Refurbished Macs...

Okay so I'm looking on buying an iMac or a MacBook Pro from apple but a friend suggested to me to look at refurbished Macs... so I looked and you can save quite alot of cash ! What I want to know is, will it have a banged up exterior or stuff like that. I know Apple is probably pretty good at making it not like that but I don't want it to fail on me after the warranty is over. Plus I want to know if it is worth the money saved...

Cheers JoshNerd

 

Actually, I was talking about apple's refurbishment store...

 

Apple sells good refurb units with full warranties...

While their might be some minor case damage, like little scratches or marks, it will be nothing extensive... if its anything easily noticeable, they usually replace that part of the case while refurbing it. Usually the refurbs look and act just like brand new machines.

 

Okay... so say I got a refurbished MacBook Pro would you see any damage fairly noticeable damage on the aluminium casing? I would also like to know if I'm not happy with the quality of it, can I send it back and get a refund because I don't want to spend that amount of many on something that has a fair bit of damage.

 

You won't see/find any noticeable damage, unless your main objective is to find every little tiny scratch and dent on the unit. If you aren't happy, I'm sure you'll be able to send it back and get a refund, like doh123 said, if the damage is noticeable they (Apple) will just replace it.

 

I bought a refurbished 1st Gen iPod touch from Apple back in 2008 and it looked brand new. No scratches, dents, cracks, etc. I plan on ordering a refurbished 32GB iPad from them in about a week or so. I'll post on the arriving condition of it.

 

Refurbished items are those systems that have been returned within the 7-14 day 'cooling off period' most companies have, or returned after a dispute about something not functioning as it should etc. Some of the systems may be faulty, some of them will be working as new, but were just unwanted.

Almost all companies I know of (not sure if Apple do this though) take these returned items and change the casing, test the item, replace any broken parts etc, then place it in brand new packaging. This is why they still come with a new FULL year warranty from the manufacturer.

Therefore, it should actually be in a new exterior case, and new packaging, and be in 100% working order. I dont recall anyone ever stating they have received a refurb that didnt look new. The only 'old, used' parts should be the interior of the system itself - hence why it cannot be resold as new stock.

So why do people still pay full price for new?? Its for the simple fact that when spending this amount of money people tend to decide they want brand new, rather then a refurb, which is seen to be like 'second-hand', or used goods.

If you can find a good refurb at a good price, go for it. It'll be almost identical to a new item, just cheaper.

 

After the holidays I plan on doing some shopping to replace my late 2007 20-inch iMac. Refurb will definitely be the way that I go.

 

I've purchased several refurbs from Apple.com, all but one were perfect condition-except for the brown box you would never know the difference from new. One unit had a noisy fan, was returned twice for repair. After two trips in with no improvement Apple replaced it with a brand new machine. I'm a happy camper and still highly recommend the Apple refurbs.