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Sell my 2019 Macbook Pro 15" for a 16"? Worth it?

L

lionfleet

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Sep 11, 2012
20
2
Hey guys, I was one of the suckers that bought the 2019 Macbook Pro 15" (8-core). It's well beyond return at this point. I'm wondering if it would be wise to try to sell it right now while it still has good value and upgrade to the 16"?

I just worry that with the 15" no longer being sold that it'll depreciate faster than normal. However, on the other hand, the cost to sell and upgrade (probably 200-500 bucks depending on how much I can sell mine for) might negate any potential depreciation?

Would it be best to just suck it up and wait a year to upgrade right before next update? Or two years? At least from what I've heard... It seems like the 1-2 year period is the best time to re-sell your Macbook Pro and get best sell value to upgrade.

Any thoughts?
 
I was going to trade mine in but not worth it. I will just wait to summer and get the next version. That way I hope to get a better FaceTime camera and maybe WiFi 6
 
I also have an 8 core 2019 15 (2.4/1tb/560x) but I have the opportunity to pass down my 15 to someone else. So, I've tried 3 16s and they all had something wrong. One with major screen issues: very yellow / very dim, one with very loud coil whine (they all have it but this one was extra loud) and one with a pretty good screen but the right side of the keyboard sounds / feels different than the rest.

The 16 (2.3/1tb/5500) benchmarks 2% slower in Geekbench CPU, 35% faster in Geekbench Metal, 15% faster Cinebench. Most of my work is not sustained multicore processing but just a lot of IT work, many, many browser tabs, remote access, slack, Trello, terminal, occasional Windows VM, frequent "light task" adobe suite photoshop, premiere, audition, acrobat, Lightroom, heavy excel, etc.

The 15 is perfect, nothing's wrong with it. Great screen, fast, decent battery life, and the 2019 revision of the butterfly keyboard, to me, is just fine and I think I'm going to keep it another year. Maybe I'll try again in a few months when the early production run of 16s are gone.

I would hold off, the 2019 is the best of this model type, and in less than a year they'll be a 16 rev b.

In our office, the 2016 15s are the ones with the most problems 3 years on...
 
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Tough call. If it were me, I'd sell it now, get as much as I can, and get into the 16" machine. I do think butterfly-era Macbooks are going to get devalued more than usual.
 
First, I would stop worrying about trade in value for any computer. It's a losing proposition any way you look at it. Simply accept the fact that computers are disposable items and every 6-12 months there will be a newer model available. Translation: the machine you have now is more than capable. If money is no object, then buy the 16" and celebrate an early Christmas gift to yourself. Otherwise, enjoy the one you have now and be happy that you at least have a new computer for your use. That's my four cents.
 
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lionfleet said:
Hey guys, I was one of the suckers that bought the 2019 Macbook Pro 15" (8-core). It's well beyond return at this point. I'm wondering if it would be wise to try to sell it right now while it still has good value and upgrade to the 16"?

I just worry that with the 15" no longer being sold that it'll depreciate faster than normal. However, on the other hand, the cost to sell and upgrade (probably 200-500 bucks depending on how much I can sell mine for) might negate any potential depreciation?

Would it be best to just suck it up and wait a year to upgrade right before next update? Or two years? At least from what I've heard... It seems like the 1-2 year period is the best time to re-sell your Macbook Pro and get best sell value to upgrade.

Any thoughts?
Click to expand...
I just recently returned my brand new 2019 MBP 15 (8 core, 32GM RAM, Vega 20 Pro, 4TB SSD) and got the MBP 16 (specs in sig).

From what I can tell you, the biggest difference that actually matter are a much better keyboard, better key travel so it's easier to type with no mistakes, and best of all is the speakers, that's a night and day difference. I have never heard audio on any laptop even gaming laptops that sounds this rich and deep in sound thanks to its 6 speaker + 2 woofers setup.

In terms of performance, I cannot tell a difference even though Apple claims that the new MBP has better thermals perhaps if you hammer it with a lot of multi-core stuff that uses the CPU then it may hold higher clock speeds due to not overheating as much but what stands out really are those 2 things I mentioned above.

The screen is just slightly bigger so it's not that BIG of an upgrade but to me as a user, what matters to me the most is the keyboard and screen as that's what I'm doing all day long, typing or watching YouTube.
 
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Yes those speakers are awesome. Listening to Pandora right now and wow...just incredible sound.
 
I feel like you've already lost a lot of value on your current machine, so you might as well wait for the next revision if you're primarily concerned with value and not performance. I think you are being optimistic thinking that you could sell your current one and upgrade for as little as $200.
 
I sold my 2019 15.4, but that was in the first week after the 16" was announced, so felt was able to maximise price in that period, as after that retailers started discounting to clear them out.

I think at this point, it's not really going to depreciate any faster than normal. There's a few people who make a lot of noise about the butterfly keyboards etc, but there's also plenty of people out there looking for a well priced second hand MacBook that aren't heavily tuned in to all that, so when it comes time to sell I think they'd just be comparing on relative price & specs.

So I'd say keep it for now if you're happy with it...
 
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It will continue to depreciate, but not any faster or slower than it would have anyway. Every few months its value will drop. That's just how it is. If your current computer does what you want and you're happy enough, you don't need to worry about this—upgrade when you're ready.

I upgraded from a 2018 15" MBP + a 2017 13" MBP. I didn't strictly need to. I didn't do it out of worry about depreciation. I did it because I wanted that bigger screen and better keyboard. If there's feature of the 16" that make you prefer it over your current machine, then upgrade. Your 16" will start depreciating too once you buy it. Depreciation is always with you, whichever model/year you own. The point at which you jump from one to another has no effect on that.
 
pshifrin said:
I also have an 8 core 2019 15 (2.4/1tb/560x) but I have the opportunity to pass down my 15 to someone else. So, I've tried 3 16s and they all had something wrong. One with major screen issues: very yellow / very dim, one with very loud coil whine (they all have it...
Click to expand...

