Apple puts first refurbished third-gen iPads on sale
updated 09:34 am EDT, Wed August 8, 2012
Discount limited to $50
Apple has begun selling refurbished third-generation iPads for the first time, a check of the company's online store shows. The discount is a flat $50 for each model, regardless of capacity or 4G support; whereas a 16GB Wi-Fi iPad is knocked down to $449 as a refurb, for instance, a 64GB 4G iPad only drops to $779. Each unit includes a one-year warranty as well as a new battery and shell.
The availability of refurbished units tends to mark a later phase in an Apple product's lifespan, since demand is no longer so intense that fresh units sell as quickly as they can be produced. Apple also tends to let a certain number of refurb units stockpile before putting them online, and often this stockpile can persist after a next-generation device is released. The first-generation iPad continued to be available as a refurb long after the iPad 2 debuted; currently Apple is still selling 32 and 64GB iPad 2s, even though only 16GB iPad 2s are being actively manufactured.
