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bluesteel

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Apr 5, 2007
429
55
Earth
How often do you swap your MacBook Pro for a new one, and why do choose to swap it or not swap it out?

For the past 12 years or so I have replaced my 15" MBP about every 1-2 years in an effort to have the most powerful Apple portable possible. Right now I have a 2017 15" MBP 3.1Ghz/16GB/1TB/DG, exactly two years old. My last MPB was a 2015 model. I'm not a power user anymore, so I decided not to replace my 2017 MBP this year. The only thing that I dislike about my current 2017 MBP is the keyboard, everything else is great. And considering I paid $3500 USD for this thing, I'm not keen on putting more money in Apple's pocket so quickly.

I'm thinking I might hold on to this MBP for another two years, its covered under an AppleCare Plan for one more year, a good marketing point for a possible sale right now by the way. Would you sell if you still had a little AppleCare warranty left to help with the price?
 

macintoshmac

Suspended
May 13, 2010
6,089
6,994
I used a Late 2011 MBP 15" till 2016, it was a ticking time bomb owing to the graphics chipset issue, and since it required a battery replacement, I did not deem fit to invest any more money in that notebook. Bought a 13" MBP 2016 with Touch Bar when it launched. Used it for one and a half years and went back to 2011 (several reasons pushed me towards that decision). Sold the 2011 off after six months to get some money back and got myself a 2017 Air. Happy with this, it serves my use case perfectly and I intend to keep this as long as it stays relevant - probably about 2021-2022 is when I would think of upgrading if this computer does not serve me as well then as it does today.
 

alphaod

macrumors Core
Feb 9, 2008
22,183
1,245
NYC
I used to upgrade almost every update because there would be constantly new features coming out. Newer IO, nicer screens, etc. My last MacBook Pro purchase was the 2016 model. I enjoyed it very much, and I never upgraded because the incremental changes did not warrant spending more money.

Yes the CPUs got a little faster and the GPU got a little better, but overall the improvements did not seem to warrant upgrading. The screen was the same, the IO was the same, even the RAM and SSD options did not increase significantly. Now that it's almost 3 years and my warranty is about to run out, I think it's the perfect time to upgrade.

I like the butterfly keyboard (though I don't dislike the scissor keyboard either), but the bigger screen, better battery life, increase thermals, better speakers, massive amount of internal storage. These are upgrades I do care about and warrant spending the money.

I used to my upgrade my phone every year too... and similarly the iPhone change this year did not really seem to warrant spending the money.
 

maflynn

macrumors Haswell
May 3, 2009
73,682
43,739
Well, I replaced my 2012 rMBP in late 2018, sadly, it was replaced with a thinkpad. I'll probably look to have the Thinkpad for several more years.
 

AustinIllini

macrumors G5
Oct 20, 2011
12,699
10,566
Austin, TX
This big boy is mine for 5 years. My wife and I both have new Macs and I plan to keep them both in parallel as long as possible.
 

turbineseaplane

macrumors P6
Mar 19, 2008
17,246
39,723
2016 changed everything for me in this regard.
I normally would update every time there were major internal updates (for speed, storage, etc)

But, I hated the butterfly's even before they proved to be unreliable and I've not personally owned any Mac laptops since a 2015 MBP model (no laptop at all right now).
 
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Plutonius

macrumors G3
Feb 22, 2003
9,212
8,833
New Hampshire, USA
In the past, I have held mine for many years and replaced it when it no longer supported the applications I run.

Currently, people are forced to replace half the laptop for what had been trivial repairs in the past. I wouldn't keep a current Macbook Pro past its warranty period.
 

jbachandouris

macrumors 603
Aug 18, 2009
5,926
3,084
Upstate NY
My first MacBook was a refurbished 2010 cMBP. About 2 years later I upgraded to the early 2015 rMBP which is now a little over 2 years old (maybe 3?). I want to upgrade now but I'm interested in the 16", but for my uses $2200+ for the base model is hard to justify.
 

Whackman

macrumors regular
Oct 23, 2012
180
75
Every 7 year.
Haha, nah i indeed work on a Mid 2012 Macbook Pro but i also had a maxed out 27 inch iMac that got stolen a couple of years ago.

But yes, the macbook Pro is 7 years old right now. It works really well.
 

bluesteel

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Apr 5, 2007
429
55
Earth
Because it makes Safari snappier ;)

This is one of the reasons I'm tempted to upgrade. Since I spend more time with Safari than anything else, I'm always looking for anything that will make it a snappier experience. I'm not sure the difference from my 2017 MBP would be enough to justify, though. I'm looking for instant page loading, can't wait till that happens one day...sigh. Right now the internet speed at home is about 400Mbps, so I know that's not the issue. Sometimes I feel like firefox and Chrome load pages faster.
 
