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I have a PC - I want a Mac: but..

M

Misterhappyface

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Feb 19, 2012
4
0
Hello to all,

As said in the title I have a PC. 2 years and 5 months after purchasing it: the sound card has gone crazy - its epicly slow and the screen is starting to go blue...

So getting a new computer is on the list. Many of my friends have macs and they are all crazy in love about them: and I do understand why! Macs are great!

But the bottom line stopping me to buy one is:

If my macbook lasts more than 3 years: will it become obsolete?

Because that's the case with PCs, you have to change them every 2/3 years but what about macs?

Thank you for your time!
 
A Mac will last you far longer than 3 years. Macs are built to be used for a long time. While your hardware may not be getting the software support that it had when it was new, it still can be used.
 
Misterhappyface said:
Hello to all,

As said in the title I have a PC. 2 years and 5 months after purchasing it: the sound card has gone crazy - its epicly slow and the screen is starting to go blue...

So getting a new computer is on the list. Many of my friends have macs and they are all crazy in love about them: and I do understand why! Macs are great!

But the bottom line stopping me to buy one is:

If my macbook lasts more than 3 years: will it become obsolete?

Because that's the case with PCs, you have to change them every 2/3 years but what about macs?

Thank you for your time!
Click to expand...
Macs do not get obsolete after a few years like PCs I would have thought. I've only owned my Mac for around 2 months and had no prolbems. People are still using Power PC Macs so I guess this would show that the Macs are reliable and you do not need to change them.

I'm getting a MBP in a few months and I would say you could do the same. I'm going to make do with the Mini for now. :)
 
What are your computational needs?
And depending on them and your computer lasting longer than two to three years, a computer does not become obsolete to your needs then.

I still use my 2007 iMac, upgraded with an SSD, on a very daily basis.
 
Well i'll be using office apps for word, excel and stuff, then a bit more demanding software like fruityloops - maybe a few video games!

I'm looking for a laptop because I travel a bit - i was thinking of the 15 inch MBP.
 
I am currently using a Mac pro that is almost 6 years old, and still going strong. The great thing about Macs is their resale value is much better than a PC. People are willing to pay daft money on eBay for a used Mac. So the initial investment is slightly higher than a PC, but if you are the type of guy that likes to rotate your Mac every 2-3 years then the resale market is very good.
 
Yeah - I know i don't need the most performant computer because I won't be using it that much.

What happens if a new OS comes out? can I just install it on the "previous generation" MBP?

And for the processor its a intel core i7 - i really don't know anything about chips and all that - but what are the chances that becomes obsolete?
 
Misterhappyface said:
Yeah - I know i don't need the most performant computer because I won't be using it that much.

What happens if a new OS comes out? can I just install it on the "previous generation" MBP?

And for the processor its a intel core i7 - i really don't know anything about chips and all that - but what are the chances that becomes obsolete?
Click to expand...
The i7's are Sandy Bridge, which is the newest iteration of the CPU's, they won't be obsolete for a good 5/6 years at least yet :)
 
I've had my MacBook Pro for almost 4 years now. It was working pretty well on Lion untill my charger died. Also, make sure to get Apple Care as Apple really takes care of you if you have any issues. My logic board was fried, and they completely replaced the bottom half of my computer. :)
 
Liquinn said:
Macs do not get obsolete after a few years like PCs I would have thought. I've only owned my Mac for around 2 months and had no prolbems. People are still using Power PC Macs so I guess this would show that the Macs are reliable and you do not need to change them.

I'm getting a MBP in a few months and I would say you could do the same. I'm going to make do with the Mini for now. :)
Click to expand...

Macs have exactly the same internal components than any PC would have. The difference is 1) the external enclosure is often better, so the components are better protected, 2) macs are expensive, so they often use higher end components than many PCs, 3) the warranty lets you come into an actual store if there are problems. The ram, hard drive, cpu, etc are all exactly the same as you would find in a PC.
 
As the lone opposition opinion...

