Editor's note: this article is from the official account "ID:leitech" of Wechat, author: Lei Tech Digital 3C Group, Editor: a Tianming36氪Released by authorization.

AppleSelf-developed ARM architecture chips have been released for more than half a year, and three Mac computers using Apple M1 chips have also been shipped on a large scale. With strong performance and resource allocation algorithm, although there are still some software compatibility problems at this stage, Mac products using M1 chip are still favored by many consumers.

But throughout the notebook computer market, although M1 Mac has excellent performance-to-price ratio, the higher threshold still shuts out many potential users. Even for 8+256GB MacBook Air laptops used for light office work, the official website sells for 7999 yuan.PingduoduoIt will cost 7099 yuan after a subsidy of 10 billion yuan. You know, in the Windows camp, 7000 yuan can already buy computers with the same performance or portability as MacBook Air. By contrast, MacBook Air with M1 still needs to improve its core competitiveness.

Since the performance cannot be changed, the price can only be reduced. Apple Inc China put up a batch of officially refurbished M1 MacBook Air in the online store on March 4. Compared with the "retail version" sold by Apple Store, the price of this batch of "official copies" is generally about 1000 yuan lower than that of Pinduoduo or the official website. It can even use the official 24 interest-free installments, which can be said to be the best choice for M1 to "get on the bus".

But what is the price of 1000 yuan cheaper?What is the official refurbishment machine?

First of all, answer everyone's "biggest question" about the official refurbishing machine: what kind of machine is the so-called official refurbishing machine? Does Apple Inc really repair the broken equipment and use it for secondary sale?

The answer is no. Generally speaking, Apple Inc's "official refurbishment" machine is the one that was damaged when (or before) it was delivered to the user, or, in the words of the industry, the source of the official refurbishment machine is usually the DoA (Defective on Arrival) machine. For example, if an unfortunate forklift driver "shoveled" a tray computer in Apple Inc's warehouse, or some hapless logistics driver was rear-ended while running away goods, the damaged goods belonged to the "DoA" model.

For the sake of cost, the brand usually recycles the DoA equipment and finds out that the machine with maintenance value is officially refurbished and becomes an official refurbishment machine. In terms of status, these machines have been damaged when they arrive, so of course they have not been used by users, so the term "second-hand refurbishment" is not accurate-how can users count as second-hand phones if they are not activated?

However, as we all know, apart from retail and official turnover machines, Apple Inc also has another category called "official replacement machines". Although there is only an one-word difference between the names of "official machine" and "official machine", it is actually essentially different-in theory, the official machine is "unsold equipment", but the official machine should be discussed on a case-by-case basis.

For the equipment that enjoys the national three-guarantee policy, whether it is iPad or iPhone, because the three packages stipulate that "new goods should be provided when replacing goods", the ones "replaced" from Apple Inc are all brand-new mobile phones with white simple packaging. At the same time, according to the regulations of the three packages:

After the replacement, the validity period of the three guarantees of the goods shall be recalculated from the date of exchange. The seller shall affix a seal on the back of the invoice, indicating the date of replacement, and provide three new packets of vouchers.

This means that the three-pack replacement will reset the three-pack time.

But for devices purchased overseas that do not enjoy the "three guarantees policy" (such as the Japanese version of iPhone)

, the American version of iMac or the Hong Kong version of iPad), because the product is not subject to the three-guarantee rule, it is not necessary to abide by the three-pack clause that "the seller should be responsible for replacing new options for consumers free of charge". It means that from the point of view of the relevant documents, equipment that does not enjoy the three-guarantee policy can use non-brand-new parts during maintenance, and will not reset the three-guarantee period. This means that the "official turning machine" that the overseas version of equipment is "replaced" is not necessarily an all-new machine.What is the difference between official translation and retail?

Since they are all computers that have not been used by consumers, does that mean that the 1000 yuan saved is just the cost of "color box packaging"? If this is really the case, isn't it true that everyone is going to buy an "official flipping machine"?

Of course not. If we take a closer look at Apple Store's description of the official flip machine, it is not difficult to find that behind the 1000 yuan price difference, there is a more "secret" clause: click on a purchase link for the official flip MacBook Air, and we can see this computer in the description:

Enjoy the one-year limited warranty provided by Apple

Enjoy the 14-day return policy provided by Apple.

But if we click on this "one-year limited warranty" and find the detailed provisions of "Apple one (1) year limited warranty", we can see the following statement in the second paragraph: "Apple one (1) year limited warranty applies to Apple certified refurbished products. To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, Apple certified refurbished products are expressly exempt from the above legal rights. "

And in "how will Apple fulfill its warranty promise? In the chapter, Apple Inc made it clear: "Apple can use certified refurbished parts to repair certified refurbished products." In other words, the parts used in the maintenance of your "official computer" may not be brand new, they may be "broken before, but repaired" parts.

At the same time, this one-year limited warranty will not reset your warranty date-according to Apple Inc: the warranty period is for the longer of the following periods:

(I) the remaining duration of this warranty

(ii) ninety (90) days from the date of replacement or maintenance

Or (iii) the period prescribed by applicable law.

Although Apple Inc has also left a "cover-up" provision for himself, saying that Apple Inc will be exempted from specific liability within the maximum limit of the law, how many people will remember the relevant provisions of the three packages in the actual after-sale? To cite the simplest example, how many people know that according to the regulations, "if the mobile phone fails during the three-package period and cannot be used normally after two repairs, it should be replaced directly"?So the official is doomed to turn over?

In this way, since there are such differences between the two in after-sales, is it "who buys who is fooled"? You can't say that. As mentioned just now, Apple Inc is still bound by relevant laws, and even the most basic "one-year limited warranty" can basically cover daily warranty scenarios. At the same time, Apple Inc also mentioned in the support page that the "three guarantees of rights and interests and the limited warranty" are not mutually exclusive. On Apple Inc's support page, Apple Inc also lists a detailed comparison of different after-sales.

And Apple Inc's official products have the same 14-day return rights as the retail version, but if you have bad feelings about this one-year warranty, don't forget that Apple Inc also has the "ultimate warranty option"-AppleCare+. As long as you purchase AppleCare+ (AC+), the full after-sales AC+ will cover an one-year limited warranty and provide up to 3 years of technical support and unexpected warranty. For consumers who are about to buy AC+, compared with the retail version of the original price products, official products are obviously a more cost-effective choice.

Because Apple Inc has a "cover clause", if the warranty is blocked, we can also take up legal weapons to ensure that our legitimate rights and interests will not be infringed. And Apple Inc's official products can only be purchased in the store of Apple Inc's official website, which means that during the warranty, we do not need to be "playing football" by third-party e-commerce platforms and merchants, we can directly find Apple Inc to ask for after-sales service. It is also one of the "hidden benefits" purchased at the official website store.

The emergence of official models not only provides consumers with a variety of choices, but also reduces the number of "e-waste" to a certain extent, but also lowers the "entry threshold" for consumers. From this point of view, official products actually have their own merits. But before buying, I still suggest that you consult the official pre-sales customer service and buy products according to your actual needs. If the performance can not be brought into full play, it is a worthless selling point. "do not buy and reduce 100%" is the biggest discount for consumption.