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How much life do you believe you can get out of your MacBook.

V

vwes

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Apr 2, 2016
5
1
This is a question to those who have owned their MacBooks for a while now.
Do you believe through your experience it should manage to continue to maintain its functionality for 3 or more years,
Or do you see it more of a short term use laptop.
 
My 13" macbook pro served me well for about 3 years, during which time I lugged it all over the place, used it for schoolwork, work work, and gaming. It still works flawlessly, but I gave it to my wife because I wanted to grab the much more portable 12" macbook. I expect the same lifespan out of this macbook as my pro..
 
Fully expecting at least 3 years out of my MacBook. Hopefully more. Had it since last June so just 2 months shy of the one year mark, and am still absolutely satisfied with it. Even though I mostly use it around the house, the lightweight portability make it easier to reach for my MacBook than my iPad for most tasks.
 
Had me for well over 3 years
Have a 13" pro that j do graphic designing new and all of my schoolwork on
Only problem I have had was the had crashed and this thing runs like its brand new since I had it replaced, and the battery life isn't the best
 
i have a 2010 that has a few problems but is still snappy considering its 6 years old, i fully expect my new one I'm ordering soon to last at least 3-4 years regarding specs..


RTJ
 
vwes said:
This is a question to those who have owned their MacBooks for a while now.
Do you believe through your experience it should manage to continue to maintain its functionality for 3 or more years,
Or do you see it more of a short term use laptop.
Click to expand...
I bought in May of 2015. I think the computer itself can last another 2 years. The battery though? Lol....I get maybe 5 hours. And yes, been to the Apple store with other issues. Machine has been sent back to Apple and now I have a new motherboard, keyboard and screen...all replaced through warranty.

I really love this machine and can say for MY workflow, Power and ports aren't an issue for me---battery is.

Edit: this is the Macbook forum. I see Macbook Pro responses. I just want to confirm I am speaking about the 12 inch Retina Macbook of 2015.
 
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vwes said:
This is a question to those who have owned their MacBooks for a while now.
Do you believe through your experience it should manage to continue to maintain its functionality for 3 or more years,
Or do you see it more of a short term use laptop.
Click to expand...

I'm typing this on my white MacBook which is actually 6 years old today. My only upgrade was 4gb of ram as Mavericks totally ruined it. Yosemite brought it back to life but sadly El Capitan has really slowed it down - I see that beachball a lot. I expect an expensive product like Apple to last a good 6+ years so your new one hopefully should last at least 3. My God at that price i'd want 10 years from it :)
 
I've got a black book and a 2008 unibody that are both running perfectly to this day.
 
Glockworkorange said:
I bought in May of 2015. I think the computer itself can last another 2 years. The battery though? Lol....I get maybe 5 hours. And yes, been to the Apple store with other issues. Machine has been sent back to Apple and now I have a new motherboard, keyboard and screen...all replaced through warranty.

I really love this machine and can say for MY workflow, Power and ports aren't an issue for me---battery is.

Edit: this is the Macbook forum. I see Macbook Pro responses. I just want to confirm I am speaking about the 12 inch Retina Macbook of 2015.
Click to expand...
[doublepost=1459631490][/doublepost]Apologies, I should have been a little more clear, I am looking at the (2015) 12 inch.
Thank you for all responses though. The 12 inch is what I am considering, but admittedly am unsure if f it will have the general reliability/ satisfaction that the MBPR for the most part( not always the case) appears to have and am hoping this will also translate for the 12 inch.

I am hoping after 1 years use it provides some good direction as to what to expect.
 
I'm on a 4 1/2 year old (2011) MBA that still works fine. I could easily use it for another year or two. Battery life is obviously not great at this point but the display is the main reason I want to upgrade to the rMB. Just waiting for Skylake.
 
I have a 2013 MacBook Air which is almost 3 years old now and it's still as snappy as the day I picked it up, battery life is still great and I expect to get a few more years out of it yet. I think any quality computer bought within the last few years should last 5-6+ years with proper care.
 
Last edited:
if you're looking for a laptop that will last for a very long time then don't get one with a non user replaceable battery. period.
 
Dunbar said:
I'm on a 4 1/2 year old (2011) MBA that still works fine. I could easily use it for another year or two. Battery life is obviously not great at this point but the display is the main reason I want to upgrade to the rMB. Just waiting for Skylake.
Click to expand...
The good thing about the MacBook Air is that replacement of the battery is a piece of cake. You can replace that battery and feel like it's a brand-new machine, provided you don't spend any time looking at anyone else's beautiful Retina display. That's what ruined my MacBook Air for me.
 
I still use my MacBook, it's my main machine. I've upgraded it to 8 GBs and a 240 GB SSD. It's snappy and responsive now. Though El Capitan has murdered my battery life. It was amazing on Yosemite, but no-go on El Capitan.

Maybe a new battery would help, but I haven't even spent 10 minutes on this computer, and I've already dropped 5%, when on Yosemite I wouldn't have.
 
Who knows! The high end MacBook Pros (which I have) are extremely unreliable.

The dGPU might suddenly fail (well know issue that Apple won't address), leaving me with a really expensive brick.
 
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Still on a first-gen unibody MacBook 2,4 GHz 4GB (late 2008).
Running great on latest OSX. Though replaced HD with an SSD 1,5 years ago.
It will retire in 2,5 years hopefully, at 10 years of age.
 
I'm on an 09 macbook and would never ever downgrade to a newer mac laptop. I've upgraded mine with 8Gb of ram and a combined 2.5TB HDD (I took out the optical drive).

All I ever do is general web/mail/office/torrent stuff and it is super fast.

As for your purchase option. The only downfall is the price. I just believe it shouldn't be what apple is selling it for. For a cheaper price, yep I'd give it a go.
 
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Whenever the new Mac's come I plan on keeping it for at least 5 years. I have had two computers over the last 9 years.

In my opinion trying to stay up to date when it comes to technology is bad for your pockets and you will never be fully happy with your current machine. After a few months a brand new one will be on the way.
 
I know myself, and I will say 3 years, or another 2 years from today is what I expect. Sure, I could make it last longer but I think the technology will have improved to a point I will feel the need to upgrade.
 
My early 2011 15" MBP is still kicking an awesome with an SSD upgrade a year ago. I picked up a rMB a few weeks ago only because I wanted a retina Mac and something lighter.
 
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