How often do you buy a new mac?

[jellybean]

I find myself buying a new mac less than every 12 months :eek: Damn you Apple... I buy the latest and greatest mac and am happy with it for a few months then something new comes out which I just must have. (but don't really need!)

I dread to think the amount of money I've spent on macs and mac software/hardware since I switched about 5 years ago. When I was on PCs I would just wait for it to die before looking for a new one...maybe that's why people say PCs are cheaper lol :p

So how about everyone else? How often do you buy a new mac, and what makes you decide it's time to buy a new one? Performance issues? New "gotta have it" hardware that comes out, etc..

[viccles]

Hmmm I think there will be a month gap between the mini and the MBP :D But no this MBP is meant to last me a LONG time.

[CyberPrey]

Well, I bought THE macintosh in 1984....

And then the Mac Pro in 2006...

so that boils down to every 22 years......

:rolleyes:

[MattyMac]

I wish I could buy a new mac every year...must be nice:rolleyes:

[CyberPrey]

Well, I bought THE macintosh in 1984....

And then the Mac Pro in 2006...

so that boils down to every 22 years......

:rolleyes:

[devmage]

Bought my first Mac, an Ibook 5 years ago. Followed by my Rev A Power Mac G5 Dual 2ghz. And now my Mac Pro is on the way! :D

[Applespider]

I buy the latest and greatest mac and am happy with it for a few months then something new comes out which I just must have. (but don't really need!)

Over the past 2 years, there have been several Macs I've wanted but I differ from you in that I don't 'need' them so I don't succumb to the impulse to purchase.

I'm using a 15" Powerbook 1.25Ghz which still does pretty much everything I need to do - albeit that things like iMovie effects take a while but I don't use that on a daily basis. I'll get a new iMac when Leopard comes out

[CoMpX]

Well, I bought THE macintosh in 1984....

And then the Mac Pro in 2006...

so that boils down to every 22 years......

:rolleyes:

Are you serious?

[Antares]

Let's see...Macintosh IIsi -> Pismo Powerbook: 8 years; Pismo Powerbook -> Intel iMac: 6 years; Intel iMac -> Mac Pro: maybe 3 years?

[eva01]

I say about every 2.5 years for me.

[Applespider]

Well, I bought THE macintosh in 1984....

And then the Mac Pro in 2006...

so that boils down to every 22 years......

:rolleyes:

Chuckle... I bought my first Mac in 1992 and my second Mac in 2004 ;)

[xfiftyfour]

well i bought my first mac (a powerbook) last august.. and then traded it for a MB this July... i'm not sure if that counts.. heh

[MovieCutter]

I buy every update for Power Macs/Mac Pros and Powerbooks/MacBook Pros. Very rarely do I have a machine for longer than 6-8 months.

[CyberPrey]

Are you serious?

totally. I bought the First mac and loved it... unfortunatly, apple was not big into games and all big hitters in the field were going pc... so I followed...

Now, with the advent of the Mac Pro, I have returned :)

[miloblithe]

1993, 1999, 2001, 2003... probably 2007.

The only reason 2001 happened was because I was moving to Russia so I needed a portable. Otherwise it would have taken a good bit longer.

[ITASOR]

Every time I get a new computer I tell myself "this is going to last 2 years, no exceptions". Got my quicksilver...had it for about 9 months...got my iBook, have had it a little over a year and now selling it. I'm hoping a MacBook will last me over a year...

[CoMpX]

totally. I bought the First mac and loved it... unfortunatly, apple was not big into games and all big hitters in the field were going pc... so I followed...

Now, with the advent of the Mac Pro, I have returned :)

Ohh. :) I thought you meant that you had the original Macintosh for 22 years. Yikes. :p

[hadleydb]

I find myself buying a new mac less than every 12 months :eek: Damn you Apple... I buy the latest and greatest mac and am happy with it for a few months then something new comes out which I just must have. (but don't really need!)

