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Do Macs still hold their resale value?

arstechnica.com — The long-held belief among Mac users is examined in relation to pro laptops.

Who dugg this? Made popular Feb 14, 2007

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  • miniboss, on 10/12/2007, -17/+64New Intel Macs absolutely do not hold their resale value the way they did in the PPC days. Back then, the PPC architecture was mysterious and touted as some sort of advanced engineering. So even though the machines weren't worth much anymore, they could sucker alot of people into buying them at a premium cost. With the Intel market then the consumer now is too aware of how much the internal parts are valued. And when you're talking about the pro-line then anyone who purchases your old Mac/book Pro for even half of what you paid is a sucker.

    So while the $1300 CoreDuo Macbook is still an incredibly powerful machine, its resale price is forced down to about $800. Not only because Core2Duo is around but also because of the heavy discounts from online retailers and the Apple Store refurbs. Why pay $1000 for "outdated" technology when you can pay $100 more for the latest or $200 less for a quality Apple refurb?

    That said, why sell an old intel mac anyway. They're such great machines and technology doesn't move nearly as quick as it did a few years ago. So if you want to upgrade then just turn that old mac into a Front Row TV theater.
  • axiomflash, on 10/12/2007, -3/+38great theory of keeping your old computers until you realize you're better off having 1 good one, than 6 crappy old ones lying around. trust me.
  • deadbaby, on 10/12/2007, -3/+24In my experience Mac's do tend to hold more value over the long term. Just look at eBay listings... a 2 year old Mac Mini or iMac sell for 80% their original cost in many cases -- sometimes more. I think it's partly due to the bundled software that comes on a Mac. iPhoto, iTunes, and iLife are all incredibly useful applications even on an older system. By comparison if you buy a 2-3 year old PC you'll probably get MS Paint, MS Wordpad, Notepad. Outlook Express. Also, OSX doesn't suffer from "Windows rot" A 3 or 4 year old Mac runs spiffy -- no bloated registry, no horribly fragmented hard drive, no anti-virus/firewall software slowing everything down. That being said, you can definitely tweak an old PC to run fine too. It just takes some effort and knowledge that most people just don't have. You can get a brand new PC dirt cheap so why waste your time on a second-hand one?
  • SgtBeavis, on 10/12/2007, -0/+21Link to original article.
    http://www.applematters.com/index.php/section/comments/the-amazing-resale-value-of-your-mac/
  • InSeverance, on 10/12/2007, -2/+20With Intel Macs becoming far more popular than their PPC brethren, simple supply and demand on eBay for example, means that they're becoming far easier to pick up. As they become easier to find the price level falls (supply shifts right). Admittedly demand is also increasing at the same time, but I don't believe the demand for second hand models is increasing enough to make up for the increase in supply of second hand units.

    It will be interesting however in coming months to see how resale values stack up to PPC models. The same trend may well still exist given the perception of OS X if not improve.
  • inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+14Yah, but the bluberry is 9 years old... Last year I picked up an 8 year old G3 tower for $20 bucks... However, look on ebay for the last line of G4 powermacs from 2002-2003 or so, with dual processors (the mirrored drive door ones), and they are still getting 500-800 depending on how much ram or HD they have... That's not bad for a 5 year old computer..
  • randovaro, on 10/12/2007, -2/+16According to their data a Mac's value depreciates exponentially. Just out of geeky interest I modelled the decay as:

    % recouped = 89*exp(-0.3*num_yrs)
  • 3Den, on 10/12/2007, -2/+13I'll second that.

    My mac, although only a year old, is running a cloned drive image from my very first mac; it's been through 3 major OS upgrades and 4 actual macs, cloning the entire filesystem over each time.

    It's running just as well as the fresh install sitting next to it.

    I'm sad that when I switch to my next mac, I won't be able to do this (over to intel).. but perhaps it's just as well.




