Just added to Apple’s refurbished offerings are the MacBook Pro models that in launched fall of 2021 with the blazing fast M1 Max and M1 Pro processors. These refubs offer welcome cost savings — especially on such recent notebooks — but they can not be reconfigured. Buyers can only choose from the configurations Apple has in stock.
But again, savings are considerable: a refurbished 16-inch MacBook Pro with M1 Max is up to $350 off.
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Savings on refurbished 2021 MacBook Pro models
As noted, a refurbished 16-inch MacBook Pro with Apple’s M1 Max processor, 32GB of RAM and 1TB of storage is $3,149, or $350 off the regular cost.
Or a refurb 16-inch MacBook Pro with an M1 Pro chip and 16GB of RAM and 1TB of storage is $2429. That’s $270 below the usual cost. Drop the storage in that same M1 Pro/16GB unit to 512GB and the price is $2249, or $250 off.
Apple doesn’t leave out the smaller version. A refurbished 14-inch MacBook Pro with Apple’s M1 Pro processor, 16GB of RAM and 1TB of storage is $2249, or $250 below the usual price. Get the refurb version with 512 GB of storage instead and the price is $1799 — a $200 reduction.
Note that refurbished 2021 MacBook Pro units will be available only as long as Apple has stock. It can’t make more — it has to wait for people to return them.
What is ‘refurbished’?
When someone buys a product from Apple then returns it, it is resold after going through a refurbishment process.
Apple says each unit, “undergoes full functionality testing and any defective modules identified in testing are replaced.” It’s cleaned and undergoes a quality-assurance inspection, and gets repackaged with appropriate manuals and cables.
The result is a computer test approaches brand new but sat a lower cost, which makes refurb Macs a popular option. But it’s still a good idea to shop around, since you can sometimes find better deals from third-party retailers. For instance, a new 14-inch MacBook Pro is $1,799 on Amazon right now — the same price as Apple’s refurb.
Killian Bell contributed to this article.
