Resolved Question about SSD wear and Apple Refurbished store

[revmacian]

Lately I've been looking at getting into video editing on a regular basis and am thinking that the 2018 MacBook Pro would best serve that purpose. The 2018 MacBook Pro is listed as $1,799.00 USD but the same spec'd machine is listed on the Apple Refurbished site for $1,529.00 USD. The savings are obviously attractive, but I'm concerned about the internals.

My questions are:
- This machine was released in July 2018?
- How much wear could have been placed on a 6 month old SSD and would that significantly shorten its lifespan?
- Does Apple replace semi-worn SSD's as part of the refurbishment process?

I've learned a bit about the wear leveling features of solid state drives that help prevent cell exhaustion, but I'm curious how that affects SSD longevity.

 

[jerryk]

Lately I've been looking at getting into video editing on a regular basis and am thinking that the 2018 MacBook Pro would best serve that purpose. The 2018 MacBook Pro is listed as $1,799.00 USD but the same spec'd machine is listed on the Apple Refurbished site for $1,529.00 USD. The savings are obviously attractive, but I'm concerned about the internals.

My questions are:
- This machine was released in July 2018?
- How much wear could have been placed on a 6 month old SSD and would that significantly shorten its lifespan?
- Does Apple replace semi-worn SSD's as part of the refurbishment process?

I've learned a bit about the wear leveling features of solid state drives that help prevent cell exhaustion, but I'm curious how that affects SSD longevity.

The impact on the lifespan of the SSD is negligible. I saw a study that shows Samsung SSDs in big arrays start showing failures in the 700 Terabytes written range. For the average heavy laptop user that is decades.

 

[revmacian]

The impact on the lifespan of the SSD is negligible. I saw a study that shows Samsung SSDs in big arrays start showing failures in the 700 Terabytes written range. For the average heavy laptop user that is decades.

Whoa, I had no idea! Thank you for that info.

 

[snaky69]

Lately I've been looking at getting into video editing on a regular basis and am thinking that the 2018 MacBook Pro would best serve that purpose. The 2018 MacBook Pro is listed as $1,799.00 USD but the same spec'd machine is listed on the Apple Refurbished site for $1,529.00 USD. The savings are obviously attractive, but I'm concerned about the internals.

My questions are:
- This machine was released in July 2018?
- How much wear could have been placed on a 6 month old SSD and would that significantly shorten its lifespan?
- Does Apple replace semi-worn SSD's as part of the refurbishment process?

I've learned a bit about the wear leveling features of solid state drives that help prevent cell exhaustion, but I'm curious how that affects SSD longevity.

You're far more likely to have tossed the machine and it's next one or two replacement before wear becomes an issue.

Also, even if the machine was released in July 2018, it has not been in use for this long, refurbished machines are 14-day returns that are inspected, nearly all wear parts are replaced and they are repackaged. It was most likely used a day or two, tops.

 

[Conutz]

Also, even if the machine was released in July 2018, it has not been in use for this long, refurbished machines are 14-day returns that are inspected, nearly all wear parts are replaced and they are repackaged. It was most likely used a day or two, tops.

Agreed, the Mac is likely to be pretty much brand new.

I’d get AppleCare+ as well, which I tend to do irrespective of purchasing new or refurbished.

 

[_Kiki_]

The impact on the lifespan of the SSD is negligible. I saw a study that shows Samsung SSDs in big arrays start showing failures in the 700 Terabytes written range. For the average heavy laptop user that is decades.

700TB it's nothing, I have old Toshiba Data Center SSD 1.9TB with lifetime 3500TB and this is mid-range model

 

[BLUEDOG314]

Refurbished Macs are basically machines that people bought and returned within the 14 day return period, so you are fine. Also, check out the link below which I always show people when they are worried about SSD wear. Keep in mind that the drives used in this test are 3-4 years old and they are consumer drives designed for normal consumer use.

https://techreport.com/review/27909/the-ssd-endurance-experiment-theyre-all-dead

 

[revmacian]

Refurbished Macs are basically machines that people bought and returned within the 14 day return period, so you are fine. Also, check out the link below which I always show people when they are worried about SSD wear. Keep in mind that the drives used in this test are 3-4 years old and they are consumer drives designed for normal consumer use.

https://techreport.com/review/27909/the-ssd-endurance-experiment-theyre-all-dead

That's not bad at all. I'm 55 years old and I'm not sure I'll ever write more than 100TB the rest of my life.

 

[jerryk]

That's not bad at all. I'm 55 years old and I'm not sure I'll ever write more than 100TB the rest of my life.

You can do it if you try! I am older than you, and create and write Terabytes of data a day (to my server farm)

 

[revmacian]

Ok, after all of the research I've done, I've ordered the refurbished 2017 MacBook Pro 13-inch - two Thunderbolt 3 ports, non-Touch Bar. After everything I've learned I'm certain this machine will be a large improvement over my Mac mini Late 2014 base model machine.

Update: I ordered this MBP this morning and it is now showing as "Shipped"! This will be my first Apple laptop and I'm so excited!

 

[jerryk]

Ok, after all of the research I've done, I've ordered the refurbished 13 inch MacBook Pro - two Thunderbolt 3 ports, no Touch Bar. After everything I've learned I'm certain this machine will be a large improvement over my Mac mini Late 2014 base model machine.

Update: I ordered this MBP this morning and it is now showing as "Shipped"! This will be my first Apple laptop and I'm so excited!

Congrats. Enjoy your new machine!