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Did I get a decent deal on this mid 2012 retina?

B

briand05

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jan 23, 2005
286
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I just bought this on eBay for a best offer of $875 free shipping. Looks great condition and well taken of. This was the upgraded model 2.6 ghz, 512 gb ssd, 16 GB ram. Has original box and power cable.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/172467805217

On the other hand I sold my early '14 11in Air base model for $440 plus shipping.
 
I don't think so, I mean it's okay.... If I were selling my '14 model I would have sold one with similar specs but perhaps a better dedicated GPU and I would have sold mine for $900.
 
darkloki said:
I don't think so, I mean it's okay.... If I were selling my '14 model I would have sold one with similar specs but perhaps a better dedicated GPU and I would have sold mine for $900.
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Oh well I guess it's not too bad. As long is the condition is as great as it appears. I don't care that much about the video card obviously anything is a huge upgraded from my base 11" Air. I saw some similar machines going for more around $950 so I thought $875 was fairly good with free shipping.
 
You should be happy with this system just be careful with that hinge, I believe the first editions which is this one at '12 had weaker hinges then the later editions. Now the hinge breaks when you use Covers I found soft covers/shells like the ones from Speck etc. Others can confirm or deny this for you.
 
darkloki said:
You should be happy with this system just be careful with that hinge, I believe the first editions which is this one at '12 had weaker hinges then the later editions. Now the hinge breaks when you use Covers I found soft covers/shells like the ones from Speck etc. Others can confirm or deny this for you.
Click to expand...

I'll examine that closely when I receive it. But yeah this is a huge huge upgrade over what I had in a base model 11" Air with 128 gb ssd and 4gb ram (which I sold for $440 plus shipping) I only paid a final value fee of $10 on that because eBay has a deal running. So to get this for $875 free shipping, seems not too bad.
 
No that's really good, and I really love the Macbook Pro Retina, at first I was skeptical I recall the day I made the choice to buy the Retina Version like yesterday and it's easily among my top 3 notebooks of all time within the laptops I've used with my lifetime, and the list is around 15. lol...
 
Well he got the 512gb and I know that the 2012 models do at least come with the dedicated 650m GT, while the next editions have Intel Iris. I personally love the GT 750m, my favorite model currently. But I think he'll be happy/okay with 875 for a solid machine, just be weary of the hinge as stated.

Apple redesigned the hinge after their first edition or did something to strengthen it. Almost everyone who used a cover on the '12 had a broken hinge some people don't even realize their hinges are broken lol.
 
darkloki said:
Well he got the 512gb and I know that the 2012 models do at least come with the dedicated 650m GT, while the next editions have Intel Iris. I personally love the GT 750m, my favorite model currently. But I think he'll be happy/okay with 875 for a solid machine, just be weary of the hinge as stated.

Apple redesigned the hinge after their first edition or did something to strengthen it. Almost everyone who used a cover on the '12 had a broken hinge some people don't even realize their hinges are broken lol.
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How do you know the hinge is broken?
 
briand05 said:
How do you know the hinge is broken?
Click to expand...
I don't know the hinge is broken but if the macbook had a cover on it which is alot of Macbooks the chances are that by no 4-5 years later it's broken. It's very common on '12 models. However if a Cover was never used then you should be fine. When you get the system just check if their is wobble.

even if there is wobble it doesn't mean it's the end of the world or that it's unusable. You'll be fine it was just a pointer, sorry if I scared you it was not my intention, just trying to 'inform' you.
 
Hinges are easy enough to replace anyway, not worth bothering about.

What *is* worth checking for is screen flicker/GPU issues. The first gen (including mine!) retinas suffered from gpu failure - if the machine turns on okay, this manifests itself as the screen flickering to black every couple of minutes for a fraction of a second.

Machine is still usable with it, but it's bloody annoying - and caused Apple to replace mine.
 
Brian Y said:
Hinges are easy enough to replace anyway, not worth bothering about.

What *is* worth checking for is screen flicker/GPU issues. The first gen (including mine!) retinas suffered from gpu failure - if the machine turns on okay, this manifests itself as the screen flickering to black every couple of minutes for a fraction of a second.

Machine is still usable with it, but it's bloody annoying - and caused Apple to replace mine.
Click to expand...

Will look out for that too thanks. If I find anything I will file something in accordance with the eBay money back guarantee.
 
briand05 said:
I just bought this on eBay for a best offer of $875 free shipping. Looks great condition and well taken of. This was the upgraded model 2.6 ghz, 512 gb ssd, 16 GB ram. Has original box and power cable.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/172467805217

On the other hand I sold my early '14 11in Air base model for $440 plus shipping.
Click to expand...

The price is right. Not a lucky deal but a decent one.
First of all, don't be scared about the issues. (staingate, gpu failure, hinge problems). If you are careful with your device these problems won't occure.
Staingate- Wipe the screen only with water and a microfiber cloth ( as rare as possible if you can)
GPU failure - Are not so common as on 2011 models so keep your GPU cooled down and everything will be fine.
Hinge problems - Never heard of it, this is the first time. I guess if you don't need a case there will never be a problem.