I dread to think the amount of money I've spent on macs and mac software/hardware since I switched about 5 years ago. When I was on PCs I would just wait for it to die before looking for a new one...maybe that's why people say PCs are cheaper lol :p

So how about everyone else? How often do you buy a new mac, and what makes you decide it's time to buy a new one? Performance issues? New "gotta have it" hardware that comes out, etc..


I have a sickness. I always have to have the latest and greatest mac... My wife is getting ready to divorce me over it. I buy one and use it for a few months then sell it and buy another. Everytime Steve Jobs gets up in front of an audience with a black turtleneck on I lose money. Are there support groups for this? :eek:

[steve_hill4]

Bought my MacBook Pro in March, got a 2nd hand LCIII shortly after, (from a friend). Next purchase is likely to be in another 12-18 months, hopefully iMac with Conroe and Blu-Ray, but we'll see.

If I was in a career/profession, had more income and around the same level of expenditure as I currently have, I expect it would be at least 1 every 12 months. Of course, that would include Linux and Windows boxes occasionally too for certain tasks, but most would be Macs.

[Kernow]

Current rate is every three years - G4 iMac in 2001 and then dual G5 in 2004. If I carry on at the same rate, my next is due at the middle to end of next year, but the current state of my bank account is very much disagreeing with this idea.

The problem is getting rid of old Macs though - I still have the iMac on my desk, even though I've not used it for ages, and I'll probably be the same when I upgrade the G5 too.

[Chupa Chupa]

Back in the mid to late 90s (after the clone age) a Mac desktop lasted me 3 good years. Then the 733 G4 with the SuperDrive came out and I HAD to have it even though it cost crazy money...like $3300 or so (Edu price). That is when I really started paying attention to all the rumor sites and such. So before MacWorld NY '01 I sold my 5 month old 733 on eBay for about $300 less than what I paid for it. When I got to MW Steve announced the G4 867 which cost around $2200 (Edu price). So I not only got a speed bump, I actually made money on the deal. That is when I became an upgrade addict.

Since then the only machine I held for more than 6 months was my Jan '05 G5. The only reason I held it was because I thought it was rather pointless to by a PPC with the Intels coming out. Of course I sold it just before WWDC and now have a shiny new Mac Pro 2.66.

[hadleydb]

Current rate is every three years - G4 iMac in 2001 and then dual G5 in 2004. If I carry on at the same rate, my next is due at the middle to end of next year, but the current state of my bank account is very much disagreeing with this idea.

The problem is getting rid of old Macs though - I still have the iMac on my desk, even though I've not used it for ages, and I'll probably be the same when I upgrade the G5 too.


The hardest mac I ever had to part with was my Ruby iMac G3... I will never get over that one. If I could buy it back to this day I would. I liked my 12" Powerbook too... Like I said it's a sickness of mine. :(

[KingYaba]

It's been three years since I bought an eMac. Almost 7 since my Pismo. And however long ago it was for the green g3 iMac. And I had a powermactintosh even further back. So I'm due for a new machine here in September.

[MacRumorUser]

Less than every year, but i'm hoping with counselling I can get it to past the 12 month mark :D

What happens is I update at least 1 of the 6 macs we have in the household every year, meaning yes, I buy a new mac currently less than 12 months.

[iBookG4user]

Well I bought my iBook G4 in early January 2006 and I'm getting a MBP in September so that's every 8 months although I hope that the MBP will last me a while because an almost $3000 purchase is a lot for a jobless 16 year old. (That's over 7 times my previous most expensive purchase :eek: )

[macenforcer]

Here goes:


Powermac 7100 -> 7200 -> 7500 -> 8100 -> 8500 x3 -> 8600 -> 9500 -> Pismo -> Titanium x3 -> Dual G4 1.42 -> Aluminum G4 Powerbook -> Dual G5 x2 -> Mac Mini x2 -> Macbook -> Mac Pro

[apfhex]

Usually 3-4 years. Right now I'm 52 months with my TiBook, it's going bye bye soon. I can't afford to upgrade more often... but up 'till now I haven't been using a computer for profit either. Once my design career takes off, probably a bit more often.

