A few years ago, I bought a refurbished MacBook Pro with M1 Pro chip from Apple. This, it turned out, was one of the best decisions I could have made. The MacBook Pro was in like-new condition, yet I got it with a deep discount. It’s a device that is still going strong today.
Now, Apple is at it again, and this time you’re able to score money off on two of the best Macs available right now. What’s more, these are just any old discounts – they’re serious cuts of around 15%, which is a significant saving when you’re talking about a device that costs hundreds or even thousands of dollars.
Apple has started selling refurbished versions of its Mac mini and MacBook Pro with M4-series chips on its official store. These devices are a great opportunity to get some of that sweet Apple hardware goodness without paying quite so much for the privilege.
And it comes at the perfect time, as I’ve been thinking about replacing my Windows PC with an M4 Mac mini. This sale might provide the perfect opportunity to do so. After all, in our review, we called the M4 Mac mini “a fantastic little computer” that’s “unlike anything else you can find at that price.”
It’s not just the Mac mini that’s worth checking out. When we reviewed the M4 MacBook Pro, our verdict was that it “isn’t just the best MacBook you can buy, it’s also one of the very best laptops that money can buy.”
Apple’s official refurbished store is selling both of these models with deep discounts across the line. For instance, the entry-level M4 Mac mini — already an absolute steal at $599 when bought new — is going for $509, with $90 off. The maxed-out M4 Pro Mac mini with a 20-core GPU, 64GB of memory, an 8TB SSD and 10Gb Ethernet is $3,989 — a whopping $710 off the regular $4,699 price.
As for the MacBook Pro, the entry-level M4 MacBook Pro is $1,359, down $240 from $1,599. And there are plenty of other savings across the board when it comes to these two Macs.
Why does this matter?
OK, it’s a welcome sight to see discounts like this, especially from a company like Apple that is famously averse to money-off events. Why should you care when you can just get refurbished Macs from other outlets?
Well, Apple refurbished is not like buying second hand or even like getting a refurbished Mac from a third-party retailer. Buy refurbished from Apple and you’re basically getting a guarantee of a much higher-quality device.
Each refurbished Mac undergoes rigorous testing and a full clean, ensuring it comes to you looking almost spotless (when I bought my M1 Pro MacBook Pro, in fact, it was spotless and totally indistinguishable from a newly purchased MacBook Pro).
As well as that, if any replacement parts are needed, they’re guaranteed to be genuine Apple components. You don’t have to worry about your Mac being fitted with cheap knock-off parts that could fail at any moment. No, you get the real deal here.
Plus, every refurbished Mac comes with all of its expected accessories repackaged into a fresh box, with everything being wrapped up in a one-year warranty. Get that delivered and it feels like you’ve just bought one right off the shelf.
Sure, you can sometimes find better deals on used (and, rarely, new) Macs at places like Amazon, but if you want the Apple touch, the company’s refurbished store is the way to go.
I can speak from experience when I say that it’s like getting a brand-new Mac at a deeply discounted price. Given how impressive the M4 chip is — and how much of a bargain the M4 Mac mini already is — some of these offers are real no-brainers.
