Are Apple's Refurbished computers any good?

If you want to save some money on your Apple device, the options can be slim. But there are ways, and we explore one of the better known options.

Purchases made through some store links may provide some compensation to Linus Media Group.

FOLLOW US ELSEWHERE
---------------------------------------------------

CHAPTERS
---------------------------------------------------
0:00 Introduction
0:35 Where to find the store
1:38 How much you save
2:27 What I want to buy and trying to find it
3:31 Comparing outside the store
4:34 Thanks Manscaped!
5:07 Seven Hours Later
6:09 The devices arrived!
7:02 The state of the MacBook Air
7:40 The state of the iPad Mini
8:24 Six Days Later
9:33 Conclusion

[MacPrince]

A friend of mine used to work for an Apple retail store, and he likes to say that most often with Apple refurbs, the only part that needs replacing...is the user.

[GreggoryHarris]

Fellow Apple Rep here: I cannot believe they sent you a Demo unit! Makes me really wonder how that happened in the first place. From my experience, seeing the user profiles named "demouser" or "demoadmin" tells me that MacBook likely came from one of our retail partner spaces (Best Buy, Costco).

[dcmelos]

My own refurb experience has been nothing but positive. One of my former employers bought nothing but refurb for new hires, and it made me realize how much I enjoyed MacOS, and how effective their refurb program was.

[matthewmspace]

We still mostly use Intel MBP’s in our office, so I’ve been buying specific refurbished models. There’s never an issue with them and I’ve been buying them for 6 months now. They work just like a new one. Only difference so far has been limited availability of models and a different box.

[NoobixCube]

When Apple were having their whole butterfly keyboard fiasco, I actually recommended a family member buy refurbished, because there was a glut of refurbs on the store for a while, and they'd all likely had a keyboard fail, and had the slightly improved keyboard with the rubber protective layer installed. I still advised her never to eat anything crumby over it, because, you know, it's still a butterfly keyboard, but she saved a good bit of money compared to buying new, and hasn't had any issues in like two years.

[alantoblooddy]

As a MD citizen, it’s a real pain to deal with the “premium” resellers which are actually importing iPhones from Romania (mostly) and sell it with an additional 15-20% on top of the iPhones’ price in Romania.

The authorised service provider is also super “useful” in a way that you’re unable to service your iPhone purchased from a different country and still converted by Apple warranty due to the regions restrictions.

The funny thing is that the prices for the services are almost as high as in other EU country, despite the fact that we’re 100 times poorer than Russia which gets the best price in CIS.

And on top of that the absence of Pay….

[BananasAintCheap]

I've bought a few refurbished products and have had no issues, so it's always something I check first when buying through Apple. That said, I find it can sometimes be more worthwhile to stick to clearance deals right around when refreshed models come out. For instance, I managed to get a good deal on a 2018 iPad Pro from Best Buy right after the 2020 model came out. The refurbished store sold this iPad for $CDN 850, while Best Buy was offering it for $CDN 750. Same device, same warranty, way cheaper. This really depends just how much of a spec bump the new models are though, so this may not always be worth it.

[FVBmovies]

Worked in Apple stocking warehouse in UK. Even slightly dented corner of the white box or plastic film around the box meant the mac went to refub department and was discounted and sold as refurbished despite the lack of damage to the mac. Mind you vendors might have different policy towards refubs.

[MahdKxng]

I’ve bought over 70+ macs, 40+ iPads for work. Several for family & friends and never had an issue. It’s the one refurb label item I don’t think twice about. Quality has always been A+. The fact that this channel gets a demo mode unit is really some sort of sick joke. Glad you covered this…. Although sucks more people know about the refurb store now the deals will go even faster. 🤷🏾‍♂️

[smnichandaria]

Quick answer: Yes. All my machines I've bought over the last 15 years have been refurbs from Apple. Still working well and in daily use. It's as a good as new machine only cheaper with a different box. Often it has been upgraded from the one purchased. Better value for money.

[Willy-Wacker]

I have noticed here in the US the education discount is often times slightly better than the refurbed ones. If you’re not a student you could always ask someone you know who is to order it for you.

[nonamebrand]

Feels weird watching this on my refurb M1 air lol. Absolutely loving this thing

Edit: Got it w/ 16GB of memory and 512gb storage. So it was still expensive but saved ~$630 USD for the equivalent spec bought new

[Robin]

That M1 MacBook Air is such a great laptop. I got it for 900 on a student discount with a free pair of airpods that I sold for 120. For 780 bucks? Best tech purchase I've ever made. Even for 900 it was a great deal.

[michaellatta]

Refers of current models are a good deal. Older models not so much since the price is relative to the new price.

[Zeldybear]

Back in 2016, I bought an early 2015 13” MacBook Pro from the apple refurbished store for about $200 less than the regular price. It looked and functioned like brand new when I received it 6 years ago. That MBP is still going strong to this day!

[AndrewPenner]

FWIW I bought my first Mac in September 2021. I got a refurbished silver M1 Air, 16gb ram, and 500gb SSD. I looked it over quite closely and I don’t think I could have been able to tell the difference between it and a brand new one. And it’s been absolutely solid and a pleasure to use… other than the learning curve after decades on Windows machines

[Joel]

The biggest risk with Apple silicon products seems to be the SSD health. The one in this video was fine, but we don't know how representative that is of a typical refurbished Apple silicon Mac. There is another thing worth mentioning: there is a slight overlap in the time period in which you can buy a particular refurbished model and the time period in which Apple does not yet let you trade in that model. i.e. if you buy a product of that model during this time, it's not going to be one that someone else used for a year or two and decided to trade it in for something else. It's going to be one that was used on a display floor or that someone returned in the 2 week window that apply gives you for a new purchase.

[josemadrid]

I was saving money last year, was upgrading from a 2011 MacBook Pro, and I saw so many good things about the M1 MacBook Air, and got it through the refurbished store, and its awesome, it really did feel like a new one, new charger, zero scratches, I still can’t believe that i was refurbish, from now on ill try to look for the things I want at the refurbish store, next in my set up, would be a M1 Mac mini

[kmoecub]

Over the past 30 years I've bought dozens of Apple devices, only three of which were not refurbished by Apple. Every refurbished device worked perfectly at the time that I resold them (after years of use), including the optical drive that I bought in 1992. I'm currently commenting using a 2013 MacBook air that Apple refurbished and was purchased in 2014.

[muzzy]

I frequently consider refurbished, particularly if i’m thinking I want extended AppleCare coverage to cover myself for various reasons (say a laptop or ipad that is going to get a lot of abuse). It’s counter intuitive but if I’m going to buy a device with the intent of covering it with AppleCare to insure it from accidental damage then I’ll parlay the savings I get from going certified refurbished into the cost of the AC+ and it’s a win-win for me.