How to save money on Apple products
They say that once you start to use Mac, you never go back, and I’d have to agree.
I find Apple products feel much more intuitive and less clunky to use, and I wouldn’t choose to go back to a PC if I could avoid it.
But I do find Apple ridiculously expensive, and I’m surprised they haven’t been targeted as an environmentally unfriendly company in their relentless use of planned obsolescence.
Some people will always want the latest product, but those of us who don’t should be able to keep using their gadgets (says the owner of a fridge-freezer approaching its 27th birthday).
But it is still possible to save money on Apple products despite their reluctance to discount very much or very frequently:
1. Buy refurbished – we’re a 3 Mac household and two of our devices were bought from Apple’s refurbished shop. You save 15% usually and we couldn’t tell the difference from a brand-new product. The other came from a tip-off from our web designer friend that a reseller would offer a good deal.
2. Computer getting old or slowing down and decluttering making no difference? If you go into an Apple store they’ll tell you it needs replacing. A friend recently gave us an invaluable tip that’s saved us hundreds, possibly thousands of pounds.
An Apple reseller will install a solid state drive, which will speed up the opening and closing down processes and everything in between. It cost me £139 at Farpoint in Bath for my 6 year old MacBook and took just a few hours, less than I expected. A paid £249 for his iMac, which took a bit longer.
I had less luck when my MacBook charger cable went on the blink. I ignored the warning signs for several weeks until it stopped working completely. Then of course I needed it pronto so decided not to risk buying a cheaper one online that didn’t fit or work, and not being able to access my computer. In future I’d do some research immediately and avoid paying an extortionate £65 :-/
Have you found any ways to save money on Apple products, or do you stick to PC and android? Do let us know if you have any money-saving tips.
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This is an excellent article Judy; I’ll look into the refurb section of Apple – I’m mad on Apple products, having a macbook, iPad, iPhone, watch, etc etc and whilst I agree with most of what you say I feel it important to raise your point about cheaper cables. This is something you shouldn’t promote. Commonly referred to as ‘counterfeit’ not only do some not even work with genuine apple products, but they can sometimes lead to overheating and fires. Generally manufactured for peanuts (hence the cheap resale price) they don’t meet British Standards and have been known to catch fire – see the Electrical Safety First website for more information.