Nice. I have a late 2008 MBP (first year of the unibody). Would I benefit from switching out my HDD to a SSD instead?
Anyone?
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Average Life Span of a Macbook Pro
- Thread starter Terror-Inferno
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Nice. I have a late 2008 MBP (first year of the unibody). Would I benefit from switching out my HDD to a SSD instead?
Anyone?
Oh yes. I found a deal on a sata 2 one, when they were about to be stopped. It's day and night. Do it with a cheap SSD.
I bought my son and daughter $299 made-for-Walmart Compaq laptops (15", 2Ghz Celeron, Vista OS) four years ago. Both are still working fine and used every day. Absolutely no problems whatsoever. My daughter used hers the last two years of college and this has been my son's only laptop during his entire four years at college.
My son is about to graduate, and since he is getting a degree in education, we have decided to get him a MacBook Pro (first Apple computer in our house). At 5+ times the cost, I would hope (expect) he gets at least five years out of it. He has game consoles for gaming, so I can't see any reason why the MacBook would not have an effective life span of five years. Of course I would not be happy if he had any hardware problems given that two $299 laptops have gone four years with zero issues.
My son is about to graduate, and since he is getting a degree in education, we have decided to get him a MacBook Pro (first Apple computer in our house). At 5+ times the cost, I would hope (expect) he gets at least five years out of it. He has game consoles for gaming, so I can't see any reason why the MacBook would not have an effective life span of five years. Of course I would not be happy if he had any hardware problems given that two $299 laptops have gone four years with zero issues.
Last edited:
i'm still using an original 15" mbp1,1 with a broken screen as my media server. just about to tear it apart and reinstall thermal paste for the cpu/gpu heat sinks, but it is still kicking.
Hell, my 12 year old maxed out PowerBook G3 running OS 9 does just fine doing basic web browsing, iTunes, and Microsoft Word. I think the current MacBook Pros can be used for many years to come for a lot of consumers.
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
How long does your battery last? Mine lasts for just over an hour atm, a third party battery stopped working after a month, the question is whether to buy a new battery for £70 for a laptop which is almost 2 years out of warranty or to keep using it as it is until I can afford a new one..
It lasted about 3 hours, with very minimal usage. Realistically, it was probably closer to 2 and a half hours, although I've seen the battery meeter say 3:30 before... I got Apple to replace my battery about a month before my computer's warranty expired though, so my battery was only about 2 years old and only had like 200-some cycles on it.
Then it was stolen, about 2 weeks ago. Now my mac's battery life is some ungodly 8 hours..
But I still prefer the older PB/MBP's, I'll probably pick up a 12" PB to replace it. They have personality that these new ones lack.
If you have a BOOT ROM ending in .05, then you can accept 8GB of RAM with the correct EFI update.
I have a late 2008 MBP myself.
I by and large agree, though if the system is fast and the activity monitor shows no unreasonable RAM usage, adding more won't have much of an effect to hardware longevity/lifespan. A SSD will always improve disk-related functions, though if OS X only allows Apple-branded SSDs then that becomes a moot point unless you have the money to stick to the brand for that component.
Under ideal conditions, consumer electronics would last 10 years.
The only things lasting 20+ years have been Atari 2600s, NES boxes and the occasional Atari ST or Commodore Amiga.
My trusty previous mac (a PowerBook G4) lasted me 5 and a half years and it was perfectly good when I gave it away. The replacement was mainly motivated by the fact that I couldn't upgrade Adobe products or OS anymore and that's just a deal-breaker for me.
When on the road I still use my G4 Powerbook that I got in 2001 and have just replaced the battery. I got my 5,1 MacBook Pro in 2009, to speed things up a bit and watch streaming netflix.
I installed the upgrade about a month ago to eliminate a blinking screen on the MBP, and it now runs like a brand new computer. I expect it to run for years.
I installed the upgrade about a month ago to eliminate a blinking screen on the MBP, and it now runs like a brand new computer. I expect it to run for years.
I've had my trusty late-2008 MBP for about three and a half years. Since then I've added 8GB of RAM and an SSD.
It still runs quite well, but I'm looking at updating to a 13" Air in a year or so.
For now, I'm going to pop in a new battery, replace the fans (and clean out dust), and maybe put a new SuperDrive in.
It still runs quite well, but I'm looking at updating to a 13" Air in a year or so.
For now, I'm going to pop in a new battery, replace the fans (and clean out dust), and maybe put a new SuperDrive in.
I have a late 2008 unibody MacBook. It's pretty battered (lid is dented, various scratches etc), the battery is warped and doesn't hold much of a charge if any, it struggles to cool itself, the black plastic hinge is cracked, the trackpad button doesn't click, and the keys don't feel great - but it works.
Currently trying to decide between 13" MBA, 15" MBPr, or an SSD, new battery & more RAM for my MB...
Currently trying to decide between 13" MBA, 15" MBPr, or an SSD, new battery & more RAM for my MB...
My 13" mid 2009 Macbook Pro seems to be still ok. I upgraded the RAM to 8GB and HD to 500GB. Sometimes it gets stuck, but I'm pretty sure that's due to it needing to be formatted.
I was really waiting for a 13" Retina Pro, but I was so disappointed with the value of it, that I ordered a 15" Retina yesterday.
I was really waiting for a 13" Retina Pro, but I was so disappointed with the value of it, that I ordered a 15" Retina yesterday.
I have a 2008 unibody macbook pro and it would be working flawlessly if i hadn't spilled milk on it at one time. But that's my fault and the only thing wrong is the keyboard doesn't work so I have to connect an external one. Other than that, these things live for a long time, if you take care of it.
I agree with the above. My MacBookPro (my first mac) is a 2006 core duo. I bought it 2nd or 3rd hand at 4 years of age. I thought if it survived 4 years it should truck on much longer. It was perfect.
I put a Red Speck case on her and carrier her every day in my messenger bag. Last month the 100meg hard drive was getting full so I installed in 500 gig Western Digital Drive. She is running great! I put a new battery in and usually can use it on and off all day without charging.
Well built machines!
I put a Red Speck case on her and carrier her every day in my messenger bag. Last month the 100meg hard drive was getting full so I installed in 500 gig Western Digital Drive. She is running great! I put a new battery in and usually can use it on and off all day without charging.
Well built machines!
I have a 12" Powerbook from 2003 that still works fine. It's been some pretty rough places around the world, and it's currently my garage computer. It's got some dents and dings in the body but it's still running. These computers are built really well, and the aluminum is nice because it's durable. I also have a 17" Powerbook from 2005 that still works (but it has a screen issue so it's hooked to an external monitor) and a early 2008 MBA that still runs fine, (though I think the HDD is about to die).
I'm going to get a 15" rMBP soon, to replace the Air which was my primary laptop for the past five years. I expect it to last at least five years...
I'm going to get a 15" rMBP soon, to replace the Air which was my primary laptop for the past five years. I expect it to last at least five years...