Is there still a secondhand market for Intel Macs?

[dawnrazor]

What are folks experiences with selling their Intel macs after replacing them with Apple Silicon?

From my initial investigation it would appear the secondhand market is flooded as people have offloaded laptops and desktops in favour of M1 and M2 series devices. In many cases people have upgraded earlier then they would have normally if Apple had stayed with Intel, the result being there are more Intel devices in the secondhand market then usual…

I’m trying to sell a mid 2020 27” iMac (3.6GHz i9, 5700XT, 128GB RAM 4TB SSD).

It’s not quiet two years old but I’d be very happy if I got 50% of what I bought it for… In reality I might be lucky to get a third of what I bought it for…

The problem, in my case is the potential buyer can buy a Mac Studio M2 Max and a cheap monitor for the same money as I’m lucking for my iMac and the spec blows the iMac out of the water.

Are there any folks out there that are actively looking for Intel machines?

 

[FreakinEurekan]

Certainly a shrinking market, coupled with over-supply. Best of luck!

 

[Longplays]

I think any non-27" Intel iMac cannot be sold for more than $1299.

For the 27" iMac it would hover around $1299, if you are lucky.

The older it is the less than $1299 it becomes.

The Intel Macs are valuable to those who absolutely need Intel in them.

 

[bobcomer]

The Intel Macs are valuable to those who absolutely need Intel in them.

I'm one of those, but already have a 2020 iMac. Not as nearly nice as the OP, only an i7 with a 512G internal drive. I'm very happy with it, but the OP's config I'd love! I suspect though that the asking price would be higher than I'd pay for any used machine.

With a third or half of Apple's "tax" for 4TB alone that kind of kills the deal, and if he got that 128G from Apple, I shudder to think of the price.

That's one problem high spec machines have over others in the used market -- they actually net less in comparison to the cost than a lower spec machine.

 

[bkmoore773]

.... I’m trying to sell a mid 2020 27” iMac (3.6GHz i9, 5700XT, 128GB RAM 4TB SSD).

I think the longer you wait, the less its resale value will be. The transition to Apple Silicone is officially over, so even the newest Intel-based Macs days of official support from Apple are numbered.

 

[dawnrazor]

I'm one of those, but already have a 2020 iMac. Not as nearly nice as the OP, only an i7 with a 512G internal drive. I'm very happy with it, but the OP's config I'd love! I suspect though that the asking price would be higher than I'd pay for any used machine.

With a third or half of Apple's "tax" for 4TB alone that kind of kills the deal, and if he got that 128G from Apple, I shudder to think of the price.

That's one problem high spec machines have over others in the used market -- they actually net less in comparison to the cost than a lower spec machine.

OWC RAM - but even with that it was a $5500USD machine to buy new… In hindsight I probably should have gone with 2TB SSD… but the difference wasn’t that much at the time and I have used the space…

But yeah if I was offered $2000USD for it I’d be a very happy chappy…

I also have a 2019 13” MBP that was my wife’s… which she replaced with a 13” MBA M2… I’m not even going to bother selling that as the market is so bad, I’ve given that to my sister, she is delighted but she’d never have bought it…

 

[bobcomer]

But yeah if I was offered $2000USD for it I’d be a very happy chappy…

You might get someone to bite on that, sounds like a good price for the right buyer. It's a really good machine, so you may want to keep it though. I'm keeping my 2020 iMac with i7 for the foreseeable future, I like the thing too much and intel inside really does help me do my work. I got my 128G RAM from Amazon, but I think it was OWC RAM.

If you could have only sold yours to me before I bought mine earlier this year! I paid around the $2000 with the RAM added, from the apple refurb store, and it was a sale price...

 

[mcnallym]

Well there does seem to be a number of people holding out for new 27” iMac with bootcamp for windows out there.

your machine would be ideal for them as extends what they have for as long as possible,

wether they prepared to pay a premium for that is another question.

 

[dawnrazor]

Well there does seem to be a number of people holding out for new 27” iMac with bootcamp for windows out there.

your machine would be ideal for them as extends what they have for as long as possible,

wether they prepared to pay a premium for that is another question.

yeah I think that's my market... someone that wants an Intel Mac firstly, presumably someone that uses software that needs rosetta to run on silicon... I imagine that pool of folks is getting smaller by the week... but yeah someone is going to get a bargain, because I will have to drop the price until it sells.

