Friends, today we will discuss with you how to check a MacBook when buying from hand. That is, we will consider the main details that you should immediately pay attention to when testing the device. Naturally, each case is unique, but if you know about the basics, then on the spot it will already be possible to understand what additionally is worth checking. Note that these recommendations do not 100 percent guarantee you will buy the perfect MacBook, but they will help you when you look around the device.
Contents
How to check a MacBook when buying it hand-held
The entire verification process can be broken down into several stages.
And each of them is of great importance. Having made a mistake on one of them, in the future you will have to pay with one or another undetected problem. MacBook can be blocked remotely at all. Or the drive will fail, the system will crash, etc.
To manage your budget wisely, try to choose the very best that the secondary market has to offer. And to do this, carefully consider all stages of checking a laptop manufactured by Apple.
Announcement
In some cases, after looking at an ad, you no longer need to contact the seller and check the proposed MacBook. The ad itself is able to answer the main question of whether it is worth buying the presented option at all.
The search for suitable options in modern conditions usually occurs through Internet sites. There are tons of websites where you can find used MacBooks. Several resources are worth exploring at once.
What should alert the buyer is the frankly low price tag. Even if it’s a used MacBook, it can’t be cheap by definition. Unless the seller honestly admits the presence of certain problems, or we are talking about an old model.
In other cases, a low price usually becomes a tool to attract attention and a way to quickly sell equipment, the real state of which is hidden by the seller. The lower the price, the fewer questions. There are many buyers who are ready to pick up an apple laptop even without checking for little money. But this is a totally wrong strategy.
The correct decision would be to highlight the average cost of the model you are interested in and build on this price. If the laptop is fresh and in good condition, no one will sell it below average. There is no logic in this. Although sellers can claim urgency, need to get money quickly, etc. Don’t get fooled.
Appearance
Every buyer of used equipment has a different attitude towards external defects in the form of scratches, dents and chips.
But most agree that there should be no serious damage to Apple products. After all, appearance plays a big role here. Plus, numerous defects indicate not the most careful attitude to technology on the part of the previous owner.
Even if minor scratches are not a problem for you, pay special attention to the condition of the cover. It must be opened by pressing one finger. This is Apple’s proprietary technology, and its failure is a very bad sign.
It is not allowed that the lid has a backlash, rattles, creaks when opening and closing. All these are symptoms of an impending expensive repair. Depending on the situation, you just need to tighten the bolts or replace the entire display module. Alas, in terms of the cost of repair, Apple products are far ahead of all laptops from other manufacturers.
Next, inspect the screws on the back of the MacBook. With their help, access to the contents of the device, computer hardware is opened. It is difficult to unscrew them without a special key. And if someone has tried to perform a cheap, almost independent repair before, an attempt to intervene without a special tool will be obvious and very noticeable.
Equipment and documents are a moot point. Someone thinks that they should be mandatory when selling. Others disagree with this statement. But you definitely need to look at the state of the adapter. If it is damaged and badly worn, it indicates the MacBook’s impressive lifespan, or poor handling.
First start
Be sure to test your system for the first time before exploring any other points when buying a used MacBook.
If this is an older MacBook that uses HDD storage, the average startup speed will be between 30 and 50 seconds. If it is already an SSD, then 10-15 seconds and the computer should be ready to work.
In situations where the launch takes significantly longer, it is better to abandon the purchase. This is a direct sign of the poor state of the drive, and of the entire system.
Binding and passwords
It is extremely important and simply imperative that the MacBook being sold is previously deactivated and unlinked from the iCloud account. This is a very useful thing, because through it you can remotely lock a stolen or lost laptop. Apple iPhones have a similar function.
If the owner is selling but is still using the device, ask them to deactivate their account. And for this you need to enter a password. If he cannot or refuses to do so, chances are that the MacBook is not his at all, and they are trying to sell you a stolen device.