You tried every 16" Macbook pro on the planet? No, they all do NOT have it.
 
The only thing putting me off selling my current system and buying the 16" is the reported screen ghosting issue......
 
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lionfleet said:
I was one of the suckers that bought the 2019 Macbook Pro 15" (8-core).
Click to expand...
Why do you consider a sucker? You bought a computer when you needed one. The 2019 15" MBP is a fine computer. The advantages of the 16" model a few though some may consider them significant.

lionfleet said:
Any thoughts?
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Its a difficult question, that only you can answer. The 16" MBP isn't perfect, there seems to be a handful of issues that are being reported, yet there is an improvement to the keyboard, speakers and battery. Thermally it does tend to run a tad cooler as well. Is that worth the hassle of selling your machine and re-buying? I don't know in all honesty.


Donnation said:
Which is not an issue.
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Seems to be an issue, given the large thread where people are complaining, returning and generally unhappy
 
maflynn said:
Why do you consider a sucker? You bought a computer when you needed one. The 2019 15" MBP is a fine computer. The advantages of the 16" model a few though some may consider them significant.


Its a difficult question, that only you can answer. The 16" MBP isn't perfect, there seems to be a handful of issues that are being reported, yet there is an improvement to the keyboard, speakers and battery. Thermally it does tend to run a tad cooler as well. Is that worth the hassle of selling your machine and re-buying? I don't know in all honesty.



Seems to be an issue, given the large thread where people are complaining, returning and generally unhappy
Click to expand...

A large thread where a handful of people are complaining is nothing new in here. That doesn’t make it an issue. The amount of things people return these over is nothing short of comical.
 
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Donnation said:
A large thread where a handful of people are complaining is nothing new in here. That doesn’t make it an issue. The amount of things people return these over is nothing short of comical.
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I disagree, and by the way, this logic was used for the keyboard issue way back in 2016 where many people downplayed the butterfly keyboard problem, and/or blamed the owner

By the very definition of issue, the ghosting problem does fit and people are unhappy with it. So yes, if the display isn't working as they envisioned and there are multiple people complaining about it, even returning their laptops, then I consider it an issue. It may not be a design issue like the butterfly keyboard but rather an attribute to the type of display panel being used, but its an issue for those affected nonetheless.
 
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maflynn said:
I disagree, and by the way, this logic was used for the keyboard issue way back in 2016 where many people downplayed the butterfly keyboard problem, and/or blamed the owner

By the very definition of issue, the ghosting problem does fit and people are unhappy with it. So yes, if the display isn't working as they envisioned and there are multiple people complaining about it, even returning their laptops, then I consider it an issue. It may not be a design issue like the butterfly keyboard but rather an attribute to the type of display panel being used, but its an issue for those affected nonetheless.
Click to expand...

We can agree to disagree. Every single solitary issue reported in here isn't a blanket problem or even a problem at all for the 16" MacBook Pro. I'm sorry, but it just isn't. That Ghosting thread has been challenged by many people (including myself) and there is not any validity to it in my opinion. You can think there is, and that's fine, but it doesn't make it an actual issue.

As I said, the reasons you have people complaining and returning the 16" are ridiculous in a lot of cases. You have one thread where someone returns his because he says the display rocks when you open it, and another guy who returned his because he felt like his delete key was a little louder than the other keys. Does that make these things issues? Nope. This forum is chock full of people complaining about this or that but that doens't make it a widespread problem.

A real problem is the speakers popping. Its been validated and enough people have the issue to actually say its a real issue causing people problems. The ghosting issue imo is nonsense and I'm not going to listen to someone tell me that my screen is ghosting when I've tested it against my iMac 5K, my iPad Pro, and my iPhone Pro Max and see no difference to my naked eye.
 
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Had one of the first MBP 15s with Touch Bar. No I wouldn't trade a near brand new 15 for the 16. However, my older 15"MBP had the dreaded bad keyboard AGAIN. I would take a week to get repaired and I'm doing a lot of traveling for work, so I can't be without a laptop for a week.
So, made the purchase of the MBP16. Compared to my old MBP15 the keyboard is worlds better. I'm a super fast typist and didn't realize how terrible the keyboard on the MBP15 was until the switch. Another noticeable difference is the 'snap' experienced when plugging in USB-C devices. Much better.

Once the old MBP15 returns, I'll hand it over to someone else in the business that can use it; no shortage of takers there.

Would I upgrade a 6 month old MBP15? No I wouldn't.
 
Donnation said:
We can agree to disagree.
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We can, and if you left your post as it was, that was fine. I find it funny that you state that we can agree to disagree then go on about how wrong I am.

The fact remains that there are people unhappy with how the display is acting, you dismiss this, I don't. Pure and simple. So lets just agree to disagree and leave at that :rolleyes:
 
maflynn said:
We can, and if you left your post as it was, that was fine. I find it funny that you state that we can agree to disagree then go on about how wrong I am.

The fact remains that there are people unhappy with how the display is acting, you dismiss this, I don't. Pure and simple. So lets just agree to disagree and leave at that :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

We can’t agree to disagree and me clarify my statement? I never said you were wrong, i just gave my opinion. But ok, whatever.
 
Thought about it, but I really don't have a workflow that I would notice the difference. I'm planning on keeping this for 3-4 years and giving to the wife at that point and upgrading mine.
 
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