My (now dead) 2012 MBP had a SuperDrive (probably the last generation to have one) as well as the Magsafe connector. Wasn't retina.
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Guy at electronics store said MacBook Pro will last 10 years, what do you think?
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My (now dead) 2012 MBP had a SuperDrive (probably the last generation to have one) as well as the Magsafe connector. Wasn't retina.
2012 was the last year of the superdrive. 2012 was the first year of the retina, on a 15 inch model, the 13 inch got the retina, I believe, in 2013. The magsafe changed shape and then was dropped in 2015. Big mistake in my opinion.
My primary computer is a 15" 2012 MBP, the last and IMO best of the expandable/upgradable laptops. The beauty of those is that you could buy a somewhat base model, and the only thing that really locks you in is the CPU(and VRAM on dGPU models). I have 16gb RAM, a 1tb SSD, and even a 2tb spinner for tons of storage space(the SSD is the boot drive and is in the optical bay, while the spinner is in the standard bay-I have it set up that way because the optical bay lacks the SMS of the main bay).
I also use a 2010 Mac Pro that really is a beast, or at least I consider it one. It's dual hex cores with a base clock of 3.46ghz, and I have 88gb RAM in it(I bought 96gb, but got a dead stick and the seller claimed I killed it because I put "server" memory in a desktop, but that's beside the point). It boots off PCIe SSDs, with some decent sized spinners in it for storage and also internal Time Machine drives. I had USB 3.0 in it at one time, but took the card out since it causes some weird interference that makes Bluetooth not work. The only real weakness on mine is the GPU, but primarily because I have some tasks where I need Snow Leopard/Rosetta and to integrate it with newer Intel-native software(and virtualization won't work) and the Radeon 5770/5870 are about the best I can do to use a somewhat current OS(HiSi) and SL.
I have Macs from 1984 that still work. Are they useable? That's not a straight forward question, as the original 128K is a handicapped computer. I have a Plus with a 1984 128K front bucket/CRT but is a lot more usable thanks to the fact that the Plus is just a much better/more polished computer(back in those days, Apple often offered upgrades to newer models when the case didn't change appreciably-the 128K/512K to Plus upgrade replaced the logic board, floppy drive, and rear bucket-the last for the different port layout).
In there, I have a bunch of different ages of laptops. Apple has made some wonderful laptops over the years, and some not so great ones. The Pismo G3s are particularly durable, as are most of the iBooks. I've had bad luck with 5300s cracking, and some super low end models like the 1400c and the first generation Wallstreet "Mainstreet" PowerBook(without L2 cache) are painful to use even with software that would have been current when they were new. It's mostly hard to beat a Titanium PowerBook for an OS 9 laptop as long as you don't kill the hinges. The first 17" aluminum PowerBook can be coaxed to run OS 9 and does so quite well, but the L3 cache has a nasty habit of dieing.
With all of that said, there's a difference between "still works" and "is useable." Up until a few years ago, I often recommended late '07/early '08 MBPs(as long as they had the replaced good GPU, which can be done now by a few folks, and Apple finally figured out by the end of the warranty period) as great starter Macs, and I was perfectly content using one even in 2015. Official OS support rolled off El Capitan, and the late 2007 can not be made to run anything newer(the early 08 is a different story).
I have a 2011 17" sitting right next to me that I really need to get sent to DosDude to have the dGPU disabled. Unfortunately, dGPU failure on 2011 15" and 17" computers is not a question of if, but when. This nearly unused 17" lasted a couple of hours after I got it. On the other hand, I'd not hesitate to pull out my 2011 13" and live with it for a while if need be aside from the fact that it needs a new battery. SSDs make a huge difference on all of these.
I also use a 2010 Mac Pro that really is a beast, or at least I consider it one. It's dual hex cores with a base clock of 3.46ghz, and I have 88gb RAM in it(I bought 96gb, but got a dead stick and the seller claimed I killed it because I put "server" memory in a desktop, but that's beside the point). It boots off PCIe SSDs, with some decent sized spinners in it for storage and also internal Time Machine drives. I had USB 3.0 in it at one time, but took the card out since it causes some weird interference that makes Bluetooth not work. The only real weakness on mine is the GPU, but primarily because I have some tasks where I need Snow Leopard/Rosetta and to integrate it with newer Intel-native software(and virtualization won't work) and the Radeon 5770/5870 are about the best I can do to use a somewhat current OS(HiSi) and SL.
