Apple Users Are Keeping Their Devices for Longer as Upgrades Slow

[kagharaht]

My late iMac Late 2013 still had life when adding SSD boot drive. Sadly Apple no longer fixed the bugs in Catalina which was causing iCloud Sync issues. I finally retired it with a new iMac M3 and I plan on keeping this one just as long. As long as the hardware holds up and the OS holds up.

 

[Darren.h]

stick it out with an intel chip Mac as long as you can. to get the best fastest Apple silicon Mac you can.

 

[GMShadow]

You do understand that upgrading Siri is the same as investing in AI, right? Because it does not sound like you do, at all.

You do also understand that Apple was able to take a lot of the AI work that they've done on the car project and apply it to other projects, right? Because it does not sound like you do, at all.

They (speaking generally) don't get anything, and they're (again generally) very loud and proud about it. 😄


We're already seeing engineering from Vision Pro move to the rest of the device lineup, but these people just scream how it's a flop and no one will ever want it and how Tim Cook is a failure.


As for the article, Apple really doesn't need to react to this. There will be a slight hiccup as demand adjusts to a new cycle, but there's always people ready to upgrade. You can usually tell where they're thinking by the machines they compare [new product] to at launch - the M3 MacBook Pros last year had emphasis of how much faster they were than Intel MBPs, because Apple knows those are the ones looking to upgrade, much more than M1/M2 owners.

 

[Ubele]

All things being equal, I'd hang onto my iPhones for four years, but T-Mobile gives great trade-in deals on iPhones only up to three years old, so I upgrade every three years. The camera, which is important to me, is much improved after three years, but the only other features I can think of that my 14 Pro Max has that my XR didn't are 5G and satellite SOS. I don't remember what was better about my XR over my previous 6+, other than the camera. As for my 2021 16" M1 MacBook Pro and 2021 12.9" iPad Pro, they're still more than powerful enough for anything I do.

 

[robsall]

For phones, I think a huge factor is around the carriers now all moving the finance options to 30 or 36 months when they all used to be 24. I happyily would pay the few dollars more per month to upgrade every 2 years on my phone, but they don't give that option and only offer 30 and longer now. I likely at my next upgrade will buy from Apple direct instead of carrier financing, 3 years kills me every time i do it.

 

[iMac The Knife]

Up until very recently, I've been an Apple everything guy for about 20 years. However, the ever-fattening-margin (historically under 40%, now nearing 50%) and decisions to "force" buying fundamental upgrades like RAM & SSD from the one & only "company store" have been a major turnoff... especially when comparing Apple upgrade pricing vs. market... and/or remembering Apple upgrades vs. the flexibility to get RAM & SSD from third parties in the Intel Mac days.

I've been ready to buy a new Mac laptop for TWO years now... but when I up the RAM & SSD, the wallet closes tightly. It could be an easy sale for Apple if the perception of relative VALUE was there for me. It's not now... and I'm shopping PC alternatives as my ever-aging MBpro is getting near its end.

Do I WANT to go PC? No. But I also do not want to pay 3X-5X market for Apple RAM & SSD upgrades. No amount of spin (like "8GB Apple Ram = 16GB PC") or Apple Defense Force spin changes my perception. I've always paid an Apple premium for a couple of decades. Now that premium has fattened a bit too much. What was once a 100% Apple household, now has a PC in it for "old fashioned bootcamp" (because ARM Windows is not full Windows). As a result, I've re-discovered that Windows 11 is not nearly as bad as we spin it and I can get quite a loaded PC (in a world of tremendous competition) for the budget of a Mac. In fact, for less than the budget of only the 8TB SSD updated in a Mac (sans the rest of the Mac), I picked up a loaded gaming PC with 10TB of SSD and 32GB of RAM.

Currently I'm personally 2/3rds Mac, 1/3rd PC (aging MBpro, Silicon Mac Studio, Gaming PC). I'm not far from flipping that with a PC laptop. 5 years+ ago, I couldn't even think this way. Modern Apple "shareholders above all else" policy is driving me in that direction. I doubt I'm the only one.

