UPDATE: If you look on Amazon for Macbook Pros you can often find brand new ones for prices very close to what Apple are selling Refurbs at. Typically savings on iMacs start at £100 and go up from there. You’ll find some of the best pricing on Apple Mac Pros if you hunt around. You almost always get the cheapest price on a new iPods if you search carefully (although remember you can only get the laser engraving if you buy direct from Apple). Finally there are some respectable saving on iPads and accessories, although you won’t be seeing 30% or the like.
For a long, long time there has been an little secret that savvy Mac buyers have known about; the “refurb.” Refurbished iMacs, MacBooks, Mac Pros and iPods are computers that have been returned to Apple for a number of reasons, which are checked, repackaged and sold on at reduced cost to the consumer.
Frequently they are items that have been used for demonstration purposes, or they have been returned as faulty and fixed, or simply a customer ordered the wrong item and wanted to change it. They probably will have opened packaging, or may have cosmetic damage to the packaging, or very minor cosmetic damage to the item itself. But typically they are absolutely immaculate.
Full warranty included:
All refurbished items are fully checked by Apple and come with the standard Apple 12 month warranty. You can extend the standard warranty to 3 years by purchasing an AppleCare Extended Warranty for added piece of mind.
How much can I save?
It all depends on how much Apple are discounting the particular machine you want. Typically you can save between 15-20% on the standard retail price, but for some big ticket items like XServes and XRAIDs the saving can be as much as 40-50%. refurbished iPod shuffle, refurb iPod nano and refurb iPod touch are frequently 25% reduced in price.
We haven’t seen any refurbished iPhones yet, but it’s only a matter on time before that happens. But remember, its first come, first served, so you can’t be guaranteed to be able to buy the particular model you want on the day you visit. So if you can’t find the particular cheap MacBook, refurbished MacBook Pro, refurb iMac or refurb Mac Pro, you’ll just have to keep coming back here and keep checking, following us on Twitter, or signup for our cheap Mac bargains eAlerts.
AppleStore clearance items
You also might not know that Apple has regular sales of clearance items. There are often bargains to be had on accessories like printers, Satnaves, laptop cases, iPod speakers,storage devices and the like. So if you are on the lookout for something a bit un-Mac like such as a cheap TomTom, why not take a look? You might even find some old items like refurbished PowerMacs if you are lucky…
Does Sweet-Apple buy refurbs?
As it happens, I do. My current work machine is a MacBook Pro that I bought from the refurb store as a Christmas present for myself and saved 40% off the full retail price. My previous work machine was a positively antiquarian Powerbook Titanium 1Ghz. This was the height of sophistication nearly 4 years ago and my dream Mac. But it was slightly too much for me to cough-up. I waited until I could get it as a refurb, saved 25%, and over 3 years later was still using it day in, day out as my main business computer. Now its been replaced I’ll probably just have to pass it down the family food chain…
Comments
Awwww. No one's left a comment yet. Why don't you start things off?