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Can I expect my late 2009 13" MBP to last another 3 yrs?

mrsir2009

mrsir2009

macrumors 604
Original poster
Sep 17, 2009
7,505
156
Melbourne, Australia
Can I expect my late 2009 13" MBP to last another 3 yrs? I use it most days for several hours each day. I don't abuse it or do demanding stuff daily. I do demanding tasks sometimes, but not often :)

So can I expect the MBP to run well for the next 3 years (I'm going to put a SSD in it too)?
 
if you putter around the internet and write up word documents than it should be of no problem. People still do that on their antiquated-but-never-hated 12" Powerbooks (all except flash video). A quality SSD (not bargin basement) will further assure your success.
 
I agree with the poster above. There's no reason why it shouldn't last that long as long as you keep its uses modest as it ages.

I'm hoping mine last at least 3 years as well.
 
I bought my white MacBook on 11/16/06 give or take a day, this thing has lived it's whole life without Apple Care, without a case of any kind and being used very heavily.

I've taken this thing on countless full US tours in nothing but my backpack with other stuff in it and no sleeve or anything.

Even has the original battery.

You should have no problems making it 4 years with yours, especially if you take good care of it.

I still use it daily for 720p handbrake encodes and it takes everything I can throw at it.
 

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Cool, thnx! I'm planning to buy a Samusng SSD, which are quite expensive, but will be a worthwile inventment to up the speed of my MBP so I can use it for a while longer :)

I may also get a 23" monitor so I can use it in clamshell when I want a big screen:D (for watching movies, etc)
 
Had mine 3 1/2 years, and still going strong.

I've had mine (2.16GHz 15") since May 2007. I use it for work (coding, image manipulation, PHP/Apache web-server, creation of PPTs, PDFs, etc and so on), music (Mainstage for live performance), watching video, playing music, reading the news. Pretty much everything.

Replaced battery last May. The original lasted 3 years.

Replaced HD with 300GB drive.

Added extra RAM, now 3GB.

I reckon I use it on average 10 hours a day, 7 days a week.

So, 3 1/2 years old and still going strong. If it packed up today, I would be upset, but not surprised.
 
I've got an early 2007 MacBook at home as well. Used heavily, daily. Encoding video, converting, Photoshop - you name it. The things a tank and the battery health is still in the 90%'s. Awesome, reliable little machine! You can definitely expect your MBP to last that long with proper care.
 
Auzburner said:
I've got an early 2007 MacBook at home as well. Used heavily, daily. Encoding video, converting, Photoshop - you name it. The things a tank and the battery health is still in the 90%'s. Awesome, reliable little machine! You can definitely expect your MBP to last that long with proper care.
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How on earth do you guys manage to keep your battery healthy for so long? I calibrate regularly too.
 
mrsir2009 said:
Cool, thnx! I'm planning to buy a Samusng SSD, which are quite expensive, but will be a worthwile inventment to up the speed of my MBP so I can use it for a while longer :)

I may also get a 23" monitor so I can use it in clamshell when I want a big screen:D (for watching movies, etc)
Click to expand...

I have a Samsung SSD. While quick and not overly expensive, you might do better to watch for sales on SSD's with the Sandforce controller.
 
I would echo much the same as the rest of the guys on this thread. Typing this on an extremely well used 3 year old Macbook. Now on my third battery (gives you an idea of how much its been used) and is picked up moved and plugged in to various different monitors and projectors a dozen times a day.

Works as well now as day one. Your biggest problem is probably going to be the same as mine....resisting the temptation to spring for a new machine when the latest tech comes out!
 
chapmac said:
I would echo much the same as the rest of the guys on this thread. Typing this on an extremely well used 3 year old Macbook. Now on my third battery (gives you an idea of how much its been used) and is picked up moved and plugged in to various different monitors and projectors a dozen times a day.

Works as well now as day one. Your biggest problem is probably going to be the same as mine....resisting the temptation to spring for a new machine when the latest tech comes out!
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VERY true

I was able to sell my 2006 core duo blackbook and buy a used late 09 mb and I can honestly say that I can not tell a difference in day to day use between them

Resist the need for the latest tech for sure. Just an easy way to part with your money for no real benefit if your usage habits are like mine
 
My last computer was a 1Ghz desktop and it lasted 10 years (98 to 08). The OS was outdated and it was a pc, so it saw its share of freezes and crashes, and it even went down a couple of times for viruses, but it was still usable for web browsing, MS Office work and PDF reader, which is all I needed at the time - and I never upgraded the OS, always on the original Windows Millenium.

