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How long does a MacBook/MacBook Pro last?

ipartridgea

ipartridgea

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Feb 5, 2008
12
0
New York
hello, i am getting ready to buy a new notebook.... i will be hooking it up to a ACD and using it as my primary comp. my ? is how how long is the approx. life on mac notebooks, and is there a diff in life expectancy between the MB and the MBP?? thanks!!!
 
as long as you take care of it and you don't need a better laptop then it should last you as long a you need!
 
Laptop Life

There is no real answer to that...it all depends on how well you treat your laptop and so on. The battery should be your main concern. Once the battery dies, you can just replace it though so, the real "expiration date" on a laptop is when something better comes out. If something is outdated, upgrade, install some more memory, bigger hard drive, bigger battery. Personally, I got a MacBook Pro about 6 months ago, bring it to school every day and so far, just have a small dent in it from my books. Have it on almost constantly, and it has hardly changed performance wise. The actual "lifespan" would be anywhere from 1 year to 20 years depending on what you do and how you treat it...good luck...
 
i got an ibook back in early 2003 and used it until fall 2007 when i replaced it with a macbook pro. the computer still looked/worked like it was brand new. only problem was the battery would only stay charged for maybe 45 minutes. other than that, i just wanted something faster.
since memory's easier to replace (apparently) on the newer machines, i hope to keep this computer for a long time. if anything, keep it as a portable and get an actual desktop since i've never had one.
 
My PowerBook 15 is still working fine after 4 years.

Replaced the battery about 6 months ago since the old one was getting very weak.
 
Got my macbook pro in April 2006. So far I have had two dead batteries, both replaced by warranty. Two dead hard drives, one replaced by me, the second just happened yesterday, so I will RMA with western digital and replace again.

Im buying a new MBP and this time I will get Applecare...
 
I got my 15" PowerBook in May of 2005, so I'm approaching year three, and the only thing I've had wrong with it was a bad RAM slot. The battery is getting incredibly weak, but that doesn't really have anything to do with the computer.

If I didn't do such heavy video/post-production work, I wouldn't be considering replacing it right now (what can I say? My 8-core Mac Pro has me hungry for the most power I can get!).

The thing is built like a tank and has taken tons of abuse and is still running as perfectly as the day I got it!
 
My economics teacher at school is still using an iBook from 2001 and that thing runs circles around his 2005 Dell...they lasr as long as you keep them up!
 
be careful about trying to treat your notebook like a desktop, I turned all the sleep modes off on mine to save time, its less then a year old and I recently had to purchase a new fan and replace it as the old one was making horrible ticking noises in low revs (2000rpm) and clattering like an old Tford in high revs.

I know I could have sent my macbook back to apple but I love tinkering and replacing the bits in a macbook is a cake walk compared to operating on an iBook, which I have also done.

treat it with care, when your not using it shut the lid, sounds trivial but many people ignore that, also watch your apps especially SAFARI some websites make the CPU go like a saucy minx, and that makes your fan max out, if you hear your fan doing this and you aint encoding video, or doing something really CPU intensive, check the activity monitor to find what is doing it.
 
Great Advise

Thank you for the great advise! I am going to be monitoring my MacBook.:)

Ironduke said:
be careful about trying to treat your notebook like a desktop, I turned all the sleep modes off on mine to save time, its less then a year old and I recently had to purchase a new fan and replace it as the old one was making horrible ticking noises in low revs (2000rpm) and clattering like an old Tford in high revs.

I know I could have sent my macbook back to apple but I love tinkering and replacing the bits in a macbook is a cake walk compared to operating on an iBook, which I have also done.

treat it with care, when your not using it shut the lid, sounds trivial but many people ignore that, also watch your apps especially SAFARI some websites make the CPU go like a saucy minx, and that makes your fan max out, if you hear your fan doing this and you aint encoding video, or doing something really CPU intensive, check the activity monitor to find what is doing it.
Click to expand...
 
I've had my current MBP (15" 2.33 GHz Core 2 Duo) since November 2006, and I've just replaced it with a new one, so in my case, it lasted 3 and a half years.

I'm on my 4th battery (all 3 were replaced by Apple under AppleCare, and the current one needs replacing as well), but otherwise haven't had any problems with it. It is starting to feel a little sluggish at times - I'm not sure if the hard drive is going, or if it could just use a reinstall, but the disk thrashes quite a bit from time to time.
 
Dunno about the Pro.

I have 2007 Macbook (white plastic). Here's my list of things that went wrong.

After a year the hard drive died (literally within a month after the warranty expired). Apparently they recalled my macbook this year for dieing hard drives (a little too late for me *grr*). Well not sure a recall but said they'd replace hard drives or something. I just remember griping that will they reimburse me for the one I bought a few years ago to replace my dieing ones (no, I don't expect they would... I'm just annoyed that *now* they admit there were issues. I mean I know it's a hard drive but honestly, a year?! That's ridiculously short even for a hard drive imo).

A little after a year the plastic where your hands cracked and eventually chipped off (not a usability issue but annoying on such an expensive laptop). Some time the plastic on the back near one vent also cracked (I just recently noticed that though after reading it wasn't just the palm rest that tended to crack on the laptop so I decided to see if mine actually cracked elsewhere). This also is a known problem with my model and I've been told (after I already replaced it myself) that if I had brought it to the apple store within it being three years they would have replaced it.

