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View Full Version : Apple resale value (Specifically Mac Book Air)


USMC88-93
06-09-2019, 11:42
Thinking seriously about buying a MacBook Air, however I am concerned about not buying one with enough memory. How is the resale market for such devices if my sole reason for resale is to repurchase with a larger hard drive. I know in typical Apple fashion determine what you need prior to purchase but their additional cost for storage is ridiculous.

Basically I am thinking of buying the 256 or 512GB model and hoping that is enough memory (I do not use remote / cloud storage) If I end up wanting more storage than that I might as well go with the MacBook Pro. If I were to turn around and sell in the current market what percentage of the original retail are you likely able to recover presuming it is in as new condition after restoring to factory defaults and wiping the drive.

I know its a purely speculative opinion but am curious.

As far as my windows based daily driver that this laptop would supplement, my iTunes library alone is 760GB and If I do not want to put the entire library on a laptop I think I could get away with the 512GB Model.
Scanker19
06-09-2019, 12:24
It’s been my experience they hold their value well. Maybe 75% if it still in the same generation. Maybe more if you find the right buyer. I think most people, as I am, are hesitant to buy a used computer from a person.
Gman
06-09-2019, 12:41
You did hear that iTunes is going away, right?

Selling a used computer is a lot like selling a used car. There's a lot of depreciation once you walk it out of the store.
USMC88-93
06-09-2019, 12:51
You did hear that iTunes is going away, right?.

Yes it's becoming Music, TV, and Podcast, with effectively the same functionality spread across three separate apps on the Apple side. The Windows side will remain as is (iTunes) for some time to come if perhaps renamed. So lets just call it my "music and entertainment" library.

My completely uneducated and ill informed guess was to be able to recover maybe 60% of original cost, I am glad there may be the potential for more but one never knows.
Gman
06-09-2019, 13:01
I had a fully loaded 2013 Macbook Pro Retina with 1TB SSD (the most I've ever spent on a personal computer). I ended up using the Apple Trade-in program this year since I didn't want to have to personally deal with resale. I got back about 21% of what I spent. I used the credit to buy a couple of Apple Watches.
USMC88-93
06-09-2019, 13:05
I had a fully loaded 2013 Macbook Pro Retina with 1TB SSD (the most I've ever spent on a personal computer). I ended up using the Apple Trade-in program this year since I didn't want to have to personally deal with resale. I got back about 21% of what I spent. I used the credit to buy a couple of Apple Watches.

You can't do the trade in program at an Apple store in person right, it is all through the website?
cableguy11
06-09-2019, 13:14
I buy all my mac stuff from here https://eshop.macsales.com/ They do have used macs that you can configure...I am thinking of getting one here pretty soon for the wife.
Gman
06-09-2019, 13:32
You can't do the trade in program at an Apple store in person right, it is all through the website?


Just mail it out, or bring it in.

Trading in your device is as easy as buying a new one. We’ll give you a prepaid trade-in kit or shipping label to send it off. Or you can bring it to an Apple Store. We’ll either give you instant credit toward the purchase of a new product or send your device on to our recyclers.

I did everything through the website since I didn't want to take time out of my day to go to a store.
Madeinhb
06-09-2019, 16:02
Well what are you going to be keeping on the hard drive that you're going to use 256 or 512 gb up?


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro
USMC88-93
06-09-2019, 16:34
Well what are you going to be keeping on the hard drive that you're going to use 256 or 512 gb up?


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro

Anything and everything, that's as best as I can describe it. My primary PC is using 570GB out of 1TB storage. (and that is after the need to relocate my 760GB media library off of it to a second drive) Truth be told I would love to keep my media library on any new laptop as well but have realized the futility of trying to keep "everything" on multiple devices. If I treat the new laptop as an occasional usage portable device than the storage options available will be fine. The small storage available from solid state drives in Laptops frustrates me just due to my usage habits.
eddiememphis
06-09-2019, 17:43
Sounds like you're trying to justify the Pro.

Retina Air 512GB storage/8GB memory/1.6GHZ processor- $1600
Pro Retina 512GB storage/8GB memory/2.3GHZ processor- $1700

Buy the best, cry once.
Scanker19
06-09-2019, 18:23
Personally I’ve found that big HDs make me lazy. If it’s smaller I’m better about keeping important things on my backup HDs.
whitewalrus
06-09-2019, 18:24
Anything and everything, that's as best as I can describe it. My primary PC is using 570GB out of 1TB storage. (and that is after the need to relocate my 760GB media library off of it to a second drive) Truth be told I would love to keep my media library on any new laptop as well but have realized the futility of trying to keep "everything" on multiple devices. If I treat the new laptop as an occasional usage portable device than the storage options available will be fine. The small storage available from solid state drives in Laptops frustrates me just due to my usage habits.

Have you ever looked into a NAS? If you use a lot of storage and have multiple Computers it may be worth looking at.

Then you don?t need to have so much storage in your laptop.
USMC88-93
06-09-2019, 19:28
Sounds like you're trying to justify the Pro.

Actually the opposite, I am trying to justify the Air, and convince myself to not carry around every bit of digital info I have on it. Train myself for new more appropriate use of the device I guess.
def90
06-09-2019, 21:31
A used computer more than a year old is worth nothing., At least personally I would never buy a used computer never mind one that does not have current specs.
Gman
06-10-2019, 07:21
Have you ever looked into a NAS? If you use a lot of storage and have multiple Computers it may be worth looking at.

Then you don?t need to have so much storage in your laptop.

This. I use my Synology NAS to allow VPN into my network if I need something remotely. I have the ability to get to my content (music, video, photos, etc.) on any device (PC, phone, tablet) via 'the cloud'. I also use it for backups in case I forget to save something to the NAS. My content is available to my network connected AV receivers and smart TVs in the house via DLNA.

My last PC purchase was an $850 Dell 2-in-1 with an i7, 16 GB RAM, and 256 GB NVME SSD. Plenty of horsepower when I need it, compact, and portable. Then again, I'm not doing 3D animation or rendering 4K video with huge file sizes.