• long running

[Refurb] Certified M1 MacBook Air 8c/7c CPU/GPU 256GB/8GB $1359; 8c/8c 512GB/8GB $1679, 512GB/16GB $1929, 1TB/16GB $2189 @ Apple

1650

Apple have recently added the M1 MacBook Air released last November to their Apple Certified Refurbished range, for the usual price of ~15% off RRP. Seems likely that the M1 MacBook Pro and M1 Mac mini will also be added soon.

Unlike any other refurbished products I’ve ever come across, the products Apple sells as certified refurbished are totally flawless in appearance, and also inspected and tested more thoroughly than new products – so in practice they’re less likely to have defects. They also come in a new box with new accessories. Check out https://www.apple.com/au/shop/refurbished/about , https://www.apple.com/au/shop/help/online_store_exclusives#r… and https://www.macrumors.com/guide/apple-refurbished/ for more info.

Stock levels fluctuate, so although Apple restocks their certified refurbished range frequently, individual items are pretty much constantly in and out of stock (especially more popular products, like these M1s are sure to be).

Note that for configurations not available from resellers like JB and Officeworks, buying it certified refurbished from Apple is often the only way to get it at a discount. If you want a particular config but can’t see it on the store, you can use sites like https://refurb-tracker.com or https://www.refurb.me/au to track the specific one you’re after.

I switched to buying certified refurbished products from Apple a couple of years back after bad experiences with Macbooks purchased new from Apple that had issues (although both laptops were repaired for free under ACL, it was still a hassle to book in with an Apple store and then be without the laptop for a week). I have been pleased with the immaculate appearance and absence of hardware issues of Apple’s refurbished products.

Stacks with Cashrewards (currently only 1.50% cashback, “Cashback is eligible on the purchase of Apple refurbished products”), as well as Apple employees’ family and friends discount iirc (which would be an additional 10-15% off), but not the Apple edu discount (see https://www.apple.com/au-hed/shop/refurbished/mac – prices of refurbished macs are unchanged). So if you’re eligible and you want both an M1 MacBook Air and AirPods, you might as well buy from the Apple edu store: https://www.apple.com/au-hed/shop/back-to-school

Certified Refurbished Products - Apple (AU)

Apple Certified Refurbished 13.3-inch MacBook Air Apple M1 Chip with 8‑Core CPU and 7‑Core GPU - Gold - 8GB unified memory - 256GB SSD $1,359 (RRP $1,599)

Apple Certified Refurbished 13.3-inch MacBook Air Apple M1 Chip with 8‑Core CPU and 7‑Core GPU - Silver - 8GB unified memory - 256GB SSD $1,359 (RRP $1,599)

Apple Certified Refurbished 13.3-inch MacBook Air Apple M1 Chip with 8‑Core CPU and 7‑Core GPU - Space Grey - 8GB unified memory - 256GB SSD $1,359 (RRP $1,599)

Apple Certified Refurbished 13.3-inch MacBook Air Apple M1 Chip with 8‑Core CPU and 8‑Core GPU - Gold - 8GB unified memory - 512GB SSD $1,679 (RRP $1,949)

Apple Certified Refurbished 13.3-inch MacBook Air Apple M1 Chip with 8‑Core CPU and 8‑Core GPU - Silver - 8GB unified memory - 512GB SSD $1,679 (RRP $1,949)

Apple Certified Refurbished 13.3-inch MacBook Air Apple M1 Chip with 8‑Core CPU and 8‑Core GPU - Space Grey - 8GB unified memory - 512GB SSD $1,679 (RRP $1,949)

Apple Certified Refurbished 13.3-inch MacBook Air Apple M1 Chip with 8‑Core CPU and 8‑Core GPU - Space Grey - 16GB unified memory - 512GB SSD $1,929 (normally $2,249)

Apple Certified Refurbished 13.3-inch MacBook Air Apple M1 Chip with 8‑Core CPU and 8‑Core GPU - Space Grey - 16GB unified memory - 1TB SSD $2,189 (normally $2,549)

Related Stores

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Comments

  • +23

    100% agree certified products feel brand new. The only difference is a plain white box rather than the picture of the product on the front.

    • Apple refurbished products have new screens, batteries and cases. At least, this is the case with iPhone/iPad. I’d assume it’d be the same case for Mac products. In the end, the only difference is the packaging and machine’s internals.

  • +14

    Fantastic description OP, thanks.

