Best Buy - Apple Geek Squad Certified Refurbished iPad mini $270 with Wi-Fi 64GB Starlight TI-GSRF MK7P3LL/A

ghost02

Apr 10, 2025

154 Posts

Joined May 2017

Apr 10, 2025

154 Posts

Any real reason to opt for the new mini instead of this other than Apple Intelligence and the new chip? I have AI on my Mac and iPad Pro and I never use it, and I don't do heavy gaming.

Thanks

LavenderPickle7682

Apr 10, 2025

2,661 Posts

Joined Sep 2019

Apr 10, 2025

LavenderPickle7682

Apr 10, 2025

2,661 Posts

Quote from ghost02

:

Any real reason to opt for the new mini instead of this other than Apple Intelligence and the new chip? I have AI on my Mac and iPad Pro and I never use it, and I don't do heavy gaming. Thanks

New typically means it'll be supported for longer. New means you can get Applecare instead of buying used which has a warranty of "good luck".

Sadly, there hasn't been much real innovation in the iPad space for the last couple of generations through their entire product line. Unless you're pushing the device hard (and if you are, you're probably better off moving that workflow back to a proper "desktop" OS), the average user will never be able to recognize the performance difference. And even the chassis is almost exactly the same too.

This model was released in 2021 and discontinued in 2024. So you're buying a possibly heavily used garage sale ipad that's four years old. Or it might be the same as new. Roll the dice.

5

ghost02

Apr 10, 2025

154 Posts

Joined May 2017

Apr 10, 2025

ghost02

Apr 10, 2025

154 Posts

Quote from LavenderPickle7682

:

New typically means it'll be supported for longer. New means you can get Applecare instead of buying used which has a warranty of "good luck".

Sadly, there hasn't been much real innovation in the iPad space for the last couple of generations through their entire product line. Unless you're pushing the device hard (and if you are, you're probably better off moving that workflow back to a proper "desktop" OS), the average user will never be able to recognize the performance difference. And even the chassis is almost exactly the same too.

This model was released in 2021 and discontinued in 2024. So you're buying a possibly heavily used garage sale ipad that's four years old. Or it might be the same as new. Roll the dice.

I forgot they don't change the battery in Best Buy refurbished iPads. That alone is enough to get me not to order it. Thank you for reminding me!

5

1

online4fun

Apr 10, 2025

1,347 Posts

Joined Oct 2014

Apr 10, 2025

online4fun

Apr 10, 2025

1,347 Posts

Apple should make "foldable iPad Mini" to make it even minier

1

LavenderPickle7682

Apr 10, 2025

2,661 Posts

Joined Sep 2019

Apr 10, 2025

LavenderPickle7682

Apr 10, 2025

2,661 Posts

Quote from ghost02

:

I forgot they don't change the battery in Best Buy refurbished iPads. That alone is enough to get me not to order it. Thank you for reminding me!

It's a Spit-Shine refurbishment....sometimes more spit than shine.

From my experience, I've only had four companies with exemplary refurbishment: Canon, Apple, Valve, and Bose. And that's buying direct from them, via their own websites.

Everyone else, it feels like buying garage sale junk at times. Woot/Amazon is the worst. They've sent me multiple DOA (or almost inoperable) devices, and it was within their own ecosystem (Alexa, Kindle, etc). I'll never buy a refurb from them ever again.

Best Buy is in the middle....you might get lucky, you might not.

3

superjollyjoker

Apr 10, 2025

45 Posts

Joined Sep 2022

Apr 10, 2025

superjollyjoker

Apr 10, 2025

45 Posts

Quote from ghost02

:

Any real reason to opt for the new mini instead of this other than Apple Intelligence and the new chip? I have AI on my Mac and iPad Pro and I never use it, and I don't do heavy gaming.

