Reman MBP or new

Alrighty all you Mac-o-philes! The killer of Macbooks is finally turning 18, so she can finally buy a Macbook on her own.

The needs: A college (well, almost college) student wanting an 11" or 13" Macbook. Uses Steam liberally. Needs lots of storage space for all her photos and music (amateur photographer, so there's a lot of photos). Can't get her to go above a 13", she wants as small a size as possible. While she games, she's not hardcore about it. So she doesn't need the best GPU available.

The options I've been looking at: rMBP 13", rMBA 13", rMBA 11".

My main concern with MBA is the GPU is the Intel iGPU 5000. Not sure whether that is sufficient enough for moderate gaming.

And with all these models, I am looking into the reman/refurb availabilities to see how much cheaper they are. But I wonder what sort of warranty(s) are offered with a reman macbook. She will be needing the 6 year with accident protection.

Suggestions?

 

There is no Retina MacBook Air (at least not yet anyway). The 11- and 13-inch models have 1280x720 and 1440x900 screens, respectively and use the Intel 5000 GPU. The 13-inch Retina MacBook Pro has the high-resolution display and would be the much better choice if photography is a consideration. Those systems use the more powerful Intel Iris 5100 GPU. What games does she play? Do they have ports on OS X? If so, bear in mind that such titles typically run worse than their Windows counterparts. The Iris would be sufficient for playing at 720p or 1280x800 in the Mac's case since it uses 16:10, at low to medium details for modern titles. Older and less demanding games can be run at higher resolutions and detail settings.

Refurbished systems are a better deal because they carry the same warranty as new Macs - 1 year parts/labor with 90-day phone support. They can also be upgraded to AppleCare, which extends both to 3 years, but no longer than that. Apple does not provide accidental damage coverage, so you would need to purchase that from an outside vendor. See if your or your parents' homeowner's insurance offers personal items policies. I set up my MacBook Pro through State Farm this way, and it costs about $35/year. In addition to accidental damage, you'd also be covered from theft.

 

^ Gotta agree with the above, especially when it comes to Apple refurbished systems. Apple's refurbished items are basically the same thing as a brand new system, and they are cheaper as well. You really can't go wrong with a refurbished MacBook Pro.

 

Good to know about the MBAs. I didn't look too much into their specs. But I won't recommend a non-retina model macbook to her. Not sure what games she has from Steam, but its not like she's running COD on her macbook.

Not being able to get Apple Care past 3 years kind of sucks. Does any 3rd parties offer extended warranties beyond that?

 

IIRC, SquareTrade offers the sort of warranty you're looking for. However, I don't know much about them.

 

Looks like SquareTrade does. But I don't think they offer it beyond the 3 year mark (like Apple Care).

 

You should check her library, though, to see what games she does have because more often than not, games do not have Mac ports. It's kind of funny you mention CoD, though, because all the Modern Warfare titles and Black Ops I have been ported.

As far as the warranty, even with third parties, 3 years is the best you're going to get. If 4-5 years is a strong consideration, then you're going to be limited to the pro lines from Dell, HP, or Lenovo.

 

Not that I have ever found, also if you look into third party accidental really watch out for the fine print. most will be either a 1 time deal or will repair up to the total purchase cost of the unit. ( if you use 30% of the cost once then trash it somehow later on they will pay out the remaining 70% and say have a nice day )

glad I have a second to me here. and yes, 5 year NBD and unlimited accidental is restricted to those units as well.

bit of a pain in the lower anatomy and see above on accidental payouts etc. once you are on squaretrade warranty they only warranty up to a certain portion of the cost of the unit anyways, so 1 or 2 fixes will kill it out fast as well. many homeowner insurance coverage now are limiting coverage on apple computers due to repair cost. if it is stolen no issue, you break it they will fix it or replace it but you can easily see an extra premium added on now as " cost of repair is much greater than other manufacturers " read all the fine print.

congratulations meet Lenovo X/T and W, Dell Professional and the HP Elitebook/Probook's and Panasonic. no one else offers that kind of warranty it ESPECIALLY with decent accidental

 

Yeah, I really wanted the 6 year warranty with accident protection for her. All my cousins are clumsy as hell.

But the killer of Macbooks is insistent on having another Macbook. She doesn't like Windows in any form.

I'm not too worried about her steam gaming habits anymore. If her old 2008 MBP could install and run the steam games she played, then a new(er) rMBP should have no problems.