Anyone bought a MacBook Pro or similar from Apple Refurbs?

iMacMart · 20 Jan 2015 at 20:38

Space Monkey said:
No refurb, found the mega deal on Gumtree, I got a copy of the receipt and checked the serial before heading out to buy it.

The deal was cheaper than the refurb I was looking at and a much better model, so couldn't say no. I was thinking all day (until I actually saw it) that it's too good to be true, but for once I ended up with a genuine bargain

Good on ya, as long as it all matches up then a bargain is a bargain!

shatpank81 · 20 Jan 2015 at 23:32

Just purchased a refurb macbook air 11"
Just waiting for it to be delivered, which will be tomorrow (hopefully)
Read good things about the refurbs, hope mine is ok when it turns up and that sometimes you get a better specced machine than the one you ordered...
But doubt ill be so lucky

iMacMart · 21 Jan 2015 at 08:32

I've purchased 2 laptops from the refurb store and both have been mint, like new

I wouldn't have any worries about purchasing from there again

GeForce · 21 Jan 2015 at 10:34

Bought a Mac Mini from the refurb store last week, it's perfect. Not the tiniest scratch or mark anywhere.

dl8860 · 22 Jan 2015 at 11:43

Space Monkey said:
No refurb, found the mega deal on Gumtree, I got a copy of the receipt and checked the serial before heading out to buy it.

The deal was cheaper than the refurb I was looking at and a much better model, so couldn't say no. I was thinking all day (until I actually saw it) that it's too good to be true, but for once I ended up with a genuine bargain

Was this just a private seller? Not to be too blunt but you managed to find a muggins who gave you a great deal for no real reason? Why on earth did he buy it and only turn it on once to check it's working? I must have the wrong end of the stick here...

Looking at finding a refurb'd 15" MBP for my girlfriend but pretty much £1400 minimum on apple refurb store, a deal like this sounds fantastic. Don't need top spec so ideally wouldn't want to spend much at all over £1k

MagicBoy · 22 Jan 2015 at 12:03

Couple of reasons come to mind :
1) warranty replacement for a failed machine under Applecare
2) insurance replacement

When my 2011 MBP was being troublesome I bought another laptop to tide me over while I negotiated with Apple. It took a number of failed repairs and a couple of months to resolve (by replacing the MBP) when otherwise I'd have been without a reliable/working laptop. I seriously considered selling the replacement machine as-new in box and buying something else.

Space Monkey · 22 Jan 2015 at 15:19

dl8860 said:
Was this just a private seller? Not to be too blunt but you managed to find a muggins who gave you a great deal for no real reason? Why on earth did he buy it and only turn it on once to check it's working? I must have the wrong end of the stick here...

Looking at finding a refurb'd 15" MBP for my girlfriend but pretty much £1400 minimum on apple refurb store, a deal like this sounds fantastic. Don't need top spec so ideally wouldn't want to spend much at all over £1k

It was a private seller, the situation apparently was that the person had won this laptop in a works competition but they already had a MacBook Air so it wasn't needed, they only turned it on to check it was working before trying to sell it, so its brand spanking new, with a receipt from Apple etc.. Just one of the very rare occasions a genuine bargain comes around

Edit: Regarding the refurb store, I was about to buy a 15" rMBP on there the other day, it had 8GB/256GB for £1189, so it can be done for less than £1400

shatpank81 · 22 Jan 2015 at 18:16

Space Monkey said:
It was a private seller, the situation apparently was that the person had won this laptop in a works competition but they already had a MacBook Air so it wasn't needed, they only turned it on to check it was working before trying to sell it, so its brand spanking new, with a receipt from Apple etc.. Just one of the very rare occasions a genuine bargain comes around

Edit: Regarding the refurb store, I was about to buy a 15" rMBP on there the other day, it had 8GB/256GB for £1189, so it can be done for less than £1400

Whats the battery cycle on it?

Space Monkey · 22 Jan 2015 at 18:25

shatpank81 said:
Whats the battery cycle on it?

4, two of them were me, one was the factory I guess, not sure on the other?

MagicBoy · 22 Jan 2015 at 18:31

They typically leave the factory with 2 or 3 cycles.

shatpank81 · 22 Jan 2015 at 18:38

Space Monkey said:
4, two of them were me, one was the factory I guess, not sure on the other?

Brilliant!
Looks like you did get a bargain

Swagger187 · 25 Jan 2015 at 00:07

Couldn't imagine they would come in any worst condition then brand new to be honest. I personally being a pompous ***** (begins with p

) would only buy brand new, gives you the 14 day return no questions asked

Snow-Munki · 25 Jan 2015 at 07:32

Ok decided I'm going to get a MacBook Pro later today. It is for work so for VMware fusion and running lots of vmwares for home lab etc.

http://store.apple.com/uk/browse/home/specialdeals/mac/macbook_pro/15

Looking at that I've decided on at least the 16gb model with perhaps 512 ssd

Now not sure if it is worth the extra for the 2.5 ghz and then extra again for the nvidia graphics.

Getting very expensive !! What do you think ?

MagicBoy · 25 Jan 2015 at 09:58

The 2.3/16/512 and 2.5/16/512 with the nVidia cards are "best" standard configurations of the late-2013 and mid-2014 models respectively. They're identical apart from the 200MHz CPU speed bump.

There was little point sticking 16GB and 512 SSD as special order upgrades in the low end integrated graphics model as the price ended up only a few £ short of the top end model above with a faster GPU and nVidia graphics that was available off the shelf.

The extra 300MHz for the 2.6/2.8GHz CPU isn't worth the massive additional outlay IME unless you are crunching video regularly.

shatpank81 · 26 Jan 2015 at 18:50

Swagger187 said:
Couldn't imagine they would come in any worst condition then brand new to be honest. I personally being a pompous ***** (begins with p ) would only buy brand new, gives you the 14 day return no questions asked

If you buy a refurb from apple, you still get the 14 day return
thats one of the reasons an apple refurb is a no brainer, if the right config is there