Is Bottom Cover of Refurbished MacBook Air Considered Outer Shell?

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Is Bottom Cover of Refurbished MacBook Air Considered Outer Shell?

In Apple web site it is stated that an Apple Certified Refurbished product "has been thoroughly cleaned, with new battery and outer shell, and genuine Apple parts (if needed)." However I don't find this claim real.

I bought a refurbished MacBook Air from apple.com a month ago. I didn't spot it when I picked the device at Apple Store but when I looked carefully at home I found the bottom of the MacBook Air was full of scratches. It is not easy to spot but I guarantee they are there, mostly horizontally with some random small ones. My thought is, Apple *reused* the old bottom cover. Of course I am very disappointed because if it is not a new shell I wouldn't consider it at all. The other parts of the outers shell is almost perfect except little water mark at the edge of the leaf of the Apple logo - sounds like sign of being wiped. The device works perfectly I must add.

My question is, is the bottom cover considered "outer shell?" No matter it is or it is not, Apple should revise their claims in their web site.

MacBook Air 13", 10.14

Posted on Feb 5, 2019 2:29 AM

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Answer 1

Feb 10, 2019 2:48 PM in response to sebastianium

Hi Sebastian,

I have been researching this also a lot, since I have bought certified by apple refurbished macbook pro 15 inch and noticed scratches at the bottom case. Fairly long scratches, but not really noticeable. I was a bit disappointed, because I did expect it to be totally scratch free. If apple would have stated clearly that bottom case might have scratches, I would probably still have purchased, but at least I would know what to expect. In terms of top casing, keyboard, screen, everything is top quality. I have an impression, that apple does make sure top casing is fine, as for the bottom casing, they apply some sort of polish solution, which as time goes on, vanishes and leaves scratches visible.

Also on the website apple writes that their refurbished products are excellent grade, and specifically they mention that screen and parts. I have heart from other forums, that apple usually replaces all casing for ipads, iphones etc, when it comes to laptops, its all about parts, and top look. I guess they assume bottom part is kind of wear and tear anyway, since there is no way you will get no scratches there if you use device under normal conditions.

I hope this information helps, though I personally would be curious to have an answer from official apple representative.

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Answer 2

babowa

Level 9

78,562 points

Feb 10, 2019 3:13 PM in response to donatas_s

You won't get an answer from an "official apple representative" here. Apple does not participate here generally; these are user to user forums.

As for the condition of the item; out of curiosity, I went to the Apple store refurb site and picked an MBP at random:

https://www.apple.com/shop/product/FPTR2LL/A/Refurbished-154-inch-MacBook-Pro-28GHz-Quad-core-Intel-Core-i7-with-Retina-display-Space-Gray?fnode=b0bc1591d4e74269042a78786a916af4f95b9327ac88bebc7b692a42006980dba96bbf391d69cbd4097bbaa4394903ff268e548deb8e099eddbb347e43c49a79d55048da0209ced0a06f8e95d79e7f5b

If you will click on the link on that page "refurbishment process", there is a thorough explanation on what it entails. I saw absolutely no mention of anything regarding scratches, bottom case, or similar.

Here is the top part of that explanation:

So, can you post a link to the information you claim to have found please.

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Is Bottom Cover of Refurbished MacBook Air Considered Outer Shell?

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