Apple is about to make it easier to upgrade your old MacBook – report

iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch owners have long had the option to bring their old device to the Apple Store to trade in for a new model, and it looks like the company is about to extend the courtesy to Mac owners too.

A new report from Bloomberg claims Apple is planning to imminently launch an in-store Mac trade-in scheme at its retail outlets, starting in the United States and Canada. Starting next week, the report says, customers will be able to take their old Mac into the store and receive a credit against a new purchase.

Until now trading in a Mac with Apple has only been possible by shipping the device back to the company in a box shipped to your door first. However, a new trade-in scheme is likely to make things much smoother, enabling customers to get a valuation at the point of sale when they go in to buy a new Mac.

The scheme, when launched, is likely to take a while to get off the ground given so many Apple Store locations remain closed during the coronavirus pandemic.

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Apple is looking for a way to boost Mac sales, which are down amidst an overall slowdown of the personal computing market. Improving the incentives might be the motivation some users need to upgrade their ageing iMac or MacBook.

Apple is also, reportedly, looking to launch instalment plans for Apple Card users that would give the cardholders the opportunity to buy iPads, Macs and AirPods and benefit from interest free payments over the first twelve months. That would match a scheme already in effect for the iPhone, which offers 24-months of interest-free credit.

Apple is yet to comment on either reported plans. It’s not clear whether Apple plans to extend the reported scheme to Mac owners in the United Kingdom.