My refurbished iPad Pro in Rose Gold looks off-color

[bringeverything]

I bought a refurbished 10.5-in iPad Pro in Rose Gold and when it arrived I noticed the color of the chassis seemed "off". I took it to the Apple Store and compared it with the display model and the difference was clear:



It is not the lighting. I showed it to one of the employees and he noticed the difference too. Anyone know why this happened? Is it done on purpose? To distinguish a refurbished model from a brand new one, maybe as a way to deter consumers from buying refurbished while its brand new counterpart can still be found in stores? As far as I can tell the refurbed version runs fine, but the fact that the color resembles the Rose gold in the ipad 2018 is off-putting.

 

[pika2000]

I wonder if the 9.7" pro rose gold has a different shade compared to the 10.5" rose gold. Apple sometimes changes the shades of the colors they use on every new iteration (just look at how many different "space grey" variations they have).

 

[JPack]

It's almost like you bought a Gold instead of Rose Gold.

Did you considering returning your unit to the Apple Store for another refurbished unit?

 

[canesalato]

when i came to Japan I immediately noticed that apple devices here are really more “pink”, compared to what i knew as rose gold. I had a rose gold european iPhone SE that was completely different from the ones displayed in Japanese stores.
Regional differences might play a role and perhaps you refurbished originally came from a different region. Just speculating, not saying this is the real explanation.

 

[BugeyeSTI]

It really does look like regular gold, not rose gold. As @JPack suggested, try taking it back to Apple for an exchange

 

[bringeverything]

It's almost like you bought a Gold instead of Rose Gold.

Did you considering returning your unit to the Apple Store for another refurbished unit?

That thought did cross my mind so I checked the back of the box and I was indeed sent a Rose Gold unit.

Don't know if you can read it from there...but it does say 10.5-inch Wi-Fi 64 GB Rose Gold.

I'd only send it back if I know for sure this isn't something that happens with every refurbished unit... can anyone who has bought refurbished chime in?

 

[JPack]

To me, there's no ambiguity that's a Gold and not a Rose Gold. Perhaps it was packed wrong during refurbishment.

The model and serial numbers identify it as refurbished and I've not heard of anyone getting off tone refurb units.

 

[bringeverything]

To me, there's no ambiguity that's a Gold and not a Rose Gold. Perhaps it was packed wrong during refurbishment.

The model and serial numbers identify it as refurbished and I've not heard of anyone getting off tone refurb units.

I’m going to compare this one against a real Gold one at the store before sending it back to see if it is an exact match. You guys are probably right though.

 

[Pupi]

Looks like the gold/rose gold hybrid color that replaced both colors in Apple Watch Series 3, while being called simply "gold".

 

[44267547]

That’s definitely a gold iPad in comparison, it’s likely a mistake that was packed incorrectly during the refurbish process or labeled wrong, but I’m sure Apple will happily exchange out for the proper color that you wanted originally.

 

[bringeverything]

Called up the Apple phone line and gave them the serial number of my ipad - they told me what I have is indeed registered as Rose Gold. They are still willing to replace it, however, so here's hoping I don't get another frankenstein looking ipad.

 

[TechZeke]

I wonder if the 9.7" pro rose gold has a different shade compared to the 10.5" rose gold. Apple sometimes changes the shades of the colors they use on every new iteration (just look at how many different "space grey" variations they have).

The space grey has been a mess. The space grey shade isn't even consistent between different categories of the same year. Although I’m enjoying my 8 Plus; the glass back makes it an actual black phone is read of just a dark grey one. Really sharp looking; I’d even go as far to say that 8 Plus space grey looks even sharper than the iPhone X in my opinion.

 

[JPack]

Let us know how the replacement looks!

Apple's return policy for refurbished units is the same as their new devices. You can return it for any reason.

 

[rosegoldoli]

so i know this thread is old, but i too had this issue with my iphone 7 plus in rose gold

turns out they used the same shade as the macbook air 2018/2019 AND the 6th gen iPad (probably the new iPad air too).

I showed the guys at the apple store this and they agreed. They believe what happened is Apple wants uniformity so the pinker looking rose gold was axed for this new rose gold which is IRONICALLY the "new gold"!

If you compare the rose gold iphone 7 plus box with the gold iphone 8 plus box you will see that the foil on the box is the same rose gold. The home button is also rose gold.

what does all this mean?

that the new gold is actually the new rose gold but marketed as "gold" to attract the male customers by making the new shade more coppery (which is actually what real rose gold looks like!)

EDIT: also if you look at the "Gold" Apple Watch Pin for the Series 3 and 4 for the Gold aluminum model and compare it to the Rose Gold apple watch pin for the series 0-2 they are the SAME color