I have Macs from 1984 that still work. Are they useable? That's not a straight forward question, as the original 128K is a handicapped computer. I have a Plus with a 1984 128K front bucket/CRT but is a lot more usable thanks to the fact that the Plus is just a much better/more polished computer(back in those days, Apple often offered upgrades to newer models when the case didn't change appreciably-the 128K/512K to Plus upgrade replaced the logic board, floppy drive, and rear bucket-the last for the different port layout).
In there, I have a bunch of different ages of laptops. Apple has made some wonderful laptops over the years, and some not so great ones. The Pismo G3s are particularly durable, as are most of the iBooks. I've had bad luck with 5300s cracking, and some super low end models like the 1400c and the first generation Wallstreet "Mainstreet" PowerBook(without L2 cache) are painful to use even with software that would have been current when they were new. It's mostly hard to beat a Titanium PowerBook for an OS 9 laptop as long as you don't kill the hinges. The first 17" aluminum PowerBook can be coaxed to run OS 9 and does so quite well, but the L3 cache has a nasty habit of dieing.
With all of that said, there's a difference between "still works" and "is useable." Up until a few years ago, I often recommended late '07/early '08 MBPs(as long as they had the replaced good GPU, which can be done now by a few folks, and Apple finally figured out by the end of the warranty period) as great starter Macs, and I was perfectly content using one even in 2015. Official OS support rolled off El Capitan, and the late 2007 can not be made to run anything newer(the early 08 is a different story).
I have a 2011 17" sitting right next to me that I really need to get sent to DosDude to have the dGPU disabled. Unfortunately, dGPU failure on 2011 15" and 17" computers is not a question of if, but when. This nearly unused 17" lasted a couple of hours after I got it. On the other hand, I'd not hesitate to pull out my 2011 13" and live with it for a while if need be aside from the fact that it needs a new battery. SSDs make a huge difference on all of these.
What I find odd is that my PowerBook G4 can pull in many modern sites (including Macrumors, albeit horrible formatting) on Netscape 9.0, released in 2003, while my Windows 7 machine running Firefox from 2010 won't bloody attempt (secure connection failed).
Still, the PowerBook is usable, I can download podcasts, visit many sites still, the SuperDrive works (it will grind discs eventually though), the battery works...Only issue is none, and I mean NONE of my Wifi dongles work with it. I'm stuck carrying a wifi extender box to plug into the Ethernet port or making it into a desktop by plugging into the router directly. That's why it's retired, that and it runs out of RAM fast, causing the hard disk to start clicking like it's failing but it's not the hard disk. It just does that when it's out of memory. I can't find ANY compatible RAM sticks for it. It's sadly stuck with 128MB of RAM. So forget any flash-heavy or javascript-heavy sites, or Youtube for that matter, along with any OS past 10.2
Still, the PowerBook is usable, I can download podcasts, visit many sites still, the SuperDrive works (it will grind discs eventually though), the battery works...Only issue is none, and I mean NONE of my Wifi dongles work with it. I'm stuck carrying a wifi extender box to plug into the Ethernet port or making it into a desktop by plugging into the router directly. That's why it's retired, that and it runs out of RAM fast, causing the hard disk to start clicking like it's failing but it's not the hard disk. It just does that when it's out of memory. I can't find ANY compatible RAM sticks for it. It's sadly stuck with 128MB of RAM. So forget any flash-heavy or javascript-heavy sites, or Youtube for that matter, along with any OS past 10.2
Tbh I can, my 15" 2010 MBP lasted me until this new 2020 13" MBP. Never had to bring it to an Apple store and its also travelled the world, I think it just depends on what you plan to use it for because I got into photography 2015ish and that's when I started noticing it wasn't the fastest for what I needed it to do
Not to sidetrack, but what PowerBook and what version of OS X are you running?
RAM is really not an issue, aside from some some AlBooks that lose a ram socket.
