Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Best used or refurbished MBP for $2200 or less?

D

dgerch

macrumors member
Original poster
Apr 7, 2010
53
7
Hi, I have a mid 2012 MBP that has served me well but it's time to upgrade.

Most CPU intensive programs I use are Logic Pro/Lightroom/Photoshop

The newest version of these apps don't really run on my computer and it's always struggled to deal with projects that have a lot of plug-ins and tracks. I'd like something that could handle very dense logic projects without crashing or excessive buffering.

I'm not a huge gamer but something that could handle newer city building/civilization type games would be nice, too.

Ideally it'd be a computer that I could use confidently for about 5 years before needing to upgrade again. I also need a model with a larger screen, as 13" wouldn't be good for my workflow.

I'm having trouble comprehending the real world differences between different chips, benchmarks, multi-threads, etc.

Here's a link to one that seems intriguing on Amazon Renewed, about $400 cheaper than Apple store refurbished.

2023 Apple MacBook Pro with Apple M2 Pro Chip (16-inch, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD) (QWERTY English) Space Gray (Renewed) https://www.amazon.com/Apple-MacBook-16-inch-English-Renewed/dp/B0BZ5XK5DD

What do you guys think? Amazon seems legit, can return it. Would I notice a difference between 16 and 32 gigs of Ram?

As always, thank you!
 
Last edited:
O

okkibs

macrumors 65816
Sep 17, 2022
1,070
1,005
Only Apple sells refurbished devices, Amazon does not. They sell used devices. They wouldn't even have access to original Apple parts to do any refurbishing so by definition it's impossible for anyone other than Apple to refurbish these - especially with the high prices for original parts. Considering that they are just used devices the price is high. If you want refurbished buy through Apple, one year warranty included with optional Applecare+ available too.

If you can't find a deal for a new device, and there currently aren't many, I'd just buy used from a private seller, perhaps something you can pick up in your area. I prefer these to the "refurbished" scams as you can usually tell if the person took good care of their device and usually when you pay full price for your own device you tend to take good care of it, big companies like Amazon just have some partner business that will mainly wipe the data and make sure the device looks ok without doing any further tests (and again, they couldn't get replacement parts anyways if something wasn't working right).

You might find a M2 model that still has Applecare+ coverage on it for two remaining years.

Any 14" or 16" model with M1 or M2 will be fine as they all come with 16GiB of RAM and 500GB of storage or more and all SoC options including the M1 Pro 8 core have plenty of power.
 
  • Like
Reactions: _Mitchan1999, Ocnetgeek and dgerch
T

tenordrum

macrumors regular
Jan 26, 2019
170
272
DC Beltway
Microcenter sells Apple certified refurbs with a one year warranty, as does Best Buy for a few (look for "certified") right now Microcenter offers them only in store, so you need to be near a Microcenter. They have several options in your price range. Microcenter and Best Buy have the M1 certified, not the M2 refurbs. Woot (owned by Amazon) has at times "new" and apple certified refurbs, but you have to look closely that it is not the 90 day woot/amazon warranty, that it shows the 1 year apple warranty. Microcenter and Best Buy also have a lot of open box models offered at discount. I have purchased open box models from BB for the last several years. You have to check them though, as sometimes they are missing key accessories, despite being their "excellent" grade.
 
  • Like
Reactions: _Mitchan1999, 3SQ Machine, coachingguy and 4 others
Fishrrman

Fishrrman

macrumors Penryn
Feb 20, 2009
29,243
13,316
OP wrote:
"Here's a link to one that seems intriguing on Amazon Renewed, about $400 cheaper than Apple store refurbished."

NO!
There's a reason why "they're cheaper".
They aren't going to be "up to the standards" vis-a-vis with Apple.

If you're going to buy refurbished, buy from the Apple online store.
Consider yourself as having been duly warned by reading this post.

I'd suggest a MacBook Pro 14" or 16", with the m2(pro) series CPUs.
I'd shoot for 32gb of RAM and a 1tb SSD.
But if that's over the budget, 16gb of RAM should still do.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Makisupa Policeman, _Mitchan1999, Ocnetgeek and 2 others
T

tenordrum

macrumors regular
Jan 26, 2019
170
272
DC Beltway
In your general price range, for example, if Microcenter has an outlet close to you, you may want to look at this Apple certified refurb model, since you hang on to your laptops for a while . 64 gb RAM, 2 TB hard drive, m1Max chip, 14 inch MBP
$2200
www.microcenter.com

Apple MacBook Pro G15KLLL/A (Late 2021) 14.2" Laptop Computer (Factory Refurbished) - Silver; Apple M1 Max 10-Core - Micro Center

