Why do Macs have high resale value?

[Demon Hunter]

Thursday night (4/13) i had a customer that's still a G3 iMac as his photoshop work machine .....

Then i sold him on a $3300.00 system is a Quad with a 23" apple lcd since that system will be able run @least 6 to 7 yrs after apple has finished intel switch ..

This chat with the customer lasted for @least 30 mins ...

but i won't get the credit for the sale

Now THAT is what I call an upgrade.

The best analogy I can think of is that Macs are like vintage automobiles. There are models which are practical, novelties, relics, wrecks, etc. People restore cars because something about it resonates with them. Limited supplies are a huge factor, but people love Macs because they are so much more than computers.

 

[plarusa]

The only clincher will be how badly they want to run OS X I guess.

It is safe to assume that any self respecting MAC user will insist on running OS X. There is no value in purchasing a MAC just to run Windows.

 

[MacBoobsPro]

newbie question. I'm getting ready to switch and it's such a foreign concept to me that I can own a computer than anyone will want to buy a year later for 60-70% of initial cost. Can anyone explain to me why people buy used Macs at such high prices?

Let me put it in clearer terms. A mac is like a Ferrari, you can drive it for years and years. When you come to sell it, its still a Ferrari, even if its old and a little bit slower, theres always someone that wants to buy it because its a Ferrari.

 

[waltchan]

Apple computers have a higher resale value because Apple doesn't increase the processor speed and RAM memory too much for the past four years. Apple releases new models every 6-8 months, unlike PCs, which release new models every 2-3 months.

 

[tonyl]

Because they have a longer, more usable life-span then most Windows based machines.

In fact, all my Macs are over three years old, yet run better then most of my friends new PC's. I run PS, Illustrator, Final Cut, etc. on my G4, and older versions of similar software on my G3 and Ti.

Right, that's true. But there are a couple of reasons. All of them are ture.

 

[shrhaider]

Apple computers have a higher resale value because Apple doesn't increase the processor speed and RAM memory too much for the past four years. Apple releases new models every 6-8 months, unlike PCs, which release new models every 2-3 months.

This is a good thing?

In addition to this fact macs are simply made of better parts then your average computer (ati cards, Texas Instruments soundcards, ect...) Basically the overall quality of these units is pretty damn good.

I am curious if this is still true. With the switch to Intel processors providing a clear comparison for the CPUs, how about the other components? Superdrive, sound cards, etc -- where do these come from, and what kind of quality are they actually? I'm really curious about that. Because as much as I love Apple design, and like OS X, if I'm gonna switch and pay a lot more, I'd almost rather hack OS X to run on a cheap PC with components that are just as good if not better.

 

[LethalWolfe]

This is a good thing?



I am curious if this is still true. With the switch to Intel processors providing a clear comparison for the CPUs, how about the other components? Superdrive, sound cards, etc -- where do these come from, and what kind of quality are they actually? I'm really curious about that. Because as much as I love Apple design, and like OS X, if I'm gonna switch and pay a lot more, I'd almost rather hack OS X to run on a cheap PC with components that are just as good if not better.

If yer gonna hack OS X to run on a non-Apple computer you might as well just stick w/Windows. Apple sells a completely package. The hardware and software are designed for each other where as Windows+PC is just designed to run. It's kinda like buying something custom made versus buying something generic and off the shelf.

And the difference between a Dell or Gateway and a Mac, assuming the machines have comparable hardware and software isn't as much as people make it out to be.


Lethal

 

[localnet]

A mac is like a Honda...

My wife has an old 2nd gen 600 ghz iBook, that is all she uses.

In the corner is an unused 1 year old Compaq 2.8 ghz Windows laptop. Under the G4 iBook I am typing this on, is a 6 month old 1.8 ghz HP laptop. Both of the Windows laptops are faster and have more wizbang then her old iBook, but you know what, the iBooks just work.

A few months ago I gave a friend of mine a brand new Toshiba laptop that we had bought for our business. She was glad to see it go. My friend loved it, and I was happy to see it go. That darn thing drove me nuts, and I was sick of screwing with it to get it to work. I informed my friend of the problems, he got it working, and was grateful for the gift.

I don't have time to screw around with my PCs. I back everything up daily, when one fails we get a new hard drive or a new machine, its just cheaper that way. Time is money! And I am sick of sending them to the shop, or trying to convey my problems to someone who does not even speak english!