You don't have to update to the latest OS or apps to still use it. Many apps have backwards compatibility, so new machines will still recognize your "old" machine, and an OS will continue to work fine even after it's no longer supported for some time. If you really want to get the most out of a computer, use it until it no longer works: applications wise incompatible with current versions and cannot be upgraded, or are incompatible with the outdated hardware, or until it's so slow that one hour's worth of work/play time can be cut in half or more with something new.

My gf's Macbook is 4 years old and it still runs fine (and speedy) and fully updated with Snow Leopard and all updates (except iLife11, but it's coming soon).

Of course, it mostly depends on what programs you need to use. A professional that needs pro photo or video editing software will likely need to update their hardware more often than someone who mostly uses it for personal use (music, movies/shows, web browsing, light photography, Office tools, etc.).
 
using an almost 4 year old MBP. battery is totalled, and the adonization is a bit worn on the palm rest ( very annoyed about that as i always cleaned it and never wore jewelery when using it for fear of damage)but still works fine as long as you keep it plugged in.

It will do until the next revision of the MBP comes up ( prob early next year). i avoided springing for a new one when the unibody came out as i didnt need it. if you can avoid the temptation then your MBP on each new revision your MBP will be plenty powerful to last 3-4 years.
 
apunkrockmonk said:
I bought my white MacBook on 11/16/06 give or take a day, this thing has lived it's whole life without Apple Care, without a case of any kind and being used very heavily.

I've taken this thing on countless full US tours in nothing but my backpack with other stuff in it and no sleeve or anything.

Even has the original battery.

You should have no problems making it 4 years with yours, especially if you take good care of it.

I still use it daily for 720p handbrake encodes and it takes everything I can throw at it.
Click to expand...

Mine is 3 days older that yours and I do exactly the same things with it! Less travel probably though. Battery still gets 2 hours easy.
 
I don't see why it wouldn't. I'm sure though in two years you would want to sell to upgrade. I'm sure once Light peak and USB 3.0 (And other new technology) become standard in most products I'll be looking to upgrade my desktop then my MBP.
 
currently using first gen macbook... read that June 2006 macbook core 2 SOLO.

I have gotten tons of usage and still going strong. I have encoded so much video with this thing that i broke the dvd drive, if that gives you any idea.
 
Just to add another .02 my 15" MBP was purchased June 2006 and still runs like a champ. I maxed out the RAM from 1 GB to 2 GB, upgraded the hard drive from 80GB to 250GB, upgraded the wireless to 802.11n, and upgraded Tiger to Leopard and now Snow Leopard. For word processing/internet browsing can't tell a difference between this machine and my sister's 2009 13" MBP.

It should last you much longer than 3 more years :)
 
Every Mac I've ever made some use of has lasted. I have a Power Macintosh (I believe it's the 9600) sitting in my bedroom that I use on occasion. The beast will output at 1920X1200 resolution with most tasks which is still high resolution for machines today. Thirteen years old! It sounds like a spaceship launching when you hit the power button. All of the fans and disc's winding up. I can dual boot the machine into either OS 9.X and 10.2 - It's really cool to think of the age and capability of the computer. Still runs like a champ today. It cost many thousand dollars back in the day and was used in professional photo editing until it was replaced by a G4 tower after many years of heavy use.
 
I have an early 2008 black MacBook and it's still going strong. It's got all the original specs (2.4GHz, 2GB Ram, 250GB hard drive) and the original battery (although a new one is imminent). I'm on this baby at least 5-6 hours/day and do a lot of encoding and converting as well. And a ton of other media stuff as well.

If I wanted to, I'm sure I could make it last another 5 years. And like a previous poster said, the hardest thing is to fight the temptation of every new release.
 
With the type of user that you are, I don't see why it wouldn't last another 3 years, especially with a SSD. It would probably last longer.

It all depends on what level of performance you deem acceptable... Yes it will work, but how well will it work.

As for SSDs, I wouldn't recommend Samsung, too expensive. Look for SandForce SSDs (OCZ, Patriot, Corsair). They have better performance and go on sale frequently.
 
I have had laptops last for 6 years, it all just depends on how well you take care of them! Usually by then the battery does not hold a good charge, but I usually just plug in so that is really not a big deal for me.
 
I had 1100 cycles on my 4 year old Blackbook with still 80% battery capacity left.

Apart from the battery, and maybe the hard drive, I don't think there is anything that could die in under 4 years.
 
SidBala said:
I had 1100 cycles on my 4 year old Blackbook with still 80% battery capacity left.

Apart from the battery, and maybe the hard drive, I don't think there is anything that could die in under 4 years.
Click to expand...

fans are the only other moving part, aside from the Optical drive. The LED backlight could also go out.
 
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