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LeeW

macrumors 601
Feb 5, 2017
4,341
9,441
Over here
Prior to the keyboard issues on my 2019 13 MBP which I returned I would upgrade every 2 years or around that depending on when a revision arrived. Why? I could, that is the only answer I can offer :)
 

gndolfo

macrumors newbie
Aug 29, 2010
15
5
Mine is 9 and a half right now. And I'm looking for a replacement with this new 16". Just in hard task of choose right specs for less money possible 😅
 

bluesteel

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Apr 5, 2007
429
55
Earth
Mine is 9 and a half right now. And I'm looking for a replacement with this new 16". Just in hard task of choose right specs for less money possible 😅

Wow, that's a long time, you are in for a real treat with a 2019 model!

Yeah, these aren't cheap. For the average user, its a longer term investment really.
 

Donnation

Suspended
Nov 2, 2014
1,686
2,083
I had a 2012r MBP and loved it and only updated to the 2015 because they decreased the footprint of it and made it a little sleeker. I got hit by the upgrade but and decided to pull the trigger on the 2016. I hated the keyboard and heat it gave off so much I couldn't take it so I returned it and stuck with my 2015.

Fast forward to 2019 and my 2015 is starting to struggle. The fan runs full blast at the slightest task and for the first time I could tell it was slowing down. I purchased a refurb 2018 because I'd read that the keyboard was much improved and that the heat issues were solved.

While the keyboard was a little better and the heat was better, I still preferred my 2015 for typing as I still hated the butterfly keyboard. I ended up selling my 2018 and just sticking with my 2015

I took the leap on the base model when the 16" was announced and I couldn't be happier with it. Love the keyboard, doesn't get scalding hot, and just runs smooth as glass. The fan also hasn't gone into high speed when I do the slightest thing on it.
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This is one of the reasons I'm tempted to upgrade. Since I spend more time with Safari than anything else, I'm always looking for anything that will make it a snappier experience. I'm not sure the difference from my 2017 MBP would be enough to justify, though. I'm looking for instant page loading, can't wait till that happens one day...sigh. Right now the internet speed at home is about 400Mbps, so I know that's not the issue. Sometimes I feel like firefox and Chrome load pages faster.

I don't know that you'll see a difference in safari loading and wouldn't use that as a reason to upgrade. If that's your only reason for doing the upgrade then I think you'll be disappointed as you won't really see a difference.
 

jerryk

macrumors 604
Nov 3, 2011
7,421
4,207
SF Bay Area
I replace mine ever 2 or 3 years. I want to ensure the unit is under Apple Care+ since I use them for business. And in 2-3 years enough has changed that the upgrade adds performance and features.
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Because it makes Safari snappier ;)

What is Safari? ;)
 

leman

macrumors Core
Oct 14, 2008
19,492
19,628
How often do you swap your MacBook Pro for a new one, and why do choose to swap it or not swap it out?

Approximately every 3 years. I swap it when I decide that the new model will increase my productivity and/or comfort. Besides, I do not like using computers that are not covered by warranty. With reselling, the total cost of ownership is very reasonable (less then a typical mobile plan subscription), you never have to pay for repairs yourself, and you are always using up to date hardware.
 
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Ollé

macrumors regular
Jan 24, 2007
229
555
Australia
Every 5-7 years. My last notebook was the RevA MacBook Air that saw me through a couple of deployments. I replaced it in 2014 with a 13" MBP - that's still going strong but looking to upgrade to a new spec 16".
 

niray9

macrumors member
Jul 22, 2019
80
26
I have my current one(2012 rmbp/2.7ghz/16gb/512gb/650nvidia) for 7+ years. I might upgrade next year as the new MacOS is highly likely to not be supported then.

I also have a imac 27 with rx580 which I can ssh to and do my high compute work on if I so need to.
 

Ollé

macrumors regular
Jan 24, 2007
229
555
Australia
Every 5-7 years. My last notebook was the RevA MacBook Air that saw me through a couple of deployments and kept on working until the screen hinges broke. I replaced it in 2014 with a 13" MBP - that's still going strong but looking to upgrade to a new spec 16".
 

terraphantm

macrumors 68040
Jun 27, 2009
3,816
670
Pennsylvania
I went 7 years since my last one (2012 rMBP), but that's partly because of the terrible keyboards until the 16" model. Otherwise I think I'd typically go for 4-5 years.
 

Mojo1019

macrumors regular
Sep 9, 2013
178
174
I am writing from a McBook Air mid-2012 right now. And finally, after a lot of time, the time to buy a new laptop has come! By the way I will keep my little MacBook Air for some side quest, like traveling for example.
 

topcat001

macrumors 6502
Nov 17, 2019
287
141
Upgrading from my 2009 17" MBP (still perfectly functional) to a 2016 i9 model. I keep my devices for a long time :)
 
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