instant_happiness]

If i remember correctly, you have told battery cycle as 5 in another topic

If you have receipt, you can call Apple and make revision about warranty beginning

Yep, sorry.
I said 5 in another topic but now I remember that I used a charger for 1 cycle before I looked that statist.
But it was still 4-5 (not usual 1-2).

Some people say that stores provide the information about purchases to Apple and then Apple updates purchase date based on that. But if you activate the item before that information reaches Apple then purchase date is set to activation date.

I think it's relevant to my case since it was purchased for resale purposes.