Do you guys also have trouble buying directly from Apple ? It keeps declining my card even though last month I managed to get my hands on refurbished 16" macbook pro, it's really a hit or miss experience. Before you ask I called my bank and there is absolutely nothing wrong on my end, they literally told me the problem came directly from Apple.
Refurbished is the way to go, especially now for Macs. With many people move to Apple silicon, Intel Macs become really affordable. Also older Apple silicon chips are often a great deal since they were leaps ahead the competition 3 years ago already. Many of your examples don't sell in Europe, or if they do, you're looking at expensive delivery and taxes. But BackMarket is big here, they might have the biggest selection of Macs available. I got my 2019 16" MBP from them, almost best specs available, for a very good price. But unfortunately, Macs are way more expensive here in general compared to the USA.
Thanks for watching. Yes, I heard that in Europe Macs are quite a bit more and in the USA there are a bunch of good deals and sales every weekend. Thanks for the post and I do agree refurbished can be a good option.
Great "food for thought" there as usual Craig. Intel iMacs are coming down in price, even though its not quite the end of times yet with OCLP and relatively hardware upgradable if you have nerves of Steel and a lot of patience, and an incomparable Retina display (from 2015 onwards) you can have a rock solid machine capable of running Win's 7-11 with a bit of tweaking, MacOS from High Sierra to Ventura (OCLP), and possibly the next incarnation (depends on what they have at WDC this year) All dual booting very well, although have to say that little "Blue Number on your desk looks rather tempting there Craig, great Vids keep them coming very informative 😁
Thanks for watching and the feedback. I have a number of old Macs (check out some of my older videos) and will keep buying them for the channel. I may one day to a dual boot video on that topic you described. Thanks again.
I've bought two different laptops from Mac of All Trades, along with their extended warranty, and I recommend them. My first laptop had some issues and they couldn't fix it so they gave me 100% credit toward another one. You're going to pay more money than ebay, but they definitely stand behind their stuff.
I meant to say, if you buy a laptop on ebay and use it for a month and then have an issue, you're screwed, but with Mac of All Trades, they took care of me.
Bro. I recently bought 3 Macbook Airs... One 2011 (returned) and one 2012 and one 2014. They are good machines to load Linux to become solid toys. I don't have to worry about compatibility of latest MacOS since I am not using it.... Thank you for your full list of used Mac shopping sites. I am sure I will find a better deal next time I want to buy another one. Keep up the great work!
Thanks for the feedback and yes I have heard of a number of people using them for Linux machines. I might do a video on that topic in the future. There are a ton of good deals now on the older Macs since the M1 silicon came out.
@@craigneidel FYI my primary Linux distro is OpenSuse (and Suse Linux) which I have been using for about 17 years. Other new favorite is FerenOS very light weight and slick. One distro for each of my Macbook Airs. I have subscribed to your channel so I am looking forward to your Linux on Mac video.
Thanks. It might be a little while but I will try to do one in the future. I also review a ton of tech like SSDS, hubs, etc. if you are interested in that also.
OWC has a terrible return policy, you end up paying them 15% of the ticket price if you send anything back. You cannot know whats wrong with the product until you use it at least a month and by then its too late. Its very likely they are not even truly scrubbing and refurbishing the products too. I found some guy named Brad's info all over the laptop I bought from them and when I returned it they kept $270. as a "restocking fee." They did not give me a detailed invoice. I paid them extra for a service contract, that was lumped in with the 15%, how do you restock a service contract someone is not going to use? I would avoid them like the plague but if you MUST use them, pay super close attention to how you can return a lemon without getting charged.
Hey Craig, I was wondering your opinion on the Apple Store refurbished 2020 5k iMac i7 for $1,489? It’s going for a touch over the M1 iMac with 16 gigs of ram but you get that beautiful bigger screen and the ability to upgrade the ram yourself. Thanks always love your videos!