I don't think it's about the economy or tech robustness being "good enough." I think the profiteering for "another record quarter" has simply gone too far... and those of us not intoxicated on Apple nectar are not seduced to "just pay ANYTHING" for new tech. Show me greater VALUE Apple. Or correct your pricing, particularly for commodities like RAM & SSD.

I agree with you. I was all in on Apple until the iPhone 13PM came out. Having a 12PM, I refused to buy the same phone again for the third time. At that point I started trying foldable phones since I was very interested in this form factor and now I am down to my trusty 2017 27" iMac 5K as my only Apple product. I am hoping for better days for Apple in terms of innovation and product design in the future though.

 

[groove-agent]

Probably less disposable income now too.

 

[satchmo]

Sadly we know Tim Apple will do whatever it takes to have you upgrade sooner.

The EU will require replacement batteries in the future which should help extend the life span of a device.

However, it won’t prevent Apple from limiting a products’ capabilities by equipping it with less RAM.

 

[minik]

Back in the Intel-based Mac era, I generally upgrade every 3 years for notebook or stretching to 5 years for desktop. Now I have the M1 Pro 14-inch MacBook Pro since late 2021, it held up pretty well. Pre-M1 iPad on the other hand, it can see the A-series chip and lesser amount of memory impact the device longevity. For iPhone, I still upgrade every year. 2 years for the Apple Watch although I'm still using the Series 7.

 

[jclardy]

These past years have been the first that I haven't upgraded YoY. M1 Max MBP still going. M2 iPad Pro. AW Ultra 1.

Ultra 2 was basically nothing. M2/M3 MBP are great upgrades, but M1 Max is still incredibly impressive. M2 iPad Pro is already overkill for anything available on iPadOS. The M4 screen is a nice upgrade, but it can't do anything more for me than the M2.

My 15 Pro Max is the most up to date, but since it is getting AI I might stick it out an extra year for the first time since the 3GS.

 

[turbineseaplane]

We're already seeing engineering from Vision Pro move to the rest of the device lineup, but these people just scream how it's a flop

Your grouping two things that shouldn't be grouped

Engineering investments can and do come from failed product ideas

The AVP is a total flop as a product at this point in time ... but yes it definitely has interesting concepts and engineering that will benefit other areas (just like the car project, among many others)

 

[asiga]

Don’t all brands tell us to be sustainable? What’s the problem with them now if we agreed to become sustainable?

 

[JitteryJimmy]

100% of the devices replaced in my family in recent years has been due to (1) loss, (2) physical destruction, or (3) the availability of a "free" company-owned device.

None of my Apple products have been retired due to age since my 2014 MBA was replaced ... by a much more modern 2020 M1- based MBA.

 

[Johnny907]

I mean, what is new that's worth upgrading for right now? I have a base 14, don't give a bleep about "active island" or "always on display," so why would I bother buying a new phone?

 

[coolfactor]

Because the prices in Australia are an absolute joke, when Apple released the M4 iPads here recently they put the prices up which they’ve done with every new release. Considering how much the cost of living is hurting everyone at the moment only Apple Inc with Timmy Cook at the helm would have the b@lls to up the prices right now.

My a$$ they’re an altruistic company that wants equality for all🙄.

Quality for all, not equality for all. It takes money to make quality products. Cost of raw materials is up. This is going to filter down to consumers. I'm sure someone with more knowledge can confirm this, but haven't their profit margins become slimmer that past couple of years, not fatter?

 

[justanthonylee]

I like how others are posting about the watch, the iPhone, the iPad when this entire article was about the MAC! Plus it's stated exactly why and what I was going to say before I got to the end. It's the removal of Intel.

"research suggests that the transition to Apple Silicon, which began in 2020 with the introduction of the M1 chip, has played a crucial role in this shift. Apple Silicon has delivered significant performance and energy efficiency improvements, making Macs more capable of handling demanding tasks for several years."

People are BUYING and using the M1 still, because it's more then capable of most peoples needs. That is why!

 

[justanthonylee]

I mean, what is new that's worth upgrading for right now? I have a base 14, don't give a bleep about "active island" or "always on display," so why would I bother buying a new phone?

The entire article is about the MAC not the iPhone.