Serial number
Since the MacBook is a very expensive and valuable product, scammers are actively pursuing it. There is a very common method of fraud when selling used apple technology. Unscrupulous sellers try to pass off cheap equipment for more expensive ones.
Depending on the qualification of the fraud, the fact of information substitution may not even be noticed. But only true virtuosos are capable of this. Therefore, in most cases, you can find a catch without any problems.
Pay attention to the serial number. It is applied not only to the packaging, but also to the back cover of the device. Plus, you can look into the operating system in the section with information about the laptop.
Open the phone or laptop with which you came to the meeting with the MacBook seller. Rewrite the serial number and enter it on Apple’s website for verification. If the information on the site about the configuration matches the one claimed by the seller, they do not try to deceive you. Therefore, you can safely proceed to further actions to check the technique.
Display
You also need to pay special attention to the operation of the screen itself. It is an important and very expensive component of the MacBook. Replacing it is comparable in cost to the purchase of many, sometimes even new laptops.
First, take a look at how evenly the backlight works. It is highly recommended to check the hardware for dead pixels.
Using the brightness adjustment buttons, namely F1 and F2, gradually change the parameters in different directions. In parallel, watch how the image changes and how the display itself behaves. The brightness adjustment should be smooth, gradual, with no obvious delay. Also, turn on any video in the window, drag it slowly across the entire screen, while controlling the possible color change. If no deviations are observed, that’s good.
You can check dead pixels with special pictures with completely white and black fill, open in full screen. It is recommended to save them on a USB flash drive in advance and take with you to a meeting with the seller of a portable apple computer.
Open these images through a standard MacBook application, start full screen mode. Now take a closer look at the screen for possible dots that differ in color from the main white or black background.
It’s okay if you find just a few broken pixels. Because of them, you should not refuse to buy an otherwise good MacBook. But if there are more than 2-3 dozen dead pixels, then it is better not to take such a device. A potential display replacement would be too expensive.
Keyboard
Even if you don’t plan on typing a lot on your MacBook and are purchasing the device for other purposes, keyboard performance and integrity are very important.
It is extremely simple to check this. You need to open any text editor and start pressing all the keys one by one. At the same time, watch how they are pressed, how smoothly, whether they return to their original position at the same speed, etc. Plus, check the possibilities of different key combinations, the work of switching the layout, symbols, etc.
Also check if the backlight is working on the MacBook you are purchasing. The keyboard backlight is adjusted using the F5 and F6 buttons. It is important to look straight from the top of the keyboard. The backlight should evenly distribute the light around the buttons and illuminate the symbols themselves.
For apple laptops, the installation of the keyboard of several standards is provided. These are Russian, European and American types. The fact of using Russian keys on an American keyboard is extremely strange and suspicious. This can only indicate that it was changed. And the reason for this is usually a spilled liquid, a fall and other problems with the device. It is better to refuse such a purchase.
Trackpad
There is nothing difficult here to test the functionality of the trackpad. It is enough to start sliding your finger over it and simultaneously observe how the cursor behaves on the screen. There should be no stops, sudden movements, jerks.
Be sure to test the multi-finger gestures and tapping. When pressed, the response should be quick and clear. No extraneous sounds are allowed.
Battery and charger
It is important to immediately understand that the MacBook battery is perceived as a consumable. When buying a used apple laptop, be prepared sooner or later to face the need to replace it.
But unlike the batteries of many manufacturers of budget laptops, Apple has a solid margin of safety and health of the original batteries.
If you are offered a MacBook that was bought about 2-3 years ago, and the remaining capacity is about 50% of the original, this is a serious reason to be wary and refuse the offer. Even when it is very tempting in terms of cost. During normal operation of the computer, the capacity margin should be 90-95% of the nominal values. For 2-3 years of work, this is quite an adequate drop.
To check the remaining capacity, you can click on the apple image in the upper left corner, open the computer information (About This Mac). There is a section System Report, where the line “Power” is offered in the left menu. The right window displays the number of charge cycles, and just below the remaining capacity parameters.
