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Terror-Inferno

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Sep 6, 2011
14
0
UK
I just wanted to know how long a Macbook Pro would last through regular use, such as putting it in and out of bags, having it on most of the day for word processing, Photoshop, video editing and so on,

As well as knowing if anyone who has an old Macbook Pro from 2006/2008, how are your Macbooks running after a few years, are they still as good as when you brought them or has anything changed?

I'm new to Macs, and I'm thinking of buying a Macbook Pro 15" for my media degree in a few weeks, but I want to make sure I'm 100% sure I need a mac and also make full use of it, and if it will last longer than all the laptops I've had in the past.

Thanks for your time,
 

Lone Deranger

macrumors 68000
Apr 23, 2006
1,894
2,133
Tokyo, Japan
I sold a 2004 15” PowerBook earlier this year, which was still humming along nicely, having survived an Orange Juice spillage years before. It was used professionally on a daily basis for a number of those years.

Your software will probably force you to upgrade sooner than the hardware will fold on you.
 

nivam

macrumors newbie
Jul 1, 2007
13
0
mine is working perfectly since june 2007, and yes runs OSX Lion perfectly as well as Windows 7
 

Nameci

macrumors 68000
Oct 29, 2010
1,944
13
The Philippines...
Heck! My powerbook which was released 2005 is still humming well. No issues whatsoever. Yes, your macbook pro, it could last as how long as you wanted it to.
 

azxr

macrumors member
Aug 31, 2011
44
0
I have an early 2008 CD2 2.4 that I purchased for work as a refurb November 2008. I put it in and out of my backpack daily and it is used for 9 to 12 hours a day. I do have an Incase hard cover on it which offers some protection against dings and scratches. About 3 months ago I did have the known Nvidia problem and they had to replace the logic board. I didn't have Applecare, but they fixed it for free. I have been so happy with it that I just purchased a new 15" MBP for personal use and expect to us it for at least 5 years.
 

swedefish

macrumors 6502
Feb 12, 2008
387
41
With 8 GB ram, I'd say that it will be an annoyance-free companion for four years. I still have a fully working 15" PG G4 from 2003 (all original parts) that is still working just fine, but obviously the outdated hardware (and at this point outdated OS) make daily work on it a pain.
 

Dr.Mel

macrumors newbie
Nov 17, 2011
2
0
Ive had mine over 5 years, and it still runs perfectly. I do, although tend to run a lot of programs at the same time and it does get a bit slow. I am currently working on updating the ram, which is going to fix the problem and is also much cheaper than buying a new macbook.
:)
 

parasitius

macrumors newbie
Oct 13, 2011
26
3
wtf?

Is 5 years supposed to be impressive? I've never had a PC for less, including laptops, including one Sager brand laptop I suffered with 8 years. . . poverty sucks.

My first comp's 100MB harddrive (1991) still ran fine last time I booted the 1996 pentium I have it installed in (last booted it 2005)... I was using it as a cheap router in the late 90's for my dial-up to be shared...
 

Ant.honey

macrumors regular
Oct 14, 2008
228
45
New York City
Is 5 years supposed to be impressive? I've never had a PC for less, including laptops, including one Sager brand laptop I suffered with 8 years. . . poverty sucks.

My first comp's 100MB harddrive (1991) still ran fine last time I booted the 1996 pentium I have it installed in (last booted it 2005)... I was using it as a cheap router in the late 90's for my dial-up to be shared...

5 years with today's tech is like 15-20 years. However, at least laptops these days aren't built like point and shoot digital cameras, they're built to last.
 
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parasitius

macrumors newbie
Oct 13, 2011
26
3
5 years with today's tech is like 15-20 years. However, at least laptops these days aren't built like point and shoot digital cameras, they're built to last.

Oh man, terrible example for me!

Bought my canon point and shoot $380 4 years ago... sold on eBay $250... now. I guess I chose well eh, $30/year to have awesome A650IS
 

thundersteele

macrumors 68030
Oct 19, 2011
2,984
9
Switzerland
I'm currently working on a 2008 pre unibody. I'm getting a new one soon, but the current one is still working flawlessly. There are no significant signs of use on the laptop, and I used it a lot and didn't pay too much attention to it.

Notes:
I had the logic board replaced once by apple. It was broken due to the faulty Nvidia chipset, and was replaced for free although I was out of warranty. No other technical problems
If I wouldn't get a new one, I would do the following now: Upgrade RAM to 4 or 6 GB, put in a SSD, and buy a new battery. Then it could serve me another 2 years I think, maybe longer.

I can play Starcraft II in 1920x1200 without problems (med/low settings of course).
 

ender land

macrumors 6502a
Oct 26, 2010
876
0
I expect to have my roughly 1 year old 13" mbp for a long while. If I have to replace it in the next 4 years I will be rather upset.

All the heavy lifting I foresee needing from it I am doing now, and will be for the next year, so after I graduate I do not expect my computational needs to increase.
 

thejadedmonkey

macrumors G3
May 28, 2005
9,155
3,265
Pennsylvania
My 2007 MBP is still running along without problems. However, due to increases in hardware requirements for software, I can't actually be productive on it. So while any computer will last "as long as you want it to", realistically after 3 years you'll start to see slowdowns just because it's not fast enough, unless you never upgrade your software.

Of course, as a $2000 facebook portal, it's great :p
 

Spadoinkles

macrumors regular
May 5, 2011
201
1
Florida
My Late-06 Whitebook (C2D) is chugging through its last month of use as my only computer. It suffices for my basic work like emailing, word processing and communicating at work, but having to wait overnight for my commercial photoshop projects or for AE to encode isn't my thing :p (GMA950)

Considering how much I've put this Mac through - over 700 cycles on a 300-cycle battery and my Mac's ORIGINAL battery is still at 85-86% health (coconut battery), and only the original hard drive which needed replacing after two years (must've fried it with AE :p), a $1700 machine (not US) with a $80 HDD lasted me through five years of very, very strenuous work, It was dropped down the stairs once, spilled a whole bowl of hot chicken (with sauce) on it and almost slipped off my lap into a Geothermal natural spring once :eek:

If I lasted five years, unless you're going waaaay extreme, I don't see why you can :D
 
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Heebeejeebies

macrumors regular
Nov 9, 2011
244
11
New Jersey
Bought the first aluminum body MBP model in 2008. Still works wonderfully. Survived some spillage, and the only problem I've had was when my hard drive went kaput because I stepped on it. I used it through college extensively, and since have been using photo and video editing software consistently. Working on upgrading to 6GB RAM from 4GB since I plan to use this computer for a while longer...

Be nice to your MBP and it will be nice to you...
 

thundersteele

macrumors 68030
Oct 19, 2011
2,984
9
Switzerland
Bought the first aluminum body MBP model in 2008. Still works wonderfully. Survived some spillage, and the only problem I've had was when my hard drive went kaput because I stepped on it. I used it through college extensively, and since have been using photo and video editing software consistently. Working on upgrading to 6GB RAM from 4GB since I plan to use this computer for a while longer...

Be nice to your MBP and it will be nice to you...

Lol.

I thought all unibody MBPs can take 8 GB ram.
 
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