How much longer will I get?

[Ravenbrook]

Looking at getting my first iMac (27" model). Uses will be general surfing, some QuickBooks stuff for work, and VERY MILD Gaming (Nothing a cheap video card can't handle). My question is: If I order my iMac with the 9th Gen chip set and 580X video card, upgrade the RAM after I get it to 24 Gigs by adding an additional 16, and get a decent sized SSD how much longer would I get out of this machine down the road versus buying the entry level 27" iMac with 8th Gen processor and an SSD? Would the nicer chipset and video card now get me an extra year or two or more at the end of it's usable life? I can justify the extra $$$ needed now if it will get me a few extra years later on.

 

[nambuccaheadsau]

That is a 'how long is a piece of string' question. No definitive answer possible.

 

[mj_]

220 days 7 hours 58 minutes 19 seconds. Give or take.

Kidding aside, nobody can tell you in advance how much longer you'll get or whether you'll get anything at all. It might be a feature (or rather lack thereof) that will drive you to upgrade, which means you won't get a single second out of the more expensive model.

 

[iF34R]

Looking at getting my first iMac (27" model). Uses will be general surfing, some QuickBooks stuff for work, and VERY MILD Gaming (Nothing a cheap video card can't handle). My question is: If I order my iMac with the 9th Gen chip set and 580X video card, upgrade the RAM after I get it to 24 Gigs by adding an additional 16, and get a decent sized SSD how much longer would I get out of this machine down the road versus buying the entry level 27" iMac with 8th Gen processor and an SSD? Would the nicer chipset and video card now get me an extra year or two or more at the end of it's usable life? I can justify the extra $$$ needed now if it will get me a few extra years later on.

I'm still using my late 2012 27" iMac, the only upgrade being the RAM a week after purchase in early 2013. I don't see a necessity to upgrade to a newer model at this point. I can do what you've listed just fine.

 

[macduke]

My build is in my signature and I'm expecting 6-8 years.

Two big questions:

Will the hardware fail? Impossible to know. SSDs are less likely to have issues, and if you leave the machine on all the time it's more prone to failure.

Will Apple move away from Intel with their own chips and then stop supporting Intel in a future version of macOS? Impossible to know for sure but we can look at the rumors and the history.

Rumors point to yes, sometime in the 2020-2021 timeframe. Rumors say it will start on the lower end MacBooks and things like that before moving up to the Pro machines. This especially makes sense if the Mac Pro is coming out this year and there are no rumors about it using Apple CPUs. The other reason it makes sense to start on the lower end is because it gives professional app developers time to adjust for the new architecture.

Historically, Apple supported PowerPC for only about four years of new OS X updates after transitioning to Intel (I think it was only two versions though, because back then Apple updated less frequently). But Apple also has a lot more Macs on the market today, more resources at their disposal, and a higher expectation for longevity. So given those things I figure if they move to Apple CPUs next year at the earliest, that's one year, then four years for macOS updates, and then one year until macOS gets updated again and the machine is officially out of date. But even in this case you can still expect security updates for a while, so the machine just won't stop working unless something hardware related fails—you just won't get the new features. So for me I figure 6-8 years seems reasonable and given the work I do will be adequate. I might do 6 years if it's starting to feel slow because, say, I got a crazy new camera setup that shoots 8K60 12bit or something nuts with 120MP stills. And 8 years would be if it still seems like it's running fine for my workload, which I doubt will actually be that crazy by then, but I will be doing more video production work later this year on the iMac Pro my new boss just ordered me, so who knows where that will take me. I also might get the itch to get that 31.6" 6K display after it comes to the iMac Pro and upgrade on the lower end of my time frame.

Now this is all speculation on my part, but I'm deeply analytical and this is exactly what my thinking process was before I decided to pull the trigger. Just make sure you don't sink yourself. Only buy enough Mac that you could replace it if something goes wrong after a year. There's also AppleCare, but that only goes for three years and personally I wouldn't buy it on a desktop. I've owned a lot of Apple hardware and in my experience if something doesn't go wrong in the first year then it's probably good to last you until it's no longer relevant and becomes slow and needs an upgrade anyway. For desktops this is even more true because they just stay on your desk and don't go with you so they're less likely to break than a mobile device or laptop. Anyway, hope this helps, but don't take it as an absolute.

