Future of Apple Laptops

[vchalupa]

I'm looking to buy a new MBP after the new update as many others are also. Obviously when spending so much money on a powerful laptop, we expect it to last 3-4 years.

The computer world develops so quickly that it seems like things are quickly getting outdated. If we were to buy a MBP after the update, what can we expect from Apple in the next 4 or 5 years? And how does that compare to the longevity of life for the MBP?

Obviously the specs for the current MBP aren't going to be as good as the one 4 or 5 years from now but how will it compare? Will it be worth the money?

 

[schreck]

I'm looking to buy a new MBP after the new update as many others are also. Obviously when spending so much money on a powerful laptop, we expect it to last 3-4 years.

The computer world develops so quickly that it seems like things are quickly getting outdated. If we were to buy a MBP after the update, what can we expect from Apple in the next 4 or 5 years? And how does that compare to the longevity of life for the MBP?

Obviously the specs for the current MBP aren't going to be as good as the one 4 or 5 years from now but how will it compare? Will it be worth the money?

As many have said around here, no matter when you buy a new computer, there's always going to be something new within +/- six months.

What are things going to? Multiple cores on single chips. We're talking four cores within the next year and beyond as time passes. It's necessary to understand, though, that a point of diminishing return does exist.

Aside from this: Solid State Drives as standard within the next couple years. DDR3 memory and the elimination of the FSB. Blu Ray drives or perhaps the elimination of an optical drive totally. WiMax, etc, etc, etc. The list drags on.

Buy when the new ones (Penryn) come out and enjoy it. Don't worry about how long the machine will last until YOU have truly outgrown it.

 

[tMac85]

your macbook pro will last 4 + years easy. As long as you maintain it, clean out old unused files and dont DROP IT. haha.

dont worry, by the 4th year you will then love your newly extreamely updated MBP even more!!!!

 

[mBurns]

Computers, like cars are not an investment. Ever since the move to Intel, Macs have been technologically changing quicker and quicker.

 

[chaosbunny]

Just because new stuff comes out your machine won't be any slower than the day you bought it. My G4 PowerBook will soon be 3 years old, and it still satisfies my needs and I still like it very much. It runs Leopard & Adobe CS3 great for the things I do with it. I plan to buy a new mbp when they go quad core sometime in 2009. By then my pb will be 4 - 4,5 years old. So yes, if you go mbp it will easily last 4-5 years.

 

[scienide09]

I bought an MBP last April with the expectation that it will still meet some of my computing needs in another 3 years. It probably won't be my main machine at that point, but it will still be used.

 

[tersono]

I ran an old Titanium Powerbook G4-667 for around 5 years until it finally wasn't powerful enough to do the things I needed (about 6 months ago). Even then, it was still a decent computer and would be fine for someone not running heavyweight software like Photoshop etc.

Just because something new and funky comes out every few months doesn't mean that older hardware is immediately relegated to the scrapheap. I have an 8 year-old G4 tower still doing sterling service as a server.

You'll find that Mac hardware remains useful longer than that from most other manufacturers - partly because new releases of OS X are not generally any slower than the version they replace (unlike Windows). Enjoy your Mac - expect it to have a useful life of at least 3-4 years.

 

[jhsfosho]

I've had my MBP for over a year and a half now. Its still running strong. I'm tempted to buy a new one, but this one is okay for me. I know it could be faster but an upgrade isn't worth the money to me. I do plan on upgrading in another year and a half or two years, as I'll still have my student discount then. I might upgrade to an iMac though for my heavy processing stuff, and use my laptop for more portable stuff like email, web browsing, photo storage on trips.