If it's a Titanium Powerbook, hunt on Ebay for 512mb PC-133 SO-DIMMs. You can put two in and get to 1gb. Some Macs will want low density(8 chips per side) RAM and they can take a bit more hunting, but IIRC I've not had much trouble with the easier to find 4-chips per side 512mb sticks in my TiBooks.
All but the last generation Aluminum PowerBooks will work with PC-3200 DDR SDRAM in the SO-DIMM format. You can put 2 1gb sticks in them. The last generation(1.67ghz, hi-res screen) take DDR-2 SO-DIMMs, also 2x1gb max. Again, these are an easy Ebay find.
The Titanium PowerBooks take the original Airport card, which is not that useful with modern WiFi networks. All AlBooks should take Airport Extreme cards, which in OS X 10.4 and 10.5 play nicely with most any current set up(I've even used them on the enterprise networks at work). In TiBooks, you can pull the internal Airport card if installed, and with not much hunting on Ebay you can find an "Airport Extreme Compatible" CardBus card that plugs into the side of the computer. It works just like a native card, and is fully controlled by OS X without installing any extra software or drivers. In my experience, the antennas are usually somewhat better than those built in to later computers.
A part of me wishes I had never upgraded and was still using my late 2013 rMBP 2.6/8/256
It still works great, and I could have lived with it.
But, it does not support 4K displays, I don't think. I use my 24" LG 4K display all the time, and really enjoy it.
So I'm glad from that standpoint, because I'm enjoying my setup now.
It's definitely a fancier setup than what I had before. Even if I had just used HDMI to power an external display, I do need 4K resolution. Or basically retina quality resolution. I could never go back to the monitor resolutions of yesterday
It still works great, and I could have lived with it.
But, it does not support 4K displays, I don't think. I use my 24" LG 4K display all the time, and really enjoy it.
So I'm glad from that standpoint, because I'm enjoying my setup now.
It's definitely a fancier setup than what I had before. Even if I had just used HDMI to power an external display, I do need 4K resolution. Or basically retina quality resolution. I could never go back to the monitor resolutions of yesterday
My PowerBook is a Titanium model, manufactured 2000 according to the label on the bottom. It's currently running 10.2 Jaguar (the latest it runs well given the tiny amount of RAM). RAM is an issue for any real use of it, since anything that's using Javascript or just uses enough CPU/RAM causes it to try caching to disk which results in an eventual freeze with the hard drive going 'click click click whirr, click click click' followed by the beachball. It's only solved by a hard restart. Sometimes it 'warns' me by clicking and figuring itself out long enough to kill the offending task to free enough RAM to empty the disk cache. Makes me really appreciate my modern MBP with SSD. It's not easy to go back to spinning platters after being spoiled with SSD. I have always wanted to upgrade it to 1GB just to run 10.4 and get a browser such as tenfourfox to browse sites properly. The Netscape browser can't format modern sites well.
Sometimes I just use the PB just for the Aqua interface. Have never really liked flat UI design. Wish there were a way to bring Aqua back.
Sometimes I just use the PB just for the Aqua interface. Have never really liked flat UI design. Wish there were a way to bring Aqua back.
A 6-core 15" MacBook Pro (being 2018 or 2019) will have its keyboard fail before the age of the machine causes it to not be useful anymore. 2012 Macs are only now getting shut out of new macOS releases, which will give them support for 9 years before Apple stops issuing security patches for the last macOS release compatible with them. Who knows how much longer Boot Camp drivers will work with newer Windows 10 releases before those Macs can't run ANY supported OS anymore. So, yeah, totally feasible that an Intel Mac will run for at least 10 years. At some point, you'll want to re-apply thermal paste (and, in your case, replace that damn keyboard) though!
10 years is definitely possible. A 2010 MacBook Pro with an SSD and RAM upgrade will not be all that different in usability than, say, a 2020 MacBook Air for many day to day tasks.
But... the last decade has been unusually slow in terms of improvements in CPU speed I very much hope that the coming 10 years will see much greater increases in speed and efficiency.
But... the last decade has been unusually slow in terms of improvements in CPU speed I very much hope that the coming 10 years will see much greater increases in speed and efficiency.
I see. So far the keyboard is OK. I haven’t heard any complaints with the 2019 of I remember correctly. Maybe one at most.
And yeah I will need new thermal paste but after how long?
My 2010 Macbook Pro actually lasted until 2019. That's 9 full years!
