The new iMac Pro comes out tomorrow starting at a wallet-damaging price of $4,999 (£4,999 or about AU$6,679), and perhaps the way some people will afford one is by trading in their old Mac – particularly considering that Apple has just upped the maximum trade-in value to $2,500 in the US.

Apple’s trade-in scheme is run in conjunction with partner firm Phobio over in the States, and the previous maximum payment was $1,500, but has now been increased to the aforementioned $2,500. A hefty boost indeed, and the trade-in scheme applies to select Mac computers from 2009 onwards.

As MacRumors reports, you can get that maximum $2,500 when trading in an iMac or MacBook Pro, although doubtless that will have to be a super-fully-loaded model, and one in good condition.

Getting a quote on your Mac is easy enough – just head to the Phobio site where you can enter your machine’s serial number, specify its condition, and then you’ll be told the trade-in value. If you decide to go ahead, you’ll be provided with a pre-paid shipping box to send your Mac to the company.

Tricks of the trade-in

What about the rest of the world outside the US? Phobio only covers the US and Canada, and Apple’s partner outfit in the UK (Brightstar) currently only offers a maximum of £880 to trade-in your Mac (although it deals with models from 2006 onwards, so accepts slightly older Macs).

This seems rather unfair, given that it only equates to just under $1,200, and hopefully the boosted trade-in values will come to the UK and other territories in time.

Of course, any trade-in scheme isn’t going to give you as much as you might potentially get from selling the device yourself online, in the same way that trading in your car to a dealer won’t secure as much as you could have got from selling to another punter.

But the trade-in route is far more convenient, and also potentially a lot more secure in that you won’t have to deal with problem customers, or indeed the possibility of the likes of conmen trying to diddle you out of your device in some way.