Apple Trade-In: have you traded in a modded M1 MBA 2020?

[imrazor]

About a year and a half ago I modded my MBA with the thermal mod, and got great results. And it's still working great. But its starting to show it's limits, and I'm considering trading it in or selling it.

I know selling will get me the most $$$, but I hate haggling and the attendant nonsense of selling myself. Will Apple take a modded laptop at all, or reduce the value? I know I can take off the thermal pads, but the Geniuses can still usually tell if he bottom screws have been removed.

 

[satcomer]

I'm on the Mac Book Air and I can tell you this machine can be very speedy! The only thing if you plan to have 100 Web sites open on one Mac or audio programs or video programs all day then get the 16g version!

 

[Tenkaykev]

If you're in doubt then "unmod" it. I've removed my mod ( after about a year ). No particular reason, I only use my M1 Air for the basic stuff, I modded it purely out of academic interest and it was great to see the benchmark figures that it could achieve. A couple of months ago I got curious and opened it up again to see if there were any visible signs of deterioration. I removed the head pad and noticed a bit of oily like staining from the thermal pad onto the hottest part of the processor. A quick rub with one of the disposable spectacle lens cleaning wipes and all was as new.

 

[BeatCrazy]

About a year and a half ago I modded my MBA with the thermal mod, and got great results. And it's still working great. But its starting to show it's limits, and I'm considering trading it in or selling it.

I know selling will get me the most $$$, but I hate haggling and the attendant nonsense of selling myself. Will Apple take a modded laptop at all, or reduce the value? I know I can take off the thermal pads, but the Geniuses can still usually tell if he bottom screws have been removed.

Don't you just have to unscrew it and peel off the added thermal pads? That's a 3 minute job.

 

[Darth.Titan]

About a year and a half ago I modded my MBA with the thermal mod, and got great results. And it's still working great. But its starting to show it's limits, and I'm considering trading it in or selling it.

I know selling will get me the most $$$, but I hate haggling and the attendant nonsense of selling myself. Will Apple take a modded laptop at all, or reduce the value? I know I can take off the thermal pads, but the Geniuses can still usually tell if he bottom screws have been removed.

Apple doesn't actually handle the trade-ins themselves. My guess is that the only inspection Phobio, or whichever company is actually doing the trade, is going to make is an external and functional one. In other words if it looks good and works you're in the clear.

I seriously doubt they'd ever actually open a traded in computer. Too much chance of damaging it and ruining resale value. So as long as you didn't obviously damage the case screws when modding it, you should be okay.

That's just my opinion, I could be wrong.

 

[BeatCrazy]

Apple doesn't actually handle the trade-ins themselves. My guess is that the only inspection Phobio, or whichever company is actually doing the trade, is going to make is an external and functional one. In other words if it looks good and works you're in the clear.

I seriously doubt they'd ever actually open a traded in computer. Too much chance of damaging it and ruining resale value. So as long as you didn't obviously damage the case screws when modding it, you should be okay.

That's just my opinion, I could be wrong.

Phobio does handle the mail-in trades. But if you take it to the store, then Apple indeed as the final say/approval on accepting the trade. And they're not going to crack it open in the store... the just check the S/N and do a visual suggestion.

 

[imrazor]

Phobio does handle the mail-in trades. But if you take it to the store, then Apple indeed as the final say/approval on accepting the trade. And they're not going to crack it open in the store... the just check the S/N and do a visual suggestion.

Well…last time I traded in a machine at the store, the Genius noted that the screws had been taken out and that I had upgraded from a 128GB drive to a 512GB NVME drive. I was able to trade it in but got docked $40.

 

[Diablo360]

I don’t think they’d dock you for that. I think they only deduct for condition and non oem parts

 

[imrazor]

Just wanted to post a final update on this issue. I traded that modded M1 MBA last week and got $510. The Apple Store rep said it was in ‘perfect condition.’ I did remove the thermal pad and cleaned up a bit with a lens wipe before taking it in.

Thanks to the trade-in I was able to afford the 14” M3 Pro MacBookPro. I guess it’s extra ‘Pro’ LOL.