The dark square at far right is actually the power button and Touch ID fingerprint readerĭoes the Mac have a trackpad? Check out all corners of the pad and be sure that it registers clicks properly. Try all of the number and punctuation keys as well, and on Touch Bar MacBook Pro, make sure that the Touch Bar and especially the Touch ID/Power Button works.Ĭheck that Touch Bar on new MacBook Pros. The best test phrase is the tried-and-true “The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog”, which uses all 26 letters in the alphabet. Chances are good that you might find one or more on an older Mac, so decide if you can put up with those little black spots or if it’s time to move on.Įspecially with newer MacBook Pros, it’s a good idea to do a keyboard test. I always like to look at the screen to see if there are any dead pixels my favorite way to do this is to open Pages (if it’s loaded on the Mac) to a blank page and then look for tiny black dots that indicate a dead pixel. If it boots up, you at least know that it has a working hard drive or SSD and can load the operating system. If you can actually get your hands on the used Mac, turn it on. Reputable online sellers will often include the screenshots of System Info/System Profiler with exterior photos of the Mac. What if you can’t actually look for this info on a Mac? In that case, ask the seller to take a screenshot and email it to you. Sounds pretty good… if the price is right.
#PRICE USED MAC VALUE PRO#
Here we see that a MacBook Pro 14,3 is a mid-2017 MacBook Pro with Retina Display, Touch Bar and four Thunderbolt 3 ports. System Information / System Profiler is the place to find out specifics about the Mac hardware You should see a display similar to this: If you have “hands” on the machine, turn it on, go to the Apple Menu, and select About This Mac. Even honest people have a tendency to forget exactly when they purchased a computer, and knowing the model and year it was produced is important - especially if you want to run the latest operating system on that Mac.įortunately, it’s pretty easy to check. Whether you’re buying your Mac from a reputable dealer or from someone in your neighborhood, the first thing you should do is check the model number and year of manufacture.
Check the Model Number and Year of Manufacture
#PRICE USED MAC VALUE HOW TO#
In this short buyer’s guide, we’ll give you some tips on what to watch out for and how to make that vintage Mac keep up with the newer models. Not to worry - since Macs usually have a nice long lifetime, your chances of finding a used Mac that’s affordable and able to run most of the latest operating systems and apps are quite good.
You or the kid needs a new Mac, but money’s a bit tight.
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