Lifetime of a MBA?

[Seamaster]

Seriously? Apparently you guys can't see the forest for the trees. Normal consumers replace their machines every 2-3 years. Apple knows this. They are steadily progressing their business model to where new, heavily advertised features will *only* run on the latest hardware. And why wouldn't they? That's where the profits are.

I'm a "normal consumer" and I've averaged four to six years out of every Mac I've bought since the nineties. My last iMac was still running a current OS, no problem, after five.

 

[kodeman53]

Seriously? Apparently you guys can't see the forest for the trees. Normal consumers replace their machines every 2-3 years. Apple knows this. They are steadily progressing their business model to where new, heavily advertised features will *only* run on the latest hardware. And why wouldn't they? That's where the profits are.

And we are so grateful to have experts like you to set us straight. Please remember the peons when you are running Apple.

 

[plucky duck]

Seriously? Apparently you guys can't see the forest for the trees. Normal consumers replace their machines every 2-3 years. Apple knows this. They are steadily progressing their business model to where new, heavily advertised features will *only* run on the latest hardware. And why wouldn't they? That's where the profits are.

Sure, that may be an incentive for those in the market looking for a new laptop. But for those who are already Macbook owners, their laptops doesn't suddenly stop working just because a new product has hit the market. Take retina for example, there are those who are in the must have category and get it right away, but what exactly are others who don't jump on the bandwagon right away missing? There are those who prefer not to be a part of 1st gen anything and prefer to take a wait and see attitude to see what kind of software support there is and wait til second gen after all the hype's died down if it's really worth its weight. It's a preference, sure, but not a must have. Something might have mass appeal but that doesn't necessarily translate into mass consumer/developer adoption of the technology.

 

[ixodes]

It doesn't matter if it's a MBA, MBP, or for that matter, a Mac Pro. Apple builds in quality. If properly maintained and cared for Apple computers last a very long time. Long enough that Apple usually stops supporting them long before they die.

I've had nothing but exemplary service from the Macs I've owned.