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Lifespan of MBA?

O

Otumelty

macrumors member
Original poster
Thinking about buying either the base 13" MBA or the MBP 13"

How long could I intend to use this computer for (word processing, web surfing, iTunes etc.) as I want to buy it and use it throughout university (which would be around 4 years)

Thanks
 
miles01110 said:
As long as you need to.
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This. I'm planning on keeping my MBA until I can't update its OS anymore, which I imagine will be quite a while still, especially since Mountain Lion is fully compatible with the current Airs. Your usage is very light; the MBA will easily be able to handle that for 4+ years. Heck, my school laptop is a 2008 MacBook on Lion and it still easily handles that type of workload.
 
This sounds good, I've had PC laptops which have failed after 2 years, hell, my granda got bought a laptop which he barely uses and already its done.

I dont want to spend 900 on a laptop which wont have a good lifespan but this sounds good 🙂
 
I've had Macs last me more than 6 years before HD failures occured (whihc hopefully shouldn't as much of an issue with flash cards of course), my mac mini is that old too (albeit with an new SSD in it but not because of failure).

It'll easily last you provided you look after it, which i'm sure you would. 😎
 
Last edited:
Otumelty said:
Thinking about buying either the base 13" MBA or the MBP 13"

How long could I intend to use this computer for (word processing, web surfing, iTunes etc.) as I want to buy it and use it throughout university (which would be around 4 years)

Thanks
Click to expand...

It will definitely last you through the four years. In terms of part failures, it should last that long as well. In terms of usability, if you're sticking with Word, Web & music, it will definitely last 4+ years.

I personally would recommend 8GB of RAM since you can't change that after you order it and that would definitely future proof your Mac. But it isn't 100% necessary.
 
Was planning to get the 8gb just to future proof it a bit, and when I come to sell it it will be more attractive to a buyer
 
I got my 2011 13'' back in October and today it is still running like Day 1.

So I would say a long time. I plan on using this all throughout college
 
GKDAIR said:
I got my 2011 13'' back in October and today it is still running like Day 1.

So I would say a long time. I plan on using this all throughout college
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Your conclusion is likely correct but it does not follow from your relatively short experience. Most computers, regardless of brand, work very well after only seven months.
 
As long as you don't plan on switching majors to something computer intensive later, then and MBA should last you all 4 years and even longer. Just be sure to not drop anything on it and take good physical care of it and it will be well worth the investment.
 
Am only now upgrading to a new 13" 2012 MBA from the original rev A. So, depending on usage, 4.5 years or more.
 
The biggest concern I have is the keyboard. I type 180wpm+ and I spend all day at my computer (software developer). Keyboards don't like me and they don't last very long when I type on them. I got an Air as a replacement for my old Dell laptop (of which I had to replace the keyboard 3 times over several years).

Looks like Apple will replace the keyboard for some $ but I'm still afraid of using it every day. That said, the Macbook Air's keyboard is one of my most favorite keyboards to type on.

I keep my Macbook Air on next to my computer 9-10 hours a day. It gets a lot of use. 🙂
 
7thMac said:
Your conclusion is likely correct but it does not follow from your relatively short experience. Most computers, regardless of brand, work very well after only seven months.
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Clearly you have never owned a Windows machine before.
 
tom vilsack said:
I still use a ibook G3 from 2001...does that help you?
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That's pretty amazing.. I'm still using a late 2006 black Macbook I purchased in January 2007 and it's working better than it was when I got it since I upgraded to 4 GB RAM.. (I had ordered it with 2 GB, which was the maximum available at the time. Incredibly, it only came with 512 KB)
 
Four oF NINE said:
That's pretty amazing.. I'm still using a late 2006 black Macbook I purchased in January 2007 and it's working better than it was when I got it since I upgraded to 4 GB RAM.. (I had ordered it with 2 GB, which was the maximum available at the time. Incredibly, it only came with 512 KB)
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he he he, I'm not far behind two 2007 iMac's that I upgraded to 6 gig ram, they freakin run great, I have no probs with them, that's pretty decent for 5 year old computers and I'm sure I will still be using then for another 2-3 years...

I'll bet I keep my 13 inch i7 air for 4-5 years before I trade up.
 
Otumelty said:
This sounds good, I've had PC laptops which have failed after 2 years, hell, my granda got bought a laptop which he barely uses and already its done.

I dont want to spend 900 on a laptop which wont have a good lifespan but this sounds good 🙂
Click to expand...

Heck, my grandma used to spin yarns about a spectral locomotive that used to rocket past the farm where she grew up ... uh, sorry, wrong anecdote.
 
My 27 month old Dell's batteries are shot and I've had to replace the audio board/hard drive controller three times already, they offered to replace the unit with new but being a work machine I couldn't afford any downtime.

It's not a bad computer, throw in a new battery and new SSD and it'll probably run fine, but I love my wife's MacBook Air, my 2006 iMac although great -- and I plan to keep it for a long time -- is a bit long in the tooth, and with AutoCAD now available for Mac for the last two years now, I'm ready to switch to Mac for work purposes.

PCs nowadays are better, I've run the original install of Windows 7 with no problems. I didn't have an issue with Vista either.
 
GKDAIR said:
Clearly you have never owned a Windows machine before.
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You mean like the Windows machine that I'm typing on right now ? I built it myself in 2004. It wakes up from sleep in less than 10 seconds.

Maybe you also don't defrost your freezer and complain you can't open it anymore after a few years ? Or you don't get fill up your car regularly and complain you have to buy a new one every week ?


Peter.
 
BigMcGuire said:
The biggest concern I have is the keyboard. I type 180wpm+ and I spend all day at my computer (software developer). Keyboards don't like me and they don't last very long when I type on them. I got an Air as a replacement for my old Dell laptop (of which I had to replace the keyboard 3 times over several years).

Looks like Apple will replace the keyboard for some $ but I'm still afraid of using it every day. That said, the Macbook Air's keyboard is one of my most favorite keyboards to type on.

I keep my Macbook Air on next to my computer 9-10 hours a day. It gets a lot of use. 🙂
Click to expand...

If you're that worried you can use an external keyboard with it to keep the wear down on the built in keyboard.
 
I'm still using 2008 1st gen Air that I bought in Jan 2009, so it's been 3.5 years. Although during those years, the sreen hinge broke once, audio flex cable replaced, and the hard drive replaced due to failure. It runs fine now with everything fixed, but I can't wait to upgrade to the 2012 model. It might last 4 years or so, but only the first 2 years I'd consider as good using experience period.
 
eddieaus said:
I'm still using 2008 1st gen Air that I bought in Jan 2009, so it's been 3.5 years. Although during those years, the sreen hinge broke once, audio flex cable replaced, and the hard drive replaced due to failure. It runs fine now with everything fixed, but I can't wait to upgrade to the 2012 model. It might last 4 years or so, but only the first 2 years I'd consider as good using experience period.
Click to expand...

How is the battery working on your air compared to when you first got it?
 
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