Same price, same Mac: Refurbished Mac Mini VS. new Mac Mini

[Silly John Fatty]

How good are refurbished Macs? Are they as good as a new one? Will they last as long?

I have the opportunity to get a refurbished Mac Mini (from Apple) and saw that it also has the 10 GB Ethernet option, which I don't need (it may, however, increase the resale value one day, but who knows).

But I also saw the exact same Mac, NEW this time, for approximately the same price, but without the 10 GB Ethernet (not sold by Apple this time, but shouldn't be a problem).

Which one would you take and why? I think I'd go for the new one.

 

[Algus]

Apple's refurb store is fantastic. The products are indistinguishable from new. The smart move is to wait until whatever device you want is on the refurb store and save some money. Of course if you need the machine right away or you want a specific color/configuration the refurb store isn't necessarily the best route to go. But if the machine & configuration you want is on the refurb store, it's well worth ordering from there.

I always like to have a look on the refurb store first before I shop new. I keep my parents outfitted in all of their tech and I've bought everything they have from the refurb store. It's always been a great experience.

 

[Silly John Fatty]

Apple's refurb store is fantastic. The products are indistinguishable from new. The smart move is to wait until whatever device you want is on the refurb store and save some money. Of course if you need the machine right away or you want a specific color/configuration the refurb store isn't necessarily the best route to go. But if the machine & configuration you want is on the refurb store, it's well worth ordering from there.

I always like to have a look on the refurb store first before I shop new. I keep my parents outfitted in all of their tech and I've bought everything they have from the refurb store. It's always been a great experience.

Thanks dude, but that wasn't really the question I agree with you on waiting for the model you want, and as you can tell, they have what I've been looking for refurbed now. But they also got it NEW somewhere else, for the SAME price, minus the 10 Gb Ethernet. So I'm wondering what's the better deal basically. I think I won't need the 10 Gb Ethernet.

 

[BeatCrazy]

Don't buy something on resale value potential.

Even the 10GbE option may only yield you an extra $20-100 depending on when you sell it. If you don't need it today, then don't pay for it.

 

[Boyd01]

I got my maxxed out 2018 Mini at the refurb store, like you, I didn't want 10gb ethernet but it was included and the price was right. But in my case, there was a big savings going with refurb vs new (the dollar amount of savings is greater on the expensive configurations). Have pushed it hard running a Windows 10 VM along with Mac software for days at a time since 2020, it has been perfect.

But getting to your specific question, I was in the market for a 2014 Mini to use as a media server a number of years ago. Apple's refurb price was the same as the same model new at B&H Photo. I went with the new one, couldn't think of any reason not to. I suppose there was one factor there that might have swayed some people however. B&H doesn't accept returns on computers after they have been opened. That didn't concern me, but you might be different.

 

[Fishrrman]

If you can't tell us WHY you NEED 10gb ethernet today, don't buy it, and don't expect to "get more" for it in a re-sale.