I don't think today's Macs are up to that though.. My 2012 Mac Mini still runs while my 2018 Mac Mini has been nothing but hardware trouble. (I'm on my third one) Since the first Intel Core series Intel chipsets have been getting more and more fragile while the speed increase was only marginal. They've reached their thermal limits.
I don't think today's Macs are up to that though.. My 2012 Mac Mini still runs while my 2018 Mac Mini has been nothing but hardware trouble. (I'm on my third one) Since the first Intel Core series Intel chipsets have been getting more and more fragile while the speed increase was only marginal. They've reached their thermal limits.
I am still using a MacBook White late 2009 admittedly with 8GB RAM and two 120GB SSD upgrades (one in the optical drive slot).
It really does depend on what you want to do with it. I surf the Internet, basic Microsoft Word / Excel and rip / copy movies. I run OS Sierra by choice, it would support High Sierra but at that point Apple introduced encryption that stopped my third party ripping software from working so I stick with Sierra. You can even patch the model I have to run Catalina incredibly and with no separate graphics chip the quirks are almost eliminated. That is pretty much it, my 2.26Ghz core Duo from 2009 does what it says on the tin.
If you want to render 8k video or whatever comes after that your Mac will not last 10 years. You get 10 years of basic use not 10 years of high performance.
It really does depend on what you want to do with it. I surf the Internet, basic Microsoft Word / Excel and rip / copy movies. I run OS Sierra by choice, it would support High Sierra but at that point Apple introduced encryption that stopped my third party ripping software from working so I stick with Sierra. You can even patch the model I have to run Catalina incredibly and with no separate graphics chip the quirks are almost eliminated. That is pretty much it, my 2.26Ghz core Duo from 2009 does what it says on the tin.
If you want to render 8k video or whatever comes after that your Mac will not last 10 years. You get 10 years of basic use not 10 years of high performance.
Very possible. My kids are using a 2011 MBP that works just fine. It's even on its original battery.
Will it last 10 years? Most likely. The better question would be if it would satisfy your needs in 10 years.
Note: I do know many though, especially on the phone side, that suggest never upgrading the OS beyond what came with the device. (excluding .X upgrades).
Note: I do know many though, especially on the phone side, that suggest never upgrading the OS beyond what came with the device. (excluding .X upgrades).
Um - I think that its realistic. I have a home lab with a dozen computers, doing virtualization, software performance stuff, roon, and my primary laptop is a 15" early 2013 MacBook Pro retina. Now it has had it's screen replaced, an dthe logic board, keyboard, so I don't know how much of it is still original, but as Apple did the repairs without charge I am not complaining.
Of course I'd like a faster, lighter smaller, 12" MacBookPro - with an 8K display that could pop-out to be 19" in size, with 4TB of SSD ... As Steve Earle sang, "I aint never satisfied"
Of course I'd like a faster, lighter smaller, 12" MacBookPro - with an 8K display that could pop-out to be 19" in size, with 4TB of SSD ... As Steve Earle sang, "I aint never satisfied"
I can go far longer than 10 years before anything stops being useful for my needs . The only system I have to keep up to date is my gaming rig. Not likely needing much else given my last new game purchase was Farming Simulator 19.
It's a good thing as well, since I'm not in the endless upgrade cycle. I got mostly Apple products due to the longevity I've experienced with them. My first Apple Mac was a Macintosh Classic (don't use one. they're awful!) and I amassed a collection of beige Power Macs and PowerPC computers at a goodwill ages ago (all for $7-10) but sadly got rid of them. They still worked as well. All I've got left of that time is my PowerBook G4.
It's a good thing as well, since I'm not in the endless upgrade cycle. I got mostly Apple products due to the longevity I've experienced with them. My first Apple Mac was a Macintosh Classic (don't use one. they're awful!) and I amassed a collection of beige Power Macs and PowerPC computers at a goodwill ages ago (all for $7-10) but sadly got rid of them. They still worked as well. All I've got left of that time is my PowerBook G4.
I used my 2010 MBP as my primary computer until late 2016.
It still works fine, but it isn’t retina and lost the capability to run the latest OS three revisions ago, which are dealbreakers for me.
I guess it would depend entirely on your needs.