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When buying a refurbished Mac, check four things before your withdrawal period closes. The Mac must not be tied to another person's Apple account, must not have a firmware password, must not still be managed by a company, and its battery must be in the condition you were promised. Before paying, also check whether the model still gets the current macOS, because almost all Intel-processor Macs have already been left behind. Prices by shop are on laptops.

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 that 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 machine.
  6. Confirm that setup does not ask for another person'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, invoice and warranty until the withdrawal period closes.

What we found on Apple Colombia's store

The address apple.com/co/shop/refurbished returned 404 when we checked it on 1 October 2026. That is an absence we observed, not a statement from Apple. We found no Apple Colombia refurbished section at that address. An independent shop can call its own review "certified"; check who certified the device. Among the shops we reviewed, QuieroMac specialises in Apple devices and its page says six months of warranty, and no warranty on Outlet devices. Refurbi states 14 months of hardware repair cover through a limited warranty and sells laptops. We did not confirm which Mac models each shop has in stock.

Activation Lock

With Activation Lock, the Mac asks for the device code or the Apple account password before turning off Find My, erasing the Mac or reactivating it. Apple warns that the lock stays active even if the content is erased remotely. Macs with an Apple chip or an Apple 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 off the lock for someone who has proof of purchase. We found no 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, can be protected by Activation Lock and linked to another person's Apple account. Until it is unlocked, it has no coverage from 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 this applies to every Mac.

Firmware password on Intel Macs

On an Intel-processor Mac that has a firmware password, anyone 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 book an in-person service appointment at an Apple Store or with an authorised service provider, bringing 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 the top of the window says "Esta Mac está supervisada y administrada por" (this Mac is supervised and managed by) followed by the name of an organisation, the machine is still enrolled with it.

Only that organisation can release it. We found no 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 1000 cycles. Older models have maximums of 500 or 300. Apple says the battery is designed to keep up to 80% of its original capacity at that maximum. Apple does not define an acceptable cycle count for buying; what it publishes is the design maximum.

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

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

Which macOS it gets

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

macOS Tahoe 26 is the last version with full Intel support, according to an Apple document for system administrators. Tahoe 26's 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 to Intel Macs for three years, without saying from what date they are counted or which macOS version receives them.

We found no end-of-support dates on the Apple pages we read. What can be observed on its security releases list is that Tahoe 26.7.1 and Sequoia 15.8.1 came out on 28 September 2026, and that the latest Sonoma 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 tells you what coverage Apple has recorded for that serial number; confirm the shop's warranty separately. It does not say whether the Mac was repaired with non-original parts.

Your rights in Colombia

Ley 1480 de 2011 sets no fixed warranty term for electronics. Article 8 says the term is the one the producer or seller announces, and one year for new products if none is stated. A used product whose legal warranty has expired can be sold without warranty only if you accept that in writing, and otherwise it is understood to carry three months. The law does not use the word "reacondicionado", so whether that rule reaches your Mac depends on how the shop disclosed and sold it. Ask for the warranty in writing. Each offer in Reacondi shows the warranty the shop states.

On a distance purchase, when no legal exception applies, article 47 gives five business days from delivery to withdraw. You send the product back by the same means and in the same condition you received it and pay the return transport, and in e-commerce the money must be refunded within a maximum of fifteen calendar days. The law leaves out, among others, goods for personal use and goods that by their nature cannot be returned, and it does not say whether a refurbished Mac falls there. 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, make the claim in writing and then go to the Superintendencia de Industria y Comercio (SIC), which has an online form and the free line 01 8000 910165. The full route is in your rights when buying refurbished, and the photo routine when you open the package is in what to check when your refurbished phone arrives.

Sources

The Apple pages were read on 1 October 2026 and may change. Shop policies are what each site stated that day. None of this replaces advice from a lawyer.