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Apple doesn't really do sales, and when they do, the savings are kind of unappealing.

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But where they do offer a discount is in the Apple certified refurbished store, and it

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seems like for the most part, people swear by it.

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So I want to buy a Mac and iOS device to see if these great deals come with any sort of

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refurbished risks. They did.

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If you're wondering where to find the refurbished store, scroll all the way to the bottom of

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the Apple store website or the app.

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Not every region has a refurbished store, though. It's missing in Mexico, Mozambique, Moldova, Malaysia, along with some larger nations that

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don't start with M, like India. Apple claims that the devices you get are like new.

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They undergo a full cleaning, full functional testing, and anything that's broken is replaced

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with Apple genuine parts. iOS devices like the iPhone and iPad undergo an even more thorough refurbishment process,

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getting a brand new battery and outer shell too.

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Then they are all repackaged into white boxes with Apple certified refurbished written on

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them to warn remind you. In terms of the sale, they're treated just like any new devices, with the same one-year

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warranty, AppleCare Plus option, delivery, and return policies.

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So by all accounts, these are grade A fully backed products, maybe with some extra distance

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between you and the factory. If you're okay with that, here's how much you can save.

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With Macs, the discount is 15% off the retail price at the time they were last sold.

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And with iOS devices, the discounts are bigger. My calculations vary between 13 and 33%, depending on the model.

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It looks like some of these iPads have a little bit of depreciation factor in, which is nice.

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What this ultimately means, though, is that the best deals for Macs are with the latest

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models, so that would probably be something with Apple Silicon or an Intel model still

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in production. I suggest researching what Mac you want to buy first, then stopping in at the refurbished

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store to see if it's available there. You might, or might not, find what you're looking for.

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But the research phase should keep you from ending up with a bad deal, like I did in my

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last video. From my research, all I need is a base M1 MacBook Air, since I'm just writing and surfing

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the web. I also wouldn't mind snagging an iPad mini if I can get one for a good price.

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I swear I saw a gold MacBook in here yesterday.

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And now it doesn't look like there is any. There's some colored iMacs, those are nice.

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There isn't ephemeral nature to the refurbished store to be aware of.

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With something as in-demand as the MacBook Air, it can be here one minute and gone the

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next. It might not show up for a day or a couple of weeks.

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It really depends. You'll have to weigh your patience and urgency with the savings.

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Urgency can be really expensive. If you want to set up a notification, refurbtracker.com is a pretty great site.

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Now one interesting thing I've noticed is that when the listing shows the original price

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and how much you save, that's a default base skew.

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If it just shows a price, that means it's been customized with more RAM or storage.

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The discount is still the same though. So that MacBook Air I want is $850 in here.

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Now how does that compare to the prices elsewhere?

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Rarely, some retail sales prices drop down to or below refurbished pricing.

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But the best deals are fleeting, so it's serendipity.

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On the used market, there are MacBooks at an equivalent price and since it'd be a private

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sale you save on sales tax. On the flip side, you also will have to meet up with a stranger in a different town and

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the device condition isn't fully guaranteed plus you can return it.

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With the iPad, it's a little bit of a different story because there are some older models

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in the refurbish store at prices much higher than a used model.

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But then again, they have a new battery which costs minimum $100 to replace if you're unlucky

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and don't forget the new chassis. Okay, so the MacBook I want isn't in here.

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So do I buy something else or do I just wait?

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Oh, look!

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There are MacBook Airs in here! Ah, but only in silver and space grey.

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I really wanted a gold one. So I guess I'll just get a silver one.

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You can't always get what you want in the Apple refurbish store.

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Alright, let's find that iPad mini. Now, a brand new one would set me back $500 but I don't need all that technology and all

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those colors. So here's a last generation model for only $340.

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Let's see. Okay, gold out of stock.

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Silver likewise. More storage. Nope.

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Alright, so space grey, 64 gigabytes it is.

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Okay, I guess we're done. You know what?

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Before I check out, I'm just going to go back and refresh the MacBooks.

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Let's see what happens. It's here!

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There's a gold one! Yes! Okay, let's fix this up and buy.

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It's a real Campbell. Perfect.

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Well, it doesn't look any different from any one.

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There's like a tiny mark on the keyboard or something. Wait, uh oh.

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What? That's interesting. You think it was a demo?

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Not a demo device. Demo registration.

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Oh no, what have I done?

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Let's unbox the iPad.

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Yeah, this looks great. It's pristine. This isn't going into demo mode.

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Honestly, this and this are a good buy, though I had to really figure out what's going on

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with the whole demo mode thing, so.

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Let me use these for a couple of days and see how they fare.

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When a Mac is in demo mode, it's in demo mode.

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You can't just format the hard drive and reinstall macOS, because if you do, it just

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goes back into demo mode again. So I had to call Apple customer support.

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Thank you for contacting Apple support. Clearly, this is something that doesn't happen that often.

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They have never come across this. I know, it's really strange, yeah.

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After an hour of re-reinstalling macOS, I was told to exchange it for another unit.

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Oh, let's get you up to a senior advisor who has not seen too much information on this.

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On the other hand, the iPad mini works great.

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It's frankly impossible to tell that this is a refurbished model.

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It connects to the pencil flawlessly.

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It's portable, light, fast, enjoyable to use.

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And according to my reading on coconut battery, this has a brand new battery and was made

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in December. I wonder if Apple resets the manufactured date on refurbished iOS devices, because the

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new iPad mini came out in September, and this is the outgoing model.

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No matter. At $340, you can save $160 compared to a brand new generation model, which, if you're in

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a pinch, is pretty good. Okay, so I guess I'm going to be running Mac-less for...

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Hey! It's arrived!

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We're in!

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It's the desktop! A success! That's great!

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Like the iPad, I really wouldn't be able to tell that this MacBook Air is refurbished

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from using it. The panel is bright and clear.

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The SSD's smart info shows that it was virtually unused before I got it, and likewise the battery.

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Though it appears that it might have degraded ever so slightly.

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So for $850, this is a great new laptop.

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Still, I had to spend an hour on the phone and wait a week for the replacement, so despite

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my hopes, there's a little risk to Apple's certified refurbished store, too.

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It's not a big risk, like your device falling apart or looking strangely off, but it's there

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alright. That being said, the demo mode issue is probably quite rare, considering I couldn't find

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any information, forum posts, etc. about it online.

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Maybe just don't tempt fate when the gold MacBook you wanted appears out of thin air.

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So is the risk of having to spend that time worth the 15% savings, or in my case $150?

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For someone as cheap as me, yes, but for those of an instant gratification disposition or

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running a business in need of a Mac right now, maybe not.

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But after asking a handful of our Twitter followers, many replied saying that they exclusively

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buy off the refurbished store. Most all responded that they were happy with their purchase, except for one.

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What I've discovered here is that the results vary by product.

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For instance, I wouldn't buy an iPad Pro from anywhere but the refurbished store.

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You can get an upgraded iPad Pro with the A12Z chip from 2020 for $690, $60 less than

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an equivalent iPad Air. That's pretty compelling.

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As for Macs, they're still good deals too. With this being only $850, it's harder to resign yourself into buying a cheap Windows

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laptop because trust me, a couple of years with one of those would be far more inconvenient

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than an hour on the phone. Thanks for exchanging this Mac Address for one that's not broken.

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If you want to get a Mac on sale, give this video a like. And if you're fine paying full price, why not subscribe?

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Now, if you yourself have bought a refurbished Mac, tell us how good a deal you're able

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to snag. Or if it was just full of snags.