Longevity- Four Years Old Today

[duncyboy]

Today my iMac is four years old. It's my first my Mac so it's also been four years to the day since I switched. I thought it'd be interesting to post my thoughts four years down the line.

It's the entry-level mid-2007 iMac. It was £800 in 2008. It has a 2.0 Core 2 Duo, I've upgraded the RAM from 1GB to 4GB and it came with a 250GB hard drive.

At the time I was worried that being entry-level it wouldn't stand the test of time and would need replacing in a couple years but thankfully it's not the case. It still runs fantastic although it is beginning to seem a little long in the tooth with Lion. I think this is mostly down to the graphics and the hard drive. Anything that requires a lot of use from the hard drive- several apps writing and reading at once- slows it down a bit. But otherwise it's perfect. It's quick, it's silent, the screen's still great. I know people with laptops less than two years old that are ready for the scrapheap but I've never had a major problem with this.

I am saving for a Macbook because I need a portable now, but there's still space in my life for my first Mac. I don't think I'll ever get rid of it. I'll genuinely be sad if and when it bites the dust cos it's been used 99.9% of the days I've had- a lot of the time running 24/7 converting, downloading, ripping etc.

To anyone who can only afford the entry-level version of the Mac they're looking for my advice is don't worry. They run great. Mine's still silent and bar the odd pause with Lion it's still a very fast, rock-solid reliable computer that I use- and enjoy- every single day. There is no shame in owning the entry-level of these machines. They may not have as much oomph, RAM, storage or screen-space as their well-to-do brethren but the same level of engineering and build quality goes into them and they will stand the test of time.

I think that Mountain Lion is the end of the line- especially officially as this is the bottom level machine it will support- but I don't care. I love this thing and am grateful for it's years of faultless service. I spent more at the time on my computer than friends and family but over the last four years I've had less hassle and it's cost me less. I know people replacing their netbooks/laptops for £250 but they have to do it every couple of years and deal with the hassle.

Here's to the cheap ones...

 

[Moonjumper]

I feel much the same. My iMac was my first Mac, but it was top-end and is now over 5 years old.

It has run Tiger, Leopard, Snow Leopard and now Lion. Still runs really well, and although I don't like the changes made in Lion, they haven't slowed the machine down once in use. It just takes a bit longer to turn on, and much longer to wake from sleep (no longer practically instant, and not on the first click of the mouse, both only since Lion).

 

[TVreporter]

If I'm going to plop down $2600-$3000 for an imac I'm hoping it lasts more than 4 years.

It surprises/worries me when Apple Care only goes to a max of 3 years and you can't renew it. Is Apple saying their products only last 3 years and good luck to you after that?

Been reading too many stories about problems with iMacs (ie yellow screen thread is an eye-opener). I thought they were supposed to have great product records.

 

[js81]

My 15" Macbook Pro (work-provided) will have its 3rd birthday this summer. Its been totally faultless for those 3 years.

My iMac (at work) is nearly the same age, and is nearly identical in specs to yours (its the education-only model). My only complain with it is that it does get quite bogged down at times (but I think that's mostly due to the pokey 160GB hard drive and all the extra crap installed on the school's image).

However.... (playing devil's advocate here)

I don't think longevity is a Mac-only thing. My desktop is an almost 6 year old HP DC5750 (a business model, which are almost always better built than their consumer brethren) that I bought used a little more than 2 years ago. It runs Windows 7 flawlessly.

I believe any technology item, much like any car, has the potential to last a long time - as long as it is well maintained.

 

[gallo889]

7.75 years on my "Rev. A" PPC iMac G5. Even same HDD. No rush to get a new one, but will look at the new units.

Have the latest models (iMac and MBP) at work and don't find a major difference switching back and forth between work-home.

The new system's OS seems to get loaded up with more background tasks that are of no interest, but use more memory and CPU resource. So it often ends up (mostly) a performance wash if you go through the graphics front-end UI, even though Geek Bench says the current machines are 12x faster than what I have (my model is the "1000" reference point for the benchmark). You can see the speed boost in the command-line interface though.

The new machines even seem to have more "spinning beach ball" instances, which is mind-blowing considering how much more nominal horsepower they have. Probably all the bells-whistles Apple wants to impose on users unasked so as to have something "new" to present.