It's a bit frustrating that a "premium" machine must be so fragile and full of problems...But Apple is Apple :)
 
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andreyush said:
The price is right. Not a lucky deal but a decent one.
First of all, don't be scared about the issues. (staingate, gpu failure, hinge problems). If you are careful with your device these problems won't occure.
Staingate- Wipe the screen only with water and a microfiber cloth ( as rare as possible if you can)
GPU failure - Are not so common as on 2011 models so keep your GPU cooled down and everything will be fine.
Hinge problems - Never heard of it, this is the first time. I guess if you don't need a case there will never be a problem.

It's a bit frustrating that a "premium" machine must be so fragile and full of problems...But Apple is Apple :)
Click to expand...

I see that people even have issues with the brand new ones that start at $2400! A few years ago I had a 15" base model (late '13) but I had to sell it and later got that 11" air on a deal. I just really want the bigger retina screen again, as my 11" Air was nice but it can be hard to read small text at times. But yeah I'm not going to be paranoid about all that stuff, I'll check that everything's working good as advertised and I'm fine with that. But yeah you're right it seems about market price maybe a little better if condition is truly very good after doing a lot of research on eBay completed sales. Some go for a little more some go for a little less it seems.
 
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I think you got a good deal. I just picked up a 2015 13 inch retina MBP for $600 on Craigslist. It's the 2.7/8/128 model. Less than half of what Apple still sells it for. Mint condition with a cycle count of 3. Yes 3.
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Pyrhonen said:
I got a 2013 15" Retina Pro for $160 on Craig.
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Must have been from a crackhead that stole it on the way to meet you.
 
Apple Laptops are easily among one of the Best systems to buy used. They're very durable and well built and second hand market for Apple Systems in unmatched when compared to any other brand. And it's not just branding here the actual systems are very durable and I wouldn't hesitate on using/owning a second hand macbook. It's money well spent with high value, you did well.
 
I don't mean to threadjack but I'm about to sell a 2012 15" rMBP myself, which will be my first laptop resale in over a decade. (I didn't sell the PowerBook I had until 2012, as it was ~8 years old and the HD had crashed.)

In the past, I sold on the old PowerList email list. What's the best way to sell these days as a one-off (i.e., for someone like me who isn't active on eBay and the like)?

Thanks very much. (If you'd rather reply by PM, no problem.)
 
jk73 said:
I don't mean to threadjack but I'm about to sell a 2012 15" rMBP myself, which will be my first laptop resale in over a decade. (I didn't sell the PowerBook I had until 2012, as it was ~8 years old and the HD had crashed.)

In the past, I sold on the old PowerList email list. What's the best way to sell these days as a one-off (i.e., for someone like me who isn't active on eBay and the like)?

Thanks very much. (If you'd rather reply by PM, no problem.)
Click to expand...

Well I would use Craigslist or Offer UP. I sold my 2015 15" rMBP on craigslist that was 9 months old & I was able to get quite a bit for it.
 
jk73 said:
I don't mean to threadjack but I'm about to sell a 2012 15" rMBP myself, which will be my first laptop resale in over a decade. (I didn't sell the PowerBook I had until 2012, as it was ~8 years old and the HD had crashed.)

In the past, I sold on the old PowerList email list. What's the best way to sell these days as a one-off (i.e., for someone like me who isn't active on eBay and the like)?

Thanks very much. (If you'd rather reply by PM, no problem.)
Click to expand...

Craiglist can be good if you don't mind sifting through the scammers wanting you to ship it to their cousin on the other side of the world. The upside to Craigslist is, no fees and cash in hand immediately. Always meet INSIDE a Starbucks or well populated public place.

Now that Swappa has a section for MacBooks, it's honestly the easier and safer option. Downside is, they charge $20 or so as a listing fee when your device sells, and of course you pay shipping. It's free to sign up for Swappa and you only pay the fee once your device sells.

www.swappa.com
 
darkloki said:
Apple Laptops are easily among one of the Best systems to buy used. They're very durable and well built and second hand market for Apple Systems in unmatched when compared to any other brand. And it's not just branding here the actual systems are very durable and I wouldn't hesitate on using/owning a second hand macbook. It's money well spent with high value, you did well.
Click to expand...
Whilst 2nd hand values of Apple laptops seem good in USA and some other European countries they are not in many others and often other than to western expats almost impossible to sell on

Someone posted in a recent threads some good reliability stats and Apple faired no better than many other premium OEMs for 2nd and 3rd year ownership there probably the same risk and that's why AppleCare exists :)

My youngest is just selling his top spec 2013 rMBP 15" and will be lucky to get $800 in UK and more likely $650
 
I just got it today and it's in amazing condition, it was packaged literally like new. There's 146 cycles on the battery. That's pretty good I think right? Hinge seems good to me. I don't see any flickering on the screen. Screen is gorgeous. Some pics below. VERY pleased so far.
IMG_0051.jpg
IMG_0050.jpg
IMG_0046.jpg
 
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