  • Dumbledorito, on 10/12/2007, -1/+10Could it be that in the PPC days, advances in the baseline systems were made with less regularity? Did a system stay "cutting edge" for a longer period of time?
  • Chargers, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8I sold a iMac on ebay for $1600 and I had it for six months and decided to get a MacBook Pro. I lost only about $100 after using it for six months. That would never happen with a Dell or other PC's.
  • WarN, on 10/12/2007, -3/+11I paid $80 for a G3 iMac a few months ago. I have long been a PC user and had never touched a Mac. All the hype and such got me interested. When it got here, running OSX, I was blown away. Not as much by anything other than the age of the machine running the newer software. I think that Apple hardware gets a good resale price, because the computers themselves simply are not "outdated" yet. Sure it's not blazing fast, but $80 and I am using it everyday for basic things and really learning OSX. Apple has become so trendy as of late, that I would suspect resale to stay up, as long as the OS is so "low end hardware friendly".
  • CaptShmo, on 10/12/2007, -5/+12i tried to sell a big mac with a bite taken out of it... didn't go very well...
  • ArizonaKid, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8Macs hold a higher resale value over PCs. Although I believe, and agree, with others that they do not retain value like they did in the PPC days, they still hold their value fairly well.

    This is to be expected since the x86 CPU market has more competitors to lower the price for consumers.

    I don't see blowout sales with Macs like I do PCs. Macs are also not as readily available in retail stores like PCs, so they are still somewhat limited (limited perhaps by only the casual uneducated price conscious computer user). The last point I would make is that Macs are a difference oriented product rather than a cost leader, and are better able to peg a consumer segment that places a higher value on perhaps the same hardware.

    Although I do believe Macs are finally starting to compete in price and are offering the best of both worlds.
  • threemagic, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8I sold my

    single 1.8 ghz G5 tower, 2gb memory, ati 9800, 160gb sata drive for $1000..


    paid for 1/2 my 2.66 ghz mac pro (I also got an ati1900 for it off ebay for 195!!!


    this was just 3 months ago so yes, I think they still hold
  • sancho320, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7with graphs!
  • MacParrot, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7Absolutely no reason at all...well, except that one will run without a problem the Mac-based programs I prefer and the others won't.

    You really have no reason to exist other than to troll in Mac posts do you?
  • msgyrd, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5You'd get much less than that from an equivalently aged Dell laptop. PCs tend to be things you hold on to until they're out of date and then donate or throw away (because the only people you can sucker into buying them for a good price are dumb and will keep bugging you for tech support).
  • mstrebe, on 10/12/2007, -2/+7Is your comment based on any kind of actual sale experience? I just sold my six month old MacBook Pro for $2300, and I'd paid $2700. I've always done really well, never selling below 50% of original price even after four years.
  • superkendall, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5Since they can run OSX they retain value longer - it's like being able to run Vista on a very old laptop. It's made practical by every release of OS X running faster even on older hardware, which keeps it useful much longer.
  • johnpaul191, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5a Mac Mini is kind of a different story though..... i pondered getting one with the thinking of shuffling it to the living room when i upgrade. as a media center type setup, it could have a very long life.
    i think that use makes it a different beast than an iMac or Mac Pro? i think the bigger question will be how long the hardware can run current versions of OS X. that seemed to be part of the fuel that kept older Macs running. the OS was flexible. this past fall i just replaced an early 2000 G4 400MHz tower. it still works, and has the most recent version of 10.4 on it. actually until this past October/November the thing ran for about 6.5 years nonstop. i don't think it was ever off for more than 48 hours? i can't complain about that.
  • Boondoggle, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4 by modsuperstar 15 hours ago

    As far as I'm concerned, this is balls. The reason why the market is still holding is because people still feel their hardware is worth what it was during the PPC days. Since everyone is still overvaluing their hardware the market hasn't shifted yet. As Apple keeps rolling out more frequent updates to their lineup and this stuff gets dumped onto the used market it will cause the bottom to fall out. I think when(not if) Apple cuts the support for the G5s and older they will drastically lose their value. They cut OS9 loose after a year and a half, I can't see why they won't cut the tether to the PPC world to spur new hardware upgrades.

