What is a refurbished product?

They have been used before, but they have been replaced with all-new parts. You really can't tell the difference between refurbished and new.

I was also under the impression that the list would include new but older models gotten left behind when the new ones come out.

Note that the refurbished carry the same warranty and can opt for AppleCare too.

Educational discounts are offered on selected products on a per-country basis to eligible individuals. And schools can apply for wholesale discounts when purchasing equipment in bulk.

I've had Macs for 16 years and this 24" iMac was my first refurbished. Never again. When I set it up in a room on the North side of the house, I became aware of smears on the inside of the removable glass that looked like it was wiped with a dirty dish rag. Only remedy: Take it into the Apple store to have them clean it because removing the glass which is only held on by magnets would void my Apple Care.

Secondly, there was still information from the previous owner, like the name of their wireless network, for one. It also didn't come with the specified keyboard, nore the "wall hanger" which I wouldn't have used anyway. It did come with the disk for the OS upgrade. This comp was frought with glitches and I've probably made 100 calls to tech support over the term of the Apple Care... and I'm pretty conversant with Macs over the years, and have taken care of every subsequent glitch myself with a little research from online sources, as this Mac has always seemed a little "off"...

I'm contemplating a new Mini with the 27" Thunderbolt, but if and when they end up on the Refurb list, I'll be spending a few hundred bux more and buying a new one, without greasy fingerprints, smears, and incorrect or missing equipment.

muhammadt wrote:

which macbook to buy is better refurbished or the not refurbished?

In the experience of my friends and I over the years, if you can get the Mac you want refurbished, you should get it refurbished. The reason is that you have the same warranty, but you save money, and no one I know has ever gotten a refurb with visible signs of use. Everyone I know has been happy with their Apple refurbs. My Mac Pro is refurb and 6 years later, it continues to thrive after other Macs have long gone out of service. My Time Capsule is a refurb and after four years it hasn't failed, even though Time Capsules are notorious for low reliability.

I have had new Macs that needed warranty service, and I've had refurbished Macs that never needed any service. I've had a new Mac that needed service and when I got it back it had dust under the screen, making it worse than a refurb. So why should I pay more money for absolutely no guarantee of extra reliability?

There is one situation where you must buy new, and that's where you need a custom configuration and you don't want to wait as long as it might take for that configuration to turn up in the Refurbished store, if it ever does.

One thing to keep in mind is that Apple's refurb program is much better than those of other companies. I would almost never buy refurbs from other companies. But Apple's have turned out to be a good deal over and over again.