There are also third party apps. But it is far from the fact that the seller will allow you to install third-party applications on your MacBook, which you have not even bought yet.
As for the charger, you shouldn’t buy a MacBook with a non-original charger. The original has its own serial number. The more powerful the version of the laptop, the more efficient the charger should be.
Storage device
Do not forget to check the status of the drive when checking a used apple computer. It can be an already largely outdated HDD, or a modern solid-state drive SSD.
All MacBooks come standard with Disk Utility. Run it and pay attention to the item “SMART status”. This should be “Verified”.
If you are purchasing a more recent version of the MacBook with an SSD drive, then it will not be superfluous to check the current write and read speed. The only problem is that special utilities are used for checking. You can download it to a USB flash drive and run it directly from it, if the seller allows it.
Since the read and write speed indicators differ for different versions, it is difficult to talk about specific numbers. The main thing is that the indicators are not too low. The values of about 300-400 Mb / s can already be attributed to low ones. This will be considered a bad signal if your MacBook comes with an SSD instead of a standard HDD.
Hardware Test
If all the previous tests of the purchased MacBook passed successfully, there is at least one more action left. It will make sure that your choice is correct. Or refuse to buy at the last moment.
To do this, you need to send your MacBook to reboot. When the computer starts to boot, hold down the D button on your keyboard. If nothing happens, repeat the procedure, only this time by holding down two buttons at once. Namely D and Alt. This will launch the same test, but via the Internet.
Testing takes literally a few minutes. In some cases, the procedure takes up to 6 minutes. But you need to wait for its completion.
When the analysis is finished, the error codes will be displayed on the screen. Write them down or just take a photo. Then go to the manufacturer’s official website, where there is a detailed explanation for each error code.
Errors are very diverse. The most favorable development of events is the code ADP000.
After all, it is he who indicates that no errors were found during the testing of the system.
Interfaces
For some reason, many people forget about the need to test all ports and interfaces. But in the event of a breakdown, a new MacBook user will not be able to connect the same USB drive, use Bluetooth, connect to the wireless Internet using the built-in Wi-Fi module, and more.
It is especially important to make sure that the charger connector is working.
Video card
The easiest way to test a video card is to run some powerful program. Better yet, through a computer game.
Depending on the declared characteristics of the laptop, set the corresponding settings in the game. If the gameplay does not slow down, everything functions without delays, everything is fine with the video card.
But when, even with a decrease in the level of settings, the game still works like a slideshow, the video card clearly has some problems. It is better to refuse such a purchase and look for alternative options.
The procedure for choosing a used MacBook is quite complicated, since many actions must be done in a short period of time.
Seller psychology
This is not directly related to the laptop itself, made by Apple, but some psychological aspects still need to be paid attention to.
If the seller is confident in his product, he will allow you to complete all verification procedures and even help the buyer in many ways.
But when the situation is not entirely clear, the following picture can be observed:
- the seller is noticeably nervous, showing this in words or by his actions;
- he constantly rushes, asks to complete the check faster;
- is alarmed when the buyer pays attention to the nuances that the seller tried to hide;
- freaks out, refuses to sell a computer if any malfunctions are found;
- tries to distract, focus on himself, thereby interfering with the normal check of the MacBook;
- does not agree with the conclusions, accuses the buyer of fraud;
- just trying to sell the computer by constantly lowering the price;
- if questions are asked over the phone and they lead to suspicions of fraud, hangs up, blocks the number.
Having noticed something similar behind the seller, it makes no sense to check the MacBook itself further. Surely he doesn’t have the cleanest history.
Conclusion
Friends, today we discussed checking a MacBook before hand-buying. We hope that these tips will help you get a really high-quality device that won’t break down in another week.
Tell us about your life stories, share your personal experience, give our readers some more tips to help them make the right and safe purchase of a used Apple device.