[roland.g]

On the occassional Tuesday :D

[ehurtley]

Let's see...

12" PowerBook G4 - 867 MHz in June of 2003.
eMac - 1.25 GHz in February, 2004.
15.4" MacBook Pro - 2.0 GHz in January, 2006.

So I went 8 months, then almost two years. (It was two years by the time the MBP arrived.)

I will likely replace the eMac next Spring, when Leopard is shipping on new hardware. Hopefully with a Mac Pro Oct, but possibly with only an iMac Core 2 Quad. Although if either business really picks up this year, or there's some incredible announcement before next Spring, I could pick it up sooner.

(I've owned plenty of Macs before the 12" PowerBook, and have bought plenty more in the last three years other than the three listed above, but the poll does specifically mention 'new', which I interpreted as 'new/unsealed in box', not 'new to me'.)

[gekko513]

I've gone a bit Mac crazy the last couple of years. 5 Macs in three years, but one of them weren't for me. I plan for my current MacBook Pro to last me two years, though.

[twistedlegato]

I buy every update for Power Macs/Mac Pros and Powerbooks/MacBook Pros. Very rarely do I have a machine for longer than 6-8 months.



DUDE.........when the rev. C mac pros and Macbook Pro come out.....can i have your Rev.B machine?????????? Pretty Please with suger on top!!!!!! (and when i say give i ment for free:) )

[steamboat26]

My family got our imac in 2001, i got my mac mini in 2006. 5 years is WAY too long between macs. I am hoping to get a macbook, macbook pro, or a mac pro when i go off to college in two years (unless something better comes out :D )

[Sandman824]

Performa 475 in 1993, Powermac 7500 in 96, heavily upgraded w/ 2 different processors to last till Quicksilver 933 in 2002, and soon to get a Mac Pro.

But I did have to get computers for my wife, the first ibook in 99, still in service with my daughter happily running Panther. Replaced by the Al book 15" in 2003.

So it looks like 3-4 years for me.

[Flojomojo]

Hmmmm ...

Mac SE in 1988
LCIII in 1992
Quadra 610 DOS Compatible in 1994
... a bunch of PCs, using Macs at work at their expense ...
Power Mac G4 Quad 450 in 2006, just now

I guess every four years ON AVERAGE for me. ;)

[twoodcc]

well so far i've bought all my macs within 12 months of each other........mac mini, powerbook, intel imac, and now macbook.

but i'm trying to get out of that habit:o

[aaron.lee2006]

I bought a MacBook Pro because I knew it would last me a long time. Of course something new will come out but this won't be truly behind in technology for another 2,3 maybe even 4 years.

[iBunny]

My First Mac was an iBook G4 1.33GHz in October 2004. I had it until Feburary 2006 when I sold it for a 2GHz Core Duo iMac. I plan on having this Machine until Lepoard comes out, then getting the best Mac Pro I can at the time. So I would say every 1-1.5 Years.

[Josh]

I try to milk them for all they are worth, sell them, and then use that money towards a new one.

It's worked pretty well so far:

Dual 1.25 PM G4 --- > iMac G5 --- > iBook G4 ---> Dual-core 2.0 PM G5

I've only spent probably a total of $1000 more than the initial cost of the G4 powermac to get all the systems so far. Not bad, I don't think.

[hadleydb]

well so far i've bought all my macs within 12 months of each other........mac mini, powerbook, intel imac, and now macbook.

but i'm trying to get out of that habit:o

I tell you we need a support group. :D

[Josias]

Well, though I recently switched, I can give an impression of whenever I get a new computer:
June 2002: Fujitsu Siemens Desktop PC, 1 GHz Celeron D, 128 MB RAM, 20 GB HDD, CD-reader, GeForce MX2 32 MB, 17" Mag Innovision CRT screen, XP Home SP1.

