No password needed · 2 minutes

The four things a website cannot see on its own

Activation Lock, device management, battery wear and drive health decide whether a used Mac is worth buying — and none of them are visible to a web page. One read-only command reads all of them. It installs nothing, changes nothing, and never asks for a password.

Step one

Copy this command

one-time code: …

Preparing…

That code is generated fresh for this inspection. Output carrying a different code is rejected, so a result captured earlier — or on a healthier Mac — cannot be passed off as this one's.

Step two

Run it on the seller's Mac

Press ⌘ Space, type terminal, press Return. Paste the command, press Return again, then select everything it prints and copy it.

It only reads. If anything asks for a password, you have pasted the wrong thing — close Terminal and start again.

Step three

Paste what it printed

Worth buying alongside it

Warranty-backed alternatives and the accessories most Macs arrive missing

Best in Europe · From $579Refurbed — Graded MacBooks with a 12-Month WarrantyEuropean marketplace with transparent A/B/C condition grading, 30-day returns and a 12-month minimum warranty on every Apple Silicon MacBook.View ›Fixes a 256GB Mac · ~$99Samsung T7 Shield Portable SSD (1TB / 2TB)Apple Silicon SSDs are soldered to the logic board, so a 256GB Mac can never be upgraded internally. A 1,050 MB/s external drive is the only way to add space.View ›High Performance · ~$50Thunderbolt / USB4 Hub for M-Series MacBooksAdds HDMI 4K@60Hz, an SD card slot, USB-A ports and 100W passthrough charging to a Mac that ships with two ports.View ›

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