The minute you drive a brand-new car off the lot, it loses 10% of its value.

It sheds another 20% to 30% the first year, and another 15% a year after that. After five years, your whip has lost 60% of its value.

Smartphones, computers and other pricey tech goods follow the same pattern. There’s nothing wrong with them. With newer models coming out, it’s just how the market works.

Except now.

Thanks to RAMageddon, there’s been a glitch in the matrix.

Apple is currently offering trade-in values on some computers that exceed their original purchase price. Yeah, you read that right.

Also in today’s newsletter:

  • If a new Mac mini is not on your wishlist, perhaps one of these five new Macs coming shortly might tickle your fancy.

  • The Vision Pro is such a confounding product: magical technology wrapped in an unpopular, unaffordable, isolating device. I do hope John Ternus will keep it alive, though. It’s currently reportedly on “life support.”

  • 🔥 DEAL OF THE DAY: My 6-foot iPad charging cable has gone to the great e-waste landfill in the sky, so I just ordered this five-pack of 60W USB-C cables, which includes not one but two 6.5-foot cables plus a 10-footer (in addition to two shorter ones). The whole bundle costs just $9. #affiliate

  • Hurrah! The great iPhone 18 FaceIDFreezegate has been fixed.

  • BenQ’s new $700 monitor for creative pros is surprisingly affordable, but is it all wine and roses? Check out our hands-on review.

— Leander Kahney, EIC.

A message from the Cult of Mac Deals team

A message from the Cult of Mac Deals team

We try to coax a repairability rant out of Charlie in Cult of Mac podcast #34

Cult of Mac’s buyback program

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Plus, right now, 3 subscribers win a free 1-year Claude Pro subscription just for signing up.

Tweets of the day

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One more thing ...

❝

New technology will not necessarily replace old technology, but it will date it. By definition. Eventually, it will replace it. But it’s like people who had black-and-white TVs when color came out. They eventually decided whether or not the new technology was worth the investment.

— Steve Jobs, 1985.

Today’s poll

Results from Friday’s poll:

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