Mine never breaks, coming from an Acer (though some minor stuff got dysfunctional in the end), an MBP 2008, an MBA 2011. I replace my laptops every 2-3 years.
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Laptop Lifespan
- Thread starter leimin
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Utter nonsense. It's mildly annoying that RAM isn't upgradeable, but RAM is also joining the point where the benefits are no longer obvious, just like CPU power for the most part. With high speed SSDs, the idea that more RAM is going to be needed for adequate performance within the usable life of any computer manufactured today is pretty silly.
It's true that some people will want and need maximum performance, but they're not sitting on their computers for 4-5 years anyway and more RAM alone isn't going to extend the usable life by itself. The majority of current computers don't (and won't ever) support more than 8-16GB, either.
In what way? It's virtually impossible to distinguish the two on those uses and neither machine is pushed anywhere near its performance limits. Plenty of 2008 and 2009 MBPs out there running just fine. With an SSD installed, you'd have to benchmark the computers to tell them apart without more demanding workloads.
If they were "fully capable" of running the newest version, they would. There aren't any age-based cutoffs alone. It's just that features built on newer technology are not backported when the older hardware does it differently or not as well.That statement is 100% accurate. Apple does push you to new hardware by way of dropping support in OSX of older machines even if those machines are fully capable of running OSX.
Apple rarely invests in a one-off effort to include older computers when there's no future benefit to doing so. Those computers really can't run those features as written. But some computer models over 7 years old will run 10.9, which is really more than anyone can truly expect.
I still have, among others, a 10-year old PowerMac G5 that runs brilliantly apart from web video because it's been abandoned by Flash and modern web browsers. Even running 10.5, it stills plays nice with 10.8 for almost everything.
I think the poll should have made clear whether you're asking about the total lifespan of a laptop across all its owners or the lifespan specifically with us.
I'm not sure what to answer because I've sold all 3 MacBooks I've owned so far second-hand after around 2 years, but they weren't at the end of their lifespan at all. One one them was bought second-hand too.
The only one I've kept track of is a Mid-2009 15" MBP I've sold to a friend. He's still using it, 4 years after its original purchase, and probably will for 2-3 years, after which he may be able to sell it second-hand again.
I guess the total lifespan will be like 8 years or so. It will be supported with updates for as much as long, seeing how 2007 MBPs are still getting Mavericks and will probably only stop being supported with the next OS in 2014 (so 7 years of updates total).
I'm not sure what to answer because I've sold all 3 MacBooks I've owned so far second-hand after around 2 years, but they weren't at the end of their lifespan at all. One one them was bought second-hand too.
The only one I've kept track of is a Mid-2009 15" MBP I've sold to a friend. He's still using it, 4 years after its original purchase, and probably will for 2-3 years, after which he may be able to sell it second-hand again.
I guess the total lifespan will be like 8 years or so. It will be supported with updates for as much as long, seeing how 2007 MBPs are still getting Mavericks and will probably only stop being supported with the next OS in 2014 (so 7 years of updates total).
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My old company ThinkPads were replaced about every three years. Most were still in great shape and could be used for many more years. Since I'm retired and buying it on my own dime, I expect to hang onto my 2 year old MBP for at least 3 more years. For personal use, a 5 to 6 year life cycle looks good, depending on use.
I'll agree with this. I would say as long as you don't treat your machine like crap, it should last 5-6 years before any parts start failing. if at all. Anything before 4-5 years and you definitely have a lemon, or you bought a super cheap computer
Oh, don't get me wrong. It seems that we both are actually completely in agreement with each other. What I mean is that this thread (and a few of parallel ones) seem to be full of people that project their singular experiences onto the whole product like. I wanted simply to point out that this isn't a very good approach
I have never bought a notebook for less the 10 k. It´s the way my impatient with Microsoft Windows have led me to treating them without respect and love.
After 15 years of using Windows and all the flaws that brings I have grown very impatient.