 

[BluefinTuna]

I have to disagree with the notion that buying AppleCare for a desktop is a mistake. I’ve owned mostly iMac’s, MacBook Pro’s and iPhone’s. Out of those, my iMacs almost always crapped out on me. They do get pushed a lot but Apple also tends to choose hardware with defects. Google pretty much any iMac year and you’ll see screen, graphics card, motherboard, or some other expensive hardware issue.

My current late 2015 21.5” iMac is on its 8th week of repairs covered by AppleCare. Anybody who doesn’t buy AppleCare for an iMac is a madman in my book especially considering how cheap it is. I’ll probably skip buying AppleCare for the iPhone X that I just got at BestBuy because I’ll upgrade before I need to use it.

However, you spend 2-3 times as much on a piece of hardware and expect it to last longer than an iPhone, you’d better be buying that extended warranty. Not only because it lasts for 3 years rather than the 2 on an iPhone but also because it’s $169 for the iMac. You’d have to be really bad at math not to take that deal.

 

[iF34R]

I have to disagree with the notion that buying AppleCare for a desktop is a mistake. I’ve owned mostly iMac’s, MacBook Pro’s and iPhone’s. Out of those, my iMacs almost always crapped out on me. They do get pushed a lot but Apple also tends to choose hardware with defects. Google pretty much any iMac year and you’ll see screen, graphics card, motherboard, or some other expensive hardware issue.

My current late 2015 21.5” iMac is on its 8th week of repairs covered by AppleCare. Anybody who doesn’t buy AppleCare for an iMac is a madman in my book especially considering how cheap it is. I’ll probably skip buying AppleCare for the iPhone X that I just got at BestBuy because I’ll upgrade before I need to use it.

However, you spend 2-3 times as much on a piece of hardware and expect it to last longer than an iPhone, you’d better be buying that extended warranty. Not only because it lasts for 3 years rather than the 2 on an iPhone but also because it’s $169 for the iMac. You’d have to be really bad at math not to take that deal.

Maybe I lucked out. I haven't had a single issue with my late 2012 27" iMac hardware.

 

[TimJohn]

I have a 2009 27" iMac and it still works fine. Apple replaced the Seagate HD because of a bad batch of drives and the computer was about 6 years old at the time they did it. It still worked but they took the time and effort to contact me and get the computer into their facility for replacement. I was very, very impressed so when Apple stopped updating the late 2009 models to Mojave then I purchased a 2017 27". So that's 9 years! One of the main reasons for updating for me was the gorgeous retinal display. Its a beautiful piece of hardware.

 

[mantler]

I would buy only with upgrades for whatever features you need in the foreseeable future, but "investing" in CTO upgrades to make the computer "last longer" will only give you psychological security, I think. That security will shatter the moment something major in the machine fails and it is out of warranty.
Imagine for a moment, that you've invested in those CTO upgrades for the machine and the power supply blows sometime down the line, frying other components like the logic board. You're probably better off buying a new computer at that point, and all of those "investments" you paid for wouldn't make it hurt any less.
Your computer's usable life should be long and will be longer, IMO, if you take care of it and upgrade HD/RAM as needed somewhere down the line, and I think Applecare is a great idea if you want the security of having it last for the first few years. My 2011 MBP had the widely-known graphics chip failure sometime around the 3-4 year mark, and I had to fight tooth and nail to get Apple to cover it (a month later they released the repair extension program,) and then last year the same thing happened with my "repaired" machine, which was well beyond the repair extension at that point. If it hadn't been for that crappy graphics issue I might have expected a few more years out of it, but as another poster has said here, there are plenty of defects in Apple's machines (and electronics in general) and you may end up with one of those models, or you might be problem-free on a stock machine for a decade.

 

[mikehalloran]

I take care of quite a few iMacs. Other than a few hundred failed HDDs— all now replaced by SSDs, I've yet to retire one because it no longer works. The long answer is in this thread.

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/how-long-has-your-imac-lasted-you.2178053/

My 2011 MBP had the widely-known graphics chip failure sometime around the 3-4 year mark, and I had to fight tooth and nail to get Apple to cover it (a month later they released the repair extension program,) and then last year the same thing happened with my "repaired" machine, which was well beyond the repair extension at that point.

When did you replace the HDD — or did you?

 

[mantler]

When did you replace the HDD — or did you?