    • +3

      Agreed.
      At these prices it's good value. Funny enough, watched this video just earlier.

      personally: I'll wait for the 2021 MacBook Pro, rumour has it that it's going to be revolutionary device. Basically it upgrades to the M2 chip, updated software, and a new display with Slim Bezels around an MLED screen (that's basically synthetic-OLED so you don't get pixel burn-in and degradation). And that's not all, it also has major quality-of-life improvements, with the return of the MagSafe connector, well as HDMI-out, SD card slot, extra ThunderBolt-4 ports, and a Microphone-Headphone Jack. Not to mention they'll be sticking with the old scissor-style Magic Keyboard instead of the newer but flimsy Butterfly Keyboard. I doubt the Selfie-Cam will be upgraded, but that's also on the table due to use during lockdown and it's certainly been long overdue for an upgrade. Other rumours for future Macs are about FaceID making its way, the laptops getting the 360' folding display, and (you guessed it) the addition of Touchscreen on the display.

      • +3

        I would expect these machines to be literally double the price of a Macbook Air though.

        • +1

          At double the price, I think I would buy.
          It's good value. I've always wanted to buy a machine with a real-world performance, battery life, display, build quality and optimisation that's simply that good. To me it's not really about the brand, but about being a tool that can service me for a long time. All my Windows Laptops aged far worse than the average Macs do, requiring more repairs and sooner upgrades. I think the only company that comes close is Razer, but I've never owned any of their Laptops so can't comment.

      • +2

        If the upgraded MacBooks had all those features, they'd be quite an amazing machine.

        If Apple could just loose the stubborness they'd make amazing laptops. They've already shown under Tim Cook that they're willing to roll back bad changes. If they would include just a single USB-A port, I'd probably be a customer. I absolutely refuse to use a laptop with dongles.

        Magsafe is also really nice as long as they don't disable USB-C charging because of it. Options are great.

  • +9

    I'm surprised they already have these in stock since the m1 only released 3 months ago

    • +15

      Includes change of mind returns.

      • +4

        Yeah. There would have been heaps of people buying it just to see what the M1 chip was like.

        • +2

          Also because of software incompatibilities (Adobe, VMware, etc)…

    • Any seen or even think there will be refurbs of the XDR display?

  • +1

    Refurbs, curious what had failed

    • +18

      Could be just returns

    • +6

      Reviewer samples and returns can be turned into refurbished I believe.

    • +3

      I just learnt these M1 MBP don't support dual external monitors - something the intel MBP do/did.

      • Would a DisplayLink dock work to add extra monitor support? That is what I did for Intel MBA that didn't support dual external monitors.

        • +1

          Nope. https://support.apple.com/en-au/HT202351

          Super disappointing they don't tell you before you buy it.

          • +4

            @nemo5: DisplayLink does work since it's "USB video card" mode.

          • +4

            @nemo5: "If you're using a Mac with Apple Silicon, you can connect a single external display to your Mac using one of the Thunderbolt/USB 4 ports. Docks don't increase the number of displays you can connect as an extended desktop. On Mac mini (M1, 2020), you can connect a second display to the HDMI port."

            I have my Mac mini connected via usbc to a dock that has two monitors (extended desktop mode) via displaylink (DisplayPort). It works fine.

            • @bobby1234: May I ask which dock you’re using?

              I have a Dell 4K (model P2415Q) I’d like to use with an M1 MBP, and trying to figure out the best way to make it work. Currently connected to a 2015 MBP via the DP-to-MiniDP cable it came with, and nearly bought a USB-C-to-DP cable for the M1 but reports are mixed.

              • +1

                @Member 0230: Not sure if this helps but

                using

                Targus Dock180auz, Universal Usb-c 4k Docking Station With Power Dock180auz

                Which is great as I can switch the usbc input from my Mac mini and laptop and everything (monitors, keyboard etc) move with it. (though a nice usbc switch would be nice too!). Only doing two 27 Dell monitors via DisplayPort though.

                • +1

                  @bobby1234: Thanks, wow that’s some gear, probably overkill for what I need. I get the vibe DisplayPort is the way to go for 4K @ 60 Hz (at least for the 2015 version of my Dell) and HDMI is a last resort.

          • +1

            @nemo5: EDIT: I was wrong. There are workarounds with DisplayLink. I wonder why Apple don't suggest this…

            https://www.macworld.co.uk/how-to/how-connect-two-or-more-ex…

            • +1

              @nemo5: Louis Rossman recently did a video on youtube discussing how non-Apple Dongles have been bricking some machines. So it's possible that out of an abundance of caution, Apple is just recommending Apple solutions atm. Especially as this is new tech.

              Louis Rossman:
              https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u7LOljirF6g
              Similar video by Created labs (I feel like this is less biased against apple):
              https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9xteWOI4JVc

              • +1

                @Timmayc123: this was fixed in the last update to 11.3

              • @Timmayc123: It's possible apple are going out of their way to make sure only a single display will work. They did this to me when displaylink was first released and I had a Mac mini, except they limited it to 2 displays. That's when I went back to windows.

