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iPads every 1-2 years
MBP at least 3 years.
I should amend this as I used an Air 2 for years. If major tech like Pro I go for it. I also went 9.7 to 10.5 for screen and processor (photo-editing & import). I could see keeping 10.5 for 2-3 years.
 
Sell it shortly before its one year warranty runs out, always. Then take that money, and the money you save by not purchasing AppleCare, and with that you buy the newest generation model. Rinse, repeat.

It is more expensive than purchasing AppleCare and keeping your device for those three years. But in return you never have a Mac that is older than 11 months at the most, so the chances of hardware failure are lower than when you keep your Mac for multiple years. And you get to use the newest hardware. It's not a requirement, but it's certainly nice to have the latest gen tech.

There is no point in keeping your Macbook(Pro) for more than the warranty time nowadays. You can't fix any issues yourself, after the warranty runs out, just opening the current models is hard as the bottom plate is glued to the internals in addition to the screws.

Good luck spending an hour with a hairdryer heating up the glue just to replace the battery, and with battery I mean that questionable third-party replacement since you can't get an original without handing the laptop over to Apple. The display assembly is one entire thing where a panel replacement on another laptop would cost you 100 bucks and here it's multiple times that. The rest of the laptop is basically one entire mainboard that has memory and ssd soldered onto it. And even the 13" without touchbar let's you switch the SSD only in theory - there are no replacement SSDs unless you, again, hand over the laptop to Apple.

If you instead sell your Mac when the warranty is about to run out, you will make a loss but you won't have to spend the AppleCare money in the first place, and you never run into the risk of ending up with an expensive brick.

Sure, some of you buy a Mac without a warranty extension and keep it for 4+ years, assuming it will be fine. You'd have to spend so much more if you were to do it my way. But my way of doing thing isn't actually that expensive:

2000 usd up front, 200 each year after the first (loss of selling) -> 4000 usd in 10 years.
2000 usd up front, replace after 5 years then 2000 usd up front -> 4000 usd in 10 years, or a bit less if you sell your old Mac.


And I don't have the risk of being outside the warranty period ever.


Not a bad strategy if you can honestly get that kind of resale. I highly doubt I could get that, if I where in the market for a 2,000 computer buying a year old used (even with 1 month warranty left) I would not buy for 1800 at 10% savings. Especially knowing I can buy a 1 year old Apple refurbished usually for around 15% savings that comes with a full 1 year warranty. I am currently looking to upgrade myself and the I found the savings to buy the 2016 wasn't enough for me to go that route and not get a 2017.

Like new cars, once you "drive it of the lot" in this case open box and use it a more realistic loss is probably closer to 25-30 percent. But if that is the case and it cost you 500-600 a year to upgrade, that is not bad, it is more in the long run but I can see it being worth it.

I personally tend to keep my computers more like 5 years, my mid 2012 doesn't need to be replaced just yet. I had already budgeted for it because I was running out of space and needed to upgraded from a 512 to 1TB, but truthfully between iCloud syncing of desktop and documents in Sierra, coupled now with Apple File System in High Sierra I went from less than 30 GB available to almost 200...just noticed it today, making me question if I really should be upgrading now or hold off a little longer.

On the other hand I upgrade my iOS devices yearly for phone, never get Apple care, and 2-3 years on iPad and usually (60% of time) get Apple care because I use iPad in the classroom where there are many more chances something can happen, I skip the 30-50 screen protector and just keep that in case I need to pay the 50 to use Apple care for a new screen. For similar reasons, bringing my MBP to school daily I always get Apple care. If it an iMac, I wouldn't worry but having the accidental protection in case it falls and screen breaks is really the main reason for me.
 
