Average Apple Device Lifespan Estimated at Just Over Four Years by Analyst

[kdarling]

What about other brands? Can't imagine that Samsung phones run much longer after they stop updating software after one year.

How ridiculous to think that devices stop working without updates. Or that Android devices stop getting any updates.

My iPads have run for years after they stopped getting updates. Ditto for my Android phones and tablets.

The only difference is, my Android devices continue to get updates of core apps like Maps, browser, plus the virus definitions in Playstore so they can scan any software I sideload.

OTOH, my iOS devices, while still working past their Apple support date, were all crippled at the end by the last iOS updates they got which slowed them down. And then they never got any core app updates after that.

 

[Act3]

it is the iphone dragging down the average lifespan of apple devices. With iPhones being their major seller by a very large margin, the desktops and laptops aren't gonna help the average apple device lifespan, even at 8 or 9 years of use.

 

[renato3]

Not to sound picky, but doesn't the graph show the MEDIAN is 4 years? The average would be where the cumulative numbers on the left and on the right are equal. From this graph I would say that this is nog at the line called 'lifespan'. But I might be wrong ;-)

 

[unibility]

My MacBook Pro from Late 2012 still runs like on its first day.

My first gen Apple Watch on the other hand was dead on arrival (so slow, Steve Jobs would have never allowed it)

Please refrain from stating Steve Jobs... this or that. It was unfortunate news of his passing but neither you nor I knows his opinion about products manufactured thereafter. So out of respect just stick to the facts you know of please and thank you.

 

[Wash08]

My newton still working...

 

[justperry]

Wow.
Even more that murderers, rapists, Boko Harm, militias, dictators, etc?
[doublepost=1520000729][/doublepost]

They don’t need. They want.
And if they have worked all year long with honesty and integrity, they have all the rights to spend their money how they see fit. Some people spend on cars, other on phones, others on clothing etc.

That's not really their point, I tend to agree with them, why do you need a new phone each and every year?
Sure, they can buy what they want, I don't care yet I don't see the point of buying a new one on a yearly bases.

 

[kdarling]

I suspect that the reason why devices (both iOS and Android) are being used longer, is because people are tired of spending so much money on new devices for no real good reason.

As long as a favorite device still runs, why pay to replace it?

I only recently replaced my 2013 Moto X daily driver, and that was only because I finally dropped and smashed the screen on the old one.

Likewise my teen daughter only just got a new iPhone 8 to replace her 6. And that was only because her 6 was out of storage and she was tired of trying to manage it.

 

[neuropsychguy]

Sorry but I gotta call BS on this article. I know this is anecdotal but I have yet to see a Mac last less than 6 years, most are 8+.

Not only have mine all lasted well to the 10 year mark, but my parents Macs have lasted at least 8 years. as have my friends, the offices I used to support in my IT days, and my current work Macs (one is 11 years old).

iPads and iPhones are going to obviously have less life because mobile technology today is where computers were in the 90s, lots of advancements really quickly so of course those will have less of a lifespan.

Your comment just supported the findings of the article - Macs last and are typically used for a long time. iPads, iPhones, etc. "have less life...".

Factor in the number of iOS devices sold and you get an average of about 4 years for Apple products. MacOS and iOS devices should ideally be analyzed separately but this isn't a terrible summary across all Apple products.

 

[macduke]

My MacBook Pro from Late 2012 still runs like on its first day.

My first gen Apple Watch on the other hand was dead on arrival (so slow, Steve Jobs would have never allowed it)

My mid-2012 retina is great too. The hinge is a little loose—probably from not being retightened properly when it was serviced by Apple for having the LG display with the ghosting issue which was swapped for the better Samsung panel—but otherwise it looks practically new and runs pretty well. I will say that I wish the GPU was a bit beefier because sometimes it stutters when swiping to switch spaces and it can't run 4K external displays. Furthermore I have noticed it start to slow down a bit when processing RAW files since I upgraded to a 42MP Sony a7R III, which makes sense.

I just started a new job where I got a late 2015 MBP with admin privileges so I can do whatever I want with it and it is a bit more fluid and Lightroom is faster but otherwise it's not significantly better. Kinda miss my 2017 5K iMac from my old job, though. I think I'm going to sell my personal rMBP after the Mac Pro comes out because that's when I'm going to make my decision. I'm either going to get a low-end Mac Pro with Apple 5K Display that I'll keep for like 6-8 years and upgrade the "modular" parts, a low-end iMac Pro (but maybe with Vega 64 and bigger SSD) that I'll keep for around 6 years (since I can bring it in to get the RAM upgraded), or the highest-end 2018 5K iMac that I might upgrade every 4 years.

 

[Blackstick]

My iMac is a 2013, I expect to replace it around 2020. My mom uses a 2010, I expect to replace it around 2020.

I tend to get 5-7 years out of a Mac, a user like my mom gets closer to 10 (SSD and RAM upgrade).

The watch goes out of date fast due to the tiny engineering and the significant advances year over year. Phones are slowing down less as they become more powerful out of the gate (6S and later)... the iPad lasts 4 years or so... overall I think this article isn't fully informed.

 

[apple_iBoy]

Reading this on my 2006 Mac Pro. It's upgraded to an octocore 3 GHz Xeon setup, SSD drives, quasi-recent midrange graphics. Whenever my workplace puts a new lowend iMac on my desk, I find someone else to give it to, and keep using the Mac Pro.

What will ultimately kill this thing is the fact that it's stuck on a (hacked) El Capitan, and I can no longer apply security updates as on January 2018. Otherwise, the hardware is solid.

