How to tell if a mac is new or used

I'm from Uruguay (South America) and I want to buy a mac (macBook Pro retina) from a acquaintance of mine. It's supposed to be new in box, but the box is not sealed. He brought it from USA and he had to open the box for migrations issues.
Is there any way to be sure if the mac is new or used?
I really need to know that before buying the mac.
Thanks
gprego

If the box is no longer sealed, you can have your acquaintance give you the serial number, learn about where that is from here. Once you have the serial number, visit the warranty site and enter it there to confirm the year/model of the rMBP. If it's new, then it will tell you that and also that you have a valid 1 year of AppleCare and so on.

Raz0rEdge: thanks for your reply.
I enter the serial number, and it says "MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Late 2012)" wich is ok.
But then it says:
- - - -
Please validate your product's purchase date.
Apple is unable to provide information about your service coverage. Please sign in with your Apple ID and provide your product's date of purchase so that we can display your coverage information.
- - - -

I currently don't have an apple id, but my father does. Can I use that apple ID and provide the date of purchase?
Thanks again
gpergo

gprego said:

I'm from Uruguay (South America) and I want to buy a mac (macBook Pro retina) from a acquaintance of mine. It's supposed to be new in box, but the box is not sealed. He brought it from USA and he had to open the box for migrations issues.
Is there any way to be sure if the mac is new or used?
I really need to know that before buying the mac.
Thanks
gprego

Click to expand...

Easy answer. If the box has been opened...it's used.

Beyond this it's really next to impossible to say "how used" a computer is...other than to verify that it is the correct model (not an older model being sold as a newer model)...so verify the specs for the model you are buying.

With a laptop computer you can also check on the number of battery cycles on it. This isn't a perfect indicator of "how used" a laptop can be...but it is something to check.

To check:

- Apple Menu
- About this Mac
- More Info
- System Report
- click on "Power"

Under the Battery info...look for the "Cycle" count. If this computer is basically brand new "out of box"...the battery cycle count should be very very low...something like less than 5. But it should be even less...since each battery cycle is something like at least 5-7 hours of computer use each.

But like I said...this is not a perfect indication of how much use this computer has seen. Since if the computer has always been plugged into the electricity...then it would not accumulate battery cycles.

HTH,

- Nick

gprego said:

Raz0rEdge: thanks for your reply.
I enter the serial number, and it says "MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Late 2012)" wich is ok.
But then it says:
- - - -
Please validate your product's purchase date.
Apple is unable to provide information about your service coverage. Please sign in with your Apple ID and provide your product's date of purchase so that we can display your coverage information.
- - - -

I currently don't have an apple id, but my father does. Can I use that apple ID and provide the date of purchase?
Thanks again
gpergo

Click to expand...

The purchase would be tied to the Apple ID of the person who bought it, i.e., your acquaintance and as such providing your Apple ID wouldn't do anything. Have them enter their Apple ID and send you a screenshot with the information.

Once you get that, I'd do everything that Nick suggests..

PM me the S/N, I'll key into GSX for you. That will show me how many days warranty is left. If the MacBook Pro was bought from Apple the date shown will be accurate, if bought from a dealer less so. If it only shows 300 days warranty left it's obviously not new.