The last MBP I bought was a 2011, I had that for 4 years before selling it and trading the cash for my dad's 2012 rMBP as he was getting a Surface Book... I just replaced that as part of the "battery-gate" replacement program and now have a mostly maxed out 2017 TB 15" - I'm intending to keep this for a long time unless there's some sort of cataclysmic shift in computers... my iPad Pro was purchased in 2015 at launch so going on 2 years there and 2 for my 6S+ as well - though I'd like to upgrade that sooner I think
 
Impressive, thats 10 years of good use out of the 2008 MBP.
I did upgrade the 2008 with RAM (8 GB) and SSD (450 GB) along the way and replaced the battery once. While I am using now the 2017 NBP 15" as my daily tool, the 2008 (running El Capitan) remains stationary as every day laptop for my family.

I guess I will still get a few years out of it before it will retired for good. The Late 2008 unibody is a great laptop. Of course not competitive anymore considering limited battery life (2.5 hours max) and screen resolution.
 
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I usually keep phones for a couple of years if all goes well and after that they get passed on to family members, and my last MBP (2010) I had for seven years. It was still working somewhat fine, the battery was basically dead but the retrofitted SSD made a world of difference. Got good money for it, too, when I sold it, which was nice.

I plan on keeping my current MBP 2016 for quite a while as well, as I don't see my usage changing drastically. Time will tell how long that is.
 
I'd like to think that I will keep my 2017 15" for at least 3-4 years, but if we get 6-8 cores, decent thermals and pro apps that use it, together with Nvidia GPUs, in the next couple of years, I'll be jumping on that. CUDA would be so nice for ML...
 
Assuming there is enough of a change in processor, I will replace the 2015 system I bought in 2016 next summer or fall. I think if I sell the unit with one year left on the AppleCare I will minimize the cost delta.
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I'd like to think that I will keep my 2017 15" for at least 3-4 years, but if we get 6-8 cores, decent thermals and pro apps that use it, together with Nvidia GPUs, in the next couple of years, I'll be jumping on that. CUDA would be so nice for ML...

I would not hold my breath for an NVidia GPU. But agree being able to use CUDA would be great.
 
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I'm personally not noticing any new trends above and beyond the norm. If anything I think people are hanging on to hardware longer these days between upgrading since the differences are much more incremental these days.

At any rate, I just replaced my 2010 MBA with a 2017 MBP a couple weeks ago. Plan on keeping this one until it becomes too slow to get my work done efficiently. So probably about 5 years.
 
In many countries, AppleCare is a largely unnecessary add-on because no company can refuse repairs for a reasonable period beyond their own warranty period for defects.

Really? What exactly do you have? We have a law that whatever you purchase has to be free of defects during the first 6 months and if it isn't, you can go back to the merchant to have it fixed. But those 6 months are shorter than the 1 year Apple warranty and it's only intended to make sure the merchant doesn't sell your garbage. Of course you can automatically have an insurance through your credit card, to the terms of your bank and that will last longer than a year. But we have no additional consumer protection laws as it is assumed that things can break unexpectedly as they age - unless it's a series defect (like the dying graphics cards on the 15" models), where you'll absolutely get it fixed outside the warranty period.

The issue I have (and this might not affect many people here) is that I use my Mac for work too, so I can't have my Mac being repaired for a week, or maybe wait even longer having to convince Apple to repair it under whatever law there might be. So that is also why I make sure that my Mac is always almost-new and always under warranty, so that in case something happens I have the guarantee that it going to be fixed.

And don't forget the benefits, always having the latest hardware and having a brand-new device that is less likely to break in the first place.

with the late 2016's we purchased, it is no longer possible ... Currently have a Dell XP15 in for trials

Many defects will be a total loss outside the warranty period, and even inside the warranty period you need to send in the entire device for any defect. I hope you have replacement laptops ready for when you need to send a Mac in for repairs. The difference to Dell is that with Dell (and others) you can have up to 5 years of on-site service on the next day, so your user will only be interrupted for a day and you don't need too many loaners at hand. But look at the Latitude series instead, the XPS one has quite a few customers complaining about failing hardware.

if I where in the market for a 2,000 computer buying a year old used (even with 1 month warranty left) I would not buy for 1800 at 10% savings.

