Considering the 16", soliciting configuration thoughts...

[icanhazmac]

Hi all, as stated I am considering dumping my 2017 15" mbp in favor of the new 16" and wanted to solicit a few opinions from the community:

1) Trade in / Sale: already have 2 keyboard replacements on my 2017, which is the i7 2.9, 16g, 512 ssd, so my question is do I try to sell this dumpster fire or take advantage of the Apple trade in program. Unfortunately you cannot get a trade-in estimate without going to a store, they just say up to ~$2500. I really don't want to deal with eBay/craigslist private sale bs, especially on a model as maligned as the 2016-2019 butterflies but if the Apple trade offer is insulting I won't have a choice. Has anyone recently traded their 2017 with Apple that can share the value?

2) Specs / Future proofing: I get it, future proofing is a sketchy science but with a 5yr window in mind does anyone feel the following are worth the cost of a BTO. I use the laptop for basic office work, email, web, light gaming, probably will install windows on a small partition but no heavy FPS gaming, etc.

• dGPU upgrade to 8gb, for $100 this seems to be an unusual good deal from apple and it seems if you want any kind of frame rates on >1080 then gpu ram is needed
• 32g upgrade for $400, don't feel I need this today but again with the 5yr window is this a smart move for rather basic use or overkill?

Thanks in advance!

 

[pavvel]

I got the top end - didn't upgrade graphics but upgraded to 32gb. I didn't feel the need for upgraded gpu even though the price. However the 32 GB I did even considering the cost.

 

[Lobwedgephil]

Unfortunately you cannot get a trade-in estimate without going to a store, they just say up to ~$2500.

That is actually the opposite of the truth. You can't trade in an Apple laptop at the store. Now you are much more likely to get more selling elsewhere, but you can enter your information here and see what Apple will give you as a trade in.

https://www.apple.com/shop/trade-in

 

[csjcsj]

I get estimates for my trade in from both the web site and the Apple store. Click on buy (you don’t have to go through with it) then the first thing that comes up is a dialog about the trade in.

I’m probably going to get the 2 upgrades you mentioned. I've never had that much memory, but I keep a lot of resource intensive apps open at the same time, and I’m tired of waiting for Illustrator to grind through what I want to do. Yeah, $400 is a lot, but not spread out over all the years you expect to keep it.

 

[junkw]

32GB is overkill for your usage

 

[icanhazmac]

That is actually the opposite of the truth. You can't trade in an Apple laptop at the store. Now you are much more likely to get more selling elsewhere, but you can enter your information here and see what Apple will give you as a trade in.

https://www.apple.com/shop/trade-in

UG! I don't know if this wasn't working when I last checked or if I just missed it but after going through the whole process Apple was only offering $1090, WOW! I knew I wasn't going to get anywhere near private sale price but that is just insane.

 

[SMC23]

yes, 32GB may be overkill today, but if you plan to keep it as long as you say then the upgrade is worth it in my opinion. I was going through the same dillema and the main reason i was holding back from the 32GB option was the additional wait time. Wish Apple had priced the base i9 spec with 32Gb.

 

[Sirmausalot]

You can easily get a lower speced machine and it will still be great. Unless you do a lot of fps or graphics work, you dont need 32 gb of ram or the 8gb graphics card or the higher end processor. As you noticed with the 15”, you cant future proof worth a damn or guarantee anything. But since youve had two replaced, you could call customer service and tell them you want to upgrade to a 16” but need help with a trade in value. I suspect you could get lucky and they’ll help you out.

Hi all, as stated I am considering dumping my 2017 15" mbp in favor of the new 16" and wanted to solicit a few opinions from the community:

1) Trade in / Sale: already have 2 keyboard replacements on my 2017, which is the i7 2.9, 16g, 512 ssd, so my question is do I try to sell this dumpster fire or take advantage of the Apple trade in program. Unfortunately you cannot get a trade-in estimate without going to a store, they just say up to ~$2500. I really don't want to deal with eBay/craigslist private sale bs, especially on a model as maligned as the 2016-2019 butterflies but if the Apple trade offer is insulting I won't have a choice. Has anyone recently traded their 2017 with Apple that can share the value?

2) Specs / Future proofing: I get it, future proofing is a sketchy science but with a 5yr window in mind does anyone feel the following are worth the cost of a BTO. I use the laptop for basic office work, email, web, light gaming, probably will install windows on a small partition but no heavy FPS gaming, etc.

• dGPU upgrade to 8gb, for $100 this seems to be an unusual good deal from apple and it seems if you want any kind of frame rates on >1080 then gpu ram is needed
• 32g upgrade for $400, don't feel I need this today but again with the 5yr window is this a smart move for rather basic use or overkill?

Thanks in advance!

 

[jerryk]

UG! I don't know if this wasn't working when I last checked or if I just missed it but after going through the whole process Apple was only offering $1090, WOW! I knew I wasn't going to get anywhere near private sale price but that is just insane.

They want to be able to make profit when they resell it. Their value is fair for that and matches most of the other Mac resellers. And with the stink on the 2016-2019 butterfly systems they have dropped several hundred in used value since the 16" shipped. You can do better selling it privately, but it depends on what your time and the hassle of reselling is worth.