 

[coolfactor]

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but they've long been engaging in these tactics

The entire reason SSDs are locked down on Macs is so they can absolutely screw customers on horrendously overpriced SSD upgrades at the time of initial purchase

That's FUD. They are not sitting around a table asking "how can we screw our customers?" No, they are asking "how can we make the most maintenance-free, performant products?" ... and tightly-integrated SSDs helps to achieve that. Apple views their products as appliances. You're not opening up your microwave and upgrading its processor, I hope?

 

[justanthonylee]

Long live the Lightning port on my iPhone 13 mini!

The article is NOT about the iPhone but the Mac.

 

[spartan1967]

Not good news at all. Now Apple has the excuse to cut the supporting period of devices more.

Then lucky I bought the last generation of the Mini.

 

[AlexJaye]

Because the prices in Australia are an absolute joke, when Apple released the M4 iPads here recently they put the prices up which they’ve done with every new release. Considering how much the cost of living is hurting everyone at the moment only Apple Inc with Timmy Cook at the helm would have the b@lls to up the prices right now.

My a$$ they’re an altruistic company that wants equality for all🙄.

Apple is a very selfish company that is focused on hardline equity for the sake of appearances instead of actual equality for all.

They do not care.

 

[turbineseaplane]

That's FUD. They are not sitting around a table asking "how can we screw our customers?" No, they are asking "how can we make the most maintenance-free, performant products?" ... and tightly-integrated SSDs helps to achieve that. Apple views their products as appliances. You're not opening up your microwave and upgrading its processor, I hope?

Nope, sorry

You'd maybe have an argument if they weren't charging 5-10x markups on SSD & RAM
Apple quite clearly decided on a "low specs = low msrp" and then "gouge from there" as a major strategy to keep and grow margins.

If you don't see that for what it is, I don't know what to tell you

They don't care about "low maintenance" -- they try to hawk extra warranties too!!
The customers (who overpaid to begin with) are paying extra for actual warranty coverage too

Apple are charging through the nose at every single point of the transactions

 

[mrochester]

This is great. Anything that slows down the wasteful upgrade cycle that many people adhere to is a good thing in my books.

 

[coolfactor]

Devices are a commodity these days, no reason to upgrade. Innovation is dead at Apple. We don't need more emoji. We certainly don't need AI, which is all Apple is focusing on for the next couple of years.

Apple failed with the car, failed with Carplay 2, failed with Siri. Just imagine where we would be if Apple had applied the car investment into Siri. Apple increases bugs with every new release, and never seems to reduce them.

We need tech leadership at Apple, not a supply chain guy.

It is time for Cook to be replaced.

Wrong on several accounts. There's plenty of innovation at Apple. Emoji support is driven externally by Unicode, not by Apple. AI (actually ML) has been part of Apple's product lines for 2 decades. The latest blitz has been all about a new form of AI called "generative". New thing, and Apple's careful approach to it will make it available safely to consumers.

While we might not see an Apple car, that project did give the company a tremendous opportunity to Research and Develop technologies that play into how the rest of their products can integrate with the larger car industry. CarPlay 2 is not a cancelled project, but does rely on cooperation from the larger car industry. That takes time.

Saying that "Apple increases bugs with every new release" is not based in fact. Yes, there are more bugs because we (consumers) expect them to deliver more features. Compare an iPhone today with an iPhone from 2007. Massively different at the software level. Bugs get fixed, too. Don't forget that tidbit.

There's already been reports of Tim Cook seeking his replacement. This takes years, when done properly. It will be a smooth and graceful transition. We saw that with Jony Ive and the industrial design team, and good things came out of that, too.

Have patience, little grasshopper.

 

[coolfactor]

This is great. Anything that slows down the wasteful upgrade cycle that many people adhere to is a good thing in my books.

Agreed. No good reason to be replacing devices every year, except to experience the latest and greatest. My Macs last me 8 years, and iPhones at least 3 years. Apple's holistic product design is partially at fault. It's good that people pushed back against that, and now we are we seeing more focus on upgradeability. For the Mac, I'd love to see a true "modular" approach where you upgrade by "attaching" another Mac Module. There's reports that Xgrid is making its way back. Yay!