Don't tell me that! It's ridiculous that people buy used Macs at close to their retail price, especially an older model like the 2012 13" that was overpriced in the last years by Apple to begin with (or in other words, it didn't see a serious decrease in price as would be expected with old hardware). Look at the prices on Ebay for used Macs, other laptops are sold at 50% off their original price or even less, while Macs keep their value. What people do is they get a used Mac with a tiny bit of warranty left and then they purchase AppleCare, so they get a used machine with 2 years of warranty basically.

I might be a bit wrong with the price you can sell it for, perhaps it's 250 or 300 dollars you'd have to sacrifice if you spent 2000. I can get the tax back on my Mac though since I use it for work, and so a 2000 mac will cost me 1850 or so. Selling it for 1600 or so will only give me a 250 dollars loss. But I admit, for most people it will be a bigger loss.

its tablets, home servers, and cloud computing. No more traditional computers.

And your home server is a tablet, not a traditional computer? Kidding aside, the tablets and clouds don't allow you to run full operating systems like MacOS, so when you realize that your tablet closes apps once it runs out of its 4GB of memory or just closes some by default and doesn't let you change that behaviour, you'll regret it. Try painting with the new iPad Pro, while listening to music and keeping a browser open with multiple tabs. Eventually the browser will close, ending your cloudsession whereever you were logged in, or the chat app you had was closed so you aren't reachable and so on. Let's not get into performance and its absence.
 
Really? What exactly do you have? We have a law that whatever you purchase has to be free of defects during the first 6 months and if it isn't, you can go back to the merchant to have it fixed. But those 6 months are shorter than the 1 year Apple warranty and it's only intended to make sure the merchant doesn't sell your garbage. Of course you can automatically have an insurance through your credit card, to the terms of your bank and that will last longer than a year. But we have no additional consumer protection laws as it is assumed that things can break unexpectedly as they age - unless it's a series defect (like the dying graphics cards on the 15" models), where you'll absolutely get it fixed outside the warranty period.
Under consumer law here, any product has to last a "reasonable time". The time period depends on what the goods are. A premium priced computer would have an expected lifetime of 5 years, and a supplier would have to repair any defect for free within that time period (or replace or refund in full if they can't repair it). If they refuse, there is a simple (and low cost) legal process to enforce it.
 
Your country forces every computer manufacturer to give a 5 year warranty period if their laptop is beyond a certain price limit? I am actually curious, where do you live? I'd like to look this up. I mean, quite honestly I can't believe it as even the most expensive business warranties expire after 4-5 years and having that kind of service must lead to a noticable increase in computer prices...
 
I'm still using my Base 2015 13" MacBook Pro with the 2.7GHz i5, 8GB RAM, 128GB SSD and a 128GB micro SD card in a Micro SD to SD Card adapter that is flush. I also have my 12.9" iPad Pro and use Duet to turn it into a second monitor while in the field.

I only use the machine when away from my home office so I don't have a need for a lot of horse power. Realistically I'll replace it in another couple years or so with what ever the base 13" MacBook Pro option is. If the MacBook adds a second USB-C port I might even go with it instead. We'll see.
 
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Usually like to sell about 2.5 years from purchase so i'm selling still with AppelCare. Though my current machine is over 3 years now, I've not found the newer machines desirable so I'm sticking with this for now. Its still a beast (max spec 2014 15")
 
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Under consumer law here, any product has to last a "reasonable time". The time period depends on what the goods are. A premium priced computer would have an expected lifetime of 5 years, and a supplier would have to repair any defect for free within that time period (or replace or refund in full if they can't repair it). If they refuse, there is a simple (and low cost) legal process to enforce it.

What does a computer cost versus the price in the US? I bet it is quite a bit more and a major part of this is this long warranty period.
 