Had to fix the plug (The little plug you slip on the power adaptor, it fell apart, we had to glue it back together cause I didn't want to pay 70 bux for a new adaptor over one little part that they don't sell seperately).

The fan started dieing recently (I replaced it. My laptop, not being a unibody, is pretty easy to work on).

The mouse button started getting worn out or something so that it easily got clicked. Sometimes I have to open my macbook just a little bit when using it as a desktop or it acts as if some one is holding down the mouse button.. When I replaced the keyboard (when I fixed the fan) the new one was even worse. Or something was bad. I have noticed just resting my palms on the palm rest will cause it to think some one is holding the mouse button down. Might just disconnect the track pad at this point (I have a magic mouse, it's not like I use the trackpad as the mouse travels easily with the computer).

But, I have to say unlike other people, it's still running on the original battery (which has 93% life left in it). And I usually keep it plugged in which I hear is not good for it. But, the battery is really easy to replace as it was still a model that had a removable battery.

Overall, not really impressed with quality (I do think the design is very thoughtful on use and ergonomics of a laptop like size, the magnetic power plug, the magnetic closing rather than a button that the few PCs I've used I notice get kinda finicky). But, keep in mind, this is my first laptop, so no idea how it compares to other laptops, mac or PC.
 
Hi, im new to the forum, but i got a question, I just want to know how long the keyboard for a MBP last? I bought my MBP for school and I have problems turning my comp on, just wanted to know...
 
like everyone has said they will last forever as long as you take care of it and dont need better specs.

my sister in law has a first gen macbook pro from 2002 and she just bought a new one about a month or so ago. granted she did have to a do some minor replacements, but nothing serious. the only reason why she got a new one is because she needed faster processor,better video card etc. And there is still nothing wrong with her old MBP
 
I've had my early 2008 13" white macbook book since 2008 and he's still going strong.

No problems apart from a small crack in the case on the bottom and a squished disk drive (couldn't get the disk out) after 4 cricket bags were put on top off it.;)

I agree with tigersss666 the build quality on the older white macbooks is not very good. It feels abit tacky which is not someting you want when you have just spent £700+ on a laptop.

When mine dies I will go for the macbook pro it looks so much better and performs so much better that i think i will take care of it a lot better.
 
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Every Mac laptop I have ever had is still working:

- Powerbook 1400 (1997): Doesn't get used much anymore but I still fire it up for old-times sake occasionally.
- iBook G3 (2001): Battery replaced after 3 years; passed onto a friend who is still using it.
- Powerbook 12" G4 (2003): Battery replaced after 2.5 years; passed onto Dad who is still using it.
- Powerbook 14" G4 - (2005): HDD replaced after 4 years; passed onto a friend's daughter who uses it for Uni.
- Blackbook CD (2006) - Battery replaced after 1.5 years; HD replaced after 3 years (precaution); Used as a second computer by my wife.
- MBA Rev A (2008) - Still running brilliantly, just sold it to a mate.
- MBP 13" 2.4 CD2 (2010) - My current main machine and I have never had a problem with it.

I also have a Mac SE and Performa 1200 that still work.

As you can see from other posts, not everyone has been as lucky as me. Nevertheless, in general, Macs are built to last and they do just that for the majority of people who keep them. That is one of the reasons that Macs hold their value better than any other brand in the 2nd hand market.
 
i have the first gen uMB and it still works like its brand new, after i cloned my HDD to my new 2011 MBP and i performed a fresh install of OS X on my uMB and it works just like the day i got it!! id say with taken care of your apple it should last NO LESS THAN 5 YEARS. and it will deff last longer but it'll be almost too slow by then. 5 years is a long time for a computer, but for a mac it runs so smooth that it wont seem that slow. and the only way you'll think its really slow is if you play around on a current MBP. so stay away from those until you're ready to upgrade then prepared to be blown away =)


So yeah id say no less than 5 years. im talking about the computer being usable (like not so slow its not worth it but being to actually process tasks in a decent amount of time). and thats not the battery either. those are kinda iffy in m opinion. i had one last me 3 months and another that lasted me 3 years with a great charge still. who knows.

hope this helps
 
I have a friend who bought a powerbook g3 (pismo) waaaay back in like 2000/2001 (can't remember which). He has a MBP now but he never sold it. It is now 2011 and the thing still turns on and works! It is currently running tiger, is a bit laggy and has a completely dead battery but the fact is that 9-10 years down the line it still works.

I'm sure if you look after your computer as well as he did then it will give it a significantly better CHANCE of lasting for years to come.
 
My 2006 MacBook is still running SUPER STRONG. It runs flawlessly. Only recently have I noticed I need more power since trying to use Handbrake so now it's off to a new 2011 MBP and my excellent 2006 will be the wifes first Mac!
 
2001 model imac still going strong
2008 model imac still going strong
2011 model macbook pro going strong for 2 months :D

If you have a mac and take care of it, the computer will become outdated long before it actually breaks, fails etc.
 
My PowerBook G4 12" 2004 still runs well. It got me through college and grad school. It has made it through a battery recall and a swapped HD that I completed myself after the original failed in 2008. I just this February bought a new Powerbook 13" i5. I expect it to hold up just as well.

P.S. This is the main reason I'm such a fan of Apple computers. I've yet to come across a PC that will last half as long. Oh, and it's been dropped onto concrete in sleep mode and started right up.
 
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