I Am Done With Intel And I Have No Regrets

The end of an era, that just a few years ago I couldn’t even imagine…

I feckin’ did it. I got up on the Saturday, washed the sleep out of my eyes, popped the lid of my 15” 2018 MacBook Pro open, and clicked “Erase all contents and settings”. Popped the lid back down, got some trousers on and a T-shirt because resetting Macs in my boxer-shorts is my God-given right, and walked into my nearest Apple Premium Partner to trade it in for a voucher. The end of an era, no more unsolicited space-heaters in my office and noisy fans waking me up from my pondering about the meaning of life. The time was ripe. It had to happen.

If you haven’t done trade-ins before…

Your mileage may vary based on where you live and whether you have an actual Apple Store, Premium Partner or whatever along those lines in your area, but in general, this is the simplest way to get rid of your old tech. No, you will not get the absolute best price for it, but it’s also entirely hassle-free, which in itself is worth plenty.

The process is actually really, really simple. You obviously need to reset your machine to factory settings, which lately has become an even simpler task than before. When you get to the store, you just tell them you want to trade your machine in, and they’ll inspect it right then and there. Don’t expect any kind of crazy elaborate Sherlock with a magnifying-glass inspection. I have done a few of these now, and the inspection itself takes less than five minutes. They’ll check for dents, ugly scratches, cracks in the screen and if all the keys of the keyboard are present. They then turn the machine on, check if the sound comes out of both speaker-grills, type a few characters, move the mouse around and that’s about it. Really basic stuff.

When I traded in my 2019 MacBook Air in 2020, I actually asked the gentleman what happens to the machines, whether they get rehomed or sold on the refurbished store. Turns out that’s not the case. Traded in machines, more often than not, get recycled. That means parts of a machine might end up in another machine later, but that exact machine is unlikely to ever see another customer as is. Somewhat weird if you ask me, as both Macs I traded in, were in perfect condition so could have easily been sold on the refurb store.

Either way, that’s all there is to the trade-in. After that, they’ll just tell you what the final voucher value is and ask you to sign away the machine. You get your voucher, which then you can keep for at least a year (varies across stores) or use it right then and there, for purchasing another product. For my 2018 15” MacBook Pro with 16 GB RAM and 512 GB SSD, I received 505 euros. It’s not a huge amount, but it’s also nothing to sneeze at. The alternative would have been for it to keep sitting unused in a drawer or go through the hassle of trying to sell it on eBay or some other used electronics retailer which perhaps could have gotten me an extra say 150–200 bucks, but honestly, trade-in is so convenient, I saw no point in not opting for it.

Why get rid of the Intel MacBook Pro, though?

I wasn’t sure I was ready to do that for a long time. In fact, I probably held on to it longer than needed. I’ve been using the Apple Silicon machines since the day they launched in 2020, but back then things weren’t as mature as they are today in terms of software compatibility.

I wanted to avoid ending up in a situation where I needed a working machine and all I had was an ARM-based one. For a software developer like myself, that would have been a tad irresponsible. So, I kept the Intel machine, just in case. I know, I lost about 250 euros’ worth of value between 2020 and 2022, but I felt the risk was worth it.

In 2022 Intel MacBook Pros make as little sense as burning-hot paper-weights can.

Exceptions apply, of course, but 2022 is a very different space for Apple Silicon than it was two years ago, making keeping the Intel machine around a very silly choice for most. I am now the proud owner of not just a 16” M1 Pro, but also an M2 Air, and both machines are performing amazingly well. Heck, the M2 Air is doing such a good job, I haven’t turned my M1 Pro on since the day the M2 Airs launched!

The only reason I am not trading the M1 Pro in just yet is simply because I need to know I have a backup machine, and I know I can do the trade-in when the M2 or M3 Pros come out. We’ll see which one makes sense to get. I have a suspicion M3 and M3 Pro might be a lot more interesting, and I might just skip M2 Pro altogether.

An epilogue to Intel

I don’t believe this is the end of Intel, x86 however, that’s a much less secure future. For what it’s worth, Intel made the Mac great again many years ago when Power PC couldn’t deliver any more, but I think no true technologist believed it was the last time Apple made such an architecturally radical change. In life, nothing lasts forever, and in tech it’s safe to say that’s exponentially more true.

Seeing Intel be out of the picture it contributed to making, is a sobering reminder of the shifting landscapes in technology.

But it’s all good. We needed Intel, Apple needed Intel and despite some of its famous shortcomings, it supported many Macs, millions of professionals and creatives for nearly two decades. Apple leaving Intel behind is probably one of the most important wake-up calls to a company with a legacy on par with Apple. It’s a very direct call that the industry is ready to move forward, and Intel will either take heed of it or face obsolescence. For healthy competition’s sake, I, for one, hope it won’t be the latter, and who knows, we may in another two decades or so see Intel in Macs again. But until then, long live Apple Silicon!

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Attila Vago — Software Engineer improving the world one line of code at a time. Cool nerd since forever, writer of codes and blogs. Web accessibility advocate, LEGO fan, vinyl record collector. Loves craft beer! Read my Hello story here! Subscribe and/or become a member for more stories about LEGO, tech, coding and accessibility!