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And your home server is a tablet, not a traditional computer? Kidding aside, the tablets and clouds don't allow you to run full operating systems like MacOS, so when you realize that your tablet closes apps once it runs out of its 4GB of memory or just closes some by default and doesn't let you change that behaviour, you'll regret it. Try painting with the new iPad Pro, while listening to music and keeping a browser open with multiple tabs. Eventually the browser will close, ending your cloudsession whereever you were logged in, or the chat app you had was closed so you aren't reachable and so on. Let's not get into performance and its absence.

One, I stated this is my goal after a 2017 or 2018 MBP purchase. I still have a working 2011 MBP, so I’m anticipating my next purchase to last at least three years before it reaches its end of life. I’m confident I can have everything setup how I’m envisioning by 2020, easily.

Two, an advantage of having a home server is I could care less if the app is closed on the client. The server (with a full operating system) is doing the work, not the tablet.

Three, even today it’s pretty close to doable for what I want. My work is web based. My home entertainment is largely streamed. My productivity suite of choice is cloud based. The current iPad is more than adequate at handling my video, photo, and audio creation and manipulation needs.
 
What does a computer cost versus the price in the US? I bet it is quite a bit more and a major part of this is this long warranty period.

There is that, as well as by EU law sales tax (VAT) has to be included in the advertised price (unlike the USA, where it's hidden). VAT ranges from 16-25% depending on member state.

EU Directive states that there is a minimum 2 year warranty period. Individual member states may set longer periods. These rights are only for private (consumer) - not business - purchases.
http://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/consumers/shopping/guarantees-returns/faq/index_en.htm

Basically the EU decided that the declining quality of goods and manufacture "race to the bottom/late-stage-capitalism" was not good for the citizens (and probably also helps protect against shoddy imports - de facto protectionism)
 
There is that, as well as by EU law sales tax (VAT) has to be included in the advertised price (unlike the USA, where it's hidden). VAT ranges from 16-25% depending on member state.

In the US they do not include the sales tax on ads because it varies so much. It varies by state, county, and sometimes city. And pretty widely. In some states the sales tax is 0%. In another state the sales tax is 8%, and within cities in that state it can be 8%-9.5%.

And then there the whole issue of buying out of state. That is often tax free, since they tax only applies if the company has a physical locale in the state. So I can buy from b&H in NY and not pay tax, but if I buy from Amazon I do pay tax because they have distribution centers in my state.

So there is no intentional attempt to hide the tax in the US. It is just varies a lot.

But even with that, it seems the prices for the MBPs are more outside the US.
 
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In the US they do not include the sales tax on ads because it varies so much. It varies by state, county, and sometimes city. And pretty widely. In some states the sales tax is 0%. In another state the sales tax is 8%, and within cities in that state it can be 8%-9.5%.

And then there the whole issue of buying out of state. That is often tax free, since they tax only applies if the company has a physical locale in the state. So I can buy from b&H in NY and not pay tax, but if I buy from Amazon I do pay tax because they have distribution centers in my state.

So there is no intentional attempt to hide the tax in the US. It is just varies a lot.

But even with that, it seems the prices for the MBPs are more outside the US.
For instance in seattle and surrounding King county, the sales tax is 10% which is nuts. So if a tourist wants to buy something, there a 10% added cost that is not shown. Supper annoying.
 
For instance in seattle and surrounding King county, the sales tax is 10% which is nuts. So if a tourist wants to buy something, there a 10% added cost that is not shown. Supper annoying.

But if they drive 2 hours south to Portland, they can get the same unit for no tax. But, they cannot pump their own gas.:D
 
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Going to buy AppleCare at the end of the year and then I'm hoping it lasts 3-4 years. The 16gb is a bit limiting right now because I'm doing some work on it, but usually if I just close all the programs I'm not using it's fine. Aside from that, I love this bad boy and I want to do what I can to stop consumerism and try to repair instead of replace. If I can do that by just replacing the battery with everything else working I'll be happy.
 
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