Get it now! The most powerful MacBook Pro ever is here (refurbished). With the blazing-fast M1 Pro or M1 Max chip - the first Apple silicon designed for pros - you get groundbreaking performance and amazing battery life.
www.microcenter.com www.microcenter.com
 
  • Like
Reactions: _Mitchan1999, Jdshewman and dgerch
D

dgerch

macrumors member
Original poster
Apr 7, 2010
53
7
tenordrum said:
In your general price range, for example, if Microcenter has an outlet close to you, you may want to look at this Apple certified refurb model, since you hang on to your laptops for a while . 64 gb RAM, 2 TB hard drive, m1Max chip, 14 inch MBP
$2200
www.microcenter.com

Apple MacBook Pro G15KLLL/A (Late 2021) 14.2" Laptop Computer (Factory Refurbished) - Silver; Apple M1 Max 10-Core - Micro Center

Get it now! The most powerful MacBook Pro ever is here (refurbished). With the blazing-fast M1 Pro or M1 Max chip - the first Apple silicon designed for pros - you get groundbreaking performance and amazing battery life.
www.microcenter.com www.microcenter.com
Click to expand...
Thank you!
(1) Would I notice a difference between the M1 Max and an M2 chip for intense Logic Pro projects?
(3) Is Microcenter pretty safe and legit?
 
T

tenordrum

macrumors regular
Jan 26, 2019
170
272
DC Beltway
Microcenter is terrific chain of electronic stores. There are 3 near me. They cater to businesses as well, but my kids and I have been customers since the days of the original iMacs and even before then. Their open box models are typically in good shape, with details about what might be missing (unlike at times Best Buy). You just need to be close to one of their stores. They don't generally sell online for shipping. As for M1Max vs M2, frankly I think your question might be better answered by someone who uses Logic Pro (I don't) . That said, my guess is that 64gb of RAM and a fast hard drive are probably more important than a processor at that point.
 
  • Like
Reactions: _Mitchan1999, Jdshewman and dgerch
M

magbarn

macrumors 68040
Oct 25, 2008
3,018
2,386
okkibs said:
Only Apple sells refurbished devices, Amazon does not. They sell used devices. They wouldn't even have access to original Apple parts to do any refurbishing so by definition it's impossible for anyone other than Apple to refurbish these - especially with the high prices for original parts. Considering that they are just used devices the price is high. If you want refurbished buy through Apple, one year warranty included with optional Applecare+ available too.

If you can't find a deal for a new device, and there currently aren't many, I'd just buy used from a private seller, perhaps something you can pick up in your area. I prefer these to the "refurbished" scams as you can usually tell if the person took good care of their device and usually when you pay full price for your own device you tend to take good care of it, big companies like Amazon just have some partner business that will mainly wipe the data and make sure the device looks ok without doing any further tests (and again, they couldn't get replacement parts anyways if something wasn't working right).

You might find a M2 model that still has Applecare+ coverage on it for two remaining years.

Any 14" or 16" model with M1 or M2 will be fine as they all come with 16GiB of RAM and 500GB of storage or more and all SoC options including the M1 Pro 8 core have plenty of power.
Click to expand...
Woot will often sell Apple refurbished MacBooks. It has to say certified refurbished with 1 year warranty. Bought 2 MacBook m1 pros from them over the last year and all came with 1 year apple warranties. You just have to call apple support to update the warranty date to your woot invoice. I even added AppleCare plus to one of them. $1370 for M1 Pro MacBook Pro 14 with 1TB/16gb is much better price than what Apple refurb store charges.
 
  • Like
Reactions: _Mitchan1999 and dgerch
K

KPOM

macrumors P6
Oct 23, 2010
18,308
8,320
If you live in an area with high sales taxes, I would look at new Macs from B&H Photo. Their credit card partner offers a sales tax rebate. For me that’s an additional 10.25% discount. B&H also frequently has deals on new Macs. For example, last week they had $300 off the 14” M3 Pro MacBook Pro with 1TB SSD (normally $2,399). They tend to “rotate” deals so if you see one that piques your interest act quickly. B&H will usually match other authorized resellers’ promotions so check out those sites as well. For me the sales tax rebate tips the scales in their favor. Be aware that B&H does not accept returns of opened laptops.