I replaced the stock 500GB HDD preemptively as my machine was slowing down more and more getting to about 75% full, although first I upgraded RAM from 4GB to 10GB, about two years after I got it; I put in the 1TB hybrid drive in 2015. This was around 6 months after the first MLB graphics failure that Apple fixed. Unfortunately that drive crapped out after a few months of use, though the warranty replacement still runs fine... knock on wood.
I put the stock HDD in a case to use for portable storage, for the odd occasion where I needed something bigger than a USB stick, and that failed about a year or two ago, but at least it had a good four years of constant use on it. That’s about as long as I’d want to trust anything that isn’t SSD.
On that note, the only things I would consider investing in for a machine’s “longevity” would be as much SSD storage as I could reasonably afford, as well as RAM.

 

[rpmurray]

How much longer will I get?

Don't believe those ads for male enhancement drugs.

 

[foliovision]

Imagine for a moment, that you've invested in those CTO upgrades for the machine and the power supply blows sometime down the line, frying other components like the logic board. You're probably better off buying a new computer at that point, and all of those "investments" you paid for wouldn't make it hurt any less.

Yes, but by the time you have to replace the power supply and logic board, there's usually lots of retired machines to pillage for cheap. I paid $1000 for a very good MBP 17" 2011 a few years ago (already five years old). Three years later I can buy similar (not quite as mint but close) MBP 17" for $400. Finding a bright matte screen is a bigger challenge than finding a working motherboard.

 

[mantler]

Yes, but by the time you have to replace the power supply and logic board, there's usually lots of retired machines to pillage for cheap. I paid $1000 for a very good MBP 17" 2011 a few years ago (already five years old). Three years later I can buy similar (not quite as mint but close) MBP 17" for $400. Finding a bright matte screen is a bigger challenge than finding a working motherboard.

Those are assumptions, and rose-colored ones:

1. That the machine's model-specific components all work without fail long enough until there are other out-of-warranty machines to pillage at a good price (A power supply or logic board can blow after the first few months or many years, it's a crap shoot).

2. That same part isn't defective in many other machines of the same model, making it a constrained replacement part = $$$. Your 2011 MBP 17" and my same year MBP 15" have dramatically different stories. The graphics chip soldering failed on mine twice before there even was a repair extension program. The third time it failed I looked for other machines to buy and/or use for parts, but they are all dead with the same problem. Other repair options were too expensive/complicated/no guarantee how long they would last. I just parted it out instead.

Of course I'm not saying that you should plan on your machine failing when you buy it... but things break, and you won't know with a new model until they start breaking.
I agree with this (three years if you get Applecare):

Only buy enough Mac that you could replace it if something goes wrong after a year.

 

[foliovision]

Those are assumptions, and rose-colored ones:

Of course I'm not saying that you should plan on your machine failing when you buy it... but things break, and you won't know with a new model until they start breaking.
I agree with this (three years if you get Applecare):

Bla-bla-bla give Apple $4000 every three years. Bla-bla-bla dump all your computers in that huge not at all virtual garbage heap humanity is building. Bla-bla-bla Apple care is great. Bla-bla-bla I love Apple. Bla-bla-bla I love buggy new OS versions which don't even reliably support finder copying. Bla-bla-bla I love Apple SIS which locks me out of modifying my own computer in the name of fictitious security while at the same time macOS High Sierra 10.13.0 and 10.13.1 have a critical[28] vulnerability that allowed an attacker to become a root user by not entering the password.

Sorry, the Apple Koolaid has worn off here. Apple Care is a crock these days. Apple puts defective by design water damage paper in iPhones and MacBook Pros which change colour if it rains outside (and your computer is inside). And now declines to honour Apple Care (happened to my girlfriend, took two months of growling at Cupertino to finally get them to fix it, when they fixed it, the new trackpad is broken, old one worked perfectly, all we wanted was the battery replaced). Getting any parts is almost impossible for the new computers. Apple makes you buy entire display unit, top half of the computer or bottom half of the computer.

If you want to support a bunch of spoiled louts making OS X worse every year and building in planned obsolescence in current designs and making repair impossible, go ahead and destroy the planet and empty your wallet into Tim Cook's fat billfold. These clowns don't even pay their taxes (at least not in Europe). The main arguments in favour of OS X is that the core technology Unix is pretty awesome, the third party developers are fantastic and the alternative is Microsoft.

I hate to be the guy to say Apple has gone to hell since Steve Jobs passed away but sadly it has. RIP Steve. You did your best to make computing better for everyone. Terrible job on the pricing in the eighties though. You did much better on building a people's computer the second time around.