                • @MikeKulls: I need dual monitor support as well and I am just waiting out to see if the new macbook pro 14" will be any better. I would prefer native support and not some bootleg dongle solution.

      • +1

        I haven’t had a problem with M1 MBA in this regard.

        Many people still use dual screens, but there’s certainly a move towards wider screens instead of two.

        At any rate, dual screens are still supported through USB-C and TB hubs.

    • +1

      Customer expectations :)

      • +2

        Perhaps, read the following article as well before jumping to conclusions.
        https://www.zdnet.com/article/the-m1-mac-write-issue/

        • +2

          There is no conclusion in the article you posted either, only speculation:

          I'd expect Apple storage engineers are working long hours to get a handle on this and a fix out the door.

      • -1

        Apparently, that is just meant to be a software that reads it glitch, rather thana hardware issue.

    • Too much writing to the SSD perhaps

  • +3

    Looks like the MacBook Pro M1 is now in stock, including models with 16GB RAM

  • How does this compare with buying with the various 10% off/gift card sales/etc…? I was under the impression refurbished is a good deal if there aren't any of the other usual deals available?

    • +8

      Buy at the education store, use cashback (I got 7%) and sell the free Airpods, and the end price will be cheaper for a brand new MacBook.

      • +1

        Best way to do it. Takes 10% off the RRP + value for Airpods (market price ~$200) = at least a $300 saving, extended up to the $400 for a Pro.

      • how you get 7% cash back????

        • I think shopback had a deal. It may have expired, but there will be deals again, there or on other cashback sites. The only thing that may not be available for long are free Airpods, and that's a lot of $$

    • +3

      JB’s usual 10% off sale + discounted gift cards would put you ahead (and brand new to boot)

      But refurb route does get you some interesting BTO options if available that don’t get discounted elsewhere

  • +2

    these are basically returns. I purchased an M1 Mini when it was launched and returned it because there were too many issues (mostly software) and couldn't be bothered waiting for eventual updates. These refurbished will be excellent value. The M1 chip is amazing for processor intensive tasks. They wait till they have enough returns and refurb them before putting them back in the refurb store.

    • So they buy refurb & wait until it's refurbed again? ;)

  • +14

    One quick way to see how many of a particular machine are in stock, is to add it to your bag and try and order an unrealistic quantity (like 999), and it will revert the number to the exact amount in stock. For instance this one has 10 in stock, this one has 5 in stock and this one has 3 in stock.

    • Lol, they'll probably fix that oversight.

      • +3

        Is it really an oversight? Or an intended feature to allow people or order multiple items without having to do multiple orders?

        • It is an oversight one way or another. If they want that info to be presented, they can do it at the time you're choosing how many you want, rather than present an error when you try to order to many.

          • +1

            @mrau: It's been that way for as long as I can remember.

  • Does it stack with shopbacks 5% cashback?

    • i think so.

    • +1

      Will not stack with Shopback:
      "As of March 3rd, Any pre-order & new releases including AirPods Max, MacBook Air with M1, 8th generation iPad, all-new iPad Air, updated iMac 27-inch, Mac Pro, Apple Pro Display XDR is not eligible for cashback"

    • More people buy windows refurbs than apple macbooks. Dell and Lenovo OUtlet sells thousands of units. Forget about dumb consumers who don't really know anything about computers.

    • +6

      Cause “windows” is not a company, “Apple” is and they’re pretty good at producing good product and providing great service. No double standards here.

        • +2

          Maybe compare apples to apples. ;-)
          Apple make their own hardware and software. Can't say the same for all windoze machines.

        • -1

          Yes just like we can imagine how much of a whinger you sound like saying this.

      • Not always great service. My experience made me never buy an apple product ever again.

        Some issues people have, known faults outside of warranty periods denied.

        Like taping of critical components / shorts. Covered in selected models but newer models even though its the same fault denied.

        Replace a battery with a genuine one, fault non related, still under warranty denied.

    • +2

      The quality of Apple refurbs is well established. I’m sure some PC manufacturers have equally high quality refurbs, but I’m sure many also don’t.

      Even an Apple refurb was due to an issue and not just a change of mind return, it’s almost guaranteed to be totally fine.

    • +2

      Yes 9/10 times these are returns. Apple offers 14 day return policy so what do you think they do with the returns? Throw them away? I used to work at an Apple retail store and we send all returned devices back to the service centre to go through the refurbishment process. We were also asked to closely inspect any devices including matching serial numbers etc before we returned them so you don't return a damaged or stolen device.

      Comments like yours show how little you know about the actual product. Plenty of people return to get a model with higher storage, different colour, or in this case to try out the new CPU.

    • +2

      I love how on every Apple thread there’s always someone banging on about how Android/Windows whatever is better and Apple people are hypocrites, Apple sucks blah blah blah.