Programmer's get lazy too, expanding specs to match the new machines. ElGato's EyeTV sw (view TV on the iMac) used to work fine on my 2004 iMac until being forced to upgrade to a modern version. The new sw does the same thing, but consumes 12% CPU time even when just sitting there idle. The old version took almost no time and was truly idle. Ask them why it takes now 12% of the CPU to sit there doing nothing, and well, no good answer. Because the real answer is "the new machines have so much extra CPU time available, there wasn't any reason for us to think about what we were doing plus we didn't think anyone would notice the waste. By the way, you should get a new computer instead of asking questions."

But USB 3 and Thunderbolt should give the next model longevity to go another several years. As far as users are concerned, they are really the only genuinely new things for iMac since 2004. Even more longevity if they bother to fix the yellow, dusty, glossy screen they have been selling for 4 years. My 7.75 year old screen is still preferable to the new ones at work.

You can get away with a LOT, if people don't remember how things used to be and just assume latest is better.

 

[Moonjumper]

Even more longevity if they bother to fix the yellow, dusty, glossy screen they have been selling for 4 years. My 7.75 year old screen is still preferable to the new ones at work.

I hate the glossy screens on the current iMacs. One of the reasons I am happy to stick with my old white iMac.

 

[radiohed]

If I'm going to plop down $2600-$3000 for an imac I'm hoping it lasts more than 4 years.

It surprises/worries me when Apple Care only goes to a max of 3 years and you can't renew it. Is Apple saying their products only last 3 years and good luck to you after that?

Been reading too many stories about problems with iMacs (ie yellow screen thread is an eye-opener). I thought they were supposed to have great product records.

You can buy an iMac for a lot less than $2600. An iMac in that price range would certainly give you more than four years of use. Technology changes like the wind and that is not Apple's doing. Any computer is going to be a bit out of date after 3 years just due to changing technology. It will still do the job in most cases.

Applecare covers three years. What do other brands have for warranties? Most don't even offer something for three years.

Any computer can have an issue that needs to be addressed. Apple gets their components from many manufacturers and there are bound to be issues on occasion. I believe Apple took care of those who had problems for the most part.

I have had great luck with all of my Apple products. If you don't feel they are worth the money, don't buy them.

 

[The-Pro]

Respect!!! Great post

Im still using G4's on a daily bases. Mostly a 17" 1,67Ghz w/ 2GB RAM and a 320GB HDD. I do heavy design work on it in Illustrator and Photoshop CS2. Its been going since 2005 and had a logic board replacment under warranty once. Other than that flawless machine. The hinges are quite loose now but then what you expect from a 7 year old notebook.
I also use a dual 1GHz, 2GB RAM MDD Power Mac G4. This machine is amazing. Despite achieving only the same results in benchmarks then the ipad or iphone 4s it is still plenty fast. Heavy design work on it in Illustrator and Photoshop CS2 aswell. And this machine has not had a single hiccup since I got it in mid 2003. That is very impressive I think.
iMac G5 1.8GHz, 1.5GB RAM running perfectly aswell and used on a daily basis too. No problems what so ever throughout its life time.

I find it amazing how these old machines just carry on and aren't having any problems.
The only mac that has been causing problems all the time, and I mean 12 so far, has been my 15" 2010 i7 MBP. It constantly needs repairs and stuff. Drives me mad

I hate the glossy screens on the current iMacs. One of the reasons I am happy to stick with my old white iMac.

I agree, they are horrible. The colours might look great, and movies look stunning on them etc, but for professional usage its a disgrace. I would like an iMac just for the power it has as an all in one but when I borrowed a 27" from a friend, I did really like it, I ended up taking off the glass so that the colours are more accurate and I don't see myself all the time. Even then the LCD was still to glossy. Still using my G5 iMac and wont upgrade from it till I see a option without glass

 

[davidoloan]

Plus it still has a very good re-sale value.

 

[Ukeman]

my Late '08 24" 3.06 ghz, C2D, 4gb ram, is in mint condition, after having it on 16 hours a day.. I don't do much but surf, watch dvd, streaming, some garage band type music, emails, but it's an all day machine, quite fast.
Even so, I'm dreaming of an IvyBridge 27" w/SSD.

 

[Fishrrman]

I bought one of the last "white Intel" iMacs back around August of 2007. At the time, I could have bought the just-released 24" aluminum model instead, but choose the older version due to the matte, non-glossy display.

