Selling a Late Relative's MacBook: A Gentle Guide

You can sell a MacBook that belonged to someone who has died once two things are settled: you are the right person to deal with it, and it is no longer locked to their Apple Account. Save any photos or files first. If Activation Lock is on, Apple's Legacy Contact or documented routes can remove it.

There is no rush in any of this. A MacBook does not need dealing with in the first weeks, and nothing below is urgent. When you are ready, this guide takes it step by step, in the order that avoids losing anything you might later wish you had kept.

Is there anything to do straight away?

Very little. Keep the Mac somewhere safe and dry, keep its charger with it, and do not erase it or hand it to anyone yet. If it is switched on and unlocked, leave it on charge rather than letting it shut down, because a Mac you can currently use may ask for a password it does not know the next time it starts.

It is also worth gathering any paperwork you come across: the original receipt or invoice, the box, and any note with passwords or an Apple Legacy Contact access key. Each of these can save a lot of effort later.

How do you save their photos and files first?

For many families the Mac matters less than what is on it: photographs, letters, music, a half-finished project. Save those before anything else, because an erase is permanent.

If you can sign in to the Mac. Copy what you want to an external drive. Photos usually live in the Photos app; documents in the Documents and Desktop folders. A Time Machine backup to an external drive captures everything in one go if you are not sure what to keep.

If you cannot sign in. Modern Macs encrypt their storage. Apple explains that it cannot help remove a passcode lock without erasing the device, so a forgotten login password generally means the files on that Mac cannot be recovered. Their iCloud data is a separate matter: photos, notes and files stored in iCloud can often be reached through the Legacy Contact route below, even when the Mac itself cannot be opened.

Is the Mac locked to their Apple Account?

Activation Lock is Apple's anti-theft protection. It switches on with Find My and ties the Mac to the owner's Apple Account, so nobody else can erase and set it up. Not every Mac has it on, so find out before assuming Apple needs to be involved.

If you can sign in, open System Settings, click their name, then iCloud, and look at Find My Mac. If it is off, no Apple request is needed. If you cannot sign in, it is safest to assume the lock is on: a locked Mac asks for the owner's Apple Account password during setup after any erase, so only erase once you have saved everything that can be saved.

What are Apple's routes to remove Activation Lock?

Apple offers three routes, and which one fits depends on what your relative set up while they were alive.

Legacy Contact. A Legacy Contact is someone the account holder chose, in their Apple Account settings, to have access to their data after death. Apple describes this as the easiest route. With the access key they shared and a copy of the death certificate, you request access through Apple's Digital Legacy page. Apple says Activation Lock is removed automatically from devices signed in to that account once the request is completed.

Legal documentation. Without a Legacy Contact, Apple may ask for a court order or other legal documents naming you as the person entitled to the account. Requirements vary by country, and this route takes longer.

Proof of purchase. Apple's Activation Lock for Mac page says that if you need help disabling the lock and have proof of purchase documentation, you can start an Activation Lock support request. An original invoice showing the Mac's serial number is the key document here, which is why that shoebox of receipts is worth a look.

Please avoid anyone offering to "unlock" the Mac for a fee. There is no lawful shortcut, and those services often put the family's own accounts at risk.

Who has the right to sell it?

This is general information, not legal advice. A laptop is part of the person's estate, like their other belongings. In England and Wales, GOV.UK explains that probate is the legal right to deal with someone's property, money and possessions, and that the executor named in the will, or the closest relative if there is no will, is the person who applies. Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own systems.

What that means in practice is simple: the person handling the estate should agree to the sale, and the money belongs to the estate rather than to whoever happens to hold the Mac. Whether probate is needed at all depends on the estate as a whole; a solicitor or the probate service can tell you. For a single laptop, it is sensible to make sure the executor is happy and to note the sale in the estate records.

How do you protect their privacy?

Once you have saved what you want and the lock is removed, erase the Mac completely. On current macOS, System Settings, General, Transfer or Reset, then Erase All Content and Settings does it in one pass; our guide on how to wipe a MacBook before selling has the full walkthrough, including older Macs.

Erasing matters beyond tidiness. A personal laptop holds messages, bank log-ins and medical letters that the person never meant anyone to see. Whoever buys the Mac, you are protecting them. For our part, every Mac we buy is erased again to NIST 800-88 standards during inspection, so nothing personal survives even if something was missed.

If the Mac is still locked and none of Apple's routes has worked yet, our guide to iCloud-locked MacBooks explains the options honestly, including why no legitimate buyer can take a locked machine.

How does selling it work when you are ready?

Once the Mac is unlocked, it is quoted exactly like any other: on model, specification and condition. It does not matter that it was inherited, that the charger has gone missing, or that it has not been switched on for a year. You can check a rough figure first with our guide to how much your MacBook is worth.

One honest note on age: we buy Apple Silicon Macs only, M1 generation (2020) and newer. If your relative's MacBook is an older Intel model, we cannot make an offer, but our Intel MacBook value guide explains what it is worth on the open market and where it can still be sold.

For an Apple Silicon Mac, the process is gentle on your time. You describe it in the quote form, and a fixed quote arrives by email within 2 working hours, locked for 14 days, so there is no pressure to decide quickly. We send a free insured postage label, and payment goes to the bank account you choose within 24 hours of the Mac passing inspection. If it arrives still locked, we do not buy it; we return it free and insured, with notes on releasing the lock.

Our page on how to sell a locked MacBook goes further into each unlocking situation if you need it.

In short

Take your time. Save what matters to you first. Find out whether the Mac is locked, and if it is, use the Apple route that matches what your relative set up. Make sure the person handling the estate agrees, erase it, and then sell. When you are ready, request a quote and mention anything you are unsure about in the message box; we will answer plainly.