Refurbished vs. New

Joined
Feb 5, 2008
Messages
874
Reaction score
11
Points
18
Location
Alabama
Your Mac's Specs
Mid 2009 MacBook Pro  Mid 2007 iMac  4G iPod Touch  iPhone 4S  iPad
I read elsewhere on this forum that refurbished machines aren't a bad way to go. I'd like to hear some opinions on this. I'm looking at a mid-range MacBook with either the 2.2 or 2.16 GHz Intel. I see that Apple doesn't sell the 2.16 new anymore. How old are the 2.16 models and would it be worth saving the $50 between the two?
 
Joined
Nov 2, 2006
Messages
476
Reaction score
9
Points
18
Your Mac's Specs
24" 2.8ghz IMAC, MB Pro
What is your perception of the difference between a new and a refurb unit?

I think you should start there.
 
OP
JohnTheMacGeek
Joined
Feb 5, 2008
Messages
874
Reaction score
11
Points
18
Location
Alabama
Your Mac's Specs
Mid 2009 MacBook Pro  Mid 2007 iMac  4G iPod Touch  iPhone 4S  iPad
What is your perception of the difference between a new and a refurb unit?

I think you should start there.
Hmmm, I don't really know how I feel about it. My only concern would be that Apple doesn't sell me something that they failed to repair to begin with. I don't want to inherit others' problems. What does Apple do to recertify these pre-owned machines? I am assuming they go through it and make sure all is well with it before reselling it.
 
Joined
Feb 4, 2008
Messages
3
Reaction score
0
Points
1
Why not just buy a new one from Amazon or NewEgg? This way you can avoid paying tax and only end up paying like $90 more for a new one.
 
Joined
Nov 2, 2006
Messages
476
Reaction score
9
Points
18
Your Mac's Specs
24" 2.8ghz IMAC, MB Pro
A refurbished machine has to go through more steps of QA then a retail machine does. Also 90% of the time there was nothing wrong with the machine in the first place. Any returned MAC has to go through the process whether there is an actual defect or not.
 
OP
JohnTheMacGeek
Joined
Feb 5, 2008
Messages
874
Reaction score
11
Points
18
Location
Alabama
Your Mac's Specs
Mid 2009 MacBook Pro  Mid 2007 iMac  4G iPod Touch  iPhone 4S  iPad
A refurbished machine has to go through more steps of QA then a retail machine does. Also 90% of the time there was nothing wrong with the machine in the first place. Any returned MAC has to go through the process whether there is an actual defect or not.
Really? That is reassuring. Depending on what's available when I order, I'm definitely leaning in this direction. (My wife will be happier!)
 
OP
JohnTheMacGeek
Joined
Feb 5, 2008
Messages
874
Reaction score
11
Points
18
Location
Alabama
Your Mac's Specs
Mid 2009 MacBook Pro  Mid 2007 iMac  4G iPod Touch  iPhone 4S  iPad
So how old is the 2.16 GHz? I realize there will be no noticeable difference in speed between in most cases, but I was wondering when and why did Apple replace it with the 2.2 GHz?
 
Joined
Jun 17, 2007
Messages
882
Reaction score
22
Points
18
Your Mac's Specs
macbook/iphone/ipod nano/ipod shuffle
a refurb model comes with apples one year warranty.

i believe there is a different chip set between the 2.16 and the 2.2. The 2.16 will support 3 gb of ram while the 2.2 will support 4.
 
Joined
Mar 22, 2007
Messages
403
Reaction score
7
Points
18
Location
NY NY
Your Mac's Specs
iMac Duo White
I have purchased, and known many people that have purchased refurb Mac products, never had a problem.
 
Joined
Mar 22, 2007
Messages
1,463
Reaction score
67
Points
48
Location
UK
Your Mac's Specs
Lenovo Z560 Hackintosh -:- '06 iMac -:- iPod Touch 2ndGen
I've had a refurb MacBook for nearly a year and I haven't had any problems at all. It has a one year warranty and is eligible for AppleCare so you don't have much to lose.
 
