Good evening, all. Some of you may know I've been drawn to Mac lately, and a friend has offered me MacBook Pro. I'm tempted, and we need to find a fair value.

I found sellmymac.com, sellyourmac.com, Apple's own recycle/refurb/trade-in site, and a couple of others, most calculating this machine at $215-285. My friend mentioned $600, having seen one for sale locally for $750. Quite a difference, huh?

I suggested averaging it (sort of) at $450, but we both agree we have more learning to do.

Specifics: It's a mid-2012 model, 13-inch, 2.9GHz Intel Core i7, 8GB RAM, and (I think) the 750GB hard drive. It's been babied, so visually it looks great.

Opinions, SF gurus? Thank you.

quote:

Originally posted by vthoky:
Good evening, all. Some of you may know I've been drawn to Mac lately, and a friend has offered me MacBook Pro. I'm tempted, and we need to find a fair value.

I found sellmymac.com, sellyourmac.com, Apple's own recycle/refurb/trade-in site, and a couple of others, most calculating this machine at $215-285. My friend mentioned $600, having seen one for sale locally for $750. Quite a difference, huh?

I suggested averaging it (sort of) at $450, but we both agree we have more learning to do.

Specifics: It's a mid-2012 model, 13-inch, 2.9GHz Intel Core i7, 8GB RAM, and (I think) the 750GB hard drive. It's been babied, so visually it looks great.

Opinions, SF gurus? Thank you.

The trade in sites are going to give you at best 50% value just like the any other trade-in used product site. So the $600 is probably not that far off.

Give this a read, then decide.....

https://marco.org/2016/01/04/md101ll-a

$600 isn't a bad price for that used Macbook pro, IMO.

I don't think those sites have any connection the the actual Apple company.
And as mentioned before they have to make money too so 50% of the actual value of not less is not far off.

I think $600 is too high.

$400 is about the most I'd pay for one. Maybe a touch higher for a 15".

$400 would be a fair price for both of you, I agree with 46and2. Keep in mind also, these are not Windoze machines, you'll get many more years of use out of that Mac. I have a 2010 15" pro that is now serving admirably in my garage as a shop PC hooked up to a monitor and wireless keyboard/mouse. I'm typing this on a 2012 MacBook air that my father gifted me a few years back and I could not ask anything more of it.

Apple keeps your OS updated and fresh for nothing and if you ever want to upgrade you can swap out that HD for a solid state model and really wake her up. I did that on the 2010 and it was a very noticeable improvement.

I have a mid-2012 13” MBP. I paid less than $350 used for mine in 2016. I agree that $400 is about right.

One more for perspective...

These are tested, including the battery, have a fresh OS install and a 14 day money back guarantee so are probably high retail values.


https://eshop.macsales.com/sho...ems/Used/MacBook-Pro

quote:

Originally posted by vthoky:
Specifics: It's a mid-2012 model, 13-inch, 2.9GHz Intel Core i7, 8GB RAM, and (I think) the 750GB hard drive. It's been babied, so visually it looks great.

You cannot upgrade the RAM, as it is soldered the system board. But you can upgrade the internal HDD to an SSD model, which will greatly improve the performance of your laptop. Then use the 750GM HDD in an external exclosure for backup purposes. Enclosures are cheap at <$30.
 

You guess of $450 seems about right and maybe even a little low.

I like the mid-2012 pre-retina MBPs since they have USB 3.0, FireWire 800 and Thunderbolt ports. And you can upgrade both the RAM and also add an SSD or replace the HDD with an SSD.

You might be able to sell it at a higher price on eBay, but Swappa is a good place to buy and sell used computers. Here are their current listings and asking prices for that model: https://swappa.com/laptops/buy...-pro-2012-unibody-13

This message has been edited. Last edited by: rh,

quote:

Originally posted by henryaz:
You cannot upgrade the RAM, as it is soldered the system board.

RAM can be upgraded with pre-Retina models, and batteries can also be replaced without Apple's assistance.

Buy it. It will last you longer than you expect. To kill it you would have to drive a stake through it (metaphorically).

Good year,good product, you cry only once.

Mine is a pre-retina. I bought it used at a local pawn shop where I frequently go to look for tools. It was at a very low cycle count (mid 70s) and basically like new. Added a SSD, upgraded RAM, and it’s a screamer. We rarely turn it off, it sleeps and we charge it once every few weeks. Solid little notebook.

What's the battery cycle count? If you go to the system report under "about this mac" and then to the power area, you should see it listed.

Most of the time MacBook batteries get "1000" cycles, according to Apple. I've see that year, nearly that specs, with around 3-400 cycle count, sell for around 4-500, if the rest of the unit is in good shape.

Any major dings, dead pixels, major scratches, general nasty grime, etc. That all brings it down more.

I think $400-$450 is probably fair.

Yes, check the status of the battery but using http://www.coconut-flavour.com/coconutbattery/ It will give more information about the health of the battery than just the cycle count.

Everymac.com has valuations of all macs .
Best .

Thanks, all, for your help.
Veeper and rh: I'll check battery status when I see her again (probably next week). Is it unusual to have to replace a Mac battery?

(More questionis brewing: Wonder what one costs... Can I get that at BatteriesPlus, or do I need to go straight to Apple?)

A Mac battery is probably best but even these have issues. $600 sounds fair, especially if the Battery is OK.

Under the Apple, top left corner, is a drop-down menu. Click on the first item, "'About this Mac'.

This will tell you what OS the computer is running plus other stuff. Click 'System Report ...'

Under Hardware you'll find Power. Battery info is within this sub-sub-sub folder.

I nearly never use my laptop within the charger attached. My 11" MacBook Air laptop was bought, still barely under warranty, via this forum in 2013 for $675. Mine reads:

Charge Information:
Charge Remaining (mAh): 3778
Fully Charged: Yes
Charging: No
Full Charge Capacity (mAh): 3913
Health Information:
Cycle Count: 642
Condition: Normal
Battery Installed: Yes
Amperage (mA): 0
Voltage (mV): 7985


Some of the issues with the newer models? No traditional USB port, from what I read. The older ones are what people like me want.

quote:

Is it unusual to have to replace a Mac battery?

I'm going to replace the battery on my 2011 MacBook Air as soon as I get the special tools.
Machine works fine other than that, but in the meantime I've bought a 2017 MacBook Pro and love it.

BTW vthoky, I didn't see anyone mention that if you do buy a Mac you can run Windows 10 on Parallels Desktop on your Mac, and then any Windows software you have will work fine. Although I would recommend buying MS Office for the Mac and run it on the Mac since you will likely be using it often.

Oh, that nails it down, Dr. T! If I can run Win10 software on it, then I'm set!

I had wondered if I could do that, as there are a couple of machine-specific programs I have to be able to keep (software for PLCs, HMIs, and such).

And I can get a copy of Office for way-cheap through work.

I think this is going to turn out well.

Hey, some have mentioned swapping a solid-state drive in to the Mac. How tough is that to do? Can I just get a drive, and clone the existing one by USB? What software is necessary for the cloning?