Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Cruciarius

macrumors regular
Original poster
Aug 18, 2013
109
17
Massachusetts
Has anyone done a trade-in with an iMac? Did it go well?

I have a late 2014 model and right away I have a question about it. My internal drive is a 3.12 TB fusion drive. That is the default drive it came with. However, when I go to Apple's trade-in process it tells me that this is my iMac: iMac Core i7 4.0GHz 27" Retina 5K (Late 2014) 1TB. Why does it think it's a 1 TB? I copy and paste the serial into Apple's trade-in process and it's telling me the wrong internal storage. Does anyone know why?

A co-worker of mine suggests against the Apple trade-in process with the iMac, claiming he has done it and was given much less than what it quoted him.

My iMac is more or less in perfect shape. It turns on. Nothing is warped about its design. It boots. The OS operates fine. I did remove the screen at one point because although I brought it in for overheating many times, they never fixed it. Then the warranty expired. After that, I opened it up myself and removed a small rabbit-sized amount of dust clogging the fan, among other areas. Didn't solve the overheating, but it did help. Don't think they'll notice the overheating unless they add a 2nd monitor as I have in my setup.

My plan is to trade in this iMac + an old iPad Mini for an M1 Mac Mini.
 

Cruciarius

macrumors regular
Original poster
Aug 18, 2013
109
17
Massachusetts
Phobio has a very bad history of not honoring quotes and low-balling trade-ins. YHou would probably do better selling privately.
Apple's trade-in on their site says I might get $530.
Phobio's trade-in on their site says I might get $540.

Do you or anyone know roughly how much they would low-ball the trade-in?
 

wilberforce

macrumors 68030
Aug 15, 2020
2,932
3,211
SF Bay Area
I traded in my late 2014 i7 1TB 5K iMac for $530 through Apple, no problem. Phobio does the trade-ins for Apple.
But mine actually did have a 1TB SSD. It was also in flawless condition. Only issue was image retention, which is typical for 2014/2015 5K iMacs.
I was more interested in an easy trade in process than trying to get the best price.
 
Last edited:

nydennis

macrumors regular
Dec 21, 2011
130
7
Long Island, NY
I did a chat with Apple yesterday for same issue. My Late 2014 has the i7 with the 512GB SSD and was offered 530 as well. The Apple rep said the HDD makes no difference in determining the price. I was looking at Sellmymac as well but I think the Apple one might be less hassle. That is the only thing that has slowed my upgrade process to the 2020 was the trade in so far.
 

Cruciarius

macrumors regular
Original poster
Aug 18, 2013
109
17
Massachusetts
I guess after 6 years of daily use, when they refurbish the iMac the HDD might just get replaced anyway. So yeah, I can see the HDD size not mattering much, now that I think of it.
 

nydennis

macrumors regular
Dec 21, 2011
130
7
Long Island, NY
I guess after 6 years of daily use, when they refurbish the iMac the HDD might just get replaced anyway. So yeah, I can see the HDD size not mattering much, now that I think of it.
Yeah, I thought of the same thing. I do have 32GB of RAM in it vs the 8 that came with it but the ram is useless to me now anyway so they can have it
 

Cruciarius

macrumors regular
Original poster
Aug 18, 2013
109
17
Massachusetts
Yeah, I thought of the same thing. I do have 32GB of RAM in it vs the 8 that came with it but the ram is useless to me now anyway so they can have it
I maxed my RAM out 3rd party, so I was thinking of putting the original RAM back into it and then seeing what I could get for the used RAM.
 

nydennis

macrumors regular
Dec 21, 2011
130
7
Long Island, NY
You could do that. You wouldn't get much for it, I am sure. To me it was not worth the hassle. If they give me a hard time, I will get my computer back, and return the iMac or try to sell it privately locally. I will not sell on eBay.
 

nydennis

macrumors regular
Dec 21, 2011
130
7
Long Island, NY
Apple has updated the trade in prices. My iMac is worth 20 dollars more if I traded it in now vs two days ago when I ordered. not going ot argue over 20 dollars but....
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.