Now my Macs, hell, we never even turn them off! The darn things just work, imagine that! If you just need to do day to day stuff, and do not need some specialty software, you cannot beat a Mac! With OSX you have a rock solid OS and hardware that is built around, and for, the operating system.

I have plenty of PC nightmare stories that have cost me thousands of dollars in lost revenue. If I had my way Redmond would burn for foisting this patch work crap on us.

That is why Macs have such a high resale value,

Mike

 

[shrhaider]

in that case, you wanna donate one of those useless laptops to my poor ass?

 

[localnet]

in that case, you wanna donate one of those useless laptops to my poor ass?

As mad as I am regarding the Windows laptops I have laying around, and a few more beers, I would probably box one up and ship it to you for free to Korea. But, the one in the corner is a back up for now, just came out of the shop, again. And, I just slapped a new hard drive in the 1.8 ghz a few days ago with a clean copy of XP Pro. The joys of Windows...

Mike

 

[jhu]

point me towards a 2 year old pc laptop that can handle AE7, CS2, and so on, as well as this and i'd be very surprised. because they don't exist.

well, be prepared to be surprised because they're everywhere. sempron, athlon, pentium 4, and pentium m-based laptops were around 2 years ago. and they could certainly handle any of those.

Macs keep their value because they stay useful for many years longer than PC's.

this is such a fallacy that keeps being perpetuated by the mac fanboys. the useful life of a "pc" is really no different than any other computer.

 

[jhu]

This is the worst logic I've ever seen.

acutally it's not. how much does a used ibm rs/6000 cost? still more than a used macintosh.

 

[auhlixer]

apple=============> honda/toyota

newbie question. I'm getting ready to switch and it's such a foreign concept to me that I can own a computer than anyone will want to buy a year later for 60-70% of initial cost. Can anyone explain to me why people buy used Macs at such high prices?

apple=============> honda/toyota

 

[generik]

newbie question. I'm getting ready to switch and it's such a foreign concept to me that I can own a computer than anyone will want to buy a year later for 60-70% of initial cost. Can anyone explain to me why people buy used Macs at such high prices?

My guess would be artificial constraints, previously on the PPC platform a single Mhz is like "Oh so precious" since lines are only updated and speed bumped on whims of Apple (not very often).

My further guess is this will be a trend that will be ending soon, as Apple switched to commodity chips and falls in line with the rest of the industry. Think about it, would you pay 60% for a Pee Cee (albeit engineered with DRM so it can run MacOS) of last year's pricing when everywhere else the pricing for a similar spec machine has collapsed?

I wouldn't.

 

[generik]

Apple sells a completely package. The hardware and software are designed for each other where as Windows+PC is just designed to run.

So?

Just because Apple did it that way doesn't mean the customer will be required to adjust his/her requirements. He/she will just work at it someplace else and get the desire satisfied, and a hacked OSX happens to address that.

I for one welcome a mainstream distribution of MacOS for all beige boxes, after seeing the kind of high quality parts in Macs, colour me very impressed indeed.

 

[StarbucksSam]

I'd say that there worth it!
The market supports the demand.
This should be pretty telling.
You are basically asking why choose a Mac.
It isn't just he OS, hardware, the aesthetics, or the cult thing.
If I may use a poor metaphor, their like Hondas.
Hondas have a high resale value, they keep running and are reliable.
People pay for a lot of things, but reliability that's a feature people will pay for.

Oh, and their is that whole Magic Elf that comes with every Mac, but ... well when you join The Cult, you'll understand.

You're absolutely right. And by the way, I drive a Honda.

 

[turtlebud]

I think the two main factors are cost & quality. Macs are more expensive to begin with so in general, it's less affordable when bought new. As a result, there is a much larger market for used macs because people want to own them, but they're more affordable when they're used. This goes hand in hand with the second factor, which is quality. If macs couldn't cut it after a few years of use with what people wanted to use them for (ie, pictures, videos, and everyday things like internet/mail) then it wouldn't matter if you could get used ones for less - people wouldn't buy it. But the fact that they are still very functional after years of use makes the market for used macs much better.

There are probably other things like the fact that people like the look of it or the ease of use, but I think cost & quality are the main two reasons.