Joined
Feb 2, 2008
Messages
32
Reaction score
0
Points
6
I've just bought a refurbished 2.2 macbook 3 weeks ago, I couldn't tell the difference from a brand new one and it's working flawlessly, I'm glad that I bought it.
A few years ago I bought a refurbished Ipod as well and it's working like the first day. I would say go for it because you save yourself some cash and if something goes wrong you still have the same one year warranty:)
 
Joined
Jan 24, 2008
Messages
82
Reaction score
1
Points
8
Location
Wales UK
Your Mac's Specs
iMac G4 1.25Ghz Powerbook G4 1.67
I bought a new mac book 2 weeks ago and to be honest it needs a refurb.
Out of the box it had a broken key, faulty superdrive, faulty fan and the powerlead gets boiling hot.

It's in the macshop now being fixed (refurbed)
Personally I will never buy new again, refurb is the way to go.
 
Joined
Sep 24, 2007
Messages
274
Reaction score
4
Points
18
Location
New England
Your Mac's Specs
27" iMac Retina 5K/3.4GHz Core i5/256GB SSD/40GB DDR4/Logitech MX Master 2S/
OK, my (refurbed) iMac 24" Alum/Extreme arrived saturday and I went over it with a fine tooth comb. Spent about an hour just looking at all surfaces before even powering it up. Then I powered it up and of course looked very closely at the screen, looking for problems like dead pixels, etc. After almost two hours of doing this... I finally started playing with it. ;D

Well, you could've fooled me :Smirk: . If I didn't know better, I would've sworn this was fresh off the line. Many folks here have bought refurbs and the trick is to buy them direct from apple and not macmall or someplace like that. At macmall... all sales on refurbs are final in that you can't return them. Apple's refurbs are gone over by their own in-house techs and believe me, having dealt with Apple years ago on a marketing level... I know they put product satisfaction way above anything else. I've also been told that iMacs are randomly checked on assembly lines but refurbs are individually bench-checked. Maybe that's not true, but it sounds right because you can only run just so many kinds of tests on an assembly line before it gets cost-prohibitive.

Bottom line... mine appears to be perfect, and my buddy who came over to spend 2 hours showing me some of the ropes yesterday thought I bought new... it actually bothered him that we have identical machines an I saved about $300.00 by not buying at our local apple store! :Cool:

The extra money went towards the memory upgrade (installed by me) and the Lacie drive, and yes... I have the same 1-yr warranty he has, and the option to buy apple care until that 365th day from registration.

Oh... did I mention that it's awesome?
 
Joined
May 18, 2007
Messages
1
Reaction score
0
Points
1
My Macbook Pro is refurbished and it came in absolute perfect condition. If I could I would buy all my electronics refurbished. It just seems to make sense that if someone returns a product back to the manufacturer they will get things straightened out before they ship it back out again. I would go for it every time. Just my 2 cents.
 
Joined
Feb 19, 2007
Messages
350
Reaction score
7
Points
18
Location
Atlanta
Your Mac's Specs
15" MBP 2.2Ghz C2D 4GB RAM 120GB HDD
My MBP was a refurb and you'd never know the difference unless I told you. The only noticeable difference is the box it comes in. I recommend anyone wanting to save a few bucks go refurb.
 
Joined
Nov 17, 2007
Messages
267
Reaction score
8
Points
18
Location
Greenville, SC
Your Mac's Specs
MacBook Pro 15" Matte 2.33 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo 2 GB 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM
My MBP was a refurb and you'd never know the difference unless I told you. The only noticeable difference is the box it comes in. I recommend anyone wanting to save a few bucks go refurb.
QFT.

I forget all the time that I own a Refurbished Mac.
 

Shop Amazon


Shop for your Apple, Mac, iPhone and other computer products on Amazon.
We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon and affiliated sites.
Top