It's still doing fine, runs right along on Lion. I'd like to try to get it working with Mountain Lion, but haven't found an "easy hack" for that yet.

But for longevity, the Mac I'm typing this on has it beat. It's an April 2004 PowerMac g4/1.25 MDD tower that has run pretty much without problems (did have to replace fans) since I got it. It's still used at least 10 hours a day. These things were -built- back then. I'm guessing the Mac Pro's are also well-built, but this summer, I think I'll retire the old g4 and replace it with one of the soon-to-be-released Ivy Bridge Minis.

 

[mrmarts]

Lol this year most of apple gear will be 2 years It will be also 2 years since I left windows vista

iMac 2 years
MacBook pro 2 years
iPhone 4 2 years but getting a new iPhone on contract
iPad just got one.

 

[qpixo]

I bought my first Macbook Pro 15" in 2007 before I switched from PC. I believe it's 5 years old now. It has been heavily used everyday. I upgraded RAM to 4 gigs, the only issue, it's the monitor, it has dead pixels.

Now I'm waiting for the new incoming Macbook Pro redesign slimmer and thinner. Not sure, I will buy a new iMac unless it has anti-glare screen.

 

[AcesHigh87]

If I'm going to plop down $2600-$3000 for an imac I'm hoping it lasts more than 4 years.

It surprises/worries me when Apple Care only goes to a max of 3 years and you can't renew it. Is Apple saying their products only last 3 years and good luck to you after that?

Been reading too many stories about problems with iMacs (ie yellow screen thread is an eye-opener). I thought they were supposed to have great product records.

I bought the high end 21.5” with an upgrade to the 17 for $1800 Even if you take out the Student discount it still would have been $1950. Not sure where you are getting $2600 as the low end from. The Mac Pro’s cost about that much but the iMac’s certainly don’t.

 

[Ukeman]

the only time the glossy screen bothers me at all is the afternoon sun, but depending on me looking at it from a distance and then only from a certain angle.

my Late '08 24" 3.06 ghz, C2D, 4gb ram, is in mint condition, after having it on 16 hours a day.. I don't do much but surf, watch dvd, streaming, some garage band type music, emails, but it's an all day machine, quite fast.
Even so, I'm dreaming of an IvyBridge 27" w/SSD.

 

[TVreporter]

Wirelessly posted

IMac 27 inch with SSD and apple care is 2600 Canadian

 

[TVreporter]

Wirelessly posted

IMac 27 inch with SSD and apple care is 2600 Canadian

 

[Lesser Evets]

Don't worry about the OS problem. These newer OSX versions aren't so spectacular. Even if the 2007 iMac is dropped from SL or 10.9, etc, it will still be a useful computer for several more years. I'd bet it will go for 6 before you really have to get something else.

Regardless of the whiners, investing in computers is expensive. It doesn't matter what side of the market you drift through. NO computer is going to be charming to use after a decade, and those that can last a decade and still squeak by will be extremely expensive when purchased. You just have to admit that you are paying $300+ every year for computing. Sucks. Live with it, people.

The newer the computer, the longer the life. I had a long list of Macs from 1991-present, and you almost had to get a new computer every 2-3 years in the 90s while now it is 6. Tech is stabilizing and function is hitting a plateau, despite speed increasing.

You can buy an iMac for a lot less than $2600.

Applecare covers three years. What do other brands have for warranties? Most don't even offer something for three years.

I have had great luck with all of my Apple products. If you don't feel they are worth the money, don't buy them.

Yeah, I don't get the flame-off-crazy $2600-$3000 price tag. You can't buy an iMac for that much, here in the USA. Maybe if you take the most expensive and load it up with everything possible from the Apple Store you can get that expensive.

I kind of wish Apple offered phone support for 5 years. The 3-year breakdown window with Apple Care is excellent! That's a VERY fair window and their service is exemplary. They've repaired several of my computers within the umbrella.

 

[AcesHigh87]

Wirelessly posted

IMac 27 inch with SSD and apple care is 2600 Canadian

Yes but your post made it seem like $2600 was the cheapest you can buy one for. The 27" with an SSD is hardly the cheapest option available.

 

[tears2040]

I upgrade my computer every year, it comes out to very cheap. 2 Years ago I paid $1100 for an imac which I sold the following year a $1000. Then I bought a newer Imac for $900.

