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ghanwani

macrumors 601
Original poster
Dec 8, 2008
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With the new MBA announced, I wanted to see what my 2019 MBA would be worth as a trade in. However, Apple's trade in program doesn't show a 2019 model, the newest being Late 2018. Any ideas on whether it would be possible to trade in a 2019?
 
You'll likely get more selling it privately. Also not sure if trading in a 2019 for a 2020 is worth it...
 
You'll likely get more selling it privately. Also not sure if trading in a 2019 for a 2020 is worth it...
Just trying to avoid the hassle of a private sale. I traded in my 2017 MBP for my current MBA and the process was totally painless. Prior to that I had listed it on craigslist, and the offers I was getting were far below the list price and even below the trade in price. So now, I don't even want to bother with that route.

In terms of worth it, I guess I will wait till I see reviews. I want to see what the battery life is and how well the cooling works. I'm happy with the current machine, but having a more silent keyboard and 80% faster graphics would be nicer. I do notice some struggle when using Chrome on graphics-heavy websites.
 
unlike iphone trade in, mac trade in is worst than the lowest of all low ball offer you typically get, same goes for apple watch.
 
Trade-ins are a joke, you can get 3-5x as much selling it
Not in this case. I paid $1299, but a new one can now be had for $999. The trade in value was IIRC $560 for a similarly spec’d 2018. If the 2019 were $600, I think it would be hard to do much better selling it myself.
 
Not in this case. I paid $1299, but a new one can now be had for $999. The trade in value was IIRC $560 for a similarly spec’d 2018. If the 2019 were $600, I think it would be hard to do much better selling it myself.
Fair enough, might be ok deal in your case then yeah! I was looking at a macbook pro 2018 and they were quoting around 500-600$ as well while it's a $2000+ laptop and current models are almost identical.
 
Fair enough, might be ok deal in your case then yeah! I was looking at a macbook pro 2018 and they were quoting around 500-600$ as well while it's a $2000+ laptop and current models are almost identical.
They don’t seem to give any premium at all for RAM and CPU upgrades. They do offer a premium for SSD upgrades. For someone that upgraded the CPU and RAM, it may not be a good deal.
 
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Not in this case. I paid $1299, but a new one can now be had for $999. The trade in value was IIRC $560 for a similarly spec’d 2018. If the 2019 were $600, I think it would be hard to do much better selling it myself.

This still isn't a good deal, IMO. Let's do the math:

-Purchased 2019 at $1299
-estimated trade in value $560
-Baseline 2020 out the door is $439 (applied trade in)
-Total out of pocket $1738

It's worth it to you to spend over $1700 for a slightly updated, identical laptop? If you were willing to spend that much when you were shopping the 2019 air, you could've picked up a higher spec pro.

Other than issues with graphic heavy websites on Chrome... how else do you think the 2020 air will benefit you?
 
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This still isn't a good deal, IMO. Let's do the math:

-Purchased 2019 at $1299
-estimated trade in value $560
-Baseline 2020 out the door is $439 (applied trade in)
-Total out of pocket $1738

It's worth it to you to spend over $1700 for a slightly updated, identical laptop? If you were willing to spend that much when you were shopping the 2019 air, you could've picked up a higher spec pro.

Other than issues with graphic heavy websites on Chrome... how else do you think the 2020 air will benefit you?
A better typing experience.

I tried both MBP models (both config’d to 16 GB / 512 GB) before settling for the Air. I didn’t particularly like either At the time I decided the best strategy is to buy the cheapest machine I could live with and upgrade as soon as something better came available.

MBP is also a little heavier and runs a LOT hotter than the Air, especially when watching videos or on conference calls with Skype/Zoom.

This thread isn’t so much about maximizing trade in value as in the logistics of trading in a 2019 MBA. The website doesn’t seem to have an option for it.

Anyway, in the absence of better info, I will wait for reviews on the 2020 and if I decide to pull the trigger I may have to call Apple if the website doesn’t offer the option of trading in a 2019 by then.
 
Looks like some first hands on are trickling out today. Let us know if you decide to do it!

For what it's worth, I've got a 2018 Air (same as 2019 minus the true tone) and I think it's a fantastic machine.
 
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Looks like some first hands on are trickling out today. Let us know if you decide to do it!

For what it's worth, I've got a 2018 Air (same as 2019 minus the true tone) and I think it's a fantastic machine.

Aside from processor/graphics performance and keyboard, I am most interested in cooling performance. I hope it runs as cool as the 2019 MBA I have.

It's a bummer that we have the virus thing going on otherwise I could have seen it in person too before making a decision.
 
It's a bummer that we have the virus thing going on otherwise I could have seen it in person too before making a decision.

The computer will still be there once this situation (hopefully) gets under control. Stay safe + healthy!
 
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Looks like the cooling in the 2020 MBA is not so great, so I will probably hang on to the 2019 for a bit.
 
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