THANK YOU, for being one of the only people to acknowledge this. It seems like all the apple fan boys on this forum are completely oblivious to their own brainwashed minds. I read all the time "Oh your MBP is at 103 degrees Celsius? That's totally fine, it doesn't shut off till 105so obviously it can't hurt your computer
Noobs
Thats what your warranty is for. And please don't call me 'noob'. I was building computers since I was 10 years old
I am not talking about abusing them, treating your stuff with care is the reasonable thing to do. I am talking about excessive emotional attachment to these things. Look at the PPC fraction
I am sorry, but this is ridiculous. The computer is there to do stuff for me, not the other way around. Why should I wait for it to boot up? I want my machine to be instantly usable and instantly responsive. And this is what you get with latest technology. It improves your experience. You can do things more conveniently, without the stops and stumbles which you get on slow hardware.
You are just lucky
Of course it does. The thing is that a new computer, especially a machine with a fast SSD (I take you don't have one) will feel twice as fast because of the much quicker UI response time. Its not like keeping an old machine will diminish your experience - it will stay approximately the same (unless we are talking about new software). But with a new machine, your experience will improve in almost every category.
No, it is actually very noticeable. The difference is - as I already mentioned above - the smoother experience. The new machine will process the ECMAScript on the modern dynamic websites much faster and it will also search the mails faster and so on. I am not talking about demanding computations here, just the logic required to serve the user input. A Haswell CPU will simply be quicker at that then a C2D. Just try working with gmail web client on both - the difference is immediately clear. The reason why people don't notice that is because they are used to their current standard. I also felt that HDDs were fast enough (you just have to wait a bit sometimes, as VanillaCracker says) - until I got an SSD. Now HDD based machines enrage me, because I can't work with them as quickly as I want to
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The switch to an all 64-bit OS architecture necessitated removing support for older 32-bit machines; but other than that, an old mac running Snow Leopard is perfectly serviceable.
To the OP, I've owned 3 laptops, all Macs.
First was a 2006 black macbook, 2.0GHz Core Duo, the first model ever introduced. I was aware of the "early adopter" risk but this machine never had any problems, until the battery gave out in 2009. Put in a new battery in 2011 and kept it around as a secondary computer. Sold earlier this year to a friend of mine. Still works great.
Second was an early 2009 unibody macbook pro 15". For a while it had bad display issues with the integrated nvidia 9400 graphics chip randomly flickering, but Apple released a firmware update last year to fix that issue. Not bad!
Now it has 8GB memory (unofficially supported), and a Crucial M4 SSD. For day to day use it sure doesn't feel slow, despite being over 4 years old.
The battery is toast but if it's plugged in it runs great!
Third is my current 13" rMBP. I got the base model last year with the intent to trade up when Haswell versions came out, so that's my plan over the next couple of months. They'll probably announce the new ones on 9/10 so I'll make sure to get my trade-in quote on 9/9.
Thats what your warranty is for. And please don't call me 'noob'. I was building computers since I was 10 years old
Lol I wasn't referring to you directly, but if you fall into that category...
See I think of a computer like a horse. Yes, you want to ride the horse at a very high speed, and have it blaze through a trail, over roots, rocks, etc, and you want it to do it for 2 hours non stop without rest. And that's okay. I understand it's a horse, and is there to "work" for you, but I still think it's best to make the "work" easiest for the creature/machine. Which is why I tend to be more "flexible" when it comes to the roots, and rocks. Do you see what I mean there?
Lol and I know you were referring to the emotional attachment. But I feel like my comment is valid enough to be present there.
My 2006 Black MacBook was simply stellar, most definitely one of my all time favorites.
Fast for its configuration, fun, and like my Titanium PowerBook it's one I chose to keep just for fun.
