Worth selling 16" for $1,000+ loss?

[Lucas Curious]

I'm for sure buying the smallest M Mac Apple will release for portability but I also sometimes like the 16 inch screen.

Is it even worth selling the 16 inch at a $1000 loss? I see them selling for slightly under $1500 and who knows how much that will drop when the new ones come out. Is everyone really ok with losing $1k after 1-1.5 years of use? Its not better to just keep this thing or pass it on to family? I know Apple will do a trade-in for $1250 on the 16 inch base currently but don't know if that will drop with the release of the new one.

 

[Royksöpp]

I would try to get as much as you can for it within the next month or so. As the last intel Mac it already has a negative stigma. What are the specs and do you have any extras to sweeten the deal?

 

[Phil77354]

It sounds like you won't have a problem affording the new model so I would suggest that you make your decision based upon what you can do with your current 16" and how much value that has to you. For example, if you have family members who will really benefit from receiving it from you, then I think that is a compelling reason to keep it rather than sell or trade in.

 

[Biscotti]

I'm in the same boat. I picked up a M1 MBA 8/512 and it does everything I need for MacOS, and battery life is CRAZY good. My issue is that the 16" bootcamp with 5300 just is a low-mid card, and the driver's are trash. I would rather have my M1 for daily and work, and a dedicated laptop (like a ROG G15) for gaming with a RTX 3070.

Paid $2,300+ in 2020 and can sell for $1,500 now. That's crazy depreciation. I can't believe how great these computers are and also much these have depreciated.

 

[Lucas Curious]

I told myself i'll keep the 16 inch for bootcamp software but I recently bought two Windows PCs with RTX 3080 in them and don't even use them yet. In reality, the PC desktops are much smoother to use. I also want to buy the upcoming 12 inch M2 and the 32 inch iMac. I'm just wondering if the 16 inch is good to keep when I want to work on a bigger portable screen.

 

[0128672]

Although it's still a big drop from what you paid, you may want to look at other trade-in options to get a higher value (such as CashForYourMac.com and MacMeAnOffer.com) than what Apple offers. For example, the base config 16" 16/512 in flawless condition nets $1430 at CFYM. Both companies have good reputations among MR members.

 

[Crash0veride]

I would try to get as much as you can for it within the next month or so. As the last intel Mac it already has a negative stigma. What are the specs and do you have any extras to sweeten the deal?

IMO, the intel (and bootcamp) or die crowd will keep the value up or even raise the value in comparison to other used Macs. Much like MBPs sans Touch Bar and sans butterfly keyboard were holding value better than others. Not part of that crowd but I don't think the "stigma" will have that much weight. Then again if a licensable Windows ARM virtual machine finally release then maybe the die hards won't be so vocal.

 

[russell_314]

A better question would be why are you selling it after one and a half years of use? Is it not doing what you want it to do?

I mean if you’re just one of these people that always buys the new model when it comes out then I’m guessing you have enough money not to worry about the loss. If it’s because you feel the new model will have some feature that you just can’t live without then perhaps consider gifting it to a family member like some have suggested.

 

[Lucas Curious]

A better question would be why are you selling it after one and a half years of use? Is it not doing what you want it to do?

I mean if you’re just one of these people that always buys the new model when it comes out then I’m guessing you have enough money not to worry about the loss. If it’s because you feel the new model will have some feature that you just can’t live without then perhaps consider gifting it to a family member like some have suggested.

well I had the M1 air for a couple weeks and it was so snappy that I forgot about the 16 inch and was sold on the future. I hate the idea of upgrading but when I look at my track record, I bought so many of these devices over the years. Now that I think abut it I bought a MacBook in 2010, '11, '12, '16, '17, '18 and 2020. 7 of them in 10 years. ouch. this if just the laptops. Ok never mind. I'll jsut use this one until the 2022 versions come out. Often 2nd or 3rd gen new tech form Apple is more refined. I can already see people complaining about mini LED halos or some other thing.

 

[Christopher Kim]

For example, if you have family members who will really benefit from receiving it from you, then I think that is a compelling reason to keep it rather than sell or trade in.

