Refurbished Apple products are second-hand, really, but the fact they’ve been refurbished by Apple means you can be a lot more confident in the quality and reliability of what you’re getting. It’s a nice halfway house between new and second-hand, in effect, and you can save loads of money by opting to buy a refurbished iPad from Apple in its Refurbished Store rather than splashing out on a brand-new iPad.
At time of writing, Apple sells the 12.9in and 11in iPad Pro, the iPad Air, the iPad and the iPad mini brand new here.
At time of writing, its refurbished store features the iPad,as well as the now discontinued 9.7in iPad Pro, 10.5in iPad Pro and the iPad mini 4. See them here.
Here, we weigh up what it means to buy a refurbished iPad, the difference between buying refurbished versus buying new, and which models are available, so you can work out which option is best for you. You can also check out our comprehensiveiPad buying guide.
What does refurbished mean?
Refurbished Apple products are technically pre-owned, but they undergo such a rigorous refurbishing process that it’s unlikely you’ll even notice.
In fact pre-owned may mean only used once, perhaps it’s a unit that was loaned to a journalist, or it was returned by a customer who decided they wanted a different model, or maybe there was a fault with it – a fault that Apple will have rectified as part of its refurbishment when it got it ready for sale.
What’s the difference between a refurbished iPad and a brand-new iPad?
If you buy a refurbished iPad from Apple, you’ll get the same one-year warranty as if you bought a brand-new iPad, all of the manuals and accessories that come with a new iPad, a brand new battery and outer shell and a new white box for it too.
The new box is not the same as the box you would get if you purchased a new iPad, and we assume that this is to prevent people from buying a refurbished iPad and attempting to sell it on as new. However, we think you’ll struggle to spot anything about the contents of that box that indicates that it is not a new iPad.
Apple promises that all refurbished iPads it sells are in full working condition, and they have each been fully tested to ensure this. Any parts that were defective when the iPad was returned by its previous owner will have been replaced, and the entire iPad will have been cleaned and inspected to make sure it’s in top-notch condition.
If you’d prefer to have a longer warranty than the one-year warranty that’s included, you can buy AppleCare+ for your refurbished iPad. AppleCare+ extends your warranty to two years, allows additional technical support, 24/7 access to Apple experts, and hardware coverage for up to two accidental damage incidents. Each damage claim will cost an additional £39/$49 though.
What iPad models can I buy from Apple’s Refurbished store?
The products in Apple’s Refurbished store can change quite frequently, so you’ll want to check back regularly if the particular Apple product you’re after isn’t available.
At time of writing, Apple has various iPad models available (Wi-Fi only or with Wi-Fi and Cellular). The stock may vary depending on whether you’re buying from the UK or US however. The UK refurbished store offers the iPad, iPad Pro 9.7in, iPad Pro 10.5in, iPad Pro 12.9in and iPad mini 4.
In addition to this selection, the US refurbished store offers the iPad mini 2.
If you are looking for a good deal on an iPad, also check out our dedicated best iPad deals page.
So, should I buy a refurbished iPad?
We think it is absolutely worth considering buying a refurbished iPad from Apple’s Refurbished store before purchasing a brand-new one. It’ll look as good as new, so you won’t notice the difference anywhere other than in your bank balance and that giveaway packaging as mentioned above.
Right now, anyone looking for one of Apple’s latest iPads has no choice but to buy brand-new from Apple or a third-party reseller, but if you’d be happy with an older generation of iPad you may find you can get a bigger capacity model or a Wi-Fi + Cellular model for less money than it would cost you for a new model with less impressive specs.
Here in the Macworld office, we’ve purchased Apple products from the Refurbished store and have been completely happy with them, so we can recommend the option first hand.
Buying and selling iPads second-hand
We think that the Refurbished store is a strong option offering good deals on iPads. But it’s not the only one, and in some cases there are others that will get you one of the newer models second-hand or refurbished at a great price too.