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zoran

macrumors 601
Original poster
Jun 30, 2005
4,797
133
Just talked with an Apple specialist from the call center here in Australia.
 

FriendlyMackle

macrumors 6502a
Oct 29, 2011
925
804
NYC
Just talked with an Apple specialist from the call center here in Australia.
Then that is definitely different in Australia vs the US. I had AppleCare on an iMac I bought on the refurb store here. And browsing the site now I see that I can add AppleCare to my purchase in the refurb store. Apple basically guarantees these refurbished units as ‘like new’ and therefore they will insure them.

Can you ask at an Apple store there just in case the specialist was wrong?
 

Juicy Box

macrumors 604
Sep 23, 2014
7,580
8,920
Just talked with an Apple specialist from the call center here in Australia.
Hmmm i called Apple again, spoke to different agent and he said that i can get an AppleCare plan for refurbished products...
Sounds like someone at Apple needs some more training...

That link I posted earlier about Apple Refurbished products, they talk about getting Apple Care for Apple Refurbished devices at the bottom of the page:
Apple Care for Refurbished Apple Products.png


 

FriendlyMackle

macrumors 6502a
Oct 29, 2011
925
804
NYC
Hmmm i called Apple again, spoke to different agent and he said that i can get an AppleCare plan for refurbished products... go figure guys... go figure!!! :-(
And, I’ve bought several iMacs and MacBook Pros over the years from Apple’s refurb store. I’ve never had a problem with any of them. Some I bought for people at my company (that‘s why I bought more than I would have needed), and while one of them we retired since it was simply so old(!), the iMac I bought for one of our editors is still going strong around 7-8 years later.

My personal iMac, which I bought as a refurb from Apple just turned 10 years old! It has been a great computer. But I am replacing it this month with a laptop and (likely) a Studio Display (still deciding on that). And, really I’m replacing it because it’s ‘obsolete’ and is stuck on 10.13, plus it has a hybrid hard drive + SSD, and I’m feeling that the HD has definitely reached end of life status.

So you can’t go wrong with a refurbished unit direct from Apple (only!). As others have said, I wouldn‘t trust any other seller or reseller’s ‘refurbishment’ process.

Good luck with getting the MBP you decide on. 😀
 

zoran

macrumors 601
Original poster
Jun 30, 2005
4,797
133
On Apple refurbished straight from Apple, yes, it's worth it. Apple refurbished comes with the same warranty as the new ones, and you can buy AppleCare for it as well.
You cannot buy AppleCare for a Refurbished... where did u get that info from?
Sorry #ian87w, my bad mate, it was an untrained agent that misinformed me. thanks for the correct info :)
 
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Matsamoto

macrumors 6502a
Oct 31, 2018
990
8,524
Halmstad, Sweden
I'm not an US citizen so I can't speak for the market in USA, but I'm guessing that you have a better discount and also better sales if you compare with Sweden, Europe.

Here in Sweden we have usually like 5% discount and in special cases 10% discount on refurbished Apple devices.
So imo it's not worth it.
Add 50-100$ and you have a completely new device.
But this is just my opinion😊
 

philstubbington

macrumors 6502a
Is it worth buying a refurbished MacBookPro? Giving out $AU 4.000 for one seems kinda risky, or isn't it? What exactly are refurbished products?
Check the exact wording - sometimes refurbished means "remanufactured", which means it's failed a quality control on the production line, has been fixed and passed the quality control the second time.

Having worked for another manufacturer (Dell) I wouldn't be surprised if Apple staff use reman gear in-house - that's what we had at Dell, and to be honest, never noticed any difference.

If it's being refurbished or remanufactured by Apple I wouldn't have any issue with it.
 

Kingcoherent

macrumors member
Aug 30, 2022
89
89
The only problem I see with refurbished Apple products is that, at least in my country, you can’t finance them and you can’t trade your current device in, even at a discount, those devices still come with an important price tag.
At least in the uk you can trade in against a refurb. Trade in just gives you Apple store credit, which you can spend however you like. Traded in my old work intel MacBook Pro for 440 gbp and got a refurb m2 air.

For me it was ideal, less electronic waste hanging round my flat and in total about 640 off the list price of the Air.
 

rpmurray

macrumors 68020
Feb 21, 2017
2,148
4,329
Back End of Beyond
The only drawback to buying refurbished is that the model you want when you want it may not be available. I'd buy from the Apple Refurbished Store every single time if I could, but due to circumstances I sometimes have to buy brand new.

