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MacBooks are extremely durable devices. It has been over 16 years since the first MacBook was released, and some people still have their first-generation MacBook up and running, like a souvenir that works. Although first-gen software and hardware have been long obsolete, being able to fire it up even today shows us exactly what the brand stands for.
However, technology is fast-changing, and work environments are speeding up like never before. This demands devices furnished with the latest technologies making laptops or phones that launched just 2-3 years ago look outdated.
Apple works hard to bring the best experience and utility for its customers. With every new MacBook launch, we get a faster, more durable workhorse with industry-first features such as the M1 chip series and Retina Display.
This means that the used-electronic-device market is flooded with used MacBooks that might be barely used. Among several third-party trade-in platforms, Apple has its own trade-in program that offers a maximum value of up to $360 post-verification of the device you’re looking to sell.
Let’s look at the five main steps you need to follow if you’re looking to trade in your MacBook.
Initiating the Trade-In process
Firstly, you have to go to Apple’s website and start the trade-in process. After that, they will send you a box to put your device in and send it back. Inside the box, you will find a few things such as bubble wrap, the shipping address where you need to send the package, a three-page instruction manual and some stickers which you will need to seal the box after you pack the MacBook you’re selling.
Data backup
The first step you want to perform is backing up your data. For this, you need to use the Time Machine software on your MacBook, which you will find in system preferences. You can connect an external disk or use the Network Attached Storage(NAS) for backup storage. This could take anywhere from 10 minutes to a couple of hours, depending upon the size of your data and transfer speeds.
Unlink Find My
The second thing you need to do is deactivate the linking system inside the Find My application. You can do this by simply opening up Find My and right-click on the respective device to select ‘Remove this device’.
Unlink your paid accounts
The next thing you need to do is deauthorize the device from Apple Music and other similar accounts. For instance, you can do this with Apple music by opening up the app and then choosing ‘Deauthorize’ under the ‘Accounts’ tab.
Factory reset
Press the power button and hold it. After a second or two, hold Cmd+R. Hold this down until you see the Apple logo with the loading bar. In a few moments, you will see a macOS Recovery window on your screen where you should click on the account icon.
After logging in, you should select Disk utility which will open up a window with a list of your disks. From there, you should select Macintosh HD. Next, from the options on the top right corner, you will select erase. This will ensure no one will access your data post-selling your MacBook.
Finishing Up the Process
Upon completing the above steps properly, you can shut down your completely reset Macbook, ready to be shipped. We also recommend you wipe your computer gently and get it cleaned up as much as possible. You should also clean your power cables as they could have accumulated a lot of dirt over time.
Finally, you can pack it nicely along with all the cables and accessories into the box Apple sent you and ship it back to them with the correct warehouse address.
