Refurbished Macbook Pro Cosmetic Feedback?

Generally speaking, you should not be able to tell the difference between a new and refurb unit if they were put side by side on a table. However, it might be that some refurb units will have minor cosmetic blemishes. And by minor, I mean things that are barely noticeable, even if someone points them out to you. Sometimes when you put a system back together, the process of taking it apart warps part of the case just enough that the seams aren't quite as nice as they once were. This is one way repair techs can very quickly and easily tell if a system has been worked on before. But unless you know what you're looking for, you'll never notice it. Most of the repairs were probably simple in nature. Might even be some of them are units that someone returned, and are effectively new, but Apple can't sell them as such by law.

I wouldn't worry about it. Apple is a premium retailer, which means people have a right to expect a higher level of everything, including appearance. I would be very surprised if you got anything less than an immaculate system that is indistinguishable from a new one.

Can anyone who has purchased a Macbook Pro refurb from the Apple store online in the past 6 mos please give feedback on the actual cosmetic appeal of your product?

For a more specific answer, you may wish to repeat the question in the forum for current MacBook Pros here:

MacBook Pro (2008 and Later) Forums

The forum to which you've posted is for MBP older that Late 2008 so there would not be very many people here whose purchase date meets your criteria of "last six months."

FWIW, we've bought four Mac refurbs directly form Apple--including my Late 2007 MBP. None showed any traces of cometic damage or patches/repairs, and all have been stellar performers. We saved an average of US$300 per computer by going refurb. I'm all for it.

You can also get AppleCare for all refurbs.





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