Used MacBooks in the UK typically sell for £200 to £900 (about $270 to $1,200). MacBooks hold value better than almost any laptop, but buyers know exactly which model years to avoid — so identify yours precisely rather than calling it a MacBook Pro.
What MacBooks are worth in the UK
| Condition | Typical | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| New with Tags | £900 | Unused, tags or seals intact |
| Like New | £765 | Barely used, no visible wear |
| Good | £585 | Light signs of use, complete and working |
| Fair | £405 | Heavily used, or a described fault or missing part |
| For Parts | £225 | Not working or incomplete, sold as seen |
Guide ranges converted from sterling at the 2 August 2026 rate, not quotes — sellers set their own price. Grades are seller-declared; WishThrift does not inspect or verify them.
What lifts the price
- Apple Silicon chips, which hold value far more strongly than the Intel generations
- Battery cycle count under roughly 300, which buyers read as light use
What pulls it down
- High cycle counts or a battery already flagged as needing service
- Sticky or unresponsive keys on the butterfly-keyboard years
Selling a MacBook in the UK
Most private sales settle by bank transfer or cash on collection. Faster Payments clear in seconds, which makes a transfer as safe as cash for the seller — wait for it to land before the item leaves your hands.
The UK has the deepest second-hand habit of any of our markets — charity shops, car boot sales and online resale have been mainstream here for decades, so buyers arrive already comfortable with used goods and already know roughly what things are worth.
Distance selling rules bind traders, not private sellers, but an item must still be as described and anything sold as working must actually work.
Two practical things shape a UK sale. Bank holidays and the run-up to Christmas slow collections right down, so build a few extra days in. And postage from mainland Britain to Northern Ireland, the Highlands and the islands carries surcharges that catch sellers out — quote for the buyer’s actual postcode rather than a flat rate.
Working out what yours is worth
- Hold Option and click the Apple menu > System Information > Power for the cycle count
- Note the exact chip, memory and storage from About This Mac
Getting it ready
- Find the exact model from → About This Mac: the year, screen size and chip. A 2020 M1 and a 2019 Intel are very different products at very different prices.
- Sign out of iCloud, iMessage and Find My, then erase all content and settings so Activation Lock is cleared.
Photograph
- Open and powered on, showing the About This Mac window with model and chip visible
- The keyboard and trackpad straight on, plus the screen off-angle to reveal any staining or delamination
- The battery health and cycle count screen
Put in the description
- Model year, screen size, and whether it is Intel, M1, M2 or later
- RAM and storage, both of which are soldered and cannot be upgraded later
- Battery cycle count and health status
Year, size and chip, in that order: “MacBook Air M1 2020, 13-inch, 8GB 256GB”. The chip generation is the single biggest price driver — Apple Silicon commands a large premium over Intel — so never leave it out. Add the cycle count if it is low, because buyers of used Macs genuinely look for it.
High value in a small parcel, so treat payment carefully: confirm cleared funds before it leaves you. Local handover with a live demonstration works particularly well, because buyers paying several hundred pounds want to see it boot.
It costs nothing to list
There is no listing fee, no selling fee and no commission, so the £900 a buyer pays is the £900 you keep. You and the buyer settle up and arrange the handover between yourselves; WishThrift does not hold the money or ship the item.
Where in the UK
The United Kingdom is a big place and what sells well moves with it. These are the parts of the United Kingdom with their own page for MacBooks.
Common questions
Where can I sell a MacBook in the UK?
List it free on WishThrift and deal with the buyer direct. There is no selling fee, so the whole amount stays with you. Most private sales settle by bank transfer or cash on collection. Faster Payments clear in seconds, which makes a transfer as safe as cash for the seller — wait for it to land before the item leaves your hands.
Is it still getting macOS updates?
Check Apple’s supported-models list for your year and answer honestly. An unsupported Mac still sells, but to a buyer who knows what they are accepting.
What is a used MacBook worth?
It depends far more on the processor than the year. Apple Silicon models hold value strongly, while comparable Intel machines sell for a fraction of what they once did.
Should I wipe my MacBook before selling it?
Always. Sign out of your Apple account, erase the drive and reinstall macOS. A machine still linked to an old account is effectively unsellable.
More: how to sell a MacBook, what MacBooks are worth, or Electronics across the United Kingdom.