Aiming to retain its customers and encourage the replacement of old products with new ones, Apple offers a product return program for the purchase of other devices in exchange for a credit value. Many companies are doing this and considerable devaluation is expected, but the level Apple can reach has left its buyers by surprise, who described the difference as “brutal”.
One of the most notable cases was shared on Twitter by David Imel. Imel is one of the researchers for Marques Brownlee’s massive YouTube channel and decided to see how much credit he could get for one of the Mac Pro computers in the channel’s office. As he showed in his tweet, Apple offered $970 for a computer that cost $52,199 to purchase.
I just tried pricing our $52,199 Mac Pros at the office for trade, but you can still buy them from Apple for $52,199.
What else other than crypto whose value has dropped 50 times in 3 years? pic.twitter.com/pRESBQBoT4
—David ImeI (@DurvidImel) January 17, 2023
This means a 50-fold devaluation in just three years. Not only that—to add insult to injury, the exact same model can be purchased new from Apple for $52,199. A used Mac Pro from the official store sells for almost $40,000.
The “brutal” review of the price drop comes from another user, @jasonbshew. He shared that his MacBook Pro M1 is valued at $540 by Apple in exchange for the trade. The amount in the tweet appears in Canadian dollars:
This is brutal:
MacBook Pro M1 Max 10-Core CPU and 24-Core GPU 16″ (Late 2021) 4TB SSD
Apple swap: 720 CAD (540 USD).
I do not know what to say ?????? pic.twitter.com/3hJeSImHMf
— Jason ????????? (@jasonbshew) January 17, 2023
A model like the one he describes currently costs $4,299 in Apple stores.
Is it better to look for alternatives?
In the comments of the posts, some netizens even joked that they would buy the products at very low prices, but still be on the discount coupon Apple offered. David Imel’s post even featured an “auction” where Twitter users bid about $1,000 for the used computer, jokingly about the value Apple offers.
As mentioned earlier, a large product devaluation is expected in such store exchange programs, but the level Apple has reached is astonishing. Even more so, considering that branded devices have a high resale value if you do business directly with other people or even with other stores.
In Brazil, the brand’s devices, especially iPhones, manage to maintain their high market value in the second-hand segment, which always brings high search volumes on platforms such as OLX. As a result, while it may seem more like a direct trade-off with Apple, it is common to see consumers selling devices to others to avoid depreciation of the product by the company.
Source: Tec Mundo
