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When you buy a refurbished Mac, check four things before your withdrawal period ends. The Mac must not be tied to someone else's Apple account, must not have a firmware password, must not still be managed by a company, and its battery must be in the state you were promised. Before paying, also check whether the model still receives the current macOS version, because almost every Intel Mac has been left behind. Prices by shop are on the laptops page.

The checklist

  1. Before paying, identify whether the Mac has an Apple chip or an Intel processor and look the model up in the macOS compatibility list.
  2. Ask for the serial number and look it up in Apple's Check Coverage tool.
  3. Ask the seller to confirm they removed their Apple account and any firmware password.
  4. Read the shop's whole warranty.
  5. When it arrives, photograph the package and the device.
  6. Confirm that setup does not ask for someone else's Apple account.
  7. Open System Settings > General > Management and confirm that no organisation appears.
  8. Check the battery cycle count in System Information.
  9. Check the battery condition in System Settings > Battery.
  10. On a Mac with an Apple chip, use Repair Assistant if it was repaired or you are not sure.
  11. Keep the box, packaging, receipt and warranty until the withdrawal period ends.

What we found on Apple Chile's shop

The addresses apple.com/cl/shop/refurbished and apple.com/cl/shop/refurbished/iphone returned 404, while Apple Chile's store loaded normally, when we checked them on 1 October 2026. It is an absence we observed and not a statement from Apple.

We did not find an Apple Chile refurbished section at those URLs. An independent shop may call its own inspection "certified"; check who certified the device. Among the shops we reviewed, SmartDeal sells notebooks and MacBooks with a stated 1-year warranty for new, open box and factory-refurbished products, and BackOnline sells only Apple devices with 12 months on Grade A and Open Box and 6 months on Grade B. BackOnline's site says it certifies its devices with MacOnline, which we did not verify. We did not confirm which Mac models each shop has in stock.

Activation Lock

With Activation Lock, the Mac asks for the device passcode or the Apple account password before Find My can be turned off, the Mac erased or reactivated. Apple warns that the lock stays active even if the content is erased remotely. Macs with an Apple chip or the T2 security chip have it, with macOS Catalina 10.15 or later.

If, when erasing or setting up the Mac, it asks for an account that is not yours, the device is still tied to the previous owner. Apple only offers to open a support request to turn the lock off for someone who has proof of purchase. We did not find an Apple page dedicated to buying a used Mac, like the one it has for iPhone.

Parts locked to another account

Apple warns that a used part, such as a battery, an integrated display, a front camera or a Touch ID sensor, may be protected by Activation Lock and linked to another person's Apple account. Until it is unlocked, it has no coverage under Apple's limited warranty or AppleCare, and Apple says it cannot help remove that lock. If your Mac has an Apple chip and was repaired or you are not sure, Apple says to use Repair Assistant to check for an unfinished repair. We did not confirm that it applies to every Mac.

Firmware password on Intel Macs

On an Intel Mac with a firmware password, someone who does not know it cannot start from macOS Recovery or from a disk other than the startup disk. If the seller does not remember it, Apple says to schedule an in-person service appointment at an Apple Store or an authorised service provider, with the Mac and the original receipt or invoice as proof of purchase. A second-hand buyer without that document can be left with no way out. Ask the seller to remove it before shipping. That password does not exist on Macs with an Apple chip.

Macs managed by a company

With the Mac already set up, go to System Settings > General > Management. If at the top it says "This Mac is supervised and managed by" followed by an organisation's name, the device is still enrolled with it.

Only that organisation can release it. We did not find an Apple page describing what the buyer sees when first setting up a Mac that is still enrolled, so we do not describe that screen.

The battery

To see the cycles, hold the Option key, click the Apple menu and choose System Information. In the Hardware section select Power. The cycle count appears under Battery Information.

In Apple's table, MacBook Pro models from mid-2009 and MacBook Air models from late 2010 have a maximum of 1,000 cycles. Older models have maximums of 500 or 300. Apple says the battery is designed to keep up to 80% of its original capacity when it reaches that maximum. Apple does not define an acceptable cycle count for buying; what it publishes is the design maximum.

The condition is in System Settings > Battery and has two messages. "Normal" means it works normally. "Service Recommended" means it holds less charge than when it was new or does not work normally. Apple warns that third-party apps that report battery condition may not be accurate.

Apple Chile says it offers battery replacement service for all MacBook, MacBook Air and MacBook Pro notebooks with built-in batteries. It does not publish the price on the page we read.

Which macOS version it receives

macOS 27 (Golden Gate) came out on 14 September 2026 and only works on Macs with an Apple chip. According to Apple's list, it covers the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro with an Apple chip from 2020 onward, iMac from 2021 onward, Mac mini from 2020 onward, Mac Studio from 2022 onward, the 2023 Mac Pro and the MacBook Neo.

macOS Tahoe 26 is the last version with full Intel support, according to an Apple document for system administrators. The Tahoe 26 compatibility page includes four Intel models.

  • MacBook Pro 16-inch, 2019
  • MacBook Pro 13-inch, 2020, with four Thunderbolt 3 ports
  • iMac Retina 5K 27-inch, 2020
  • Mac Pro, 2019

No Intel MacBook Air or Mac mini appears on that list. The same document says Apple will keep providing security updates for Intel Macs for three years, without saying from what date they are counted or which macOS version receives them.

We did not find end-of-support dates on the Apple pages we read. What can be observed in its security releases list is that Tahoe 26.7.1 and Sequoia 15.8.1 came out on 28 September 2026, and that the last Sonoma release is 14.8.9, from 6 August 2026.

Apple coverage by serial number

Apple's Check Coverage tool accepts a serial number and shows the device's coverage. The result shows what coverage Apple has on record for that serial number; confirm the shop warranty separately. It does not say whether the Mac was repaired with non-genuine parts.

Your rights in Chile

Ley 19.496 sets six months from receipt to exercise the options in articles 19 and 20 when they apply (article 21). Article 14 may exclude those options for goods disclosed before purchase as used or refaccionado (repaired), without removing a warranty offered by the shop. The law does not use the word "reacondicionado" (refurbished), so whether that exception reaches your Mac depends on how the shop disclosed and sold it. Ask for the warranty in writing. Every Reacondi offer shows the warranty the shop states.

For an online purchase, article 3 bis letter b) may give you 10 days from receipt to withdraw without giving a reason, subject to exceptions. The period may extend to 90 days if the shop did not send you the written confirmation of the contract (article 12 A). You must return the original packaging elements in good condition, and before payment the shop must warn you, using the words "derecho a retracto", if it excludes this right. Decreto 52 gives as an example of goods that cannot be returned a computer "utilizado más allá de su inspección" (used beyond its inspection), so check the Mac to confirm it works and do not use it as your own machine until you decide.

If the shop does not answer, complain to SERNAC online, at an office or on 800 700 100. The full route is in your rights when buying refurbished. The screen, port and sound tests are in what to check when it arrives.

Sources

The Apple pages were read on 1 October 2026. Shop warranties are what each site stated on 30 September 2026 and can change. Nothing here replaces advice from a lawyer.