Apple Now Selling Refurbished M4 MacBook Air Models

[MacRumors]

Apple today added M4 MacBook Air models to its refurbished store in the United States, making the latest MacBook Air devices available at a discounted price for the first time since they launched earlier this year.

Both 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Air models are available, with Apple offering multiple capacities and configurations. The refurbished devices are discounted by approximately 15 percent compared to equivalent new models. Pricing starts at $849 for the base M4 MacBook Air model, down from $999.

Refurbished stock will fluctuate as Apple sells its current inventory and replaces it with new devices, but there are over 30 options to choose from right now if you've been holding out for a discounted M4 model.

Apple's refurbished Macs are identical to new products. Apple uses a refurbishment process with full functionality testing, thorough cleaning, battery replacement, and inspection. Refurbished devices are eligible for AppleCare+ and have the same 14-day return period as new devices.

Refurbished M4 Mac mini and MacBook Pro models have been available for purchase since February, and Apple began offering refurbished versions of the M4 Max and M3 Ultra Mac Studio earlier this week.

Article Link: Apple Now Selling Refurbished M4 MacBook Air Models

 

[Lucca2]

I’ll pay the $150 to get a brand new product. $150 off is not enough of a deal me to consider buying a refurbished product.

 

[Corefile]

Best Buy is selling brand new MBAs for 850 bucks. Apple taking the Michael.

 

[ZipZilla]

I’ll pay the $150 to get a brand new product. $150 off is not enough of a deal me to consider buying a refurbished product.

I agree the discount should be more. that said, I've had many apple refurbished Macs and they are like new and I've never had a problem.

 

[Andres Cantu]

The base Air is already $849 very frequently during sales. Not much of an incentive to buy refurbished.

 

[Plutonius]

I’ll pay the $150 to get a brand new product. $150 off is not enough of a deal me to consider buying a refurbished product.

An Apple store refurbished is essentially a new computer. They come with the same warranty and are individually carefully checked out unlike the new Apple products.

 

[vraxtus]

Primarily worth it for the non base model specs. I picked up a 2tb / 32gb one for about $400 less after tax.

 

[Corefile]

An Apple store refurbished is essentially a new computer. They come with the same warranty and are individually carefully checked out unlike the new Apple products.

So you're saying it's BETTER to buy refurbs than NEW at the same price? I thought I'd heard everything but this takes it to another level.

 

[ThailandToo]

I’ll pay the $150 to get a brand new product. $150 off is not enough of a deal me to consider buying a refurbished product.

Don’t even need to. Amazon has plenty of sales and has been $849 for quite a while. The one thing I think refurbished is good at is getting a specific model you want that was CTO, but rarely see those also. Like when wanted 16GB of RAM but Amazon and other resellers only had 8GB configurations. Was dumb, is dumb, but it is what it is. I think $849 for this MacBook is a screaming deal anyways. So was $999. Now that they have reasonable RAM, it makes a really good device for a really good price.

 

[ThailandToo]

So you're saying it's BETTER to buy refurbs than NEW at the same price? I thought I'd heard everything but this takes it to another level.

I agree. Would be dumb unless you wanted to buy it from Apple for some weird reason. I know Apple wants that, but I will take brand new never opened before paying same price to Apple for something that’s not even new in box, however like new it is.

 

[Plutonius]

So you're saying it's BETTER to buy refurbs than NEW at the same price? I thought I'd heard everything but this takes it to another level.

That's exactly what I'm saying .

 

[jblank]

If they’d let you trade in MacBooks on refurbs, I’d buy one. I don’t see any M4’s, they must be sold out.

 

[MakaniKai]

I’ll pay the $150 to get a brand new product. $150 off is not enough of a deal me to consider buying a refurbished product.

Every refurbished device I’ve bought from Apple has been completely indistinguishable from a brand new one. Not a single scratch anywhere on it. 100% battery life. The only difference has been the packaging. Personally I’d never buy new if I had the option

 

[sixth]

That was fast.... must of had a boatload of returns. I think maybe... this is the fastest I can recall of a current gen model hitting refurb store in less then 3 months.

 

[vorkosigan1]

So you're saying it's BETTER to buy refurbs than NEW at the same price? I thought I'd heard everything but this takes it to another level.

Yes, it is better.

