Thinking of Trading In Your Old Macbook for a Refurbished One?
It’s possible even though Apple doesn’t show the trade-in option on its refurbished products.
Maybe like me, you’re looking to buy a new Macbook and trade in your old laptop. On Apple’s website, you can score some savings by looking at their refurbished products, but the trade-in option just isn’t there.
Dismayed, I reached out to Apple chat support. To my relief, the representative I chatted with reassured me that they would be able to process a credit back to my original purchase if I brought in my old laptop within two weeks of purchasing the new one.
I ended up buying a refurbished 2020 13-inch Macbook Pro with the 8-Core CPU and 8-Core GPU.
Compared to buying directly from their new inventory, I saved just about $80 or so. It’s not much, but I felt fine doing so since Apple’s refurbished products come with the same 1-year warranty as their new products. I also added AppleCare+ because I didn’t want to have to worry about anything going wrong with my laptop in the next few years.
Can’t You Trade-In Before Purchasing?
Yes, you can definitely do this. However, I wanted to use Apple’s Migration Assistant to transfer the files from my old Macbook to the new one before trading in. For extra safety, I backed up my data on my old computer manually and then ran the sync after receiving the new one.
It worked out that Apple stores were open again in my area after being mostly closed due to the coronavirus pandemic. I went to the store the weekend after receiving my new refurbished Macbook, and I wasn’t allowed inside because I didn’t have a Genius Bar appointment. Because it was a Saturday, I was unable to get an appointment for that day, and I resolved to come back the next week.
If you’re looking to trade-in your laptop in store, it’s always safe to make an appointment online to make sure you have a slot. However, I think this should be less of an issue as things continue to reopen in the coming months.
My Trade-In Experience
After being unable to get an appointment slot, I quickly booked a slot for the following Saturday. I was pretty busy during the week, so I didn’t try to get a slot then.
When I got to the store, I had to wait around twenty minutes which isn’t the usual. Unfortunately, my appointment put me in the Mac support category even though I was just there for a trade in. What I failed to recognize was that I was just barely past the two week purchase period of my new Macbook since I wasn’t able to trade in the week before.
I got a little nervous since the last thing I wanted was hiccups with the trade-in. After all, I could have sold my 2015 Macbook Pro for a higher place on Facebook marketplace or Ebay, but I liked the convenience of doing it at Apple. The representative helping me spoke to their manager, and they told me that even though it was past the 14 days since I purchased the new laptop, they could give me $450 in cash instead. That was the exact amount I was quoted online for my old Macbook, and after signing a few things, I had $450 in my pocket.
Why Not Trade-In Online?
Apple uses Phobio to do online trade-ins. I actually requested a return kit from Phobio before Apple stores reopened. However, I didn’t like that returns took between 2–3 weeks to finalize (see the FAQ in Apple’s trade-in page) and the fact that there were many negative experiences for the online trade-in process. I read several stories from Reddit users that Phobio claimed that the Macbook was defective and in some cases offered customers to dispose of the laptop for free rather than give them any money.
Also, my old Macbook’s trackpad wasn’t super sensitive so I was afraid that Phobio would knock off a lot of the potential credit back because of that. I was really relieved when the check at the Apple store only took about a minute and they immediately quoted back the maximum $450 I was expecting. I figured that if they gave me a worse price, it would be better deciding what to do then and there rather than request my Macbook be mailed back to me (which some people with negative online trade-in experiences did).
Should You Buy Refurbished?
If you like ordering from Apple and having their warranty, then there isn’t a problem purchasing refurbished. Compared to their new products, refurbished products with upgraded specs tend to ship faster. My laptop came within three days of ordering.
However, if you’re looking to buy the base model and you don’t mind where you purchase from, Amazon tends to have Macbooks that are cheaper by at least a few hundred dollars. I would have ordered from Amazon if it weren’t for needing to trade-in my old laptop.
For reference, here are the current prices of the newest Macbooks on Amazon. Some of these also qualify for two-day Prime shipping.
Are You Getting a New Macbook?
If you found this article from Google, I hope that my experience was insightful. Feel free to leave a comment below and let me know what your plans are and if you have any questions on what I wrote!
Disclaimer: This post contains links to affiliate products. If you purchase from one of the links above, I earn a small commission.
