Refurbished Apple TV

[Richard Pine]

Hi everyone, I was contemplating buying a refurbished Apple TV from the Apple Store and was wondering if it's better than getting it for the full £149? It's currently £119 so £30 saving but i wanted to know if it's durable as I wouldn't want it to break after a year once the warranty runs out.

Also I'm a stickler for clean remotes and was wondering if the remotes themselves are cleaned or replaced with new remotes. Idk the idea of using a used remote weirds me out lol.

 

[JWort93]

I haven't bought a refurbished Apple TV, but I have purchased a few other refurbished apple products and they always look and work just like brand new. I would say go for it.

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

149 divided by at least 12 months = about 12.50 per month. If you buy it and it does conk in month 13, it's cost you only about 12.50/month to rent all it's usefulness for the year. This is not like buying any other Apple hardware. This is cheap.

I second #2 except I HAVE purchased refurbished TVs. They typically look brand new. Conceptually, they ARE cleaned but no one here is going to know for sure. A lot of refurbs are returns that came back quickly, so not a lot of time to thoroughly dirty them up. Something may not have been working properly or tried it for a while and decided they wanted something else instead. Apple's return policy is relatively short- these are not going to be long-term used products.

If it's just a mental thing, cough up the extra 30 to get it new. 30/12 is < 3 extra per month. In reality, it will probably last you for a couple of years, so thinking about it's monthly cost over- say- 30 months might help you see either price as the relative bargain that TV is.

 

[Richard Pine]

149 divided by at least 12 months = about 12.50 per month. If you buy it and it does conk in month 13, it's cost you only about 12.50/month to rent all it's usefulness for the year. This is not like buying any other Apple hardware. This is cheap.

I second #2 except I HAVE purchased refurbished TVs. They typically look brand new. Conceptually, they ARE cleaned but no one here is going to know for sure. A lot of refurbs are returns that came back quickly, so not a lot of time to thoroughly dirty them up. Something may not have been working properly or tried it for a while and decided they wanted something else instead. Apple's return policy is relatively short- these are not going to be long-term used products.

If it's just a mental thing, cough up the extra 30 to get it new. 30/12 is < 3 extra per month. In reality, it will probably last you for a couple of years, so thinking about it's monthly cost over- say- 30 months might help you see either price as the relative bargain that TV is.

It's definitely a mental thing, I just don't like the idea of touching something on a daily basis that might not be clean. I know it's irrational but still I doubt I'd be able to get over that hurdle and I don't want it affecting my enjoyment of the ATV. The actual Apple TV being used I'm not concerned about because once it's setup in my AV rack I don't have to touch it again. I have read some other responses across the web that mention the remotes in refurbished ATVs being new as they don't bother sanitising the returned ones. Don't know if that's true or not, if it is then that would be great

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

For your peace of mind, it sounds like you should spend the extra 30. Nobody here is going to be able to confirm that you are getting a new remote or even a sanitized one.

 

[techwarrior]

I have purchased many of my Apple products Refurbished. They are like new, have the same 1 yr warranty as new, and save you some decent coin.You can even purchase Apple Care on them, like new products.

My Airport Time Capsule is now going on 3 years, refurb. My Apple TV3 and AppleTV4 are still ticking without a hitch. I have bought Macs, iPads, Apple Watch, and accessories refurb without an issue.

I can't say enough good things about Apple's Refurbs, not so sure about other sources like you see on Amazon for example.

My understanding is, Apple gets returns from customers who buy something, try for 30 days, and return. Often, purchases made right before a new release come back in favor of the newer model. They seem to wait for a stockpile of items, put them through the refurb process and sell them. So, they are not always available, but since the 4K model just arrived, likely they have a number of the ATV4s coming back to swap to the new model.

They also will take a failed device (in 1 yr warranty period, or through Apple Care) and essentially remanufacture it and sell it as a refurb unit. I suspect more care goes into the refurb process than new products as it is not likely to be a full assembly line operation.

Every electronic device has a certain failure rate, so there is likely as much chance of a new device failing as a Refurb.

 

[tromboneaholic]

The only difference is the box it comes in.

 

[thesaint024]

Hi everyone, I was contemplating buying a refurbished Apple TV from the Apple Store and was wondering if it's better than getting it for the full £149? It's currently £119 so £30 saving but i wanted to know if it's durable as I wouldn't want it to break after a year once the warranty runs out.

Also I'm a stickler for clean remotes and was wondering if the remotes themselves are cleaned or replaced with new remotes. Idk the idea of using a used remote weirds me out lol.

Can you imagine those grubby little hands that assembled the products too? I hope they make them wash their hands after bathroom breaks. JK man, I wash my hands every time I touch a hotel remote too. But yeah, spring for the extra £30 to keep your sanity.

 

[praterkeith]

I had a refurbished Apple TV 3 and it looked brand new, so did the remote. Couldn't tell the difference. The remote even had the same plastic on it that new ones have, which tells me it was probably new. Since batteries can't be changed on those particular models and batteries are always changed on reforms, I would guess that it was new.

 

[techwarrior]

I had a refurbished Apple TV 3 and it looked brand new, so did the remote. Couldn't tell the difference. The remote even had the same plastic on it that new ones have, which tells me it was probably new. Since batteries can't be changed on those particular models and batteries are always changed on reforms, I would guess that it was new.

Batteries can be replaced on the ATV3 remote, the backside has a round battery cover, use a lotted screwdriver to twist it off, and pop in a new CR2032 battery.

But, likely the refurb process includes thoroughly cleaning everything, replacing batteries and re-packaging for delivery. They do inform you before purchasing that the item may have minor scratches or imperfections. Some will come with the original packaging, some will come in plain boxes. It probably depends on if the original owner returned the item in the original packaging or not. They will replace the label on the box with one identifying it as refurbished if they re-use original packaging as I recall.

 

[praterkeith]

Batteries can be replaced on the ATV3 remote, the backside has a round battery cover, use a lotted screwdriver to twist it off, and pop in a new CR2032 battery.

But, likely the refurb process includes thoroughly cleaning everything, replacing batteries and re-packaging for delivery. They do inform you before purchasing that the item may have minor scratches or imperfections. Some will come with the original packaging, some will come in plain boxes. It probably depends on if the original owner returned the item in the original packaging or not. They will replace the label on the box with one identifying it as refurbished if they re-use original packaging as I recall.

Whoops, you are correct.

 

[Juicy Box]

i wanted to know if it's durable as I wouldn't want it to break after a year once the warranty runs out.

I have bought many of my Apple products, including ATVs as Apple Certified Refurbished. I have never had a problem with any of them. Out of the box, you would never know they were refurbished. If you are that concern about it, you could buy a refurbished ATV, and buy the Apple Care + for it for $29 more. You will get an extra year of coverage over the new one.

Also I'm a stickler for clean remotes and was wondering if the remotes themselves are cleaned or replaced with new remotes. Idk the idea of using a used remote weirds me out lol.

Apple's refurbishing process is very different than most other ones you will see. It is much better. If you put a new remote, and a refurbished remote right next to each other, I doubt you would be able to tell them a part.

Here is some info on Apple's refurbished process.

 

[RichardMZhlubb]

I’ll just echo what others have said. I’ve purchased refurbished iPads, iPods, a Mac Mini and a 5K iMac. Once they’re out of the box, they’re as good as brand new. If you can match the technical specs of the current new model, I see no reason to not save the money you can on a refurbished model.