One of the great things about owning the best Macs is that they'll hold their resale value over time. macOS machines that are years old still go for hundreds or thousands of dollars on sites like eBay or Facebook Marketplace. There are even systems older than a decade that will fetch over $100 on the resale market in 2024, and that's downright impressive. Even the best PCs from that era have likely headed to a landfill or recycling center rather than a secondhand site. If reselling isn't your style, you can still get a fair bit of credit for your Mac by trading it in. Or, you can always throw it away (safely and responsibly, of course).

But before you do any of that, there are five things you should do on your Mac first. From backing up your data to removing activation lock and resetting your device, these steps are critical. They can help you save your data, protect it, and find out more about your computer's resale value.

5 Find your system information

This can help identify your Mac and it's value, and is critical for resale

A lot of people can keep the same computer for a solid five to ten-year period. By the end of that window, you may have forgotten the specifications of your Mac and how much it's worth. You can easily find out what's inside your Mac by using the About this Mac and System Report tools. You'll especially want to look out for your Mac's battery health, including its cycle count and remaining maximum capacity. These are valuable to prospective buyers, and they might ask you for those details. However, if you don't get this information before you reset your Mac, it'll be harder to access after the fact. Here's how to find it all:

1. Click the Apple Menu and select About this Mac.
2. Look for your Mac's name, release year, and specs, such as processor, memory, and macOS version.
3. Click the More info button to access more detailed information about your Mac.
4. To find out anything and everything about your Mac, click the System Report button at the bottom of this page.
5. You can explore the System Report to find out anything you need to know. You should take a screenshot or picture of your Mac's Battery Health information, because it is helpful for buyers interested in your computer.

4 Cancel or transfer AppleCare

Bundling AppleCare+ coverage with your Mac can improve value

Next, you'll want to make a plan for either canceling AppleCare or transferring it to another individual. If you don't have AppleCare+ coverage on your Mac, you can skip over this step. If you aren't sure whether you have AppleCare+, following the above steps will let you know (specifically after completing Step 3). Now that AppleCare+ can be paid for in full or as a monthly subscription service, there is an incentive to follow this step. If you don't cancel the monthly subscription, you will continue to be charged.

How to cancel an AppleCare+ monthly plan

1. Open the System Settings app on your Mac, or the Settings app on any device logged into the same Apple ID as your Mac.
2. Go to the Apple ID tab, then Subscriptions.
3. Click your Mac's AppleCare+ plan in the list of subscriptions.
4. Select Cancel subscription and follow the on-screen prompts to continue.

If you've already paid for your AppleCare+ plan in full, it may be worth transferring it to the next owner. This is a great way to add resale value to your Mac as well. However, it will take time and a bit of work, since the process is a manual one via Apple Support.

How to transfer an AppleCare+ prepaid plan

1. You first need to sign onto Apple's My Support website, which will give you the AppleCare+ plan agreement number, your device's serial number, and proof of coverage.
2. You also need to have the original receipt of purchase for your Mac handy.
3. You need the name, address, email address, and phone number of the person you want to transfer the plan to.
4. Then, contact Apple Support and let them know you want to transfer your AppleCare+ plan.

3 Turn off Find My and Activation Lock

Without this step, your Mac would be useless to its next owner

Find My and Activation Lock make sure that your device remains unusable if it is lost or stolen. However, the features can also completely brick Macs that are sold, traded in, or thrown away. If you're about to get rid of your Mac, you should disable Find My before continuing. Sometimes, a Mac can be completely erased with Find My and Activation Lock still enabled. To prevent your device being returned or declined as a trade-in, make sure to follow the steps below.

1. Open the System Settings app on your Mac.
2. Click the Apple ID page, then click the iCloud tab.
3. Under the Apps using iCloud list, click the Show more apps button.
4. Find the Find My tab in the list and click on it.
5. Finally, click the Turn off button next to Find My and follow the on-screen prompts to continue. You will need your password to finish.

2 Back up your Mac

You'll want to make sure you have a copy of your files

One of the more important steps in this process is backing up your data. Whether or not you think you'll need the files on your Mac down the road, you should still create a Time Machine backup. It's also a good idea to manually save the data you know you need — like photos, videos, and documents — before creating a backup. This serves two purposes: it adds data redundancy, and makes the files that are critical to your life and workflow easier to access. You'll want a flash drive or external SSD for your Mac nearby for this process.

1. Open the System Settings app on your Mac.
2. Click the General tab, then select ​​​​​​​Time Machine.
3. Click the Add Backup Disk option.
4. Select a disk from the list and follow the on-screen prompts to continue.
5. You can click the Back up now button to start the process manually, but it should happen automatically.

1 Factory reset your Mac

All of your data will be removed from your Mac for good

Whether you're selling, trading in, or throwing away your Mac, you need to reset it. This will erase all of your data and settings, which is absolutely necessary for privacy and security reasons. However, once you complete this process, there's no way of getting your data back. That's why it's incredibly important that you follow the above steps, including backing up your Mac, before continuing. With that said, if you're ready to factory reset your Mac, this is how to do it.

1. Open the System Settings app on your Mac.
2. Navigate to the General tab, then select Transfer or Reset.
3. Click the Erase all content and settings button.
4. You'll need to enter your Mac's password to continue
5. Make sure that you are okay if all your data is deleted, and then click Continue.
6. Now, you will have to enter your Apple ID password.
7. You'll have one last chance to back out. If you want to finish, click Erase all content & settings.

8. Wait for your Mac to restart, which may happen a few times. Do not interrupt this process.
9. After your Mac reboots to the Setup Assistant, it's ready to be sold, traded in, or thrown away.

What should you do with your old Mac?

There are a lot of things you can do with your old Mac, and a few things that you can do to keep it alive. For starters, reselling your Mac is the best way to get the most value out of your old computer. For a simpler, but less valuable, way to get something back for your old Mac, check out trade-in options for your computer. The last option is getting rid of it altogether, but we'd recommend avoiding that. Instead, consider donating it to a charity or giving it to an electronics recycling center. Whichever option you go with, be sure to follow the above steps first.