Thanks

There's actually less reason to buy the new iPad mini. The chip in it is significantly more power hungry, so you'll probably get less battery life in a bit of time compared to the old iPad. The only benefit is the doubling of storage really. (Source: Reddit, and I have a iPhone 15 pro, this chip sucks for battery life)

1

asuka

Apr 10, 2025

1,555 Posts

Joined Oct 2008

Apr 10, 2025

asuka

Apr 10, 2025

1,555 Posts

Quote from ghost02

:

Any real reason to opt for the new mini instead of this other than Apple Intelligence and the new chip? I have AI on my Mac and iPad Pro and I never use it, and I don't do heavy gaming.

Thanks

Future proofing, just because you don't use AI today doesn't mean they won't make some killer app later.

Also better cellular performance on the 5G version since Apple finally got good 5G on the mini.

1

Luigis3rdcousin

Apr 10, 2025

5,187 Posts

Joined Jul 2017

Apr 10, 2025

Luigis3rdcousin

Apr 10, 2025

5,187 Posts

Quote from ghost02

:

Any real reason to opt for the new mini instead of this other than Apple Intelligence and the new chip? I have AI on my Mac and iPad Pro and I never use it, and I don't do heavy gaming.Thanks

I know someone who got a mini 6 256gb refurbished on Amazon for about 340$ and she said that the battery life is really disappointing. And that was top level quality refurb model. Probably similar to this. IMO I think because batteries to age even with time and even more with use and you never know, did the previous person leave it sitting on the charger over night every day and rapidly aged the battery?

1

lageek

Apr 10, 2025

32 Posts

Joined Mar 2016

Apr 10, 2025

lageek

Apr 10, 2025

32 Posts

New one is on sale once a month for 399 at 128G double the ram and much better processor.

64G refurb older generation should be worth 200 IMO.

1

Luigis3rdcousin

Apr 10, 2025

5,187 Posts

Joined Jul 2017

Apr 10, 2025

Luigis3rdcousin

Apr 10, 2025

5,187 Posts

Quote from superjollyjoker

:

There's actually less reason to buy the new iPad mini. The chip in it is significantly more power hungry, so you'll probably get less battery life in a bit of time compared to the old iPad. The only benefit is the doubling of storage really. (Source: Reddit, and I have a iPhone 15 pro, this chip sucks for battery life)

Because Reddit is the industry standard for telling the truth 😏You can watch several independent tech reviews of the mini 6 and mini 7. They have the same battery. Same screen. Vast majority of battery usage is coming from the LCD screen. Several reviews showed they are identical in battery usage.

AlexK7088

Apr 10, 2025

90 Posts

Joined Nov 2013

Apr 10, 2025

AlexK7088

Apr 10, 2025

90 Posts

I bought one of these a month ago and it came with a huge gash on the side and scratches all over the screen. I returned mine to the store that day and just bought a new mini 7 for 130 dolllars more. This was when the mini 7 was 399 so it wasn't worth keeping that 6 in the condition that it came in

Abused.Return.Policy

Pro

Apr 13, 2025

5,309 Posts

Joined Nov 2017

Apr 13, 2025

Abused.Return.Policy

Pro

Apr 13, 2025

5,309 Posts

Quote from lageek

:

New one is on sale once a month for 399 at 128G double the ram and much better processor. 64G refurb older generation should be worth 200 IMO.

Hoping that comes back. Currently have 10% back in rewards offer on my BB GC (not a new account, seems to be ymmv). $360 net for a new iPad mini would be legitty.

grumpy72

Apr 27, 2025

4 Posts

Joined May 2016

Apr 27, 2025

grumpy72

Apr 27, 2025

4 Posts

Quote from ghost02

:

Any real reason to opt for the new mini instead of this other than Apple Intelligence and the new chip? I have AI on my Mac and iPad Pro and I never use it, and I don't do heavy gaming.Thanks

Depending on how much it was used, the battery could be okay or it could be terrible. Also, Apple has been updating the OS about 6-7 times on most of their models. That means that the refurbished one is already halfway through its support life. I bought a used one once and liked it for a couple years until it wouldn't update and I couldn't get most new apps.

Best Buy - Apple Geek Squad Certified Refurbished iPad mini $270 with Wi-Fi 64GB Starlight TI-GSRF MK7P3LL/A - $269.99

$270

$500

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