Bought from new for $300. Sold last year for $200:p

May 2005: Fujitsu Siemens laptop, 2.4 GHz Celeron D, 256 MB DDR RAM, 30 GB HDD, DVD-reader, Intel GMS/852 16 MB, 14" 1024x768 screen, XP Pro SP2.

Borrowed from dad. Needed laptop for school. So I guess I didn't actually buy this.

May 2006: Apple White MacBook, 2.0 GHz, 1 GB DDR2 RAM, 60 GB HDD (you know all the other specs).

Bought from new for $1400. Passing on to littlebrother around Christmas. Then a Core 2 MacBook Pro, or waiting for Core 3...:rolleyes:

So, a new Mac will be around every 1 or 2 years...

[MovieCutter]

I tell you we need a support group. :D

Tell me about it...

Since 2001:
Notebooks:
TiBook 667 VGA
15" AlBook 1.25
17" AlBook 1.5
15" AlBook 1.67
15" AlBook 1.67 HiRes
17" AlBook 1.67 HiRes
15" MBP 2.16
17" MBP 2.16
17" MBP Merom (ordering on Monday )

Desktops:
Apple IIe
Performa 575
Power Mac G4 MDD Dual 1Ghz
Power Mac G5 DUal 2.5Ghz
Power Mac G5 Dual 2.7Ghz
Power Mac G5 Quad 2.5 Ghz
Power Mac G5 Dual 2.0 Ghz
iMac 20" Intel 2.0Ghz
Mac Pro 3.0 Ghz

My girlfriend is ready to leave me and take the dog with her...

[CEAbiscuit]

Every three years. Learnging the hard way, I now buy apple care. When Apple care is up, I need a new safety net.

[Josias]

Tell me about it...

Since 2001:
Notebooks:
TiBook 667 VGA
15" AlBook 1.25
17" AlBook 1.5
15" AlBook 1.67
15" AlBook 1.67 HiRes
17" AlBook 1.67 HiRes
15" MBP 2.16
17" MBP 2.16
17" MBP Merom (ordering on Monday )

Desktops:
Apple IIe
Performa 575
Power Mac G4 MDD Dual 1Ghz
Power Mac G5 DUal 2.5Ghz
Power Mac G5 Dual 2.7Ghz
Power Mac G5 Quad 2.5 Ghz
Power Mac G5 Dual 2.0 Ghz
iMac 20" Intel 2.0Ghz
Mac Pro 3.0 Ghz

My girlfriend is ready to leave me and take the dog with her...

So you've had had 8 PB/MBP's, 6 PM/MP's and an iMac, plus the Apple IIe and the Performa. How can you afford that?

[Passante]

How ofter do I buy a new mac?

Whenever my wife lets me ;)

[QCassidy352]

I've owned 7 since 2000, so I guess that's a little more than 1 every year.

I justify this by always selling the old one no matter how much I like it. That way, I'm always getting a sizable % of the purchase price back. The way I see it, it only costs a litle more this way (as opposed to running the old one in the ground, at which point it's worth near zero, or keeping it).

I mean, say I upgraded every 3 years. What could I get for my old one, a few hundred at most? But my way, each "old" model brings only a few hundred less than I paid (I have very sucessful ebay auctions :)) so although I'm losing a few hundred upgrade, I'm never paying the real cost of a new mac all at once.

[johntucker09]

bought my first mac on September 5th, 2005, an iBook 12"...

bought my second mac on January 16th, 2006, an iMac G5 17"... (4.5 months after the first one)

my third mac replaced the first due to warranty issues, ordered June 30th, 2006, a MacBook 1.83GHz...(5.5 months after the second one)

so I am due for a new mac in 6 and a half months...

[hadleydb]

My girlfriend is ready to leave me and take the dog with her...


Do we need the support group or the women who love us? :confused:

[pianodude123]

I say about every 2.5 years for me.

Roughly the same

[pianodude123]

Tell me about it...

