There's sometimes a stigma against purchasing refurbished electronics because many companies don't have rigorous quality control programs for refurbished devices, but that's not the case with Apple. Some companies may sell refurbished items with cosmetic defects and other issues, but Apple's refurbished products available from its online store are "as good as new" products, but with a lower price tag.
Is It Ok To Buy Refurbished Apple Products
Every refurbished iPad, iPhone, Mac, Apple TV, or Apple accessory Apple sells goes through a certification process that ensures full functionality, and with iOS devices, each one gets a new outer shell and a fresh battery. All refurbished products come with a 1-year warranty, just like new devices. Note that you can get refurbished or used Apple products at steeper discounts from third-party retailers, but it's only Apple that offers a rigorous refurbishment process and inspection.
As long as you can wait a few months to pick up an Apple product, there's virtually no downside to purchasing a refurbished model. The quality is superb and the price savings can be worth the wait. This guide covers all the ins and outs of refurbished products, from release timelines and prospective price savings to warranty information and stock information.
Apple repairs these products and replaces all faulty parts before offering them for sale again through the online refurbished site. Refurbished products are only available through Apple's website and are not offered within retail stores.
The stock on Apple's refurbished site is based on what people return or have replaced. That means the refurbished products that are available are constantly fluctuating and are only available in very limited quantities. It also means many of the Macs that are available may not be stock machines, instead featuring various upgrades to hardware like RAM, SSD storage, and processors.
Purchasing a refurbished Mac can be confusing because Apple offers older machines right alongside newer machines. It's often difficult to tell the difference between processors and other hardware between years, especially for those who don't keep up with what's new in Apple's yearly refreshes.
Before making a purchase from the refurbished store, make sure to thoroughly read all product descriptions and research the hardware in the machine to make sure that it meets your needs. Many older Macs continue to be capable options that will last for many years, but there can be some notable differences in both performance and included features.
There are some useful sites that can help you keep an eye on stock in Apple's refurbished store, sending an alert whenever a desired model is added. Refurb.me displays each product Apple has in stock, lists the date a specific model was last available, and lets users set up an alert to be notified when a particular model is back in the store. Refurb.me includes availability statistics and pricing history, which are both useful tools when choosing a refurbished product to purchase.
Refurb Tracker lets you select specific product categories to watch, with notifications available through email or an RSS feed. Refurb Tracker and Refurb.me both support tracking refurbished products in all of the countries where Apple has a refurbished online store, and they're excellent resources for finding the exact refurbished device that you want.
The main reason to purchase a refurbished Apple product is for the hefty discount, which drops the prices on both current-generation Macs and iPads and older now-discontinued machines. Discounts on iPads and Macs generally range from 15 to 20 percent, but on rare occasions prices, can drop by as much as 25 percent. The older a machine is, the lower the price will be.
On many models, Apple includes the discount percentage and the exact amount saved, but for others, including older Macs, manual price comparisons will need to be made. Prices take into account the hardware upgrades included in refurbished built-to-order Macs.
In most cases, Apple's refurbished prices aren't going to beat the discounts you can get from unofficial third-party sites that offer refurbished machines, but they are going to be more affordable than new machines. Apple's refurbished discounts also often beat sale prices on newer products available from third-party retailers like Best Buy, MacMall, and Amazon.
Apple says its refurbishment procedures use the same basic technical guidelines that are used during its Finished Goods testing procedures for retail products. Here's the general refurbishing process Apple follows:
A refurbished product sold by Apple is nearly indistinguishable from a new product, aside from the packaging. Apple's refurbished products come in a plain white box with an "Apple Certified Refurbished" guarantee and the name of the product on the front. In contrast, Apple's retail packaging often includes eye-catching images of the product.
Apple sells all of its refurbished products with the same one-year warranty and 90 days of phone support that it offers with all of its standard retail products. That means if something goes wrong with a refurbished product during the first 365 days after you buy it, Apple will fix the issue at no cost or offer a free replacement.
AppleCare+ can be purchased alongside refurbished products, extending the warranty period. For Macs, purchasing the AppleCare+ Protection Plan extends warranty coverage and telephone support to a full three years (or more with a subscription), regardless of the year the Mac was originally released. Apple will fix any manufacturing issues that arise, including faulty batteries that retain less than 80 percent charge. Two incidents of accidental damage per year are also included.
When a new Apple product is released, it does not become available for purchase from the refurbished store for several months. Most products are available after a three or four month wait, but refurbished versions of products with supply constraints may not be available for six to nine months after launch.
Refurbished products can be shipped directly to your home address or shipped to a local Apple Store for in-store pickup. Refurbished models are never in stock for same-day pickup at a retail store because they come from a central warehouse, but shipping often takes just two or three days.
M always denotes a new retail device, while N is used for iPhones that have been earmarked by Apple for replacements. These can be new devices or refurbished devices. Apple's use of "P" and "F" is less clear, but "N" and "M" appear to be regularly used based on our research of refurbished iPhones.
Apple's online refurbished store is the only source for official refurbished products certified by Apple. No third-party retailers are permitted to sell machines that have been guaranteed by Apple's refurbishing process.
You may see other sites such as Amazon, Best Buy, Gazelle, Mac of All Trades, and others offering refurbished Macs at low price, but these do not come with the same warranty and have not been tested by Apple. Refurbished Macs purchased from third-party resellers will include more limited warranties and are not be eligible to receive one year of free support from Apple.
If you plan on purchasing an Apple product and don't mind waiting until a few months after it's released, there's no reason to choose a new device over a refurbished device. With enough patience, you can find the exact model you're looking for, and the process goes even quicker if you have some flexibility on specs that could vary due to build-to-order upgrades.
By purchasing a refurbished product directly from Apple, you can save up to a couple hundred dollars and get the same benefits you get with a brand new Apple product, including a guaranteed inspection process and a 1-year warranty.
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Vacuums: Having a good vacuum around is pretty essential, and regardless of which type you prefer, you can find a ton of refurbished vacuums out there. Amazon has a massive selection, but a word of caution: this authorized reseller only offers a 90-day warranty on refurbs, not a full year warranty (only a select number of retailers offer a full year warranty on refurbs, but those are the places to go). Dyson has a ton of refurbished models, but their warranty is also slightly skewed: instead of the standard five-year warranty they offer on new models, these are only covered for six months.
Many retailers and manufacturers offer warranties on refurbished items, which you should confirm before you buy anything. While 90-day warranties are generally the most common, finding a full warranty (ex. a year) can help you gain peace of mind and will keep you covered in case anything goes wrong.
It is completely fine to buy any refurbished apple device. Apple makes sure they fix everything about a returned device before it sells it as a "refurbished" product. As a matter of fact, my iPhone 8 is a refurbished product and it runs PERFECTLY (been 3 years). I can almost guarantee 100% that, that's the case with all apple devices. They're priced slightly low because they've still technically been used before, but that's not to mention that it'll still run like a brand new machine. Go save your bucks bud!
To receive a 0% APR installment on eligible products from apple.com, the Apple Store app, or an Apple Store, you must choose Apple Card Monthly Installments as your payment option at checkout.2 If you choose to pay for your eligible Apple purchase all at once with your Apple Card, that purchase will not receive 0% APR and instead will be subject to the standard purchase APR assigned to your Apple Card.
Apple Certified Refurbished products undergo a rigorous process to ensure that all of them are up to the same functional standards as new Apple gear. According to the Apple website, refurbished Apple iOS devices come with a new battery and outer shell, and any non-functioning internal parts are replaced. Most Apple refurbs come with a limited one-year warranty and up to 90 days of free technical support.
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