When Apple unveiled new MacBooks, I loaded the Apple Store web site with my bank card prepared. My spouse’s historical laptop computer was on the fritz, and a contemporary machine would make a pleasant present. I discovered a MacEbook Air for US$760 (RM3,094) – a discount! – and ordered it with gusto.
Plenty of us are reeling from ever-rising costs of client electronics pushed by industrywide shortages of reminiscence elements, so I’ll allow you to in on a secret.
On March 3, Apple began taking orders for the US$1,100 (RM4,479) MacEbook Air with its newest M5 chip. That day, I ordered the earlier mannequin, the MacEbook Air with the M4 chip. Instead of shopping for a brand-new laptop, I went to Apple’s refurbished part to get about US$240 (RM970) off the unique worth.
Just a few days later, the refurbished laptop computer arrived in Apple’s signature, meticulously designed packaging. The laptop computer’s display was lined in protecting plastic, and the standard equipment, a charging brick and a cable, have been included.
Coincidentally, across the similar time, The New York Times had shipped me a brand-new M4 MacEbook Air for work. When I in contrast it aspect by aspect with my spouse’s laptop computer, the machines have been indistinguishably pristine. I had a hunch that the refurbished one was both an untouched return or unsold new stock.
Apple’s refurbished merchandise, in accordance with the corporate, bear a rigorous refurbishment course of to make sure that prospects obtain a product with the extent of high quality they anticipate from the model.
Similar to used vehicles, secondhand electronics are a booming business that might develop to about US$153bil (RM622.74bil) this yr, in accordance with analysis by Global Market Insights. And with a worldwide laptop reminiscence scarcity driving up prices of things like sport consoles, smartphones and computer systems, used electronics could look more and more engaging to customers hoping to switch outdated {hardware} inside their budgets.
I principally stopped shopping for brand-new electronics just a few years in the past after realising that the associated fee financial savings have been so substantial and that the downsides have been trivial. I’ve bought used {hardware} together with Macs, iPads and a high-end iPhone from a number of websites, together with Amazon and Facebook Marketplace. The expertise hasn’t been good – I as soon as ended up with a pair of shoddy AirPods. But with most of my purchases, I had no regrets.
There’s a sensible technique to purchasing secondhand electronics. Here are the teachings I’ve realized.
Thoroughly examine the acquisition
Two years in the past, I lastly determined to retire my house laptop, a 13-year-old iMac, and searched for an additional choice. I concluded that Apple’s miniature desktop machine, the Mac Mini, which retailed for about US$600 (RM2,442) to US$700 (RM2,849), could be the most affordable alternative. Plenty have been posted by particular person sellers on Facebook Marketplace for half the value, so I made a decision to attempt my luck shopping for a pc there for the primary time.
After messaging just a few sellers, I received good vibes from John, a younger hospital employee, who agreed to satisfy me at a restaurant in San Francisco. He kindly introduced a show, a keyboard and a mouse to attach with the pc to show that it labored; he even walked me by way of the setup course of to point out that the machine was not locked down by a password or any company administration software program. I opened some apps and in addition examined the audio system and energy button.
Everything checked out, and my low-cost Mac Mini stays my workhorse for this column.
Avoid shopping for sure merchandise used
I confess I used to be much less thorough with a unique product, a pair of refurbished AirPods labelled “like new” by Amazon for US$80 (RM322), about US$100 (RM407) lower than the retail worth. Months after utilizing the product, I realised that “Find My,” a software program function used to find the AirPods within the occasion that they went lacking, was not working correctly as a result of the earbuds have been nonetheless linked to the earlier proprietor’s account. Fortunately, Amazon gave me a partial refund.
This expertise illustrates how a superb deal can typically lead individuals to make unhealthy selections. In hindsight, shopping for used earbuds – a product that has touched one other individual’s physique – was clearly not an incredible concept, and I wouldn’t advocate it to anybody.
Nathan Proctor, a director of US PIRG, a client advocacy nonprofit, added different examples to the checklist of merchandise to keep away from: tv screens that are usually cumbersome and fragile, printers that put on down over time and smartwatches with bands that deteriorate from different individuals’s sweat.
Choose a vendor fastidiously
While I felt snug shopping for a low-cost laptop on Facebook, I most well-liked shopping for higher-priced merchandise like tablets and smartphones from greater manufacturers, which provided protections together with beneficiant return insurance policies.
When Apple introduced the iPhone 17 final September, I made a decision it was a superb alternative to discover a deal on the earlier yr’s high-end iPhone, the 16 Pro. I discovered one on Amazon labelled “refurbished – excellent” for US$800 (RM3,254), a US$300 (RM1,221) low cost from the retail worth.
Just a few days later, the product arrived in an unremarkable brown cardboard field. While inspecting it, I observed a lightweight scratch down the centre of the display that was unimaginable to disregard.
Annoyed, I clicked a button to talk with an Amazon customer support agent. After I described the issue, Amazon agreed to ship a alternative of the identical telephone the following day.
With the second iPhone, I gained the lottery. It was flawless, and from checking the machine’s battery historical past, I may see that it had been recharged solely as soon as, which means it was in all probability a barely touched retailer return. I wouldn’t have been so fortunate if I had bought this telephone on-line from a random vendor who lacked a beneficiant return coverage.
Plenty of respected resellers of refurbished items, together with Back Market and VIP Outlet, have good return insurance policies, in accordance with US PIRG, which revealed a information to purchasing used electronics.
To scale back the percentages of getting a lemon, the most secure guess is to purchase a refurbished product immediately from the massive model that manufactures it, like the way in which I purchased my spouse’s MacEbook Air from Apple’s net retailer for refurbished items.
Check for longevity
To get essentially the most worth when shopping for used, you need the machine to final. But all tech merchandise have a finite life. Companies finally cease giving them software program updates, elements equivalent to batteries put on out and a few units are too troublesome or costly to restore when components equivalent to screens break.
Apple, Samsung and Google usually situation software program updates for telephones for as much as seven years. So a easy rule of thumb when contemplating a used product is to search for units made not more than two years in the past. That ensures the machine nonetheless has at the least 5 remaining years of help from the corporate.
As for changing batteries and normal machine upkeep, France now requires corporations to publish scores for his or her merchandise primarily based on the convenience of disassembly and getting components. (The iPhone 16 Pro, for instance, has a ranking of 8.1, on a scale from 1 to 10, with 10 being the best to restore.) Third events like iFixit, a web site that publishes directions on repairing merchandise, additionally give merchandise such rankings.
If perusing these scores appears like an excessive amount of work, do only one factor: Before you purchase any used laptop computer or telephone, do a fast net search on the price of a brand new battery and the method of changing it, stated Kyle Wiens, the CEO of iFixit.
“That steers me toward one product or another, which can reduce some of the stress with buying something used,” he stated. – ©2026 The New York Times Company
This article initially appeared in The New York Times.