New MacBook Air? Maybe.
I’m going to be doing some research, but after talking to my buddy Anand today, I’m thinking about selling my MacBook Air. This is dependent on what the current resell value is. Let’s think this through:
I currently have a black MacBook 2.0Ghz Core 2 Duo, MacBook Air 1.6GHz Core 2 Duo, and a Lenovo x60t Centrino Duo 1.83 GHz. I wouldn’t mind selling my MacBook Air now and waiting until November to buy the new laptop. I paid $1700 for the laptop, no taxes (hooray Delaware), with the education discount. Ebay and PayPal fees would probably eat around $100, possibly more. The cheapest MBA currently on eBay has a dent and is priced Buy-it-now at $1200. The most expensive MBA (Brand new) is currently $1710. Mine would fall somewhere in between. Let’s say $1400. Subtract out the fees and I would be left with $1300. That’s a $400 tax to get the new MacBook Air, which comes with the new 45nm processors at the same clock speed (but increase 4MB -> 6MB L2 cache and a TDP decrease from 20W to 17W), 120GB HDD (40GB more than my current model) and the NVIDIA GeForce 9400M which is way better than the Intel X3100 integrated graphics the outgoing MBAs have. Also, I would get the new mini-DisplayPort output port rather than my micro DVI port. That wouldn’t necessarily benefit me now, but it would be nice to future-proof myself. You know what is horrible? The $100 it costs for the mini DisplayPort -> Dual-link DVI adaptor. Ouch, Apple. But I guess if you have the money to buy a 30-inch monitor, what’s another $100. I would just wait for the 30-inch Cinema Display to refresh, and apply the $100 to the purchase of that monitor.
So what do you think? Is it worth $400 (maybe more) to get the new model MacBook Air? Should I keep my current-gen MBA? Should I sell the MBA and buy the new MacBook at no added cost? Or should I avoid eBay and try Craigslist to avoid seller fees?
Nigel said,
October 16, 2008 @ 8:15 pm
I think you are being awfully optimistic with the sale price of your current Air. Consider the effect of the new MBA on the current market. Someone looking to buy an MBA will say “hm, why would I buy an old one that is used, when I could pay an extra $300 for a brand new faster one?” I think you will find that the ebay prices will drop pretty quick.
michael said,
October 17, 2008 @ 4:07 am
Nigel,
Thanks for your comment. I agree, the price may be overly optimistic given the recent refresh of the MacBook Air. The BIN prices I quoted were from yesterday, but as the release becomes imminent (Nov 1 from what the internets are saying), I have no doubt that the prices will drop, if they haven’t already. However, only students/educators would be eligible for the $1700 (-$100) edu discount, however, and figure in another $100 or so for taxes at around 7% unless you live in a state with no sales tax (or buy from an etailer.) So worst case scenario, you’re not a student, and buying at a store that charges tax, someone buying from the new MBA at $1799 (no edu discount) + ~100 tax. So all-in price is $1900. Is $500 enough of a difference (maybe more if the MBA sells for less than I estimated, which is entirely possible)? Some may say yes, some may say no.