TECH WATCH: Six Things to Check Before Buying a Used MacBook Pro
By Space Coast Daily // July 7, 2018
check if what you are buying is the real deal
If you want to get a new MacBook unit and you are on a strict budget, the first thing you will need to do is find a suitable vendor that will sell used MacBook Pro units to you at the price range you are looking for. The next thing will be to check if what you are buying is the real deal.
Especially if you are making the Windows-Mac switch, getting a MacBook for the first time or not just good with tech stuff, here are six important things you will want to be on the lookout for
1. Damages
Your analysis of the used MacBook Pro should start from the place of damages on the body. Look for scratches, bumps, dents and other signs of bad handling. That could have led to a bigger internal damage than what is seen on the outside.
You should also look for missing screws in the body of the laptop before you sign on for it
2. Age
Your seller might want to upsell you or get you to commit with the claim that the Mac is almost new. We are not saying they will always be lying. What we are saying is that chances are high this is not true.
By simply turning over the MacBook Pro, you will find the serial number on the back. Use that to check the age of the system on Apple’s support website
3. Booting
You want to buy the MacBook Pro to use it, not look at it. That is why you would want to check if the system boots. Not just boots, but loads the macOS on it all the way to the home screen.
If it does not have a macOS loaded onto it yet, bring with you a bootable drive that has the software on it and use that to test run the Mac.
4. Check the software
If you are getting a MacBook Pro, you must have already known that there are different versions of the macOS software that can be found on different units. What you might not know is that some of these softwares cannot be loaded onto the system unless they come preloaded.
That is why you will want to ensure the one you are getting either has the software of choice or carries compatibility for the intended software instead
5. Password
Mac users have a habit of setting up different passwords for different parts of their system. While others can still be dealt with, you will have issues with the firmware password if you don’t take care of it right away. For one, you won’t be able to start the system from a USB drive.
When you boot the Mac and you hear a chime, hold down the Option/Alt key. If a prompt comes up to type the firmware password, ask the seller to remove that feature
6. Check all ports
This doesn’t really take time to get going. Plug in USB cords to all the ports and check if they read your devices. Take your earpiece/ headphone and plug it into the jack too. Play some sound and see how it renders.
Works, doesn’t it? Yes. That easy.
Don’t forget to check the optical drives, run diagnostics on the webcam and check the display condition too. Perhaps the best advice of all is to go with someone that has an experience with Macs so they can help you run some more checks that you might have missed.
Is there something else you check on your Macs before buying them that we left out of this list? Let’s hear them in the comments
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