They don't make them like this anymore. I don't think I'll ever have a Mac this old feel this usable.

However, our home computers are a maxed-out late 2013 iMac and two 2013 MacBook Pros. They are going strong as well and we feel no motivation to upgrade.

 

[iPhysicist]

******** - MacBook Pro 2009 typing!

Geees my Macbook has some kind of auto reply to this "study".

 

[justperry]

If you haven't swapped out the Apple RAM (4 or 8 GB) for a pair of 8GB RAM, I strongly urge you to do so. The performance bump (especially on the i7) is remarkable. Adding SSD drives is a 45 minute and delicate process; but the reward is so worth it. After you finish, no new Mac mini will touch your 2012 box.

Except 1 minor issue, the graphics card is not up to the job anymore, it struggles, even in Safari.
And then there's 4K, forget it.

 

[Dave245]

My 2011 MacBook Pro is still working and so is my 2012 iMac, yea I will be looking to upgrade in the future (I want to hear more about the rumoured 13” MacBook this year) but they still work well enough considering their age.

 

[alexe]

They don’t need. They want.
And if they have worked all year long with honesty and integrity, they have all the rights to spend their money how they see fit. Some people spend on cars, other on phones, others on clothing etc.

Sure, if you don't give a **** about the environment we're currently depleting in a non-sustainable way, good for you. Unfortunately for everyone, especially for future generations, people like you are the majority.

 

[justperry]

it is the iphone dragging down the average lifespan of apple devices. Being their major seller by a very large margin, these desktops and laptops aren't gonna help the average apple device lifespan, even at 8 or 9 years of use.

That's my thought as well, most Macs and for instance their Airport range works much longer than the 4 years he calculated.

 

[TomMcIn]

Does this guy also write for FORBES - Full of Real Bovine Excrement Stories. I am working on a Mid 2010 Mac Pro. Many MAC devices go on to serve people in their second life. Looks like the author found a way to generate clicks.

 

[rishic89]

My first macbook 2008-2013 lived through the college days. My now 2013 retina MBP 15" still going strong

 

[Chupa Chupa]

As the researcher stated, on average of all Apple devices. I think the 4 year time frame is plausible, everyone's personal anecdotes notwithstanding. The iPhone is 50-60% of Apple sales so that heavily skews the 4 year number. I think it's safe to say the iPhone 6 is not a terribly popular model these days and the iPhone 5s just makes the iOS 11 support cut off. Dare say iOS 12 will not support it. Sure, you can still use the 5s or 6, but, again, the researcher is talking average, so it's not be excluded.

Macs have a longer life, of course, but many of us here upgrade every 2-3 years. I know I do. It's not that a 3 year old Mac turns to junk -- don't get butt hurt here. But Macs have such fantastic resale I like to get some money out and use it for something fresh. OTOH all of the non-techies I know, which is most people I know, keep their Mac or PC until it dies. So they could easily have it for 7-8 years. But recall, we are averaging here and Macs only account for a silver of Apple's sales these days. Even with the iPad category flatlining Apple sells 4x more tablets than Macs. And iPad's realistic life cycle is 4-5 years.

 

[78Bandit]

What about other brands? Can't imagine that Samsung phones run much longer after they stop updating software after one year.

As long as the phone works most users don't care what OS version is on their device. Many Android services are done through applications rather than through the core OS like Apple. I've got a 2013 Nexus 7 with Android Marshmallow that can still get updates to the latest versions of Chrome, Mail, and other services. Android fragmentation is nowhere near the problem many people make it out to be.

Anecdotally, I still see quite a few older Galaxy devices out in the wild and we still have three Galaxy S5 phones in our organization that are working just fine. Samsung's overall lifespan is almost certainly lower, but much of that will be due to them selling a boat load of cheaper devices that are sold on the pay-as-you-go networks. Devices like that are viewed as disposable and would be replaced at a much higher rate than the typical $550 - $1,000 iPhone.

 

[allpar]

The methods aren’t clear — is this the lifespan with the original buyer, or the lifespan period? There is a thriving market in used iPhones and I know people still use the 4S. (Speaking as a used iPhone 6 owner who stepped up from a used 5C.)

I would easily believe four years if we're talking original owner, but then the word “lifespan” is being terribly mis-used. It’s like saying cars have a lifespan of five years if that’s the average length of time the original owners have them, when these days it's more like twelve years — because they don’t crush ’em, they trade ’em in or sell ’em.

 

[Darmok N Jalad]

Considering how much iOS devices—and other portable device like laptops—make up Apples overall sales, I’d say that 4+ years is quite impressive. iPhone should have the shortest lifespan because of attrition, and it is also by far Apple’s highest volume seller and would affect these scores the most. Anything running MacOS should only boost the numbers, as my old 2009 Mac Pro could attest, Apple’s desktop machines are generally well engineered and can last a long time.

I’m curious what a resale would do. Can such a survey detect when someone sells a device. Would that show up as a deactivation from the old owner, and a reactivation from the new owner?

 

[yaxomoxay]

Sure, if you don't give a **** about the environment we're currently depleting in a non-sustainable way, good for you. Unfortunately for everyone, especially for future generations, people like you are the majority.

The fact that you assume that I was talking about myself is very telling.

 

[deeddawg]

Basically useless data due to the commingling of myriad device types with different useful lifetime expectations.

But hey, let's not let common sense get in the way of a clickbait headline.

 

[Beachguy]

I cannot fathom a more meaningless and useless piece of research. Lifespans of Macs have no bearing on iPods which have no bearings on iPhones which have no bearing on iPads.

Such a waste of effort and time...