Apple Trade-in Program for Mac
Trade-in is what Apple calls this program where it allows you to hand over your old Mac when buying a new one. In the following sections we will tell you in detail what exactly it consists of and what ways exist for you to carry it out.
How this program works
Far from what you might think, this is not a service for buying and selling second-hand Apple products. What the company does is offer you discounts on the purchase of a new product of the same class by delivering the old one, without the possibility of directly delivering the equipment to them and obtaining money directly. What’s more, you will not be able to buy an iPad and deliver a Mac, for example, since they must be the same type of devices.
The discounts vary depending on the Mac model you deliver and its specifications, although it will not matter if what you buy is a Mac or another. That is, the price they give you for your old computer will always be the same regardless of whether you are going to buy one computer or another, since in the end the value they estimate that your computer has is always the same.
How is this process done?
The procedure to follow to enter this program is the same as the one followed when buying a Mac normally. You have two ways to do it, having identical discounts in both cases because they are two official ways of the company.
- Apple Store: If you go to a physical store of the company to buy the new Mac, you must show the specialist who attends you your intention to access this program. You must, of course, physically carry the old Mac so that they can appraise it on-site and give you the corresponding discount.
- Online store: Either from the website or Apple’s purchase application, when configuring the new Mac that you are going to buy, you will find the option to add your Mac in the program, having to add its serial number. Once you receive the new one, you must send the old one through a messaging service provided by Apple.
It should be noted that the discount for the old Mac will not be applied at the time when buying online, since you will have to wait for Apple to receive the equipment and verify that it meets the conditions. If so, a credit will be issued in your payment method with the corresponding amount that has been agreed for the old one.
Can it be done in other stores?
This Trade-in service is only available in the official stores of the company, so even in a Premium Reseller you will not be able to find this possibility. Although, yes, there are other stores that have their own discount program that may be similar to Apple’s. In any case, it is recommended that you consult it individually in each case, since the conditions may vary and what we have been commenting on in this post is only relative to what Apple offers in Spain.
Money they give for each Mac model
The exact money that Apple will give to your old Mac is determined at the time you make the purchase through one of the ways previously discussed. There is no exact guide to how much they give for each model with each of its specifications, but there are maximum limits. I am and more we analyze it in the following sections.
By Mac models
The following prices are maximums that can be obtained by each of the existing Mac models. And we emphasize the maximum because it is not the usual price, but only those most recent models of each range and that are configured with the maximum of specifications:
- MacBook: 320 euros
- MacBook Air: 430 euros
- MacBook Pro: 1,090 euros
- Mac mini: 545 euros
- Mac Pro: 1,695 euros
- iMac: 725 euros
- iMac Pro: 1,815 euros
It depends on whether they give more or less money
There are some factors such as the color of the device that do not influence anything in this process, but there are others that depend on whether the discount they give you for your old Mac is higher or lower, although they will never exceed the maximum limits mentioned above. The factors that are taken into account are the following:
- RAM memory capacity
- Storage capacity and whether it is HDD, SSD or Fusion Drive
- Processor model
- Chassis status
- If accessories are included and they are in good condition
- Mac operation
- Battery status for MacBooks
- Original device release year
Is there a Mac that Apple pays nothing for?
Normally Apple has a cut-off point that they do not officially name and that makes the Macs too old do not serve in this process. Normally they can be delivered in store without any problem and Apple takes care of recycle them, although you should know that they will neither give you a discount on the purchase of the new one nor will they give you money in exchange.
Different case is that of Macs that are still for sale They are not usually collected in this program, so if you bought a device recently, it is likely that you will not be able to include it in this program until the company discontinues it. In fact, it is likely that they will not even accept it for recycling, so you should consult it.
Is it worth using this program?
We are not the one to say what you should do and what not to do, nor to assess your circumstances and whether it is convenient for you to access this program or not. However, in a purely objective way, we can say that this may not be the best option because certainly the Apple discounts are small. On computers with a certain age it can compensate for something more, but if your Mac is fully functional and it is not too old, surely you are losing money.
There are other ways such as going to second-hand goods buying and selling stores and even well-known applications to sell between individuals. Perhaps through these means you will get more money from the sale of your Mac than by accessing Apple’s Trade-in. Although, yes, this Apple program is at the end of the most effective if what you are looking for is immediacy for being extremely fast.
Frequent doubts if you hand over your old computer
If you have decided to enter this program and hand over your old Mac in exchange for a discount on the new one, we believe that there are certain aspects that you should know beforehand.
How you should deliver the Mac
This is probably the most important thing and although Apple will give you all the help possible so that you do it when you deliver it, it would not hurt if you go with your homework and have completely formatted the Mac. As long as the device is still functional, since if it does not work you will not be able to access the disk, although Apple will take care of destroying the data.
Formatting must be complete and you must also have disabled FileVault and the Firewall from System Preferences> Security and Privacy. It is also important that once you have done this remove the Mac from your device list, either from another Apple computer or from the Apple ID website.
What does Apple do with the Macs they ship?
It depends largely on the state in which they are. If they are old Macs for which they have not paid you anything, it is because their parts are probably no longer useful because they cannot repair other devices with them, so they usually take care of taking it to a clean point so that their parts can be recycled or properly destroyed in the case of hard drives.
At other times, and especially in the most recent Macs, what is done is reconditioning them for resale on the website of reconditioned Macs that the company has. They can also serve as a replacement for users who take their equipment in for repair. Therefore they change the battery in the case of MacBook, they are carried out all kinds of performance tests to see that they work well and they make sure that the chassis does not have any type of damage.