Yes, I think there's something to be said where the "monetary value on the current secondary market" is more out-of-whack than normal with the "subjective value" of it. For a bunch of reasons (2yr-old Intel chip about to be replaced by both a significantly better performing M1X/M2 chip and a model re-design), the current secondary market has the 16" MBP at a significantly discounted price. But it's still a great computer, and in an otherwise normal scenario, if there was no looming Apple silicon and design refresh, the value of the 16" MBP would probably be much less.

In these instances, I agree that it might make more sense for you to gift it to someone who doesn't care about the new model, but would be thrilled to have what used to be the highest-end laptop Apple offered. And that might be "worth more" than the ~$1400 you might get for it when selling today, especially if you don't need the proceeds to buy the new machine.

Paid $2,300+ in 2020 and can sell for $1,500 now. That's crazy depreciation. I can't believe how great these computers are and also much these have depreciated.

In fairness though, this is a unique circumstance that comes around every 5 years or so. The 16 MBP is a 2yr old Intel chip about to be replaced by both a significantly better performing M1X/M2 chip and a model re-design. It doesn't help that you bought it in 2020 (when it may have been already a year old depending on when you bought it), and hypothetically could have gotten for the same price a year earlier in 2019. If thinking about it from a depreciation standpoint - it was just bad-luck you happened to buy Apple's top-end laptop on the "eve" of a generational shift!

 

[mo5214]

Personally I think that the 16” is stuck between a rock and a hard place; Being shipped with 10.15+ disallowed it from running Mojave and ability to run 32-bit apps (also sane Enhanced Dictation) this includes Final Cut Pro 7, Aperture, and iWork ‘09 (via retroactive patcher) , and more.

and since Apple is transitioning into its own Silicon, it is dead for future proofing. (Towards this end Apple had already excluded many new features of Monterey to M1 line only)

The only hope going forward, is that while M1 is much more efficient, it is arguably immature for many niches, who don’t want to deal with pain of incompatibility, limited expandability, and quirks regarding strict enforcement of signed code and ssv)

(M1 macs will not run unsigned code period, best is self-signed, deprecation of kexts and so on)

not including no eGPU support
no user friendly way yet to run x86 OS under VM with real GPU acceleration (Parallels 17 emulates ARM version of Windows and Linux distributions only, on which will lose more performance emulating x86 instructions vs rosetta 2 due to not leveraging M1 ability to to help with translation (Memory reordering is built into M1, so it can switch to x86 memory model)

and QEMU, while having ability to pass-through the M1 GPU into emulation, can only push 30-60 fps on games from early 2000s. (Think quake 3)

so the 16” maybe can fill this niche. But then again, those who wants to run windows might just carry an extra gaming laptop.

it would have been great if someone can convince the 16” Pro to run Mojave…

 

[nquinn]

I'm for sure buying the smallest M Mac Apple will release for portability but I also sometimes like the 16 inch screen.

Is it even worth selling the 16 inch at a $1000 loss? I see them selling for slightly under $1500 and who knows how much that will drop when the new ones come out. Is everyone really ok with losing $1k after 1-1.5 years of use? Its not better to just keep this thing or pass it on to family? I know Apple will do a trade-in for $1250 on the 16 inch base currently but don't know if that will drop with the release of the new one.

Sell locally, and get as much as you can by avoiding 10-15% ebay/paypal fees. Don't rip off some old person though.

Honesty, $1000 for ~ 550days was only $2 per day to use that Macbook (a bit more because of tax). The new M1X stuff looks so good though that this is one of those times where it's worth it to just take a bath IMO.

You may also be able to find someone that needs intel and can pay a slightly higher price for it.

I was very close to buying a 2019 16" as well and feel lucky I didn't. I still may regret buying this model if newer models get OLED or wi-fi 6e, but those things are less important to me than the massive cpu/igpu jump.

 

[Royksöpp]

IMO, the intel (and bootcamp) or die crowd will keep the value up or even raise the value in comparison to other used Macs. Much like MBPs sans Touch Bar and sans butterfly keyboard were holding value better than others. Not part of that crowd but I don't think the "stigma" will have that much weight. Then again if a licensable Windows ARM virtual machine finally release then maybe the die hards won't be so vocal.

