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[ ] Go * Menu + Videos + Windows 10 + 5G + Best VPNs + Cloud + Security + AI + TR Premium + Working from Home + Innovation + Best Web Hosting + ZDNet Recommends + Tonya Hall Show + Executive Guides + ZDNet Academy + See All Topics + White Papers + Downloads + Reviews + Galleries + Videos + TechRepublic Forums * * + o Preferences o Community o Newsletters o Log Out * us + Asia + Australia + Europe + India + United Kingdom + United States + ZDNet around the globe: + ZDNet France + ZDNet Germany + ZDNet Korea + ZDNet Japan Our editors pick the products and services we write about. When you buy through our links, ZDNet may earn a commission. The Mac price crash of 2021 Macs hold their value. Where I live it's not uncommon to see 10-, 12-, even 20-year-old Macs for sale. But the new M1 Macs have cratered MacBook resale values. The carnage is just beginning. * * * * * * * * Robin Harris By Robin Harris for Storage Bits | February 25, 2021 -- 20:03 GMT (12:03 PST) | Topic: Apple The impressive performance and battery life gains of the new M1 MacBooks have created a historic discontinuity in the normally placid resale market. Should you spend $800 for a one year old MacBook Air when for $200 more you could get a MacBook Air with several times the performance and 50 percent better battery life? That's a question savvy buyers are asking themselves. Not surprisingly, the most common answer seems to be "Nope!" Also: Best laptops in 2021 laptops we love Most ZDNet writers prefer this notebook above all others Most ZDNet writers prefer this notebook above all others If you spend hours daily banging away at a keyboard, you'll want to consider these favored models. Read More Savvy sellers and naive buyers I check Craigslist fairly regularly to keep track of what's for sale. I've seen an unusual bifurcation in the pricing for MacBooks. There are more late-model Intel MacBooks showing up for sale. Some of those are showing context sensitive pricing, i.e. almost new MacBook Airs for $600 rather than the $800-$900 that some think their Intel-based machine is still worth. But most seem to be hoping that good news travels slow. And why not? * Buying a used Mac laptop: How to avoid scams and find the best deals Unless buyers check out a site like Everymac they won't know what they're missing. The bottom-of-the-line M1 MacBook Air has a Geekbench 5 multiprocessor score that is almost 2.5x that of the early 2020, top-of-the-line quad-core I7. For 80 percent of the price. And most users won't need to spend the extra cash for the 16GB version since the memory management and page swapping is so efficient. The contrast is even more striking when comparing MacBook Pros. Not only is the 13" MacBook Pro faster on the Geekbench 5 single and multiprocessor benchmarks than the top-of-the-line 16" MacBook Pro Intel I9, it less than half the price. And it isn't just a single benchmark. Search on "M1 MacBook Pro vs 16 MacBook Pro" on YouTube to see multiple videos testing real world workloads on both machines. To be fair, not everyone is impressed, often because the software critical to their workflow isn't optimized for the new M1 processor. But those corner cases don't reflect average users needs. In the meantime, most of those specialized apps are being recompiled to be M1 native over the next year. The Take The days when Intel produced startling performance gains with every new generation of x86 processors are, sadly, decades behind us. The industry hasn't seen this level of price/performance discontinuity since the jump from the Intel 8008 to the 8080. The good news: the best deals on Intel 'Books are yet to come, assuming Apple offers retailers price protection. There seems to be a large inventory of Intel based MacBooks and they have to clear them out before the end of 2021. Taking off even more than the $250 cut that Costco, for one, is offering. The serious used Mac carnage is still ahead. What happens when your $20,000 Mac Pro gets beat by -- and I'm guesstimating here -- an $8,000 Mx Mac Pro? If you have an Intel MacBook Air or MacBook Pro and are thinking of trading up, you're likely to get more for your current 'Book by moving sooner rather than later. The Apple Silicon story is only going to get better. And the resale value of older Macs only worse. Comments welcome. I'll be publishing my medium-term M1 MacBook Air review soon. It's not all rainbows and unicorns, but not bad for a first effort. Apple Silicon * Apple's M1 chip launch raised more questions than it answered * M1 MacBook Air review: Impressive, but doesn't beat my Intel MacBook Pro * MacBook Pro M1 review: Apple amazes with its first Silicon MacBook Pro * Mac Mini (Late 2020) review: Apple's most affordable M1 Mac offers great value for money * Apple M1: Will storage and memory limits be a problem for pros? * What must be done to bring Linux to the Apple M1 chip Related Topics: Hardware iPhone Mobility Smartphones Tablets iOS * * * * * * * * Robin Harris By Robin Harris for Storage Bits | February 25, 2021 -- 20:03 GMT (12:03 PST) | Topic: Apple Show Comments LOG IN TO COMMENT * My Profile * Log Out | Community Guidelines Join Discussion Add Your Comment Add Your Comment More from Robin Harris * [][female-government-agent] Security Private firms can't protect us from digital attacks. Government must step in. * [][tiger-direct-black-frid] Hardware iPad Pro: Outclassed by the M1 MacBook Air, where does Apple's tablet go from here? * [][istock-692429144] Processors Rediscovering RISC-V: Apple M1 sparks renewed interest in non-x86 architectures * [][zuckerberg-hands-outstr] Apple Facebook's foolish attack on Apple Please review our terms of service to complete your newsletter subscription. [ ] By registering, you agree to the Terms of Use and acknowledge the data practices outlined in the Privacy Policy. You will also receive a complimentary subscription to the ZDNet's Tech Update Today and ZDNet Announcement newsletters. You may unsubscribe from these newsletters at any time. [ ] You agree to receive updates, alerts, and promotions from the CBS family of companies - including ZDNet's Tech Update Today and ZDNet Announcement newsletters. You may unsubscribe at any time. 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