While Malaysians are looking forward to Apple’s first official retail store in Malaysia, it appears that the Cupertino tech giant could soon offer official refurbished products for our local market. As spotted by Dian Bato in our RKMD Group, the Apple Store app for Malaysia has a new Certified Refurbished option under the Mac section. However, there are no products listed at the moment.
This seems to be an indication that Apple is preparing to offer their own official refurbished Mac products in Malaysia which are backed by its own warranty coverage. Apple currently offers certified refurbished products in select markets which include the US, Singapore, Australia and the UK.
According to Apple’s website, every Apple Certified Refurbished product will under a rigorous refurbishment process that includes full functional testing and is backed by Apple’s standard one-year limited warranty. These products are refurbished with genuine Apple replacement parts and have been thoroughly cleaned and inspected. For iOS devices (e.g. iPad, iPhone), the refurbished products will come with a new battery and an outer shell.
In terms of packaging, the refurbished products will be shipped to you in a brand-new white box with all accessories, cables and operating systems included. It said consumers can enjoy savings of up to 15%, but it is worth highlighting that most of these products are likely to have been discontinued. For greater peace of mind, Apple says their refurbished units are eligible to get additional warranty coverage if you purchase their AppleCare products. Also included as standard is 90 days of complimentary technical support on top of the one-year limited warranty.
Depending on the pricing, this could be an alternative option to buying a new entry-level product if you could get a possibly better-spec old model at a cheaper price. Unlike buying a refurbished unit from a third party, these official refurbished units do come with a warranty and support like a new Apple product.
If Apple is offering refurbished devices in Malaysia, this could also open up the opportunity for trade-ins if you’re planning to buy a brand-new Apple device from their direct channels. Would you consider buying an official refurbished MacBook from Apple? Let us know in the comments below.