      Fact is Apple refurbs have a fantastic reputation. Maybe some other refurbs do too, but this isn’t a thread about them.

      • Bought a refurb ipod. Died within a year. I took it to a store and they refused replacement. Apple refurbs are as good as new

        • +1

          Genuinely don’t believe you.

          I’ve dealt with Apple for warranty across many devices for personal and business reasons. New and refurb.

          Each and every time it’s easily “beyond what is required” service. They also will fix/replace anything within their predefined ACL definitions without question (which is what your iPod would fall under by a mile).

          • @AaronR: Okay. Clearly I'm an anti apple shill who's also against the right to repair. Btw that was my second iPod. First ipod i dropped then it eventually stopped working. They blamed me for that one. Sure. Refurb died all by itself. Iirc warranty on refurb was 6 months and it died just after that

      • The irony being they are acting like sheep when trying to call people who prefer Apple sheep.

    • +2

      The only refurbished Dell product I've purchased (directly from Dell) had visible damage. Every refurbished Apple product I've purchased has been pristine and I've purchased at least half-a-dozen.

  • +4

    I buy macs only refurbished direct from Apple.

    saves me the $$$

  • +2

    My last Mac was a refurb too. Product appeared to be brand new and has been flawless. Only difference was a white box.

    • Does it come with stickers, plastic covers, etc?

      • You mean the Apple stickers? No, although I’m not sure new ones do any more?

      • +1

        Does it come with stickers, plastic covers, etc?

        Do these have any value?
        In fact, I would prefer if they didn't other than what is required to protect the device from scuff marks during shipping.

  • +1

    Great description OP. Is the warranty still 12 months or is it reduced? Not sure if I’ve missed something on the product page but can’t find it

    • +3

      Pretty sure all the same warranty applies, and you can even add Apple Care if you want. Essentially there's no difference, and I haven't had any worries with ACL claims either.

    • Same warranty, standard 12mo.

    • +4

      Same 12 month warranty, although in practice, even if you choose not to get Apple Care, thanks to ACL you can get Apple to repair defective hardware free far longer periods of time – I got a defective battery on an early 2013 15" MBP replaced last year under ACL.

      • How did you manage this? My late 2013 15" MBP battery is telling me the battery needs to be replaced and they want $289 for it.

        • The charge cycles were well below whatever the expected number (I think it’s ~1,000) is for a battery to fail. You can check the battery’s charge cycles through a system report

        • +1

          I had similar luck with them with my MBP, same model and age as yours, but the power supply failed. Replaced under warranty, then the second died outside of warranty. It was replaced for free. I’d had Applecare so perhaps they were more lenient.

          • @Shenannigoat: I have a macbook air 13" late 2012 model, how can i get battery replacement for free? just checked, battery charge cycle count is 541 and service recommend

            thanks

            • @Dennis95: Take it to an Apple store and just ask. Sometimes they are very lenient and will do it for free, other times not.

      • Any advice on how to get them to fix my MacBook Air? It’s not turning on and the Genius Bar reckons it’s the main board and will be a $750 fix..

        Also didn’t back up the laptop (stupid) so will be losing 1000s of photos

        • A bit late, but try third party repair if you're willing to pay some amount (but less than Apple) - pre-2016 macbooks have removable SSDs to get the data off them.

      • I have a macbook air 13" late 2012 model, how can i get battery replacement for free? just checked, battery charge cycle count is 541 and service recommend

        thanks

      • Didn’t even think to try this when my wife’s 15” 2015 battery started to swell (less than 100 cycles). $299 for a new top case with battery. Great tip nonetheless.

  • +1

    Better off waiting for new models releasing July- September.

    If I was to buy a refurb (Macbook Pro M1 16GB mem, 512GB SSD @$2,200) it still isn’t worth it compared to buying new one through Apple Education store for $2,400 with free Airpods and charging case that I can sell for $180-$200.

    There is also 20% off 3 year Apple care including accidental damage. So $2600 for a new one, free AirPods and 3 year accidental damage cover lol

    Comes to $2400 after I sell AirPods.

    • This.

      Waiting for new version in JULY.

    • Yep, if you’re after a MBP, definitely worth waiting for the new model

    • +5

      You will not get $180-$200 for the Airpods unless you find a sucker.

    • Do they not check when buying through education that you're a student?

  • +4

    Amazing device… Leaves Windows laptops in the dust.

    • +1

      Cough cough!

      • +5

        The dust getting to you? :P

  • +1

    This would be a bargain comparing to the iphone 12 pro..

    • +2

      lol

    • +4

      As confirmed by others in the comments, Apple’s certified refurbished products at least as good, if not better than, their new products. It’s unsurprising that the third-party ‘refurbished’ product you bought was of inferior quality.

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