Buying a used Mac
March 2025
Second hand Mac's can be a great investment. It's no surprise to find good second hand units that are still with a high value to them. Some of this is hype, Apple laptops are considered a luxury brand. There's also studies pointing to Apple Laptops lasting longer in a business setting, which helps to retain their "value". Remember those things when looking.
When looking for a computer remember these few keys details;
- While there is depreciation the value of a Mac is held for quite a long time. More so if the computer is from the same chip generation
- The higher the specification the more expensive it will be, so be wary of great spec offerings that seem to be bargains.
- For the purpose of business use stick to the M series Apple Processor equipped computers. This ensures that your getting OS support and spares.
- Apple controls the hardware and software, Apple builds in a long support cycle (Typically 7 years, but can be longer)
What do you buy? The guide lines
Second hand machines follow the same formula as new machines in regards to what to go for.
- Set your budget
- Max Ram
- The best CPU you can afford. Stick with M series chips not Intel Mac's, which are getting really old now.
- Storage while not essential, should be considered on older computers, a larger storage device is desirable
Max Ram
Never go with 8GB of Ram. Avoid this at all costs. Apple AI tools that are being gradually added into the Operating System will suck that all up very quickly. 16GB should be a minimum.
Modern operating systems not only use Ram but part of the hard disk as well, it gives the illusion of more Ram, this smart use the Ram allows for the computer to put running programs into storage if it's not being used.
CPU
As stated a few times now stick to M series processors. That's also known as "Apple Silicon". These chips are the latest chip family and it's designed by Apple themselves. Prior to this chip family Apple used INTEL processors. Do not consider the INTEL family for purchasing.
CPU's are important. This is a general rule of thumb;
The more CPU's and GPU's on a chip the better.
For Apple this tends to hold true, along with this rule for the naming of chips. The name of the chip goes from least powerful to most like this;
Standard --> Pro --> Max --> Extreme
Standard means no label;
M2 --> M2 Pro --> M2 Max --> M2 Extreme
Using this guide a Standard chip will have the fewest cores with the slowest Ghz speed, which Apple don't actually state anymore.
Another way to look at it is, if all the chips had the same number of CPU's and GPU's the M2 would be slower than the M2 Pro and so on.
Storage
Much like the other aspects the larger the storage the better. 256GB should be considered minimum, remember if your buying a machine with that amount expect to keep it clean. 512GB should be a target if affordable!
Budget
In this regard, it's worth giving yourself a value as a working number, then research. Using the guide of the priorities above, Ram then CPU then storage. Look are auction sites, and the various websites that offer second hand units. You'll get a feel for the cost and then you can drill down in the specification you want and can afford.
Screen Size
Screen size!!! If your buying a laptop, don't forget to factor in the screen size, that plays into the weight, portability and cost. 16" laptops are always pretty expensive as they are considered Designer machines.
When purchasing
It's not good enough to just purchase a laptop and that's it. You need to make sure of a few things as well. Second hand machines can come with baggage!
Make sure that Find my Mac has been removed. That's the previous owners job so it should be done, if not send it back or if you have contact with the previous owner they should be able to do this for you.
Apple has a guide to this here and here
Finally it might still be in an MDM! This is something that again the previous owners should remove from the system. The easiest way to check for this is to erase the Mac. The screen shot right is the MDM window comes up, if your lucky there will be information about who to contact, if not that unit needs to be sent back.
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