Thanks, I love the 2020 iMac and still use my 2017 iMac today for most of my edits. The only issue will be OS support in the future and the $1,489 is a bit high as I have seen those from time to time refurbished on other sites for less but they were not Apple stores and may not be as good. In the end, for what you are getting, it's not a bad deal but just understand the OS could be an issue in about 4 years.
I sometimes use ebay with local pickup. Needless to say, you need to have and use strong intuitive skills. I had one imac bug out after 15 days. I couldn't reasonably engage a claim on the seller, because it worked well upon pickup.
Yes, that can be an issue if you find a problem later. But when you can get something now for around $200 you will need to expect a few issues. Thanks for posting.
There are actually three refurbished/used MacBooks that I am considering: M1 Pro MacBook Pro 14 (Base Spec 16GB RAM / 512GB SSD), an M2 MacBook Air 15-inch (upgraded specked 16GB RAM / 512GB SSD), and an upgraded M1 MacBook Air with the same RAM and SSD storage options as the other two. Both the M1 Pro MacBook and M2 MacBook Air 15-inch are around the same price range of around $1200-$1400 depending on the site of where they are from. The M1 Air is around $800-$900 with the similar RAM and SSD options.
If you do more video editing then get one of the Pros. If you don't then Air is fine. Just remember that the M2 will get 1 more year of OS updates also if the costs are close.
What's the budget. I would look at a refurbished M1 mac mini for about $389 on Amazon or at least it was around that price. I think you would be happiest with that.
When buying from eBay, spend extra and get the "1-year protection play from Allstate." With older computers it's never a matter of IF something will go wrong, but WHEN*. Five years down the line? It happens. Eleven months from purchase? You're out cash, and you are on your own. * eBay ssed iMac 27" 2011 - Graphics card failure. Ten months after purchase. Allstate covered the purchase cost. eBay used iMac 27" 2012 - Internal hard drive failed days after receipt. {shrug] The drive tested okay, BUT expect old iMac drives to fail. At the time was using an external M.2 as the boot drive. It still works; insurance not needed. Hopefully.
Hey Craig, I had reently ordered an 2017 27" iMac from Woot, and it arrived severely damaged and beyond repair. The screen and chassis were bent in on the side. They let me keep it, but also refunded my money. It was such a great price, and I'm still out of an iMac for the purpose I need it for. I'm thinking of buying a screen and a chassis and build a replacement unit from the parts that was left from the damaged one, but those parts are so expensive! Thanks for this information, it gives me additional resources to consider if I decided not to part this Woot model out.
Sorry to hear that and I'm not sure why it came so damaged by Woot. I have heard they are usually pretty good but you never do know. Thanks for watching and the comment.
@@craigneidel Hey no problem. Not sure either, but hey not everything is going to be perfect. I’m still pricing out the parts ill need to make a full iMac. 😂 I also just subscribed, so you’ve got me!
@@craigneidelis it possible to find a used M1 MacBook Pro in this link? I mean a reasonable low priced laptop that can be used for quality video editing?
Simple answer: eBay... I recently bought a 2015 MBA, 8Gb ram, 512Gb SSD, i5 cpu for $150.. I wanted a MacBook but I don't want to pay the premium for one of the newer M1/M2 systems..
@@craigneidel Wish I'd seen your video before I bought my MBA.. That "isellimac" seller has some fantastic deals.. I'm happy with the one I have, but I'll check isellimac if I ever want to buy another!!
Thanks for the feedback and yes, so far the ones I got from there have been pretty good systems and have run well. Just make sure to read what the issues are when they sell them.
I have been Having Problems Migrating My pHotos / Folders from Old iMac 2013 Catalina to The New Mac mini Ventura. I tried the Acacias 1TB SSD plug to my old iMac USB port. nothing works? Appreciate your input .
I live in the USA and that is what I know. I would not know how to purchase in other places like Australia for example and would not be qualified to comment on those areas.
