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Macbook Retina Depreciation Expectations

T

tom93084

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jul 18, 2002
2
0
Hi,

I'm considering purchasing a macbook pro retina base model with 16gb ram upgrade. To be honest I don't need the power, but I love the retina display. Most things i could do on a core duo processor. I was wondering what how people think these will depreciate the next 3 years. I'm torn between this and just a simple 13 inch i5. Any advice/help would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Tom
 
Everything will go down but MacBooks hold value better then anything else. Buy what you need now and use it.
 
Value will definitely depreciate just like any other laptop but, as stated above, MacBooks hold their value far better than any other brand. Do a quick search of eBay and you'll find 13" MBP (retail $1200) selling for $800-900 after 2years. Obviously the more expensive the laptop the more it's value will depreciate. So the rMBP's value will likely depreciate (% wise) more than a 13" MBP.

The question is whether Apple will reduce the price in the future after possibly getting rid of their legacy lineup. This will definitely affect it's resale value. If price is really a concern for you, I would holdout another month and get the 13" retina which will supposedly be released in October. It should be a more affordable price at around $1599.
 
mohsy90 said:
Value will definitely depreciate just like any other laptop but, as stated above, MacBooks hold their value far better than any other brand. Do a quick search of eBay and you'll find 13" MBP (retail $1200) selling for $800-900 after 2years. Obviously the more expensive the laptop the more it's value will depreciate. So the rMBP's value will likely depreciate (% wise) more than a 13" MBP.

The question is whether Apple will reduce the price in the future after possibly getting rid of their legacy lineup. This will definitely affect it's resale value. If price is really a concern for you, I would holdout another month and get the 13" retina which will supposedly be released in October. It should be a more affordable price at around $1599.
Click to expand...
Hmmmm... I see. True that though.
 
My guess is that the rMBP will depreciate more than subsequent years since it's a first revision. Of course that's just a guess.
 
This is easy. Just search Ebay for the item you want to sell, then check the completed auctions. This will tell you what they are going for. People really want these items, and the market prices reflect this. You get TOP dollar. As far as the new Retina versions go, the used listings may be scarce persently as they are so new, but I would surmise that these re-sell like the others.


note: The completed listings on Ebay are a couple of weeks old only. Ebay use to have all the completed auctions listed but changed it years ago (for obvious reasons, and perhaps not so obvious reasons). There are paid services that include the extended completed listings (a year or two back), that many people use to gauge markets.
I've use these paid services myself, and they're extremely useful under certain circumstances.
 
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I agree that it'll probably depreciate a bit more than other laptops because it is the first of it's kind. For the standard MBP lineup, the prices always stay about the same, they just upgrade specs pretty much. With the rMBP, I think the retina will become the standard for MacBooks in about 2 years. So the current $2,200 model will probably be $1,800 in two years. Overall, it's still not that bad but it is the price to pay for getting the FIRST of almost anything. Look at the first iPhone or Macbook Air for example. But I still think that it's not something you should worry about about in the long run. If you keep it for 4 years, I doubt you'll be kicking yourself for spending a few extra hundred dollars on it, especially if you really want the retina display. If you don't get it, you'll be kicking yourself once you realize what you're missing.
 
This is the first version and like apple history 2nd is always better and sometimes cheaper. If you Want sure money invest in apple stock
 
I don't think the rMBP will get a lot cheaper next year, because it is not really expensive now. Compare it with a cMBP. Or try to find similiar speced windows notbooks which are under 2.5-3kg. You won't find one that is that powerful and light and the closest ones are also very expensive. And they do not even have a retina screen...

So why should apple go down with the price?
Alright, maybe they have competition in a year, but i do not think so...
 
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