    -------

    Buyers set the value not sellers
  • macdude22, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5Errr, the Mac is plenty versatile, and no open source software? What have you been smoking. Dugg down for inaccuracy.
  • jman8888, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Do actual comparisons and get back to me (Not the imac because it must be compared to other AIO's)
  • atbnet, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4It would be more effective if you used reply.
  • Elloydo, on 10/12/2007, -3/+7Yes, I imagine Intel Macs will definitely hold value. However, I recently sold a blueberrry iMac for $45.
  • camkerr, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4I bought a 12" powerbook for $300 from best buy and sold it for just over $1000 on ebay, turns out it had two years of applecare on it.
  • jollyllama, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5I just sold my 2 year old iMac this weekend for 75% of it's original value. I'd say that's pretty good. Made my upgrade pretty cheap.
  • SaintStryfe, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Apple has promised PPC compatibility through 10.5, and given the current product cycle, that's between 1 and a half to two years. Apple continued supporting OS 9 for three years after switching to OS X, and 2 years after a "burying" of OS 9, and didn't completely give it up until the Intel Switch. I'll take a fair bet it will have enough life to justify 450$.

    BTW: Very shortly I'm going to be buying an MacBook (BTW, Macbooks are surprisingly great World of Warcraft machines, with medium graphics I get comfortable 25-30 FPS in all settings except the most intensive, like IF AH Bridge). I have a 12" Powerbook 867mhz, 640 RAM, 60 gig, APX, Combo drive. I paid 600$ for this machine used, it's only problems being a fairly well scratched up top and a small bright spot on the screen. And I have 4 interested buyers at 500$.
  • nitewing98, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3WarN wrote: "I think that Apple hardware gets a good resale price, because the computers themselves simply are not "outdated" yet."

    Very true. I bought an iMac DV+ last year for $99 and used it till last month, then bought a G4 Tower (466mhz) for $150. Both ran OS X Tiger just fine, and I was able to port the iMac's HD to the G4, boot from it without re-installing OS X, and had the new Mac up and running the same day (within an hour of its arrival) with all my user settings and files and applications intact.

    Do THAT in Windows! Huh.
  • rhnaccounts, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5One has dropped 90% (900 depreciation / 1000 historic cost) while the other has dropped 73% (1100 depreciation / 1500 historic cost)
  • ohmar, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3I sold my year old 12 inch Powerbook for $1100 dollars on eBay and bought a MacBook for $1300 dollars the next day. Better battery life, bigger hard drive, larger display, boot camp, and immensly more powerful. Best $200 investment of my life.
  • Prometheus, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Here's a graph of y=89*exp(-.3x)

    http://img247.imageshack.us/img247/341/macdepum5.jpg
  • macbookpromat, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3See this is a useful article because I always knew about this but never bothered to do the math.

    I actually sold my 1500$ PC laptop for 500$ 6 months after purchase and bought my MacBook Pro.
  • aquax, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4macmcrae-

    You are quite wrong. Only the base model iMac has the same integrated graphics as the MacBook (Intel GMA 950), the rest of the lineup has dedicated graphics (ATI X1600 or nVidia 7300, 7600).

    iMacs also use full sized 3.5" hard drives, compared to the MacBooks using laptop sized 2.5" drives, so they are quite a bit faster.

    I have heard complaints about hot MacBooks (although not lately, with the C2D MBs being cooler than the CD models), but I have not heard any complaints about hot or noisy CD or C2D iMacs.
  • Justin6512, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3not really after the intel switch. When the new intel macs get to their 3rd or 4th generations then yes old macs will continue to retain their value. G5, G4 systems right now appear useless and not worth buying.
  • redwallhp, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Who cares?! If you buy a mac to use it, not to resell it.
  • expatasia, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3@madchemst
    "Excuse me but anyone who buys a PC based on resale value is complete, utter, and total moron. You might as well go buy a burger from McDonalds, stick it in your fridge, and wait for it to appreciate instead."

