Prices of secondhand MacBooks are reportedly rising in China. This upward trend comes as demand for devices capable of running OpenClaw increases in the country, a report claims. OpenClaw (formerly known as Clawdbot and Moltbot) is an open-source AI agent framework that enables autonomous local computer operation (such as managing email, calendars, and files), created by Austrian developer Peter Steinberger. In February, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman spent billions of dollars hiring Steinberg to lead the development of next-generation AI agents for the company.
According to a CNBC report, the surge is being driven by users seeking dedicated machines to experiment with the tool.
The report cited Jeremy Ji, chief strategy officer and general manager of international business at ATRenew, a used-electronics reseller that partners with Apple and JD. com in mainland China, to support this claim.
Moreover, OpenClaw has seen higher usage in China than in the US, according to cybersecurity firm SecurityScorecard. However, concerns about data access and security risks are prompting users to run the software on secondary devices or cloud servers rather than on their primary computers.
“As people in China jump on the OpenClaw trend, they are turning to pre-owned computers,” Ji told CNBC, comparing the demand spike to the pandemic period when personal computing purchases increased. He added that from March to May, ATRenew is maintaining Apple product prices at levels typically seen during peak iPhone launch periods, instead of the usual seasonal decline, with new MacBooks generally priced about 15% higher than used units on its platform.
Why Chinese users are looking for second-hand MacBooks to run OpenClaw
Apple’s in-house chips, particularly the latest generation, the M5, are typically more power-efficient than processors used in Windows-based systems. Among early OpenClaw adopters, Apple’s Mac Mini has emerged as a commonly used device.
ATRenew’s Ji told CNBC that the company is seeing users trade in MacBooks powered by older M1 and M2 chips for models equipped with M4 or M5 processors. “We do see the growing demand for laptops, PCs as a whole, but the Mac devices benefit from that trend [to try OpenClaw] above all,” Ji noted.
He added that consumer interest in higher-spec second-hand MacBooks remains steady, with ATRenew increasing buyback prices to improve supply. Ji said the trend could continue “throughout the whole year.”
OpenClaw was introduced by Steinberger in November, but demand in China accelerated earlier this month after companies such as Tencent began using the tool to attract users.
While Ji did not disclose the exact number of MacBooks processed since late February, he noted that ATRenew handled around 100,000 devices daily on average last year. He expects laptops and personal computing devices, including MacBooks, to account for about 20% of the company’s business, up from 15% currently.
Meanwhile, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang told CNBC that OpenClaw is “definitely the next ChatGPT.” He said, “It is now the largest, most popular, the most successful open-sourced project in the history of humanity.”
Separately, rising demand for AI computing has pushed up prices of memory chips, a key component in smartphones and laptops. Ji added that this has led more consumers in China to consider used Apple smartphones instead of flagship Android devices.
