What's your experience with Refurbished macbooks?

[Fishrrman]

rj wrote in reply 24 above:
"I just stacked veteran discount on top of awesome refurb price.."

Is there any special way one needs to do this?

 

[Count Blah]

I am literally typing this on a refurb 2012 15" cMBP with upgraded RAM and Storage, purchased from Apple Refurb store. I also have one refurb iPhone and iPad in the house. I have several friends and family who have also gone the refurb route. Not a single issue.

Highly recommend

Refurb from places other than Apple - Would not touch

 

[CoastalOR]

rj wrote in reply 24 above:
"I just stacked veteran discount on top of awesome refurb price.."

Is there any special way one needs to do this?

Here is the Apple page about Veteran/Military discounts:

Veterans and Military Store

Veterans and Military personnel receive a 10% discount on Apple products. You may also purchase for immediate family who live in the same household.

www.apple.com

Then sign up with ID.me. You will have to create an account with ID.me and provide requested information so they can verify you are a Veteran.

 

[Six0Four]

I've bought refurbished Macs and phones through the Apple store. I would swear they were brand new.

 

[DeejayDannyJ]

Mint condition, almost no cycles on the battery (like it would be when new) - Basically no reason to buy any other if they are available.

Got an M1 Max 64Gb and saved a few quid.

 

[Kafka]

My 2012 13" MBP (the last non retina MBP) was flawless and lasted me almost 10 years (thanks to the SSD upgrade).
Edit: it still works perfectly by the way, I just sold it last week.

 

[BigMcGuire]

In the market for a MBA/MBP and I see a few refurb standard config/BTO's on offer on the website.

Eager to hear how well people get on with the Apple Certified refurbished macbooks.

...I always wonder if Apple sells brand new surplus stock under the guise of refurbished. I can only dream!

Excellent. Typing this now on a Refurbished MBP. Can't distinguish it from new. I've done refurbished iPads and MacBooks. Seriously considering going refurbished for all future devices just because it's a slight savings and you can get AppleCare+ on them too.

Battery has been new on all refurbs I've ever gotten. I highly recommend them.

 

[Gravydog316]

Got a 15" 2010 MBP, refurb from Apple;
works great, came from Ontario (i'm in Canada,) in a generic plane white box, not an Apple one, everything included, & looked & worked like brand new...

BUT... these machines had/have a known problem with restarting due to a bad GPU
& the 2011's were the same, but Apple only recalled the 2011 models (of course...)

& since i don't know how to solder,
if you or anyone want a 15" 2010 MBP that works but crashes for like $100 & shipping, let me know, or it will end up in the garbage this spring probably. LOL

GPU Kernel Panic in mid-2010; what's the best fix?

Over the past several months I've been getting kernel panics due to the graphics card, resulting in my mid-2010 MBP crashing. It's been getting progressively worse, something several times a day. (I missed the recall/repair program by a week because the d*cks at Apple never notified me that...

forums.macrumors.com

 

[EugW]

Seriously considering going refurbished for all future devices just because it's a slight savings and you can get AppleCare+ on them too.

I would too, but my credit card won't provide their free extended warranty on refurbished products. It only applies to new retail or new edu products.

Mind you, my last Mac purchase was used from eBay, with no warranty at all.

 

[BigMcGuire]

I would too, but my credit card won't provide their free extended warranty on refurbished products. It only applies to new retail or new edu products.

Mind you, my last Mac purchase was used from eBay, with no warranty at all.

Several of my CCs that used to provide this quietly got rid of offering warranty, this year.

I heard Costco (not verified, just hearsay) was getting rid of some hardware warranty with their VISA too?

Good point though, didn't know that!

 

[EugW]

Several of my CCs that used to provide this quietly got rid of offering warranty, this year.

I heard Costco (not verified, just hearsay) was getting rid of some hardware warranty with their VISA too?

Good point though, didn't know that!

I'm in Canada, but it was just the opposite for me. My Visa and Amex didn't used to offer mobile device extended warranty, but began doing so last month. So, I waited until that went into effect in mid-October before I ordered my wife's iPhone 14 Pro Max.

 

[tomstone74]

Got my Refurbed 14" 8/14/32G/1TB from Apple Online Store (Austria) this week. It looks and feels completely brand new. No sign of anything being used etc ... Battery capacity is at 100% with a cycle count of 6.

It's a beauty and beast of a machine. Cool and dead silent so far, although just mostly installing stuff until now.

Changed my mind here. Returned it after ~ 3 weeks. Had from the beginning a bit of wobbling of the Touch ID, which I don't have on my day job MBP 16", which got even slightly worse. But I think this may happen with a new device as well, thus not specific to refurbished. Beside the Touch ID key, the refurbed MBP looked untouched/new including battery health.

 

[vcboard]

Had purchased 2015 MBP 15 in and Mac Mini M1 from Apple, both are indistinguishable from brand new expect the packaging boxes that it indicate they are refurbished. New batteries and even had the new machine smells. So far no problems. But for my 2021 MBP 14in, I bought new just because I got it cheaper than refurbished.

 

[Shaggymax]

I've bought refurbished Macs and phones through the Apple store. I would swear they were brand new.

Same here, never ever got a hint of use from 10+ Apple Refurbished Products. Same as new. Stock balancing act?