How to approach my father about selling my brand new (expensive) laptop because it does not work the way I thought it would

Question

3 months ago I was able to get a new laptop for school and work. I was able to choose between all laptops but I decided to buy a MacBook Pro 2017 because back in 2010 I had a MacBook pro as well and loved it to bits! I am very thankfull that my parents are able to give me such tech but after working with it for 3 months I highly regret my decision and want to go for a Windows laptop again. The MacBook starts to struggle because the RAM of the laptop is full when Photoshop and Google Chrome are running. And for a laptop worth €3200 that shouldn't be possible.

So what I am asking is how to approach my dad about this problem without sounding like a spoiled brat? My dad doesn't like losing money and selling the laptop means that some of the spendings will be lost because of it being "second hand". My dad also has quite a short fuse (gets angry quite fast if questions are asked at a bad time).

Note I contacted apple support about the "ram issue" but everything checked out fine. The laptop is in 100% perfect condition.

Should I make an ad for the laptop and wait for someone to offer me the desired amount before I approach my father?

Should I go to my father straight away? And ask him for any recommendations to resolve this "problem".

Edit Maybe also worth mentioning that the laptop I want to replace the laptop with is cheaper than the current one. MacBook €3199,- Dell XPS 15 €2599,-.

Answer 1

If you are not happy with your computer and you feel you tried everything to work with the Mac and you can't, I think you should come clean to your father. Realistically you cannot work properly with those conditions.

A 3 months-old PC can't lose that much value any ways. Plus it's an Apple. Here's an article I got from a quick google search regarding the Apple products' high resale value.

You should come to an agreement with your father. In order to avoid your father's "wrath", explain your situation and tell him you are willing to sell your PC and use the money to buy a new one. In my opinion, the money you would obtain from selling the Mac covers the Dell you want. If it doesn't, it shouldn't be more than 300€ or you are being ripped off or too desperate for it.

If you opt to sell the PC, I think you should not act behind his back. He paid, I think he has the right to know what's happening and why you are doing that.

Answer 2

1) As others pointed out, there might be something else that is wrong, aside of the hardware of the Macbook.

2) For your dad, my parents are like that. It is in their nature, and you can't change that. In my personal experience, that 'short fuse' temper tantrum will come, no way around that really. Just tell him that it is what it is, and you did your research. (But be sure to be thorough in that research). I guess he still will be pissed, but that is just how they are.

3) I see you are from the Netherlands. I'm from Belgium and when I was in college studying Computer Science, I ordered a laptop from BTO dot EU. They have several standard models that you then can outfit with parts you select yourself. E.G. You can upgrade the hard drives, the CPU, GPU, RAM, OS,... They are of great quality and offer good support, although you'll have to drive towards their shops in the Netherlands (which would suck for me, but I never had an issue with them). It might be worth it to see if you can get a better configuration with them for the worth of the Dell you want to buy.

4) Again, do your research all over again. I find it weird you would be struggling with those things, unless you are very lazy in how you use the programs. (eg having multiple instances running, dozens upon dozens of browser tabs, ...). My laptop cost me around 1200 euros, Five years ago, and I was able to run photoshop, visual studio, Chrome, firefox dev and WAMP all at the same time without too much of an issue with 8 GB of RAM on windows 7.