 

[sykeward]

I've purchased at least as many refurbished Apple products as new ones over the years, and there only difference was that refurbs came in boxes with just the product name vs color-matched graphics. Everything else was the same: All the packing materials and paperwork/accessories were new and color-matched, the devices were completely without blemishes of any kind (even tiny ones around the USB ports), and they had the same warranty and AppleCare eligibility. Refurbs are also tested a lot more rigorously. Obv anecdotal, but I've only ever gotten 2 Apple products that were defective from the get-go and they were both purchased new

That said, YMMV. I didn't typically buy base model systems, and refurb mid-tiers were usually much better deals than brand new 8GB systems on markdown. But Apple bumping all their computers to 16GB+ RAM made the base models a lot more viable. A 15% refurb discount might not be enough anymore.

 

[PieTunes]

As a reminder for those who are eligible, the veterans/military discount stacks with the refurbished price, putting the base M4 Air at $764.

 

[svish]

Good to know about this. However I think new ones could be had with similar, if not higher discounts with third party retailers.

 

[Johnny907]

Primarily worth it for the non base model specs. I picked up a 2tb / 32gb one for about $400 less after tax.

Was going to say this. While it’s not worth it for the base or retail config’d models, which can often be had new at retail for less during sales, these refurb offers are great on the higher specs especially BTO sku’s. A couple years ago I got a up-spec’d 27” iMac with max’d out CPU/GPU for 700 bucks less than retail. Other than arriving in a brown box instead of fancy white glossy box it was identical to brand new.

 

[lindros2]

You can buy a new one for less from Micro Center, Amazon, Costco, and others.
Just have to time it. camelcamelcamel.

 

[dandy1117]

So you're saying it's BETTER to buy refurbs than NEW at the same price? I thought I'd heard everything but this takes it to another level.

Yes, it may seem paradoxical, but refurbished products are typically less likely to be "lemons" because they undergo individual inspections, unlike the random spot checks performed on products straight from the assembly line. As a tech consultant with over a decade of experience, I almost exclusively purchase from Apple’s refurbished offerings when they are available. This way, I can use the savings to increase memory or storage.

 

[Plerf]

I’ll pay the $150 to get a brand new product. $150 off is not enough of a deal me to consider buying a refurbished product.

Look at Mr Moneybags over here!

I almost always buy refurb’d and I’ve never had an issue.

 

[Corefile]

Yes, it may seem paradoxical, but refurbished products are typically less likely to be "lemons" because they undergo individual inspections, unlike the random spot checks performed on products straight from the assembly line.

Then how do you explain my refurb iMac which had the internal DVD die and the PSU die after a few days?

 

[luke83]

Unlike new products, refurbished items from the Apple Store are generally eligible for cash back from shopping portals. So if you use a site like Rakuten, that’s an additional 2% off. FWIW I’ve never seen a noticeable difference between new and refurb from Apple, aside from packaging.

 

[ragde20]

I can't but smile every time I hear "apple refurbished is as good or better than new". Just my experience: In 2011, I purchased an apple refurbished 2010 macbook pro with 2x 2GB Memory (directly shipped from apple). In 2012 I wanted to upgrade the memory to its max. I purchased non apple memory and when I opened I found that there were actually two non apple 4GB memory chips but only one was working because of a socket problem. If I had checked carefully the system info before that, I would have noticed that the macbook had 4GB but in a 0GB+4GB configuration. So apparently someone had tried to upgrade his/her macbook and returned it after noticing that it had a hardware problem. I went to an apple store (in Columbus, OH). I was told that this was not under guarantee and also, in fact, they could not know if I was the one who tried to do the failed 4+4 upgrade. So they could not do the repair it for free. I was very upset and insisted that it was outrageous that they would sell a refurbished in such a condition, and eventually they gave me the option of talking to some apple person on the phone .. he said NO but I kept insisting until he transferred me to some other instance. After explaining the situation, hearing NO again and insisting, this person said that as a last option he was going to make a call and then decide. It turned out he called some office with direct involvement in the refurbishing and asked if such a situation was possible (if the refurbishing process could have overlooked a problem like the one I had). The answer was YES, and the the guy gave green light to the apple store to do the repair .. which involved changing the main card and if paying would have been very expensive. I used that mac for almost ten years more and then gave it to a friend who still uses it .. So, though this was a BAD experience with the apple refurbishing process, it was in the end a VERY GOOD experience with apple customer service. Also I have purchased a couple of other refurbished apple products (ipod and ipad) without problem. Also, obviously, that happened a while ago ...