 

[icanhazmac]

But since youve had two replaced, you could call customer service and tell them you want to upgrade to a 16” but need help with a trade in value. I suspect you could get lucky and they’ll help you out.

Is this real thing? Does support sometimes help out in this regard?

 

[junkw]

They want to be able to make profit when they resell it.

Yes and it seems to be a 3rd-party handling the process, not Apple
$1090 is not bad considering prices on eBay where the seller pays 10-15% fee

 

[dlondon]

Wish Apple had priced the base i9 spec with 32Gb.

I wish Apple had a base model with 32GB too. This would have made it easier for me to order through work (it's a struggle to get CTO builds through our IT department as they go via a third party reseller and not directly with Apple). I suspect Apple was keen to keep the prices of the current base models, but they could have introduced a third base model based.

Looking at the stock in stores near me, it seems they have an unofficial third base model available immediately – 2.4 i9, 32GB RAM, 5500m 8GB and 2TB SSD. All other CTO builds are two weeks.

 

[interbear]

Looking at the stock in stores near me, it seems they have an unofficial third base model available immediately – 2.4 i9, 32GB RAM, 5500m 8GB and 2TB SSD. All other CTO builds are two weeks.

Yes I noticed that too, exactly the same model also available immediately in my local Apple Store in the UK. Seems it a standard higher spec model for those who visit a store and want something with a bit more of everything. I only noticed by accident when playing with various BTO configurations. They should just list it on the website as standard model 3 in my opinion.

Too pricey and over specced for my needs, I ended up getting the standard i9 model but added 32GB RAM. Need to wait a couple of weeks but that’s Ok.

 

[Ma2k5]

Yes I noticed that too, exactly the same model also available immediately in my local Apple Store in the UK. Seems it a standard higher spec model for those who visit a store and want something with a bit more of everything. I only noticed by accident when playing with various BTO configurations. They should just list it on the website as standard model 3 in my opinion.

Too pricey and over specced for my needs, I ended up getting the standard i9 model but added 32GB RAM. Need to wait a couple of weeks but that’s Ok.

One of the reasons buying a stock config is nice is, should your MacBook go wrong and you need a replacement, you get it straight away - no need to wait for 2 weeks etc.

 

[dlondon]

Yes I noticed that too, exactly the same model also available immediately in my local Apple Store in the UK. Seems it a standard higher spec model for those who visit a store and want something with a bit more of everything. I only noticed by accident when playing with various BTO configurations. They should just list it on the website as standard model 3 in my opinion.

Too pricey and over specced for my needs, I ended up getting the standard i9 model but added 32GB RAM. Need to wait a couple of weeks but that’s Ok.

Reading other threads, it seems this is a configuration for Apple stores. Some retailers are already discounting the base 16" models and it would have been good to get a discount on this 'premium' configuration. The i9 base model is tempting at £2539 (plus potential cashback) but I definitely want 32GB and would like the 8GB graphics so will probably opt for the premium base model (the only thing I wouldn't have ordered on this model is the upgraded processor anyway). EDIT - actually, just realised it's £180 to upgrade the processor so perhaps I'll wait!

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One of the reasons buying a stock config is nice is, should your MacBook go wrong and you need a replacement, you get it straight away - no need to wait for 2 weeks etc.

Agree. Although occasionally Apple will give you an upgraded model anyway.

 

[PROFESS0R]

Check prices on eBay, Apple's price may not be that bad. This said, I sold one of my computers on eBay, and the buyer got cold feet and tried to cancel after he received the computer. It was quite a hassle to deal with the issue, but he ended up having to keep the computer.

I will NEVER sell another computer on eBay, but I would check their sold prices to see what your computer is selling for. Remember to subtract out the seller fees, which can be substantial.

Joe

UG! I don't know if this wasn't working when I last checked or if I just missed it but after going through the whole process Apple was only offering $1090, WOW! I knew I wasn't going to get anywhere near private sale price but that is just insane.

 

[miroki]

I wish Apple had a base model with 32GB too. This would have made it easier for me to order through work (it's a struggle to get CTO builds through our IT department as they go via a third party reseller and not directly with Apple). I suspect Apple was keen to keep the prices of the current base models, but they could have introduced a third base model based.

Looking at the stock in stores near me, it seems they have an unofficial third base model available immediately – 2.4 i9, 32GB RAM, 5500m 8GB and 2TB SSD. All other CTO builds are two weeks.

As I'm configuring my MBP 16 on Apple China, I notice the same thing: 2.4 i9, 32GB RAM, 5500m 8GB and 2TB SSD renders next day delivery while other configurations require 3 to 6 business days.

 

[-narcan-]

I wish Apple had a base model with 32GB too.

Maybe their sales numbers and forecasts suggest it's just not a very popular option ?

 

[dlondon]

Maybe their sales numbers and forecasts suggest it's just not a very popular option ?

There is a configuration with 32GB which is available immediately at Apple stores - this is effectively an official third 'base' model. I guess Apple has determined that this is the likely configuration that people that do a build to order model will choose (or perhaps they know it's a bit more than people will choose but will go for anyway because it's available immediately).