Jon Sheppard’s Blog

My wife had been dropping hints for quite some time about how badly she wanted a Mac and I knew that I had to get her one. She had tinkered around on my MacBook and had decided for herself that her Toshiba Satellite would no longer cut it. Once the decision between getting a MacBook or an iMac was made, we were ready to make a purchase.

We did some preliminary research before making our purchase. We went to the local Mac reseller and I asked one of the sales reps what the cons of buying a refurbished iMac would be. First he said, “I’ve never seen an Apple refurb, we don’t sell them,” then he said, “plus, a new one is only a couple hundred more. If it were me, I’d fork out the extra dough and get a new one.” Of course he would get a new one, that would give him his commission!

I have seen a couple of refurbished Mac products. I have a few friends who have purchased refurbished MacBooks and I have been pleasantly surprised when their refurbed Macs look and function just as well as a new Mac. Place a new Mac and a refurb next to each other and you’d never be able to tell the difference. So as far as I’m concerned, there is no significant difference between a new Mac and a refurb.

Here’s what you get when you buy a refurbished Mac product:

Apple Certified Refurbished Products

- Quality products/great prices
- Stringent refurbishment process prior to sale
- Covered by Apple’s One-Year Limited Warranty
- AppleCare Protection Plan can be purchased
- Supplies are limited

from Apple.com

And here’s what you get when you buy a new Mac:

New Apple Products

- Quality products/premium prices
- Covered by Apple’s One-Year Limited Warranty
- AppleCare Protection Plan can be purchased

The decision is up to you, but I was very happy to purchase a refurbished iMac at a 17% discount!