To be fair, I wasn't completely naive going into this, I knew this was likely to happen, but I had to buy the iMac at the time as my 2017 iMac just wasn't able to handle the renders I was throwing at it, the Mac Studio hadn't been announced yet and although I briefly considered the Intel Mac Pro (soooooo happy I didn't buy one of them)... I was glad I didn't buy the M1 Ultra Mac Studio as the GPU enhancements in the M2 Ultra make a massive difference to my workflow... and fingers crossed the M2 Ultra will be good for 4-5 years before it begins to show its age.

 

[eoblaed]

Yeah, I've got an i9 2019 MBP with 64GB RAM that I should probably unload 😬

 

[Apple_Robert]

What are folks experiences with selling their Intel macs after replacing them with Apple Silicon?

From my initial investigation it would appear the secondhand market is flooded as people have offloaded laptops and desktops in favour of M1 and M2 series devices. In many cases people have upgraded earlier then they would have normally if Apple had stayed with Intel, the result being there are more Intel devices in the secondhand market then usual…

I’m trying to sell a mid 2020 27” iMac (3.6GHz i9, 5700XT, 128GB RAM 4TB SSD).

It’s not quiet two years old but I’d be very happy if I got 50% of what I bought it for… In reality I might be lucky to get a third of what I bought it for…

The problem, in my case is the potential buyer can buy a Mac Studio M2 Max and a cheap monitor for the same money as I’m lucking for my iMac and the spec blows the iMac out of the water.

Are there any folks out there that are actively looking for Intel machines?

Ebay or you can Macmeanoffer.com will buy from you. I have used them before.

 

[pshufd]

I bought a 2015 27 inch iMac last week for $200. 3.2 Ghz i5, 32 GB RAM, 1 TB HDD, 2 GB video, Apple keyboard and mouse. I passed on a 2019 iMac 27 with 8 GB RAM, i5 for $400 the week before because it was an hour away. I don't recall the other specs on it. So basically the previous owner took a 90% hit on the iMac - it included the original box. I really wanted a 4k 27 inch Dell Ultrasharp but those are going for $570. The most that I would pay for a 2020 iMac 27 is $600 right now. Yes, your model is loaded but there will be base 2020s for $600 in the next 12 months as Intel Macs are just cratering in price. I sold a 2014 iMac 27, loaded for $400 last fall. I have seen them clear for $200 locally.

What do I do with it? Web browsing, editing Word documents, spreadsheets, Notes, Reminders, email, calendar, watching videos, phone calls and video calls. It's currently running at 38 degrees so this particular configuration runs cool and quiet. It sits next to my M1 Studio with 3 4k monitors - and I run my production on that system.

If I were you, I'd keep it as it sounds like a quite useful system that should get updates for a while. You could use it with a Studio as well if you can partition your workload. I actually need another iMac for another residence that we're rehabbing over the next 2 years.

BTW, 2017 iMac 27s with modest specs are ask $450 - $475 in my area. They are not moving at that price. I think that looming loss of latest OS support seems to encourage people to upgrade. I'm perfectly fine running old operating systems.

 

[dimme]

I have a Mac Studio for my main machine but I also have 3 older intel MBP's a 2019 and 2- 2013. The 2019 is still good and will be for my needs for a few more years. The older 2013 MBP's are great linux machines. You may not get top dollar for them but they are worth something to the right person.

 

[ovbacon]

Arghhhh.... my 2015 iMac 5K is now running from a external ssd and it has a crack in the display (a kind friend dropped something on it). I would have loved to have a solidly running 2020 iMac 27, what is not to love about that machine?!?!?.

But I never sell my mac's I really wear em out til they are pretty useless. Have a M1 MBA and a mini M2 but still use an 2015 intel MBA that is totally great at doing basic stuff. And I do still use the iMac for some easy stuff.

But as said, my wife and I really use our devices as long as possible. (I went from a iPhone 8 to a 13 when the 14 was released )

 

[mcnallym]

yeah I think that's my market... someone that wants an Intel Mac firstly, presumably someone that uses software that needs rosetta to run on silicon... I imagine that pool of folks is getting smaller by the week... but yeah someone is going to get a bargain, because I will have to drop the price until it sells.

