Want a new Apple device but don’t want to shell out for a full-priced Mac, iPhone, iPad or Watch? Consider a refurbished model instead.
Looking for a way to save some money on the latest Apple products? Consider a refurbished MacBook, refurbished iPhone, or refurbished iPad from the Apple Certified Refurbished store. A refurbished product is just like new, but Apple sells it at a lower price.
Here’s a quick guide with information about which products are available on Apple’s refurbished store, how much you can save on the refurb store, and everything you need to know about the ins and outs of the Apple Certified Refurbished store and buying a refurbished MacBook, desktop Mac, iPhone, or iPad from Apple. You’ll find links to the sections of Apple’s Refurbished store so you can buy Apple products for less. What is the Apple Certified Refurbished Store?
Before we begin, a bit of an explanation of what the Apple Certified Refurbished Store is. This is where Apple sells gently-used products that have usually been returned to the company because someone changed their mind within the 14-day returns period, or due to a fault. Before they are put on the virtual shelves Apple puts these products through what it calls a “stringent refurbishment process” and tests and repairs these products to make sure they are in like-new condition.
Apple says that each product is thoroughly tested and any problematic hardware components are replaced. The exception is with the Apple Watch and Apple Pencil: If these items need new parts, they aren’t put up for sale.
Each product also goes through a quality assurance inspection and is cleaned, inspected, and repackaged with complete documentation, cables, and anything else that usually ships with that device. These products are essentially like new.
Apple also includes a standard one-year limited warranty with all refurbished products. Learn more about Apple’s hardware warranties.
AppleCare is also available, so, for an additional fee, you can get two or three years of coverage and support. Read our guide to AppleCare for more information.
Strangely, finding the Apple Certified Refurbished store isn’t obvious. On Apple.com, scroll to the very bottom of the page, where you’ll find a site directory. Under Apple Store, you’ll find a link for Refurbished and Clearance.What is available on the Apple Certified Refurbished Store?
We’ll run through what’s available in more detail in the sections below, but here’s what you can get on the Apple Refurbished Store (occasionally not all of the below are available at a particular location, for example, in June 2024 the U.K. refurbished store included Apple Watch Series 7, 8, 9, Ultra and Ultra 2, but the U.S. only had SEries 9, SE, or Ultra (verison 1) to choose from.
Macs: including MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, iMac, Mac mini, Mac Studio and Mac Pro.
iPads: Including iPad Air, iPad mini, iPad Pro and the standard iPad.