Since 2001:
Notebooks:
TiBook 667 VGA
15" AlBook 1.25
17" AlBook 1.5
15" AlBook 1.67
15" AlBook 1.67 HiRes
17" AlBook 1.67 HiRes
15" MBP 2.16
17" MBP 2.16
17" MBP Merom (ordering on Monday )

Desktops:
Apple IIe
Performa 575
Power Mac G4 MDD Dual 1Ghz
Power Mac G5 DUal 2.5Ghz
Power Mac G5 Dual 2.7Ghz
Power Mac G5 Quad 2.5 Ghz
Power Mac G5 Dual 2.0 Ghz
iMac 20" Intel 2.0Ghz
Mac Pro 3.0 Ghz

My girlfriend is ready to leave me and take the dog with her...

Holy crap dude!!!!

What was wrong with the Dual 2.5 that you had to update to a dual 2.7??? It is like the same exact speed! Why do you need a 15 and 17inch MBP?

Actually, Im not really nagging, just surprised and reallly want to understand your thought process/bank account balance

[bousozoku]

There has never been any "gotta have" hardware so I wait until I have a need and that's about every 3 years. I still use the old one as long as possible.

[MovieCutter]

Holy crap dude!!!!

What was wrong with the Dual 2.5 that you had to update to a dual 2.7??? It is like the same exact speed! Why do you need a 15 and 17inch MBP?

Actually, Im not really nagging, just surprised and reallly want to understand your thought process/bank account balance


So you've had had 8 PB/MBP's, 6 PM/MP's and an iMac, plus the Apple IIe and the Performa. How can you afford that?

Sell and upgrade. I've been lucky in that I have very rarely ever had to pay for an upgrade out of pocket. Usually, I'll sell before a new revision comes out, then take that money and upgrade to the new one. Due to some special discounts related to certain employment, I've been lucky enough to upgrade without any expense. As for the Dual 2.5->2.7, I sold the 2.5 right before the Quads came out, not anticipating the shipping delay of 1-2 months. I needed a production machine, so I picked up a Dual 2.7 on the VERY cheap to hold me over until my Quad arrived. And I only ever have 1 laptop, and 1 desktop...except this one time...
http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l134/phenomenonmedia/DSC_0009-1.jpg

[twoodcc]

I tell you we need a support group. :D

yes we do......it seems i'm always wheelin' and dealin' to get a new computer

[twoodcc]

Sell and upgrade. I've been lucky in that I have very rarely ever had to pay for an upgrade out of pocket. Usually, I'll sell before a new revision comes out, then take that money and upgrade to the new one. Due to some special discounts related to certain employment, I've been lucky enough to upgrade without any expense. As for the Dual 2.5->2.7, I sold the 2.5 right before the Quads came out, not anticipating the shipping delay of 1-2 months. I needed a production machine, so I picked up a Dual 2.7 on the VERY cheap to hold me over until my Quad arrived. And I only ever have 1 laptop, and 1 desktop...except this one time...
http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l134/phenomenonmedia/DSC_0009-1.jpg

wow :eek:

how many external hard drives do you have? and how do you keep up with them?

[hadleydb]

Sell and upgrade. I've been lucky in that I have very rarely ever had to pay for an upgrade out of pocket. Usually, I'll sell before a new revision comes out, then take that money and upgrade to the new one. Due to some special discounts related to certain employment, I've been lucky enough to upgrade without any expense. As for the Dual 2.5->2.7, I sold the 2.5 right before the Quads came out, not anticipating the shipping delay of 1-2 months. I needed a production machine, so I picked up a Dual 2.7 on the VERY cheap to hold me over until my Quad arrived. And I only ever have 1 laptop, and 1 desktop...except this one time...
http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l134/phenomenonmedia/DSC_0009-1.jpg

Wow! Nice setup! *Drools* :eek:

[spriter]

I usually upgrade every 18 months or so. That way, there's a new OS to go with new hardware and the 18 month gap is significant enough to get a decent bump in performance whilst getting a decent price back for my old machine.

