Ever since the first iPad came out, I have been selling my old model a few weeks before the new one is announced, getting nearly why I paid, and I buy the new model. Does this work with MacBooks as well? I know they do keep their value pretty well but a year later how much would it depreciate?
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Does anyone here sell their MacBook every year to buy the new model?
- Thread starter Firesign3394
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With my iDevices, I tend to do it every 2 years.
I'm not sure what I'd do with my macbook though. I've only had my current one 18 months (first mac), but I will be buying a 13MBP when they're refreshed... I might also do it every 2 years for those, as it's not worked out particularly expensive for the iDevices once the first one is bought.
I'm not sure what I'd do with my macbook though. I've only had my current one 18 months (first mac), but I will be buying a 13MBP when they're refreshed... I might also do it every 2 years for those, as it's not worked out particularly expensive for the iDevices once the first one is bought.
I have never sold any Apple equipment that I owned. I either use it until it dies, or give it away to someone in the family.
I usually sell my 1 year old macbook pro 13 inch every time a new one comes out for around $950-1000 bucks. Then buy a brand spanking new one for $950-1100 depending if they have it open boxed at Microcenter in Boston. I lose $50-150 bucks every time but it's worth it as I get something shiny and new to play with and have a way better machine. I am pretty young and have no expenses so this is possible. I understand how it wouldn't work for most people.
I do this every year when the new macbook pro's come out. I don't, however, sell early. I wait until the new ones are announced and a month or so afterwards then ebay what I have. Most people look to buy used after announcements and releases when they think they will be available so it's easier to sell than right before an announcement.
Even if I could afford to replace my machines with every model refresh, I don't think I would. Having to unlink and relink my data, backups, app libraries, re-install and reconfigure all my software, buy and install new memory and TBs of drives every year would become more of a chore than a Christmas-morning thrill.
Actually the arcitecture rarely changes, so I usually grab my ssd, memory out of the old laptop. Put the original stuff into the old laptop and just put it in the new laptop and whaola. Don' t even need to reconfigure or install anything.
Now if there is a major change, yeah, reinstallation is necessary.
I still have my 2008 Macbook and while it's working fine, I will probably grab a new Macbook Pro this year.
I have a neighbor who buys a "new" used Windows box every two years for about $120. It sounds like a good deal but I bet he spends more time than I do "fixing things."
I might be able to convince myself to start cycling my Apple gear sooner if I can ever get in the habit of selling off my old stuff before it is completely worthless. I've still got my Palm Pilots so I know I hold onto my used stuff far too long for my own good.
I have a neighbor who buys a "new" used Windows box every two years for about $120. It sounds like a good deal but I bet he spends more time than I do "fixing things."
I might be able to convince myself to start cycling my Apple gear sooner if I can ever get in the habit of selling off my old stuff before it is completely worthless. I've still got my Palm Pilots so I know I hold onto my used stuff far too long for my own good.
Again, it sounds as if your MBP is fairly stand-alone. That makes the swap-in-and-out process you speak of quite feasible.
Yep
I usually do it around every 10-11 months. That way, old system still has a little bit of warranty available, and I always have equipment that is in warranty. I usually just do a current Time Machine backup before I sell and just do a restore.
The process usually ends up costing me around $50-$100 each year, but always have latest model and warranty coverage. (I do the same thing with my iMac and wife's Air every year too).
I usually do it around every 10-11 months. That way, old system still has a little bit of warranty available, and I always have equipment that is in warranty. I usually just do a current Time Machine backup before I sell and just do a restore.
The process usually ends up costing me around $50-$100 each year, but always have latest model and warranty coverage. (I do the same thing with my iMac and wife's Air every year too).
No, whats the point?
I'm still on my 2008 MacBook Pro. Apple has just replaced the motherboard for free due to the Nvidia graphics card frying it self, also just finally got round to replacing the DVD drive (been dead for about 12 months)....now thinking about getting a 500 gig+ SDD drive to help boost load times in Lightroom.
Mine is still my main work machine, mainly Word/Powerpoint, but also Photoshop/Lightroom and some light Lightwave3D stuff (The really demanding CPU stuff I leave for my MacPro, but that hasn't been switched on once for the last 2 months....
)
So I suppose the real questions is what do you do with your laptop, and do you really need to update your laptop every 12months??
I'm still on my 2008 MacBook Pro. Apple has just replaced the motherboard for free due to the Nvidia graphics card frying it self, also just finally got round to replacing the DVD drive (been dead for about 12 months)....now thinking about getting a 500 gig+ SDD drive to help boost load times in Lightroom.
Mine is still my main work machine, mainly Word/Powerpoint, but also Photoshop/Lightroom and some light Lightwave3D stuff (The really demanding CPU stuff I leave for my MacPro, but that hasn't been switched on once for the last 2 months....
)So I suppose the real questions is what do you do with your laptop, and do you really need to update your laptop every 12months??
For that price I can see it being worth the hassle of migrating data once a year. Especially since it means you didn't have to buy AppleCare.
I did this for about four years, I was consistently able to ebay my previous gen MacBook for about 75% of my original cost so it made the upgrade seem cheep. I was also customizing my order through the Apple website, I don't know if that affected my sales or not.
I took a year off of upgrades though, no new MacBook, no iPhone 4S, no new iPad. It started feeling wasteful, but it is a great way to offset the upgrade cost. If you've got the money and want the upgrade, your plan (or aloshka's plan, which is how I did it) should work out.
I took a year off of upgrades though, no new MacBook, no iPhone 4S, no new iPad. It started feeling wasteful, but it is a great way to offset the upgrade cost. If you've got the money and want the upgrade, your plan (or aloshka's plan, which is how I did it) should work out.
I generally do this with all of my electronics. It probably is silly and completely unnecessary, but this is one of my hobbies and I don't spend a ton on many other things, so I allow myself to indulge a bit.
I've done it in the past mostly because being a student I was able to get the free iPod touch and sell it. Now that they don't do that promotion, i'm not sure what I'll do this time. I've sold 2 13" mbp and have come out close within $50 both times.
I'll put it for sale and if I sell it for what I want, great. If it doesn't sell then I'm not out anything.
I'll put it for sale and if I sell it for what I want, great. If it doesn't sell then I'm not out anything.