Let's see:
ThinkPad from around 2001 to 2008: 7 years (AFAIK didn't actually die out, the hardware was just too slow. I don't remember that well)
MacBook white from 2008 until now: 5 years (still going strong, with trackpad button issues)
Sony Vaio EA from 2009 to 2013: 4 years, ran until this year when it decided to spew BSODs every other day. Finally, one day it just didn't boot. Some buttons started failing late 2nd year/early 3rd though).
Dell Precision M4600 from 2012 until now: 1 year, still a tank.
RMBP 15: About a month old, still a glass cannon.
So, we've had all sorts of laptops in the house: a $600 consumer laptop, a $1000 consumer laptop, a $1000+ business/workstation laptop, a $1600 workstation and a $2200 "somewhere in between not quite workstation but very powerful" laptop.
ThinkPad from around 2001 to 2008: 7 years (AFAIK didn't actually die out, the hardware was just too slow. I don't remember that well)
MacBook white from 2008 until now: 5 years (still going strong, with trackpad button issues)
Sony Vaio EA from 2009 to 2013: 4 years, ran until this year when it decided to spew BSODs every other day. Finally, one day it just didn't boot. Some buttons started failing late 2nd year/early 3rd though).
Dell Precision M4600 from 2012 until now: 1 year, still a tank.
RMBP 15: About a month old, still a glass cannon.
So, we've had all sorts of laptops in the house: a $600 consumer laptop, a $1000 consumer laptop, a $1000+ business/workstation laptop, a $1600 workstation and a $2200 "somewhere in between not quite workstation but very powerful" laptop.
I usually replace mine after 3-4 years and hand my current one down to whoever in the family wants it
However, I'm finding that from an early 2006 MBP to a late 2008 model, there was a huge speed increase. Now, it seems to be much more incremental.
Anyway, pencilled in a 2014/15 Boradwell/Skylake rMBP to replace my trusty 2011 MBP.
However, I'm finding that from an early 2006 MBP to a late 2008 model, there was a huge speed increase. Now, it seems to be much more incremental.
Anyway, pencilled in a 2014/15 Boradwell/Skylake rMBP to replace my trusty 2011 MBP.
Still use a pristine PowerBook G4 Titanium from time to time (2002)
MacBook Pro 15" C2D (2007)
MacBook Pro 17" i7 (2010)
All machines running fine. As mentioned above, I replace batteries over time. I use common sense on what type of software the machines are capable of running.
I cringe when hearing about people buying "Walmart" spec machines and lasting a year or two. Completely unacceptable, wasteful use of resources to make a quick buck.
MacBook Pro 15" C2D (2007)
MacBook Pro 17" i7 (2010)
All machines running fine. As mentioned above, I replace batteries over time. I use common sense on what type of software the machines are capable of running.
I cringe when hearing about people buying "Walmart" spec machines and lasting a year or two. Completely unacceptable, wasteful use of resources to make a quick buck.
For me personally, with personal laptops, I've yet to have any actually die/break and end up being forced to replace it. That said, the oldest personal laptop in this house is 3 years old and that's a 17" HP. It's still going strong, but is rather slow compared to the newer laptops. Prior to that HP, it was all desktops. Again, never had any fail before being replaced by upgraded models and the old model being handed down to family members.
My MBP is just over a year old and I don't have any plans to replace it anytime soon, as with previous hardware I suspect at some point I'll want something newer/better and will pass it down to a family member. I have AppleCare for warranty and I have accidental damage and theft/disappearance insurance should it be dropped or lost.
Work laptops are a different story, but I will say a lot of people at work, including myself, had a lot of hardware problems with the first gen uni-body MBPs and I started to question their quality/reliability. I went through 3 different MBPs and their failures before I could persuade my IT guy to give me a newer model. The newer models resolved those issues and I haven't had any problems with reliability since.
I also had some Lenovo ThinkPads...I say "some" because they were always broken in some way and IT would have to replace it every few months. No physical damage or abuse, just random hardware faults/failures.
My MBP is just over a year old and I don't have any plans to replace it anytime soon, as with previous hardware I suspect at some point I'll want something newer/better and will pass it down to a family member. I have AppleCare for warranty and I have accidental damage and theft/disappearance insurance should it be dropped or lost.