Hmmm... Sounds like something someone who owns the last intel MacBook Pro would say. 🧐

 

[richinaus]

I am in 2 minds on mine, as it runs fast and has bootcamp [with egpu benefit turning it into a beast], but also gets hot and loud.

 

[kingtj1971]

I'm for sure buying the smallest M Mac Apple will release for portability but I also sometimes like the 16 inch screen.

Is it even worth selling the 16 inch at a $1000 loss? I see them selling for slightly under $1500 and who knows how much that will drop when the new ones come out. Is everyone really ok with losing $1k after 1-1.5 years of use? Its not better to just keep this thing or pass it on to family? I know Apple will do a trade-in for $1250 on the 16 inch base currently but don't know if that will drop with the release of the new one.

I was questioning the same thing here.... I have a 16 inch Core i9 MBP but mine was custom configured with a 2TB SSD, 32GB of RAM and the higher spec video option. I think it cost something like $3,400. And yet, here we are with the typical selling price for a comparable one on eBay at something like the $1500-1600 range! Seems like these really took a nosedive on resale value, more than I ever expected for a Mac that's still pretty much the "latest and greatest" in its category!

I'm not so much interested in the M1 Macbook Air -- but I'm definitely interested in the M2 replacement for the 16" MBP that we'll be seeing early next year.

Like some others commented? I have a feeling this machine might actually retain its remaining value, or even go up a bit from here, just because I think it took a bigger price hit than is really normal or reasonable, due to all the hype about Apple switching from Intel. The fact is, Intel still makes a world-class CPU and you'll need it vs any proprietary ARM based processor from Apple, if you want to run Windows natively on the machine. These machines were also dogged by a lot of people for their overheating issues when running external 4K/5K displays. These complaints have merit, but you can work around at least some of it with the right configuration of things. And I believe the suggestion posted in these forums to open the case up and apply thermal pads strategically over certain parts helps control the heat issues too. (I tried it and so far, so good for me.) Things like the "touchbar" will be going away in the future too - so that makes this one kind of a curiosity for still having one, when they get more collectible.

 

[Fishrrman]

Does the 16" MBP continue to work well enough for you?
Does it do the things you need to do?

If so, why the rush to get rid of it and endure a large personal $$$ loss?

 

[mo5214]

Does the 16" MBP continue to work well enough for you?
Does it do the things you need to do?

If so, why the rush to get rid of it and endure a large personal $$$ loss?

Could be potential further drop in value once M1X comes out in October.

MBP 16" is in an odd position, it doesn't run older macOS versions as it is shipped with 10.15 (that had a gimped offline dictation feature, and no 32-bit execution (10.14 have 32-bit support, and via retroactive patcher, run iWork '09, Final cut pro 7, Aperture, etc)
and the future is the M series anyway, and Apple already made some feature 'exclusive' to M-series Macs.

So the value is sorta low for these uses.

 

[ratspg]

Not worth it to lose $1k on a perfectly useable computer. I would continue using and/or pass it on to a family member, etc.

 

[nquinn]

Like some others commented? I have a feeling this machine might actually retain its remaining value, or even go up a bit from here, just because I think it took a bigger price hit than is really normal or reasonable, due to all the hype about Apple switching from Intel. The fact is, Intel still makes a world-class CPU and you'll need it vs any proprietary ARM based processor from Apple, if you want to run Windows natively on the machine. These machines were also dogged by a lot of people for their overheating issues when running external 4K/5K displays. These complaints have merit, but you can work around at least some of it with the right configuration of things. And I believe the suggestion posted in these forums to open the case up and apply thermal pads strategically over certain parts helps control the heat issues too. (I tried it and so far, so good for me.) Things like the "touchbar" will be going away in the future too - so that makes this one kind of a curiosity for still having one, when they get more collectible.

This is hard to predict because you have 2 counterpoints:

- For rapidly losing price: Apple is moving everything to Apple Silicon VERY quickly. It's much, much better. Also, when new version of macOS drop support is when they will absolutely get their value crushed. COVID in 2020 artificially bumped used macbook prices because people needed laptops for WFH but couldn't afford new machines. Most of those should be bought now.

