Re: Apple MacBook Pro - Antiglare vs Retina
We are an Apple Specialist, and Authorized Apple Service Provider. We also do out of warranty repair on other machines, but are not authorized service centers for any at this time. We see our fair share of machines coming through the door, so we've got a rough idea of the problems that people will have. Machines that come in that are refurbs tend to have problems out of the ordinary, and are more difficult to troubleshoot. Parts that normally wouldn't be a problem causing the symptom end up being the source, etc., more often than with regular machines. The reason for this is that in the refurb process, the common part that would be replaced for the symptom is, but the true problem lies deeper, yet doesn't show up right away in the diagnostics process.
You CAN save a bunch of money buying refurbs, and many are simply customer returns of a perfectly working machine. However, you have no way of knowing the true history of that hardware, so you're taking your chances. Apple is pretty good about standing behind the product, so if you have to bring it in for repair several times for the same issue, they'll end up replacing it for you, but they don't compensate you for any downtime that may occur because your machine isn't working properly.
As far as RAM upgrades, the Retina line and MacBook Air line do NOT have any RAM upgrade slots available. It is what it is when it leaves the factory, so plan wisely. Since those machines use SSDs for hard drives, the impact of not having enough RAM isn't as pronounced. The MAC OS will use drive space when it's short on RAM, and SSDs are so much faster than traditional hard drives that the impact isn't as noticeable.
Third party RAM can be much cheaper than what Apple charges in some cases, but also is more likely to be a source of problems. Rarely do we have machines that come in with problems with the factory Apple RAM in them. It's quite common though, to have failed RAM chips, or crashy machines when third party RAM is installed. Some brands are far worse than others in this regard. That potential savings versus downtime of an unreliable machine is something to consider.
We are an Apple Specialist, and Authorized Apple Service Provider. We also do out of warranty repair on other machines, but are not authorized service centers for any at this time. We see our fair share of machines coming through the door, so we've got a rough idea of the problems that people will have. Machines that come in that are refurbs tend to have problems out of the ordinary, and are more difficult to troubleshoot. Parts that normally wouldn't be a problem causing the symptom end up being the source, etc., more often than with regular machines. The reason for this is that in the refurb process, the common part that would be replaced for the symptom is, but the true problem lies deeper, yet doesn't show up right away in the diagnostics process.
You CAN save a bunch of money buying refurbs, and many are simply customer returns of a perfectly working machine. However, you have no way of knowing the true history of that hardware, so you're taking your chances. Apple is pretty good about standing behind the product, so if you have to bring it in for repair several times for the same issue, they'll end up replacing it for you, but they don't compensate you for any downtime that may occur because your machine isn't working properly.
As far as RAM upgrades, the Retina line and MacBook Air line do NOT have any RAM upgrade slots available. It is what it is when it leaves the factory, so plan wisely. Since those machines use SSDs for hard drives, the impact of not having enough RAM isn't as pronounced. The MAC OS will use drive space when it's short on RAM, and SSDs are so much faster than traditional hard drives that the impact isn't as noticeable.
Third party RAM can be much cheaper than what Apple charges in some cases, but also is more likely to be a source of problems. Rarely do we have machines that come in with problems with the factory Apple RAM in them. It's quite common though, to have failed RAM chips, or crashy machines when third party RAM is installed. Some brands are far worse than others in this regard. That potential savings versus downtime of an unreliable machine is something to consider.