    We buy them because we love and use Macs. The nice resale value is just an added bonus. Anyone who can't appreciate a bonus like that is a "complete, utter, and total moron".
  • mitrovarr, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4"great theory of keeping your old computers until you realize you're better off having 1 good one, than 6 crappy old ones lying around. trust me."

    I've found two is a great number to have - one powerful computer to do your heavy work and gaming, and a weaker machine to handle instant messaging and web browsing. That way, you can keep reference documents open while working on the main machine, or hold conversations without constantly having to switch documents. It's a substantial improvement over dual monitors, since 3d apps and games don't play well with multiple screens, and especially helpful if you're working on one of the computers (since documents stay open through reboots.)
  • rdoger6424, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4you should have put jesus on it.
  • inkswamp, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4I'm not one of the peope who dug you down, but the problem is that there are so many anti-Mac trolls that half the time I suspect people won't even give a negative-sounding post half a chance before burying it. It's not fair, but I can't say I blame people for doing it.
  • desteffy, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3From personal experience, YES.

    I once bought an apple ibook new for $550 on a really good sale (a closeout for the older models) and sold it 2 years later for the same price.
  • DeadPenguin, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I have been watching Power Mac G5 Dual 2.0 (1GB ram 160GB HD crappy ATI video card) on Ebay since around Xmas and have been watching the price steadily go up. The average G5 Dual 2.0 was going for $1000 around Xmas and is now in the $1300 range. With the Mac Pros at $1800 I am tempted to wait and save up for an Intel Mac. I am not sure why people would pay $2000+ for a Dual 2.5/2.7 when they could get an Intel Dual 2.6 for the same money?
  • mitrovarr, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Macs aren't always the newest hardware either. For example, they were months behind some of the other vendors (at least Dell, Gateway, and HP) in offering the core 2 duo for laptops. When it did happen, the prices stayed the same across the product line, despite the hardware improving dramatically. People who bought laptops right before the switch-over were probably hit by a lot of depreciation all at once.

    The way to avoid overpaying for old hardware isn't to get either macs or pcs, it's to pay attention to developments in the field and shop around.
  • GonzoLiga, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3Bought my G3 tower for USD 2200 in 1998. Sold it in 2003 for USD 300.

    Resale value? No, Macs don't hold it, and who cares?

    Who buys a computer thinking about resale value? You buy it to use it. You maximize its capability for as long as you can, and then you can it and move up. Just like a new TV, a new car, or (for some people), BF/GF/spouse!

    It's just more apparent because computer technology moves much faster than that TV. You can still watch your old 9" B&W even as you gloat over your 2,075" LCD wall-mount hi-def screen. Can't do that with a computer.

    Stop thinking about the resale value on your computer and start thinking about the efficiency value you get out of your computer upgrade, regardless of how you use it.

    /Mac user since 1987
  • inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Yea I did somewhat the same thing as the dude above me, with my Powerbook. I sold it for 1200 and bought the 2.0 80 Gig Superdrive for 1400. 200 dollar different....cant' complain.


  • RichMan, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3Yes, macs hold their resale value and It pisses me off too. I would absolutely LOVE to get a hold of a G4 12" iBook or 14" Powerbook. I've been lusting over them for quite sometime. Though, even to this freak'in day, nobody is willing to part with one for anything less than $400 (never below $600 for a powerbook.)! Man, for $600 I could get a low-end Core Duo laptop. It just isn't right T_T
  • jman8888, on 10/12/2007, -1/+37200 , 1600, Ect.
    They have normal parts. I do hate imacs though but stop lying.
    Also "Heat Problems"
  • superkendall, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3Except the used PC is almost worthless to you while the used Mac can run Tiger and still runs a lot of modern software.

    Funny how that whole "you get what you pay for" holds true, eh?
  • jonahan52, on 10/12/2007, -0/+23Den: Well you can actually just not the system .. Use the MIgration Utility .. Moves everything over except the system
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