- For price maintaining: Some users will continue to need bootcamp/x86 support on a Macbook. Also, with several customers having purchased $10k+ Mac Pros on intel, I can't imagine Apple will drop x86 support in macOS for at least 3-4 years. Also, quite a bit of depreciation is already priced in. Typically a laptop will lose maybe 30% in a year.

Hard to say. When a new machine is like $2500+tax, a $1500 machine, even if intel will still apply to a number of people. You could probably keep it another 1-2 years and lose only $500 more?

 

[Lucas Curious]

thanks for your input guys. I'll keep it for now and maybe get rid of it next year when a new Air or 12 inch comes out. The MacBook if generally fine to use but what often turns me off is how Apple crippled it with Big Sur. sometimes some apps lag and when I click on names in iMessage its not fast to switch. If I was to type a lot of messages, the iMessage app lags and the text is delayed like im using a computer from 1991. I tried wiping it back to Catalina but Apple has made it unavailable. If The new OS doesnt make this Mac smooth to use, then Apple has forced me into a crappy experience.

I regret Big Sur so much that I'm avoiding stopping at Big Sur on my California road trip in 3 weeks. I'm not kidding.

 

[Phil77354]

I regret Big Sur so much that I'm avoiding stopping at Big Sur on my California road trip in 3 weeks. I'm not kidding.

Oh my, that is unfortunate! Don't let yourself miss something spectacular just because of this really quite unrelated frustration!!

 

[Octavzz]

I was in a similar dilemma. Bought the 16" 1TB i9 brand new for $2699, then sold it last week for $2220. Luckily, here in Romania it seems like they didn't lose as much value, but still I took a $500 loss in just a year.

I decided to sell because of the overheating issues when connecting to an external display, and all the workarounds I had to go through just to have a silent and cool laptop. Otherwise, it was quite a great experience, I didn't have any other major complaints, and if it weren't for the Apple Sillicon transition I'm sure they would have kept their value much higher.

Now I'm patiently waiting for an M1X 16" or 14", hopefully I'll keep that for longer than a year and I won't experience any deal breaking issues with it.

 

[pshufd]

I have a 2009 iMac which I still use sometimes. I like having spare hardware around in case someone needs to borrow a machine or needs one permanently. I also keep a backup laptop - I have a 2014 MacBook Pro 15 and a 2015 MacBook Pro 15. If one is lost, stolen or disabled; I just restore to my backup and am ready to go while I think about ordering a new one.

 

[scoblep]

I sold my 2019 MBP a few months ago. It sucked to take a loss but I got what I felt was a reasonably fair price. I knew that the value was going to continue to absolutely tank as more M1 Macs, especially pro models, were released so I sold when I did to get the most out of it. My M1 Mac is phenomenal and runs circles around my old MBP for less $.

 

[deeddawg]

I'm for sure buying the smallest M Mac Apple will release for portability but I also sometimes like the 16 inch screen.

Is it even worth selling the 16 inch at a $1000 loss? I see them selling for slightly under $1500 and who knows how much that will drop when the new ones come out. Is everyone really ok with losing $1k after 1-1.5 years of use? Its not better to just keep this thing or pass it on to family? I know Apple will do a trade-in for $1250 on the 16 inch base currently but don't know if that will drop with the release of the new one.

Respectfully, you're looking at it backwards.

The money you paid for the system was gone the day your return window expired. c.f. sunk cost.

From that point forward it became a question of what's the net new cost to switch to another computer and compare that cost against the features/benefits you expect the new computer to provide you.

... and yes, the net cost to switch to a new computer will increase over time. Yet it's also more expensive to switch computers every 1-1.5 years than doing so every 3-4 years if you're looking at it purely in terms of money. There may or may not be an offsetting benefit value to that intermediary upgrade - depends on your specific individual needs.

So to go to your underlying question:

Upgrade when you feel the benefit of such an upgrade outweighs the cost of doing that upgrade. That may be when the new crop of Apple Silicon computers comes out - or it might be a couple years from now.