I’m not a gamer, but from what I understand the hardware ray tracing and dynamic caching that were introduced in the M3 should offer significant improvements. So consider going with a new Mac if longevity is your concern.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: _Mitchan1999 and tenordrum
O

okkibs

macrumors 65816
Sep 17, 2022
1,070
1,005
magbarn said:
Woot will often sell Apple refurbished MacBooks. It has to say certified refurbished with 1 year warranty. Bought 2 MacBook m1 pros from them over the last year and all came with 1 year apple warranties.
Click to expand...
Haven't heard of them, apparently it's Amazon selling older stock. So that's a good option then. Did your Macbooks come with the regular Apple packaging with the Macbook picture printed onto it? Or did they come in plain white boxes like all Apple refurbished devices? Assuming they are actually refurbished in the white boxes then it's interesting that Apple partnered up with Amazon for it. If it were packaged like a brand new Mac then it would really just be Amazon clearing out old stock. Which would be fine of course.

I checked their website and they seem to have both old Amazon stock as well as Apple refurbished devices. The refurbished ones seem to be limited deals and there currently aren't any available.
 
  • Like
Reactions: _Mitchan1999
richardpage

richardpage

macrumors member
Jan 3, 2014
55
32
dgerch said:
Hi, I have a mid 2012 MBP that has served me well but it's time to upgrade.

Most CPU intensive programs I use are Logic Pro/Lightroom/Photoshop

The newest version of these apps don't really run on my computer and it's always struggled to deal with projects that have a lot of plug-ins and tracks. I'd like something that could handle very dense logic projects without crashing or excessive buffering.

I'm not a huge gamer but something that could handle newer city building/civilization type games would be nice, too.

Ideally it'd be a computer that I could use confidently for about 5 years before needing to upgrade again. I also need a model with a larger screen, as 13" wouldn't be good for my workflow.

I'm having trouble comprehending the real world differences between different chips, benchmarks, multi-threads, etc.

Here's a link to one that seems intriguing on Amazon Renewed, about $400 cheaper than Apple store refurbished.

2023 Apple MacBook Pro with Apple M2 Pro Chip (16-inch, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD) (QWERTY English) Space Gray (Renewed) https://www.amazon.com/Apple-MacBook-16-inch-English-Renewed/dp/B0BZ5XK5DD

What do you guys think? Amazon seems legit, can return it. Would I notice a difference between 16 and 32 gigs of Ram?

As always, thank you!
Click to expand...
Whatever you do go for the fastest processor, and maximum memory you can afford... as Apple now prevents buyers from upgrading any of these. You can always expand storage by using external devices.
 
  • Like
Reactions: _Mitchan1999
M

magbarn

macrumors 68040
Oct 25, 2008
3,018
2,386
okkibs said:
Haven't heard of them, apparently it's Amazon selling older stock. So that's a good option then. Did your Macbooks come with the regular Apple packaging with the Macbook picture printed onto it? Or did they come in plain white boxes like all Apple refurbished devices? Assuming they are actually refurbished in the white boxes then it's interesting that Apple partnered up with Amazon for it. If it were packaged like a brand new Mac then it would really just be Amazon clearing out old stock. Which would be fine of course.

I checked their website and they seem to have both old Amazon stock as well as Apple refurbished devices. The refurbished ones seem to be limited deals and there currently aren't any available.
Click to expand...
The deals were prolific right after the M3 series was announced so maybe it was Apple getting rid of their refurb stock through 3rd parties. The macbooks came in the Apple standard refurb white boxes and came in basically in new condition.
 
  • Like
Reactions: okkibs
Jdshewman

Jdshewman

macrumors member
Jun 23, 2010
40
71
Seal Beach, CA
tenordrum said:
In your general price range, for example, if Microcenter has an outlet close to you, you may want to look at this Apple certified refurb model, since you hang on to your laptops for a while . 64 gb RAM, 2 TB hard drive, m1Max chip, 14 inch MBP
$2200
www.microcenter.com

Apple MacBook Pro G15KLLL/A (Late 2021) 14.2" Laptop Computer (Factory Refurbished) - Silver; Apple M1 Max 10-Core - Micro Center

Get it now! The most powerful MacBook Pro ever is here (refurbished). With the blazing-fast M1 Pro or M1 Max chip - the first Apple silicon designed for pros - you get groundbreaking performance and amazing battery life.
www.microcenter.com www.microcenter.com
Click to expand...
This is a phenomenal deal and is now at $2099. This is "factory refurbished", the same one sold on Apple's Certified Refurbished site and going for $2899. You can also get Apple Care since Micro Center is a authorized reseller of factory refurbished.
 
  • Like
Reactions: _Mitchan1999, 3SQ Machine and dgerch
D

dgerch

macrumors member
Original poster
Apr 7, 2010
53
7
Not yet. There were a couple of models, like the last one suggested that were really close to what I wanted but I'm still periodically checking microcenter for MBP that will work for me.
 
  • Like
Reactions: _Mitchan1999
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom