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Buying a 6,1 now , Resale value

C

circuitt

macrumors member
Original poster
Nov 3, 2016
88
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I'm getting a refurbished 6,1 now .. can't wait a year+ for the new MP to drop and I'm not really interested in an all in one Imac at all... not even the new pros coming out in a few months. I have a project I'm in the middle of and just sold my MBP due to Fan Noise and CPU power, I already have a ton of thunderbolt expansion bays, docks.. so the old Mac pros are out. So I am STUCK with the current Mac Pro.
I plan on using it till the new Mac Pros come out in a year or so and sell my mac pro to fund it. I am wondering about resale value based on the GPU alone, Cpu, etc.. can be upgraded.
Honestly I could probably get by with a D300 , but I feel I'll get a better return on a d500/d700 in the future.
here are refurb prices +TAX and the difference from a 6core with different video cards.
2,674.16 6 core d300
2,956.91 6 core d500 +283 from d300
3,141.79 6 core d700 +184 from d500 / +467 from d300
 
Once the new mMP comes out the 6,1 will not be worth much. The reason the earlier Mac Pros kept their value is that they were immensely upgradable with new hard drives, more memory, better video cards, etc. The 6,1, on the other hand, is about as bad as an iMac in the upgrade department and there was nothing decent (I'm looking at you nMP) to replace it. No one is going to want a 4+ year old nMP if they can get a shiny new 7,1 at a decent price.
 
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Only thing that can't be upgraded on the cMP are the GPU's, CPU,Ram and SSD can be, and a thunderbolt dock for external storage. Just worried about taking a huge hit in value. the New Mac Pros are going to be 5k+ if not more so...
 
If you can sell it with Apple Care either in place or still eligible, that'll help. Obviously you won't make your money back, but if you need it right now, be prepared to take a hit on the resell value. I'd probably just buy the cheapest one you can get by with. The % lost will probably be a lot less than buying a higher end model. People looking to buy high end will most likely opt for the next get Mac Pro than a high end old model.
 
And it will depend on how frequently your system hangs/restarts due to the continuing ATI GPU issues.

The MP6,1 is "damaged goods" due to the widespread reports of GPU issues.
 
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Hrududu said:
If you can sell it with Apple Care either in place or still eligible, that'll help. Obviously you won't make your money back, but if you need it right now, be prepared to take a hit on the resell value. I'd probably just buy the cheapest one you can get by with. The % lost will probably be a lot less than buying a higher end model. People looking to buy high end will most likely opt for the next get Mac Pro than a high end old model.
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Yeah that does make some sense, what I have 60 days to add apple care right?
 
I almost did this. In fact I received delivery of a refurbished base-model D300 Mac Pro (w/ AppleCare), but it had a defect, and I was still on the fence whether it was a good purchase and I came to my senses and just returned it. Got a base-model 27" iMac instead while I wait for the next Mac Pro redesign (assuming it fits my budget; I might be waiting for refurbs of that).

As others said, the 6,1 is just not going to have great resale value. I'd guess it's resale value is already bad at this moment. I'd guess resale value will take a dip once the iMac Pro is released, and then a really big dip once the new Mac Pro is released. I think you'll have a hard time recovering even half of what you paid if you're buying at Apple refurb prices.

Even though I absolutely hate the idea of all-in-ones (especially without Target Display Mode), I sucked it up and bought a 2017 27" iMac. Even if I were to disable the internal 5K display and only use an external display, it'd still be a better value than the Mac Pro 6,1. I think the 27" iMac will retain resale value better. And I can buy TB3 gear without having to worry about TB2-to-TB3 adapters and compatibility issues. The non-ECC RAM is cheap which is a bonus.

That said, if you need 128GB RAM, need a powerful machine that can be easily transported, and/or need a ton of ThunderBolt ports (and are ok with TB2), the 6,1 may be where it's at. I suppose if you have a lot of TB2 gear, you're already going to deal with adapters/compatibility issues going to TB3, so there's that.

Personally I wouldn't invest money into internal or proprietary form-factor graphics cards with macOS adding eGPU support. Though with the 6,1's TB2 the eGPU story is not as compelling as with iMac's TB3. With the 6,1, if there is one GPU option that isn't having widespread issues, that may be the one to get, though, assuming it meets your needs.
 
Yeah it's a hard place to be in , a 27" won't even fit on my desk due to already having two 4k 22' monitors and those barley fit. I guess I could go for a low end referb mac pro at around 2400 and just cross my fingers. Used market is sketchy on ebay with all the CPU swaps and what not, and even then, a 6core is selling for 2k+ used now. So I'm paying 300+tax more to go through apple, piece of mind I guess (having a warranty). Guess I'm just screwed either way.
 
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circuitt said:
Yeah it's a hard place to be in , a 27" won't even fit on my desk due to already having two 4k 22' monitors and those barley fit. I guess I could go for a low end referb mac pro at around 2400 and just cross my fingers. Used market is sketchy on ebay with all the CPU swaps and what not, and even then, a 6core is selling for 2k+ used now. So I'm paying 300+tax more to go through apple, piece of mind I guess (having a warranty). Guess I'm just screwed either way.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I had to give up one of my two monitors to
 
circuitt said:
Yeah it's a hard place to be in , a 27" won't even fit on my desk due to already having two 4k 22' monitors and those barley fit. I guess I could go for a low end referb mac pro at around 2400 and just cross my fingers. Used market is sketchy on ebay with all the CPU swaps and what not, and even then, a 6core is selling for 2k+ used now. So I'm paying 300+tax more to go through apple, piece of mind I guess (having a warranty). Guess I'm just screwed either way.
Click to expand...

I know what you mean about used prices for 6,1 Mac Pros. I have been searching for one and was surprised as to how much sellers are getting for them. I just received mine this afternoon (typing this response on it now). It's a six core that I picked up for a few hundred below the $2K price you mentioned. But it took me a few weeks of watching to find it. It's still under Apple Care until mid 2018 and, as far as I can tell, is in excellent condition. Seller even included the Apple Aluminum full sized keyboard and Mighty Mouse. It was a reasonable deal, not exceptional but better than what quad core systems are selling for.
 
Yeah looks like if was outside the US I'd have a year from purchase and 60 days from the US. But I could be wrong.
"If you're outside of the United States and Japan and your Mac is eligible, you can buy an AppleCare Protection Plan to extend coverage for three years from the original purchase date of your Mac."
 
circuitt said:
Yeah looks like if was outside the US I'd have a year from purchase and 60 days from the US. But I could be wrong.
"If you're outside of the United States and Japan and your Mac is eligible, you can buy an AppleCare Protection Plan to extend coverage for three years from the original purchase date of your Mac."
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That’s the phone support. Hardware support is a year.
 
Lol @ phone support.
Yeah so the consenious is don't waste money on upgrading the outdated GPU. External GPU would blow them out of the water. Well when they are ready...
Pop in a 8/10 core, 64gb of ram and wait it out.
 
circuitt said:
...External GPU would blow them out of the water. Well when they are ready...
Pop in a 8/10 core, 64gb of ram and wait it out.
Click to expand...
Depends on the apps. If they are optimized for AMD and multi-GPU aware, d700s still hang with decent single card solutions (especially considering their age).
 
I do photography, video and 3d. I bought my nMP 6 core 2xD700 used from a Germany store with warranty at 3K euros.

With 512gb ssd and 32gb of ram, one 8tb thunderbolt drive and one 16tb USB3 TM backup I think I can work with it for almost another 4 or five years 'till now.

I do not know how much I can sell it in the future. But if it works for five years is 600 euro/years. 50 euro a month for one of the best computer I ever had.
 
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Buy for your current and future needs while you own it. Do not buy more than that based on future resale.
 
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circuitt said:
Yeah it's a hard place to be in , a 27" won't even fit on my desk due to already having two 4k 22' monitors and those barley fit. I guess I could go for a low end referb mac pro at around 2400 and just cross my fingers. Used market is sketchy on ebay with all the CPU swaps and what not, and even then, a 6core is selling for 2k+ used now. So I'm paying 300+tax more to go through apple, piece of mind I guess (having a warranty). Guess I'm just screwed either way.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I understand the desk constraints with the iMac. I had enough space for the 27", but had to give up one of my two external monitors which I use with my work MBP on the occasions I work from home. Now I use my laptop screen as the second monitor (used to clamshell it), but it's not the same.
 
mp2017 said:
I know what you mean about used prices for 6,1 Mac Pros. I have been searching for one and was surprised as to how much sellers are getting for them.
Click to expand...
This is largely because many of the posters here reside in their bubble of nMP hate (and spread FUD for their own amusement - see quote below), and that sentiment just seeps into the thinking of everything around here.

AidenShaw said:
And it will depend on how frequently your system hangs/restarts due to the continuing ATI GPU issues.

The MP6,1 is "damaged goods" due to the widespread reports of GPU issues.
Click to expand...
 
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nilk said:
Yeah, I understand the desk constraints with the iMac. I had enough space for the 27", but had to give up one of my two external monitors which I use with my work MBP on the occasions I work from home. Now I use my laptop screen as the second monitor (used to clamshell it), but it's not the same.
Click to expand...
[doublepost=1506615405][/doublepost]I should of ordered/bought one a week ago and I just can't make up my mind!
 
ixxx69 said:
This is largely because many of the posters here reside in their bubble of nMP hate (and spread FUD for their own amusement - see quote below), and that sentiment just seeps into the thinking of everything around here.
Click to expand...
I'm not following what it is you're saying.
 
ixxx69 said:
This is largely because many of the posters here reside in their bubble of nMP hate (and spread FUD for their own amusement - see quote below), and that sentiment just seeps into the thinking of everything around here.
Click to expand...

Agree, if Apple had a at least bothered to update the components two or three times since the release it would actually still be a very nice machine. Thankfully insurance covered most of the upgrade when my apartment partially flooded. I love mine as-is but the geek in me cringed at paying what Apple is asking even after the price drop.
 
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