this post was submitted on 04 Mar 2026
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Why would anyone buy a new laptop when the second hand market is so available? It's all just novelty. I wouldn't touch this, all I can think about is what it'll look like in the second hand market in about 3 years.
Older ThinkPads are unbeatable, especially those that still have the CPU sockets in them, and can be upgraded. I put an i7-4702MQ into my L440, now it performs really well with Manjaro, at the cost of sometimes draining the CPU in 30-60 minutes under very high loads (battery might need some rebuilding).
That's pretty sad, tbh.
Why is it sad?
Maybe this person mistreates their laptop.
To be honest, I never learned how to treat devices carefully.
For the target audiences, people just buying a low cost laptop for browsing as well as students, it’s unlikely the common person wouldn’t go directly to Apple to get the newest product. There will definitely be some who opt to get older second hand tech instead, but the vast majority would rather get something they have assurance is brand new and in fully working condition.
Personally, if I needed a laptop, I’d weigh my options both in first party offerings as well as the second hand market, and I’d probably come to the conclusion to just buy two broken laptops and combine them, but it’s rare to find someone who’s willing to splice two computers together for university or high school they’re going to in a month or so, and even if it’s more common, it’s still rare to find someone willing to dive head first into the second hand market when they don’t know how to check for fake listings, horrible deals and genuine bargains, which is why most opt for buying directly from manufacturers or from consumer electronics stores.
Reputable second hand sellers guarantee that the device works properly before shipping. If I needed a laptop, I would get a low grade one on eBay for cheap. I would probably get a used Dell Precision 5570 Laptop with an i9/A2000.
you're right, and I'd personally pick from a one, but realisticaly, if someone only just needs a laptop and doesn't really know what to get, where to get it, why to get that specific one, etc, then I don't think they'd even know second hand sellers can be reputable in the first place.
My mother for instance, she bought an Acer Aspire Go for around $550 AUD from one of our large consumer electronics stores (not sure but I think it was Officeworks),so she can do all her important stuff on, think appointments, setting up debit cards, tracking orders, etc. She didn't want anything used or refurbished, since her view of such is that, if she bought one used or refurbished, it'll be barely held together, half broken, probably someone bit part of the corner off, and so on.
if I were her, I would've just gotten a cheap refurb Thinkpad, but seeming that its at least somewhat common for non-tech literate people to think it's scary to get into the second hand market, most would simply rather choose large consumer electronics store chains. Maybe this issue is just because of the tangibility, where you can walk into a store and physically hold the laptops and assess them, rather than the online only nature of the second hand market, unless there is a rare physical store for refurb and used tech.
Apple is not trying to sell this go people like you.
Used Macs carry a pretty big inflated premium for about 6 years while supported.
I have six or more 10+yr-old refurb Macs running all different distros of linux, testing for permacomputing viability then selling very cheap. They run mostly great, though the laptops all struggle with sleep and battery management compared with macOS. Some, the cameras or mics need a lot of terminal futzing around to get working adequately.
Get a lenovo 480 if you are shopping for a used laptop. A 2015 MacBook pro running Debian derivatives or Fedora is very pleasant if you're not picky about battery life. Zorin is pretty for that mac aesthetic.
I buy new because my service requires up to date production software, and output on time-is-money schedules. Business expenses amortize quickly, due to tax, equipment turnover is expected.