How to sell a Mac or MacBook

The first step when it comes to selling your old Mac is finding out which model you have–not just whether it’s a MacBook Air or MacBook Pro, for example, but the generation and other specs. You can read our guide to identifying which Mac you have for help with that.

Once you know your Mac’s model, you can start to work on what it’s worth. Finding out its model, specs, and value can help you set a selling price.

When you research used Macs for sale, you’ll find that some listings categorize the laptop as pre-owned while others are listed as refurbished or certified refurbished. Pre-owned usually means it’s used and has not had major repairs or modifications to make it like new. Refurbished generally means that an Apple Certified engineer has looked it over and made repairs to make it like new, and it may even come with a warranty. 

Many secondhand Macs for sale come with extras. Perhaps it’s in the original sealed box (i.e. never used). Maybe they are bundling software with it (which isn’t strictly legal; the Mac should have its data wiped out before you sell it). Some may or may not include accessories such as a keyboard, mouse, or power adapter. What you offer in your total package can influence your selling price.

Apple’s Certified Refurbished Store (U.S./U.K.) is a good indication of the maximum resell value of your M-series Mac (Apple no longer sells Intel-based Macs), but expect yours to sell for a lot less. For example, a 2020 MacBook Air with an 8-core CPU and 7-core GPU M1 chip is $849/£849 in Apple’s Refurb store, which includes a full one-year warranty and the knowledge that Apple’s engineers have rectified any problems with the device. If you decide to sell your Mac at a similar price, a person is unlikely to buy your used Mac if they can get what is essentially a new one at the Refurbished Store.

If you want to sell an Intel-based Mac, you can check prices on BackMarket (U.S./U.K.). Just like Apple, BackMarket sells certified refurbished Macs with a 12-month warranty.

Apple’s switch from Intel chips to its own M-series chips will affect your ability to sell an Intel Mac. There’s a small customer base that wants Intel Macs, but most people want the M-series.

Keep in mind that as Macs age, Apple starts dropping support for them in different ways. Apple often drops older Mac generations when it releases a new version of macOS. And Apple stops providing hardware support, usually after five to seven years, which means a third-party shop has to be used for repairs.

If Apple stops providing support, it doesn’t mean the Mac is unusable. Versions of macOS that are two or three generations older than the current version usually can still access iCloud and the apps still work. But there may come a time when Apple implements a new feature that requires a version of macOS that won’t run on an older Mac.

Be realistic about what your used Mac is worth. If your price for your three-year-old MacBook Pro is close to that of a completely new Mac, it’s not going to sell. But if you aren’t in a major hurry to sell your Mac, you might be happy to price it higher, hoping that someone will be prepared to pay for it.

If you want to sell it quickly you might think that pricing it for a fast sell is wise. But a price that is too low could be a red flag to shoppers–they might assume that your Mac is faulty. If you’re looking for a fast sale, consider a Mac selling service (we list a few below).

Don’t get caught up in what you originally spent on it. The MacBook Pro you are selling might have been the top dog at the time you bought it, but now an entry-level MacBook Air could be more powerful, so don’t expect people to pay top dollar for your old Mac.

How to sell your Mac depends on the amount of effort you want to put into it. Selling your Mac through eBay, Gumtree (U.K.), or a similar service is a lot of work. You might make a bit more money if you sell it privately, but you have to directly deal with the buyer. It’s not as simple as posting your Mac for sale, collecting your money, delivering your Mac, and waving goodbye, but it can be satisfying.

If you want to sell an old Mac and limit the effort you need. to put in, you find a business that will buy your Mac. These businesses often refurbish the Mac so they can turn it around and sell it, so that means you won’t get top dollar, but it’s an easy sell. We cover some of these businesses below.

If you are selling your Mac with the idea of buying a new one, some retailers offer an exchange. Apple will let you do this, as will various Apple Certified Resellers. We look at the prices you can get for this below but you can also find out more information here: How to sell or trade in your old Mac and save on a new one.

Alternatively, if your Mac has very little resell value you might prefer to donate or recycle it.

The time of the year can affect the sale of your Mac. Typically, it makes sense to sell an old model before Apple announces a new one, rather than after the announcement. When a new model is announced, the older ones will lose a significant amount of value. So keep an eye on upcoming Apple events and rumors and try to pre-empt them if possible. You can read our lowdown on what products we expect Apple to announce over the next few months, and when we think Apple will hold its next launch event. We anticipate Apple updates in the spring (usually March), June (to coincide with WWDC), September, and October. But the company has been known to update products outside of these windows.

Another good time to sell is in the summer months prior to students returning to or starting university. While students can get a decent discount on Mac products (read more about how to get an education discount on Apple products), an older Mac may be a better fit for a student budget.

Selling in the run-up to the December holidays is also a good time, but there is competition from the Black Friday deals.