Best Time to Upgrade Your Macbook Pro. 1, 2, 3 years?

[ghanwani]

I ran a poll about this here:
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/how-often-do-you-upgrade-your-laptop.2187605/
(Poll is still open for those that haven't yet voted!)

Results so far:

How often do you upgrade your laptop?

1. Every year (or as soon as an upgrade becomes available)
   1 vote(s)
   1.4%
2. > 1 yr but <= 3 years (or trying to stay within AC/AC+)
   7 vote(s)
   10.1%
3. > 3 years
   27 vote(s)
   39.1%
4. Whenever I notice the machine it too slow to do my work
   18 vote(s)
   26.1%
5. Whenever the machine breaks
   6 vote(s)
   8.7%
6. *Other
   10 vote(s)
   14.5%

 

[Shadowbech]

I recently had the early 2015 rMBP 13 Inch which I got when that first was introduced with force touch. Today, I went and picked up a 2019 13 inch rMPB with Touch Bar and Touch ID 2.4 Ghz model. So that's been 4 years of its life. I still have the older model, just wanted to check out before I decide what I should do with it it. So far though, I am actually liking this one. But typically 4-5 years are the life expectancy for me. My 2015 rMBP battery is not doing too good.

 

[nrvna76]

I think op was making more of a value statement.. not if the upgrades are worth the trouble or not.. using those numbers..

bought new pro in 2016 for 2300, value 3 years later is 1300. Meaning it ‘cost’ about 333/year.

if, that MacBook was worth 2000 in 2017 it would ‘cost’ almost the same per year and he would always have a new laptop. I have no idea if the numbers actually work out that way, or if it would be worth the trouble of upgrading, but I thought that was more what the question was.. pretty much is the depreciation linear or not..?

 

[throAU]

pretty much is the depreciation linear or not

Depreciation generally isn't linear. You'll take your biggest hit (in terms of $ vs. time) on day ONE and then it will trail off as the machine becomes older. Until, eventually the machine maybe actually goes back up in value when it becomes collectible (google Apple 1 prices).

 

[ghanwani]

Depreciation generally isn't linear. You'll take your biggest hit (in terms of $ vs. time) on day ONE and then it will trail off as the machine becomes older. Until, eventually the machine maybe actually goes back up in value when it becomes collectible (google Apple 1 prices).

Do you have data to back this up? I don't think it's linear either, but I think there's a step loss each time a new processor is released and the step is bigger if RAM speed changes along with the processor. In other words, there's a big depreciation hit each time there is a new release. With a new machine the depreciation would be sales tax + any discounts from the best available deal + 10-15% (think of the last bit as a restocking fee). After that it's linear till the next release, then a step down, then linear till the next release, then a step down, and so on.

 

[throAU]

Do you have data to back this up?

Does anyone?

But if you were to say, buy a brand new Macbook Pro 2019 and then attempt to sell it the next day as an opened-box machine, i very much suspect you will take most of the hit that you'd take for the entire year in that first day.

It's the same with cars (you lose several thousand on the trade-in or re-sale value the second you drive it off the lot), and most other major purchases. Because why would anyone pay the same as brand new price for a second-hand, used machine, even if it is only a day?

If you're paying brand new price, you'd just get a new one that's still boxed, etc.


Yes, there will also be "Step" losses as the machine becomes less close to "current model", but the biggest hit in terms of dollars lost per day, will be on day 1 when you open the box.

 

[Dkka1]

That’s outlandish. I replace mines every 7 years at the very least.

You cannot do heavy stuff on a macbook anyway.

 

[MrGunnyPT]

Err.. depends really before this 2017 13" I had a 2015.. But had to get a new one because I broke the screen accidentally.

Usually it's every 3-4 years and I give the old one to my folks.