To be fair, I wasn't completely naive going into this, I knew this was likely to happen, but I had to buy the iMac at the time as my 2017 iMac just wasn't able to handle the renders I was throwing at it, the Mac Studio hadn't been announced yet and although I briefly considered the Intel Mac Pro (soooooo happy I didn't buy one of them)... I was glad I didn't buy the M1 Ultra Mac Studio as the GPU enhancements in the M2 Ultra make a massive difference to my workflow... and fingers crossed the M2 Ultra will be good for 4-5 years before it begins to show its age.

When I collected my Mac Studio not long after launch from the Apple Store then I think I upset the guy. He was saying would last me 10 years.
To which my reply was will Apple provide OS updates and patches for 10 years then. Main use of my mac is FCP X which usually to update requires on current or at best 1 OS prior.
Strangely enough didn't seem to want to answer that one.

 

[Hrududu]

I bought a 2015 27 inch iMac last week for $200. 3.2 Ghz i5, 32 GB RAM, 1 TB HDD, 2 GB video, Apple keyboard and mouse. I passed on a 2019 iMac 27 with 8 GB RAM, i5 for $400 the week before because it was an hour away. I don't recall the other specs on it. So basically the previous owner took a 90% hit on the iMac - it included the original box. I really wanted a 4k 27 inch Dell Ultrasharp but those are going for $570. The most that I would pay for a 2020 iMac 27 is $600 right now. Yes, your model is loaded but there will be base 2020s for $600 in the next 12 months as Intel Macs are just cratering in price. I sold a 2014 iMac 27, loaded for $400 last fall. I have seen them clear for $200 locally.

What do I do with it? Web browsing, editing Word documents, spreadsheets, Notes, Reminders, email, calendar, watching videos, phone calls and video calls. It's currently running at 38 degrees so this particular configuration runs cool and quiet. It sits next to my M1 Studio with 3 4k monitors - and I run my production on that system.

If I were you, I'd keep it as it sounds like a quite useful system that should get updates for a while. You could use it with a Studio as well if you can partition your workload. I actually need another iMac for another residence that we're rehabbing over the next 2 years.

BTW, 2017 iMac 27s with modest specs are ask $450 - $475 in my area. They are not moving at that price. I think that looming loss of latest OS support seems to encourage people to upgrade. I'm perfectly fine running old operating systems.

You’re definitely hitting it right on the mark. Sonoma could be (probably will be) the last OS any Intel Mac gets. Once Apple quits on Intel, there likely won’t be any patching up newer OSs, just like Snow Leopard on PPC didn’t happen (not counting the early betas) but Apple isn’t going to have any reason to include graphics drivers for ATI, Nvidia, or Intel. Buying into basically any Intel Mac at this point is not something I’d advise unless the discount is extreme and the understanding that security and OS updates are likely going to run out in 3 years.

 

[i486dx2-66]

The Intel to Apple Silicon trade can be favorable too in some cases.

For example, I bought the 2018 i7 Mini in early 2019 for $1299.
Nearly four and a half years later, it's worth $215 in trade-in credit with Apple.

That's over 80% depreciation... which sounds horrific, but the base M2 Mini was on sale for $499 a week ago.
So after 4.5 years, I could effectively pay just $284 (plus tax) to double the performance of my Mini! 🤷‍♂️

 

[Longplays]

The Intel to Apple Silicon trade can be favorable too in some cases.

For example, I bought the 2018 i7 Mini in early 2019 for $1299.
Nearly four and a half years later, it's worth $215 in trade-in credit with Apple.

That's over 80% depreciation... which sounds horrific, but the base M2 Mini was on sale for $499 a week ago.
So after 4.5 years, I could effectively pay just $284 (plus tax) to double the performance of my Mini! 🤷‍♂️

90s replacement cycle is 3 years. At the end of that its considered scrap value as the tax man and accountant's are concerned.

Fast forward to the past 10 years Apple expect Macs to be replaced every 4 years and Intel expects every 5-6 years.

If the Mac mini M1/M2 was user upgradeable then BoM and manufacturing costs would increase.

The M1's more powerful than any 2010 PC from Intel/AMD/Nvidia. at $499(?)?

 

[B S Magnet]

What are folks experiences with selling their Intel macs after replacing them with Apple Silicon?

From my initial investigation it would appear the secondhand market is flooded as people have offloaded laptops and desktops in favour of M1 and M2 series devices. In many cases people have upgraded earlier then they would have normally if Apple had stayed with Intel, the result being there are more Intel devices in the secondhand market then usual…

I’m trying to sell a mid 2020 27” iMac (3.6GHz i9, 5700XT, 128GB RAM 4TB SSD).