When I resell this one I will only pay $200-$300 for the next model. Keep upgrading every year and you will never feel the pocket killer like the first time.

 

[AcesHigh87]

I upgrade my computer every year, it comes out to very cheap. 2 Years ago I paid $1100 for an imac which I sold the following year a $1000. Then I bought a newer Imac for $900.

When I resell this one I will only pay $200-$300 for the next model. Keep upgrading every year and you will never feel the pocket killer like the first time.

True but let's say you spend $500 (on average) per year to upgrade. After 4 years you've spent $2000 in upgrading which is the same price as buying a new mac. I guess you never have to end up with old hardware but you still have to deal with the hassle of constant upgrading and selling.

 

[aliensporebomb]

Check this out...

Though my old G4/400 PowerMac is no longer my main computer I still use it as a house server.

It's 9+ years old at this point and it's #2 on this list for uptime:
http://www.hitup.org/4DACTION/Hit_ShowAll/Servers

Absurdly reliable for the most part. It outlived my G5 2.5 easily. Not bad for a computer produced in 1999.

 

[yinz]

Today my iMac is four years old. It's my first my Mac so it's also been four years to the day since I switched. I thought it'd be interesting to post my thoughts four years down the line.

It's the entry-level mid-2007 iMac. It was £800 in 2008. It has a 2.0 Core 2 Duo, I've upgraded the RAM from 1GB to 4GB and it came with a 250GB hard drive.

At the time I was worried that being entry-level it wouldn't stand the test of time and would need replacing in a couple years but thankfully it's not the case. It still runs fantastic although it is beginning to seem a little long in the tooth with Lion. I think this is mostly down to the graphics and the hard drive. Anything that requires a lot of use from the hard drive- several apps writing and reading at once- slows it down a bit. But otherwise it's perfect. It's quick, it's silent, the screen's still great. I know people with laptops less than two years old that are ready for the scrapheap but I've never had a major problem with this.

I am saving for a Macbook because I need a portable now, but there's still space in my life for my first Mac. I don't think I'll ever get rid of it. I'll genuinely be sad if and when it bites the dust cos it's been used 99.9% of the days I've had- a lot of the time running 24/7 converting, downloading, ripping etc.

To anyone who can only afford the entry-level version of the Mac they're looking for my advice is don't worry. They run great. Mine's still silent and bar the odd pause with Lion it's still a very fast, rock-solid reliable computer that I use- and enjoy- every single day. There is no shame in owning the entry-level of these machines. They may not have as much oomph, RAM, storage or screen-space as their well-to-do brethren but the same level of engineering and build quality goes into them and they will stand the test of time.

I think that Mountain Lion is the end of the line- especially officially as this is the bottom level machine it will support- but I don't care. I love this thing and am grateful for it's years of faultless service. I spent more at the time on my computer than friends and family but over the last four years I've had less hassle and it's cost me less. I know people replacing their netbooks/laptops for £250 but they have to do it every couple of years and deal with the hassle.

Here's to the cheap ones...

I've had my Asus EEE pc since September 2008 and I use it daily as my main computer. I don't know how your friends use their machines, but generally, if you take care of quality built things, they'll last awhile, so I don't doubt your iMac's longevity. I'm sure it can still keep going if you let it..

 

[fhall1]

If I'm going to plop down $2600-$3000 for an imac I'm hoping it lasts more than 4 years.

It surprises/worries me when Apple Care only goes to a max of 3 years and you can't renew it. Is Apple saying their products only last 3 years and good luck to you after that?

Been reading too many stories about problems with iMacs (ie yellow screen thread is an eye-opener). I thought they were supposed to have great product records.

Let me know when Dell or HP allow you to buy a 4 (or more) year warranty on any of their consumer PCs, then you can talk down Applecare.

 

[leman]

If I'm going to plop down $2600-$3000 for an imac I'm hoping it lasts more than 4 years.

It surprises/worries me when Apple Care only goes to a max of 3 years and you can't renew it. Is Apple saying their products only last 3 years and good luck to you after that?

Been reading too many stories about problems with iMacs (ie yellow screen thread is an eye-opener). I thought they were supposed to have great product records.

Well, you should not start with unrealistic expectations to begin with. The chance that the hard drive will fail within 5-7 years is significant. And it has nothing to do with Apple. Why would they give you longer warranty than the actual manufacturer of the hardware components?

A car or a motorbike also usually have only one or two year warranty...