Availability of items in the refurbished store can be very time sensitive. If you're on the hunt for a low availability item, you can't delay if you see it pop up. If you're half asleep at 1am and that missing model you want suddenly shows up, best not wait until morning. All of them may be gone by then. Ask me how I know.
How do you know?
 

clueless88

macrumors regular
Aug 23, 2020
249
153
In the past I wasn't terribly impressed with the price differential between new and refurbished. I rolled the dice and have purchased a number of used Apple products from private sellers--some as new as a year old. Things worked out well and the items had little signs of neglect. Not sure how brave I would be buying a used electronic item for over $1,000--so many ways that things could go sideways.
 

Big Bad D

macrumors 6502a
Jan 3, 2007
533
570
France
100% yes to buying Apple refurbished equipment. Not always a big saving, and of course it's dependent on the model you want being available. In my experience always good quality and negligible risk compared to other used resellers.
 

benobi

macrumors regular
Dec 4, 2016
104
136
I bought a refurb base M1 Pro MacBook Pro 14 for nearly $500 off the price ($1539 Refurb vs $1999 new). Just set it up and it is absolutely flawless. Completely indistinguishable from the other Macs I have bought new. No blemishes or scratches, no dead pixels, brand new battery, etc. And just to double/triple confirm, you can absolutely purchase AppleCare for it.
 
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daneoni

macrumors G4
Mar 24, 2006
11,842
1,577
Hmmm i called Apple again, spoke to different agent and he said that i can get an AppleCare plan for refurbished products... go figure guys... go figure!!! :-(
My last 3 macs have been refurbs.

The previous one was a 2018 MBP bought in Melbourne Victoria back in 2019. I got back to the UK and added Applecare after the fact.

That machine served me until i replaced it 2 weeks ago with a....refurb M1 Max MBP.

The only thing i buy new from Apple nowadays is iPhone, since i just trade in my old one which offsets the cost.
 
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BigMcGuire

Cancelled
Jan 10, 2012
9,832
14,032
Refurb buyer here for my work MBP. And yes, you can get AppleCare+ for it (here in the USA anyway). It was indistinguishable from new and has worked for over a year now. I definitely look at refurb first before buying anything that I don't need top of the line.
 

jagolden

macrumors 68000
Feb 11, 2002
1,587
1,501
I’ll always consider refurbished if it’s from Apple Store.
Have a 2017 27” iMac for over 4 years, no problems.
Bough a refurb 2018 model 12.9” iPad Pro from the Apple Store. Loved it. Did move on to a 2020 model.
Purchased a refurb iPad Mini 5 from Apple Store, again no issues and a great companion to the 12.9” iPP.

These are my experiences, all good.
 
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jessecoane

macrumors newbie
Apr 21, 2011
14
0
Rolled the dice and bought an Amazon refurbished 10c cpu 16c gpu 16gb ram 1tb ssd 14” MacBook Pro M1 for $1700 recently and it seems great. Needed it cheap and it worked out battery health is 100%
 
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colonelbutt

macrumors 6502
Nov 14, 2007
381
424
London
Is it worth buying a refurbished MacBookPro? Giving out $AU 4.000 for one seems kinda risky, or isn't it? What exactly are refurbished products?
I agree with most of the posts. If its an Apple refurbished there is no real risk.
If its not Apple, you need to look at the reputation of the company and any feedback
 
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Crispe

macrumors member
Apr 20, 2022
52
43
You can get Apple Care on a refurb in Australia I'm pretty sure. I just bought one from Apple and it says you can add Apple Care after the complimentary 7 day Apple Care period expires.
 

zoran

macrumors 601
Original poster
Jun 30, 2005
4,797
133
One other thing that kinda worries me when owning a refurbished MacBook, is the longevity of their parts.
Cause if a MBpro was (for example"say:at an electronics store, every day it would be "powered on" and operational for the clients
 
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FriendlyMackle

macrumors 6502a
Oct 29, 2011
925
804
NYC
One other thing that kinda worries me when owning a refurbished MacBook, is the longevity of their parts.
Cause if a MBpro was (for example"say:at an electronics store, every day it would be "powered on" and operational
I think they come and go from the Store really quickly. Like, if you see a refurbished model you want, don’t wait around, because there are probably only a few (if even more than one!) and sometimes I’ve browsed and seen them disappear from inventory in just a few hours. So I don’t think hardware longevity should be a worry at all. And you can purchase AppleCare to ensure coverage past the first year, which is a good practice.
 
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