[FadeToBlack]

Bought my eMac in December 2004. Sold it in January 2006 to buy an older Power Mac G4 Dual 867. The eMac actually ended up feeling faster overall. Sold the Power Mac and for some reason, I bought a Dell. This was in April. 4 months later, I came back to the Mac and bought my new Mac mini Core Duo. I am so glad I did!

Macs are addictive.

In that same time period, I had various Mac laptops:

-333MHz PowerBook G3 Lombard
-366MHz iBook G3 Clamshell
-667MHz PowerBook G4 Titanium

I plan on keeping the Mac mini for at least a year. It's great! :cool:

[twistedlegato]

Wow! Nice setup! *Drools* :eek:



Umm....3 17" MBP????????......can i have one!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:D

[overheated]

2 years ago i bought my first mac - powerbook 17" 1.5 ghz. i waited a bit hearing that the intel switch was on the way and when it came i went crazy. in feb 06 i bought a 20" imac, in june 06 i bought the 17" macbook pro, and yesterday i took delivery of my mac pro. somewhere in there before 06 i bought 2 23" alluminum cinema displays and one 20" alluminum. needless to say "I HAVE SWITCHED". out of all the things that made me switch the one that i did not count on but will never allow me to go back to the dark side is - i can hear again in my office. : )

[Mitthrawnuruodo]

I've posted my Mac buying frequency before, but for the poll I'll answer again: I buy a new Mac every third year. :)

1994: Performa 630
1997: Power Mac 7500
2000: PowerBook G3 (Pismo)
2003: iBook G4
2006: MacBook 2.0
2009: ?

;)

[ricgnzlzcr]

MovieCutter, I've seen that picture on Flickr from other people just saving it because that looks so rediculously amazing. I always wondered who the lucky person was and now my search is over.

I on the other hand have seemed to upgrade every year, but I have excuses:D :

2004-Needed a PC for college so I bought a media center PC. Worked well but I needed a laptop to be around campus........
2005-I started reading into the mac platform and I liked it. Summer of 2005 I buy a 12 inch 1.33 Ghz powerbook G4 off a macrumors member. I loved the computer like no other and said I would never lose it.
2006-enter intel switch. My powerbook screen starts to feel too small, I want to do a bit more encoding, and I want to run a few windows programs that I missed. I do the unthinkable and sell the powerbook (which I thought would last me till 09)

Now I'm waiting for a tibook I bought off ebay for $250 to come in to last me till merom is in a new macbook. I plan to keep this computer for at least 3 years. Will it happen? Stay tuned to macrumors to find out!

[devilot]

12" PowerBook August 2004
20" iMac G5 May 2005
12" iBook August 2005

No intention of getting a new Mac anytime soon, unless there's a way to get my iMac to break under warranty and gimme an Intel iMac. :p

[imacintel]

When the old one gets too old, or it breaks, like my pavillion

[eidrunner247]

Now I'm waiting for a tibook I bought off ebay for $250 to come in to last me till merom is in a new macbook. I plan to keep this computer for at least 3 years. Will it happen? Stay tuned to macrumors to find out!

That is an amazing deal you got for tibook. Was it a full auction, or were you in the right place at the right time with a buy-it-now option?

[ajl]

Well seeing my first Mac is sceduled to arrive Monday, the ratio is once every 20 years :p
Im hopeing that the ratio will go up to one every 2-4 years :D

[~Shard~]

Although I'd love to buy a new Mac every year (if not more frequently!) the practical side always gets the best of me, coupled with the fact that Macs have such great longevity! It's honestly hard to justify buying a new Mac all the the when the one you bought years ago is still running the latest OS and software just fine. ;)

I was seriously thinking of buying a new Mac in 2007, after Leopard is released, but now that my wife will be buying a MacBook soon, I may hold off for another year or two afterwards before upgrading my 1.25 GHz G4 iMac. After all, I haven't had one problem with it and honestly have no reason to upgrade it as of yet. :cool: