does apple buy back old hardware

They do offer Apple Store Gift Cards for some newer devices as well as an iPhone in-store trade in program, but for those devices, I don't think they offer any money http://www.apple.com/recycling/ You might be better off selling them as relics on Ebay to be honest 😝

Ebay would probably be the way to go. While out of date, those items aren't really that old - at least not old enough for the purpose of this forum, which are products that date before 1998 or so (Apple hardware goes back to the late '70s).

Those are new devices! The category "Old Hardware" is mainly for the Mac OS - Apple SOS era.

A 3 GS "new"? When we bought a phone a few years in an Apple Store I asked the helper about battery longevity. He said, "Oh about 2-3 years but by that time you'll probably be back looking for a newer model anyway." Having a 3GS now in Apple's world is like owning a 30 year old car.

The 3GS is the oldest device in that list and I still know some people that use it. This forum's purpose is to support the Mac OS - Apple SOS users.

Technically it for for pre-1998 Mac hardware because every Mac model introduced in 1998 and later has a dedicated forum area. Before the current iteration of the forum software, it was much more apparent. The non-intuitive nature of the name "Older Hardware" has been repeated pointed out to the Powers That Be without result.