It’s not quiet two years old but I’d be very happy if I got 50% of what I bought it for… In reality I might be lucky to get a third of what I bought it for…

The problem, in my case is the potential buyer can buy a Mac Studio M2 Max and a cheap monitor for the same money as I’m lucking for my iMac and the spec blows the iMac out of the water.

Are there any folks out there that are actively looking for Intel machines?

If other people have a use for them, then there will always be a second-hand market. This has always been the case.

But this discussion — and your preoccupation — is less about the use-value of Intel Macs and more about their exchange-value. Spend some time on this forum and you will find the community and our focus is, overwhelmingly, on the use-value of those Intel Macs right now.

Further, since your question — and much of this discussion — concerns late Intel Macs (specifically, a 2020 iMac), you may find a better set of forum participants for discussing your question by taking this topic over to either the Marketplace or Community Discussion forums. This isn’t to say that you shouldn’t keep this discussion here, but you will find most of the regulars on the EIM forum are not going to be talking a lot about the exchange-value of 2015, 2018, or 2020 Macs.

That said, there seems to be a lower demand of late for AIO — all-in-one systems like the iMac. I have run across local listings of people literally giving away, for free, 2013 models.

 

[pshufd]

That said, there seems to be a lower demand of late for AIO — all-in-one systems like the iMac. I have run across local listings of people literally giving away, for free, 2013 models.

I have considered doing that with my 2009 iMac 27.

My 2010 iMac is a TV for my spin bike. It has the infared remote which is nice for controlling videos.

 

[B S Magnet]

I have considered doing that with my 2009 iMac 27.

My 2010 iMac is a TV for my spin bike. It has the infared remote which is nice for controlling videos.

Even when they’re older, they’re still surprisingly useful for a lot more than many give them credit for. And if you have no longer use for them, there will absolutely be someone nearby who will. For all you know, they might throw on linux and make it a file server.

 

[TheShortTimer]

If other people have a use for them, then there will always be a second-hand market. This has always been the case.

Very true. A second-hand market exists for PPC Macs - and even the 68K machines.

But this discussion — and your preoccupation — is less about the use-value of Intel Macs and more about their exchange-value. Spend some time on this forum and you will find the community and our focus is, overwhelmingly, on the use-value of those Intel Macs right now.

Excellent advice.

 

[i486dx2-66]

That said, there seems to be a lower demand of late for AIO — all-in-one systems like the iMac. I have run across local listings of people literally giving away, for free, 2013 models.

Free is obviously an outlier... but it makes perfect sense that the value of a 2013 iMac would be low. It's the older non-retina display, and tops out at macOS Catalina, which stopped receiving security updates over a year ago. It won't even work as a target display anymore, unless you downgrade its OS and have an older Mac that also has an outdated OS to connect to it.

 

[f54da]

Probably not much, especially the ones that stopped being supported by latest OS. You could always install linux etc. but most people won't, so that drops resale value considerably. Then consider that no one really uses osx for headless servers, and that again cuts the resale value. And unlike the really vintage apple products there doesn't seem to be much collectible value in them either, since they're quite plentiful. That leaves the only market as someone who actually wants to run an older version of macos, which is quite a slim target market.

I think the 2015 macbook pro and last retina imac might still retain some value just because of the latter's relatively slick design and the former being the last portable intel workhorse (2016-2019 all had bunch of notorious issues). Assuming the laptop is in good condition, there could potentially be a slight rebound in interest a decade or so down the line as the last diehard fans of older osx (e.g. those using lion - mavericks) try to seek out parts to keep their machines running.

 

[pshufd]

I think the 2015 macbook pro and last retina imac might still retain some value just because of the latter's relatively slick design and the former being the last portable intel workhorse (2016-2019 all had bunch of notorious issues). Assuming the laptop is in good condition, there could potentially be a slight rebound in interest a decade or so down the line as the last diehard fans of older osx (e.g. those using lion - mavericks) try to seek out parts to keep their machines running.

I have a 2015 MacBook Pro 15 2.5/AMD/512 and I'd guess that the value is $100 - $200. The performance, thermals and battery life of the M1 Air make it a better laptop for most and those are coming onto the used market. Those with more money can just get the Air 15.

It's easy to get spoiled by Apple Silicon.