Work laptops are a different story, but I will say a lot of people at work, including myself, had a lot of hardware problems with the first gen uni-body MBPs and I started to question their quality/reliability. I went through 3 different MBPs and their failures before I could persuade my IT guy to give me a newer model. The newer models resolved those issues and I haven't had any problems with reliability since.
I also had some Lenovo ThinkPads...I say "some" because they were always broken in some way and IT would have to replace it every few months. No physical damage or abuse, just random hardware faults/failures.
They're similar, but not exactly the same. Subtle differences, but yes.
The cMBP is my personal laptop and the rMBP is provided by my employer, I generally limit my personal use on the rMBP (I don't install all my software, etc on it). I use the rMBP for work email, VMs, etc and to carry around the house since the cMBP is connected to USB devices and an ATD. I use the cMBP for photo and video editing, music, games, basically just about everything not related to work.
up until a couple weeks ago my mother had still been using a 2008 15'' Penryn Macbook Pro... it had a broken screen bezel from being dropped on concrete so it was being held together with duct tape. Oh and from being dropped it had an off balance fan so it would start "mooing" when it got hot. She used it in this condition for the last year she had it.
All of this yet the thing was still fully functional up until I got her a 13'' MacBook Air last week.
As for me I'm still rocking my mid-2010 15'' Macbook Pro and the only thing I've done to it is upgrade the RAM to 8GB, still runs like new on Lion. If I feel the urge for another speed increase I'll just throw a SSD in it. The biggest bottleneck for me is the Nvidia 330m card so whenever that craps out or becomes too slow for me is when I will upgrade.
You can realistically make a laptop, especially a mac, last as long as you want. Though it is human nature to always want more than we need which is why some people change laptops like others change shirts.
All of this yet the thing was still fully functional up until I got her a 13'' MacBook Air last week.
As for me I'm still rocking my mid-2010 15'' Macbook Pro and the only thing I've done to it is upgrade the RAM to 8GB, still runs like new on Lion. If I feel the urge for another speed increase I'll just throw a SSD in it. The biggest bottleneck for me is the Nvidia 330m card so whenever that craps out or becomes too slow for me is when I will upgrade.
You can realistically make a laptop, especially a mac, last as long as you want. Though it is human nature to always want more than we need which is why some people change laptops like others change shirts.
.... I use the cMBP for photo and video editing, music, games, basically just about everything not related to work.
Just curious, why would you not use the retina display for visual editing? It seems more intuitive..?
Because as I mentioned, my cMBP is connected to an ATD (Apple Thunderbolt Display). Why would I use the Retina when I have that?
it all comes down to the spec of your mac/pc, and the amount of crap that you load on it in time
as for me: i would say around 2-3 years on average, given any spec. With new technology becoming more available in the timespan that i would own a computer, there will come a point where there is so much of this new hardware on one machine that it would make life easier for me, and therefore warrants another purchase from me when the time comes.
I have currently owned my computer for nearly 2 years. Runs like a charm still, performs all the tasks I need, and plays all the games with decent speed. Being me, i like new technology, so i would have to, like i said before, go with a maximum of 2-3years before the features of my computer become too obsolete for me
as for me: i would say around 2-3 years on average, given any spec. With new technology becoming more available in the timespan that i would own a computer, there will come a point where there is so much of this new hardware on one machine that it would make life easier for me, and therefore warrants another purchase from me when the time comes.
I have currently owned my computer for nearly 2 years. Runs like a charm still, performs all the tasks I need, and plays all the games with decent speed. Being me, i like new technology, so i would have to, like i said before, go with a maximum of 2-3years before the features of my computer become too obsolete for me
Because as I mentioned, my cMBP is connected to an ATD (Apple Thunderbolt Display). Why would I use the Retina when I have that?
Oh ok.. I probably missed that! Cheers.