How Long Do You Keep Your iMacs For?

I have one that is from 2007 and it still preforms well. My main one which is new, which is for business (graphic & web design), is generally changed at or near the end of my Applecare. This way I never have to worry and have the latest from Apple.

My older one is not used for work and is a family machine that is mostly used for web browsing and the occasional small design job.

You'll come to find out that many people in this forum prefer to keep theirs right under the 3 year mark. This is to ensure that the iMac is under warranty at all times. Very smart if you ask me.

My last iMac I kept for about 4 years until I purchased my 2013 model.

I kept my last iMac (which was also my first) for almost 3 years. It still worked great and felt very confident selling it to a friend. That said, I think 3 years is the outer limit for me. My previous PCs generally got replaced about every 18 months so 3 years really seemed like a very long time. I think I'll keep with the 3 year rule for now but if a major design change or upgrade were to occur between 18 months and 3 years I think I'd just go for it.

Got a mid 2010 iMac. Soon as the warranty ran out, I upgraded it with a SSD and gave it a whole new life. I recon I could get perhaps another 2-3 years out of it IF I weren't do video editing on it. Can begin to feel it slow down when rendering etc but extremelly zippy in other every day to day tasks such as browsing, facebookin, music, watching videos, boot up (under 12 secs!), loading applications etc.

2007 iMac, great macihine, never had a problem with it, and it is handling Mavericks pretty well.

I had a Power Mac G4 from 2004-2009, a mini from 2009-2013, and now a 2011 iMac. I plan on getting at least five years from this big fella

I tend to keep my Macs for ages, slowly upgrading them as I go along. I've bumped the RAM in my iMac to 26GB, and can always go to 32GB should that not be enough for my needs in the future. I also plan on putting in an SSD and setting up a Fusion Drive in a year or two, once prices fall enough to make me happy.

One to two years for the last few macs I have owned...

I generally keep my computers for as long as they are useful. I think this is the most cost-effective strategy, although I can't prove it. I bought this iMac (my first) in May 2008, so it's more than 5 1/2 years old now.

I've maxed out the RAM (6 GB), I've installed a large SSD, replaced the optical drive with a 1 TB HDD, and made my own 1.5 TB Fusion Drive. It's great, and I'm pretty sure I'll get at least another 3 years from it!

This is my daily-user machine, and I prefer it over my much more powerful 2001 MacbookPro. It works perfectly well with no lags for all the usual things, including iPhoto, iTunes Airplay, and a Windows XP virtual machine under VirtualBox, where I have Office installed (though I don't use it much). I guess I don't do much heavy-duty stuff, but I do occasionally transcode videos, do some casual video editing with iMovie, and play a glider flight simulator in Boot Camp...

I've had a glitch with the video (resolved by driver change), and the audio-out jack generates static if it is accidentally bumped or wiggled, but that's the extent of my hardware problems. I never had Apple Care. I guess I'm a lucky guy!

every three years i get a new one for myself and i pass the old one down to the kids. so the oldest iMac in the house is 6 years old.

Mr Kram said:

every three years i get a new one for myself and i pass the old one down to the kids. so the oldest iMac in the house is 6 years old.

Click to expand...

Could you clarify that? Does each child get an iMac, or are they shared? I see your point if they're shared...but if they're not...then wouldn't that mean (provided you have two kids) that the youngest oldest iMac is 6...but is nearly 9 when you dispose of it?

I will have my 2012 for 2-3 years depending on when I graduate. I will be getting a nMP as a graduation gift.

My first Mac--2008 iMac--is still in use. I use it every day--running Mavericks--mostly to stream music from iTunes.

Yes, the two kids share an iMac and an older MacBook. So each unit is about six years old.

Until it can no longer do what I need it to (or it dies). My current iMac will just about make it to 4 years before it will be replaced. I'll be replacing it about when the 2013 iMacs hit the refurbished store. Depending on the how much I can get for the old iMac, I may just keep it for various uses.

Whenever there is one with a feature that makes it worth upgrading to

If I buy in January and in September a new one comes out with something significant (to me) I will upgrade, likewise if nothing stands out to me for five years I won't