Make sure you compare your needs with the price. That PC you had probably cost 1/2 the price of a mac, and unless it's physically broken all it needs is an OS reinstall.
 
Macs use mostly the same hardware as windows PCs in the same price range. They will be obsolete around the same time.

At some point the progress in CPU development might slow down... so far this has not happened, and I would also expect the current generation of MBPs to be obsolete in about 4 years. Less if you use demanding software.

Usability is extended usually by not upgrading to the latest OS.
 
thundersteele said:
Macs use mostly the same hardware as windows PCs in the same price range. They will be obsolete around the same time.

At some point the progress in CPU development might slow down... so far this has not happened, and I would also expect the current generation of MBPs to be obsolete in about 4 years. Less if you use demanding software.

Usability is extended usually by not upgrading to the latest OS.
Click to expand...
It all depends on what you define as obsolete.

My MBP is about to turn 4 years old, and it is still a plenty capable machine. Of course it can't compare power-wise to the current generation, but for most people's use of computers, it is still plenty powerful enough.

By today's standards though, I guess one could argue that my MBP is "obsolete". It still works like new, and I will be upgrading it soon, and my GF will get it.
 
Macs are great computers and are designed to last. If you purchase a new one you are likely to get several different operating systems out of it. However as with anything in the technology field as others have stated there is always something better faster slimmer on the the horizon. However Macs are generally not considered "obsolete" maybe not cutting edge anymore but certainly not obsolete. Anyway how you join the club its a great place to be!
 
A lot of nonsense and possibly fanboyism in this thread.


If you bought an SB i5 PC laptop now and you bought a MBP with the same i5 CPU. Why would that PC suddenly be obsolete 5 years later but the mac won't?

In fact I am going to bet my entire fortune on this. If you buy a laptop now, ANY KIND, it will NOT be obsolete in the next TEN years. We are already basically maxed out in terms of speed (CPU+SSD) for things like wordprocessing, web browsing and audio/video. But IF one were to need new hardware, it would probably come from web browsing. Although I don't see any new technologies for web browsing coming in the near future. You are good to go for at least 10 years wether its a PC or a mac.

Why would they be different if they use the same components?
 
snaky69 said:
It all depends on what you define as obsolete.

My MBP is about to turn 4 years old, and it is still a plenty capable machine. Of course it can't compare power-wise to the current generation, but for most people's use of computers, it is still plenty powerful enough.
Click to expand...

I put mountain lion on my 2008 pre-unibody 2.5 GHz core 2 duo MBP. It is very slow, compared to my 2011 quad core with SSD.
Three month ago I was still working every day on that "old" machine, running SL. I remember the occasional beach ball and waiting for the HDD, but only now I realize how much faster the new machine is.

Of course, it is possible to use a MBP for 6 years, maybe even for 10 years. But:

- If you want to stay up to date with OSX, after 3-4 years performance will suffer
- The old trackpad is now too small for me, gestures are cumbersome to perform
- CPU, GPU, video ram, ram are all reaching their limits, keynote takes forever to export, some websites are slow, 1080p video playback puts the machine to it's limits.
- after a fresh reboot, even using SL, the idle CPU load is around 5%. On my quad core with Lion, it's below 1%.

And that is before taking games and advanced video/sound editing software into the equation. Once a machine hits three years, one has to be very careful with selecting software that will run smoothly, and skip some updates. It has been like that the last 20 years, and I do not yet see the trend changing.
 
Liquinn said:
Macs do not get obsolete after a few years like PCs I would have thought. I've only owned my Mac for around 2 months and had no prolbems. People are still using Power PC Macs so I guess this would show that the Macs are reliable and you do not need to change them.

I'm getting a MBP in a few months and I would say you could do the same. I'm going to make do with the Mini for now. :)
Click to expand...

No computer gets obsolete as long as it continues to do everything you need. Power PCs started to lose support in application updates from 2007 onward even though they were sold through much of 2006. Apple did very little in the way of bug fixes, and Leopard was not well optimized for PowerPC. The second they dropped it, they pretended the era never existed.

You can count on 3-5 years of OS revisions for a given Mac. Sometimes it's a little longer. Some macs that debuted in 2008 are being dropped in the next OS revision. As far as the mac pros, they're supporting everything 2008 and on with Mountain Lion (unless something changes). 2006 and 2007 mac pros models are the ones being dropped. Some of the 2008 laptops are also dropped. These were sold starting in 2008 into 2009. It doesn't matter that much until a program update you require for whatever reason won't run on the old OS, and that can happen.

Windows PCs in many environments run for long life cycles too. They get cycled down the line as they age just like Macs in business environments (publishing, photo labs, ad agencies, etc.). Some of these myths really need to go away regarding what becomes obsolete faster. If you encounter something like a dead logic board outside of warranty, that machine goes to salvage value. Things do break. Do a thread search. Chargers, logic boards, a bad run of gpus, etc. Apple displays break all the time. They're computers, and computer parts are manufactured cheap and en masse.

thejadedmonkey said:
As the lone opposition opinion...

Make sure you compare your needs with the price. That PC you had probably cost 1/2 the price of a mac, and unless it's physically broken all it needs is an OS reinstall.
Click to expand...

Wonky sound card could be a hardware issue. I like to keep a backup so I can restore an OS quickly.

Contrary to the tone of most of this thread, hardware problems DO occur on macs as well. You could argue on repair rates, but they break about as often as a quality PC. If we're comparing to $300 laptops, that's a biased comparison. Remember the pre/post iphone comparison where they showed cell phones from the 1990s that came free with $30/month plans to show the iphone's influence over mobile phone design? It's pretty ridiculous at times just how much bias exists. You can like your mac without lying to yourself:rolleyes:.
 
People are still using P4s too - and they work fine. Macs are no different than PCs in durability/longevity IMO/IME.
 
Misterhappyface said:
Because that's the case with PCs, you have to change them every 2/3 years but what about macs?
Click to expand...

This is awfully wrong. If you treat it well, anything should last you more than 2-3 years.

I've had only laptops in the past 10ish years. I had a Toshiba Satellite laptop for 2 years, simply wanted something new, sold it. Bought a HP and that lasted 4-4.5 years and was wonderful. Near the end, the screen did start to burn out, but I really put that computer through the ringer.

I've had my current MacBook for going on 5 years this March. It has been mostly great, except a few Apple faults (swollen battery, T MagSafe wire splitting, top case wrist crack x2). That's 3 more issues than I had with my previous two laptops.

I'm in the market to buy a new computer this year and regardless of whether it's a Windows machine or a Mac, I expect it to last 4 years at minimum. And I see no reason why I won't get that out of my next machine.
 
malman89 said:
This is awfully wrong. If you treat it well, anything should last you more than 2-3 years.

I've had only laptops in the past 10ish years. I had a Toshiba Satellite laptop for 2 years, simply wanted something new, sold it. Bought a HP and that lasted 4-4.5 years and was wonderful. Near the end, the screen did start to burn out, but I really put that computer through the ringer.

I've had my current MacBook for going on 5 years this March. It has been mostly great, except a few Apple faults (swollen battery, T MagSafe wire splitting, top case wrist crack x2). That's 3 more issues than I had with my previous two laptops.

I'm in the market to buy a new computer this year and regardless of whether it's a Windows machine or a Mac, I expect it to last 4 years at minimum. And I see no reason why I won't get that out of my next machine.
Click to expand...

I don't believe you. If you said that you had laptops 10 years ago that means that you must have been around 12 years old. I am sorry buddy but when I was 12, I had to use the family computer which was always taken by my older brother. Noway would any sane parent give their kid a laptop at that time.

and 2+4.5+5= 11.5 years but you said 10 years. AND EVEN IF it was really 11.5 year then you must have been 10 years old. I am sorry but you don't even know what a computer is when you're 10.

I call baloney on this one
 
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