Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Macbook Air lifespan

if its just a typing / browsing machine where you also store your pictures and so on, then you can easily have it 5 years, maybe more!

(asuming you switch the battery etc later)

But i think you'll want to upgrade the hardware more often if you're video editing or playing games etc
 
I'm counting on my MBA 13" lasting 3-4 years. I don't think it will be a challenge. The challenge for me is avoiding the temptation to upgrade when I don't need to.
 
If I buy a new macbook air then it would stay with me for at least 5 years.

Forget about CPU. The only matter is if the SSD won't fail before that time. If it doesn't, then you can easily get 5 or even 10 years, as long as you don't want to upgrade by then.

I have an Asus thats 6 years old and it still work excellent. Its core 2 duo. If you don't need more power then this same laptop can last another 5 years.
 
With the way people pray at the apple alter.....expect 1 years use before you feel compelled to upgrade to the next model.

----------
Sensamic said:
If I buy a new macbook air then it would stay with me for at least 5 years.

Forget about CPU. The only matter is if the SSD won't fail before that time. If it doesn't, then you can easily get 5 or even 10 years, as long as you don't want to upgrade by then.

I have an Asus thats 6 years old and it still work excellent. Its core 2 duo. If you don't need more power then this same laptop can last another 5 years.
Click to expand...

Well Apple only stands behind it for 1 year.....3 if YOU pay more. So 5 years...well whose to say.
 
ZipZap said:
With the way people pray at the apple alter.....expect 1 years use before you feel compelled to upgrade to the next model.

----------



Well Apple only stands behind it for 1 year.....3 if YOU pay more. So 5 years...well whose to say.
Click to expand...

Ive never bought apple care and never will. On Europe you get 2 years warranty by law, so I don't need apple care. If it breaks after those two years then I prefer to spend my money on a new machine instead of fixing the old one, but only if fixing it costs too much. My Vaios HDMI port broke two years ago and they wanted me to pay 500 euros for repairing it! I never repaired it but I can still use it. The only thing that doesn't work is the HDMI output, for which I have the Mac Mini as HTPC.

Im very careful with my gadgets so they usually last very long. I believe my macs will last 5 years for sure, unless apple has done some tricks to the iMac that will make it break after some time......... :D:D:D

Seriously, why wouldn't your computer last 5 years? Only reason I can think of is that the HD breaks, which is the most probable scenario. Other components are less probable to break.

If my iMacs HD breaks I can still use it booting from an external drive, right?
 
If you stick with the operating system that is shipped with the machine, i.e. Lion, 5 years should be quite doable.

I had a Toshiba laptop purchased in 2002 and it had been my only computer until 2007. Windows XP ran fine on it.

I also have a desktop with Core 2 Quad Q6600 CPU, purchased in 2007. Today, it can handle anything I through at it without being slow.
 
The only thing I believe all of us would miss in 5 years is more RAM for the Macbook Air. Maybe 4GB is good for now but in 5 years 8GB should be the standard.

Maybe because of this other options should be considered, like the 13 macbook pro, although there is the rumor that the next revision will be as thin as the macbook air, so it could be a very very good alternative, having ethernet too, which I believe is necessary.
 
jeffgao said:
If you stick with the operating system that is shipped with the machine, i.e. Lion, 5 years should be quite doable.

I had a Toshiba laptop purchased in 2002 and it had been my only computer until 2007. Windows XP ran fine on it.

I also have a desktop with Core 2 Quad Q6600 CPU, purchased in 2007. Today, it can handle anything I through at it without being slow.
Click to expand...

Might be harder to do for an Apple computer since new software and even hardware will start to require up to date versions of the operating system.
 
wrinkster22 said:
Ok obviously you cant answer this question *exactly* but...
How long do you think your macbook air will last you by the looks of it. I plan on getting a maxed out MBA would it be unreasonable to expect it to last 5 years? Do you think it will be fine? I am not a heavy user but I am willing to speng the extra 100$ for the i7 upgrade if it will future proof my MBA. Also how durable is it? Anyone dropped it? thanks in advance :)
~Wrinks
Click to expand...

different for different people, I may guess 2 years..( I bought a refurb mbp 2009 and use for 2 years)
 
navier said:
That doesn't apply for Apple products, at least in Germany.
It's only one year worldwide
Click to expand...

Doesn't apply in Ireland either and I suspect many other EU countries.

The EU "law" is actually a directive which hasn't been translated into local law.

Irish law says it must be guaranteed for a "reasonable" period, however long that is.
 
If this is any guide, we have an original MBA (1.6GHz, HD). I replaced a failed 80GB HD with 120GB about a year ago. Otherwise, 3.5 years without a problem. I think the battery has about 275 cycles on it, and still is maintaining 98% of original charge (charge remaining / full charge capacity).

Just installed Lion on it today - it runs just fine (Mail, Safari, iTunes, and Finale Print Music all open). Fluid scrolling, and other animations. No abnormal lagging or beachballs.

I don't think it unreasonable, given the applications used on it, for it not to give us another two years.
 
I'm one of those people who try having the latest... Both for compatibility and of course, just for that weird craving to have the "new thing" :p I admit it... I'll probably upgrade to the next gen, whenever that is
 
Yumunum said:
I'm one of those people who try having the latest... Both for compatibility and of course, just for that weird craving to have the "new thing" :p I admit it... I'll probably upgrade to the next gen, whenever that is
Click to expand...

+1, though for the moment that habit is getting fixes from iPads. Have one of each gen, so far... :)

(sorry for being OT ;) )
 
No doubt Apple will produce future operating systems that will not run as well on the current MBA models, but I don't see why you couldn't babysit an MBA for five years if need be. As much as I like the MBA, I think it would be foolish and impractical to upgrade to the current model, especially since my MBA is not my main computer (my Mac Pro is, which is over 4 years old). The MBA speed upgrades are great, but with the lightweight use of my MBA, I could easily see it working well in 5 years, if taken care of.
 
gr8tfly said:
If this is any guide, we have an original MBA (1.6GHz, HD). I replaced a failed 80GB HD with 120GB about a year ago. Otherwise, 3.5 years without a problem. I think the battery has about 275 cycles on it, and still is maintaining 98% of original charge (charge remaining / full charge capacity).

Just installed Lion on it today - it runs just fine (Mail, Safari, iTunes, and Finale Print Music all open). Fluid scrolling, and other animations. No abnormal lagging or beachballs.

I don't think it unreasonable, given the applications used on it, for it not to give us another two years.
Click to expand...

Excellent example. But what do you think was the cause of the HD failure? I wonder if the SSDs will run into similar problems in five years? Seems like they shouldn't since they are to not moveable.
 
5 years ago we had Core 2 Duos and 1 to 2 gigs of RAM. That still works fine now and I'm sure an i5 will be able to do all tasks other than playing new games.
 
Many of my computers (most are laptops) have approached five years and still working fine. Thinkpad T60 got a new hdd just because I wanted to upgrade. Dell Optiplex with Pentium 4 that I gave to my neighbor is still working fine and runs quite fast with XP.

Only my laptops at work (T41, T60, T61) that seemed to suffer from my abuse with broken backlight, since I have to leave them on 7 days a week.

Lucky me that none of them has problem with motherboard so far. I think that's a break point to get a new machine, if the cost of replacement board costs too much.

So I think my new MBA would survive and sees its fifth birthday. :D Hope that Apple hardware is as durable as the Thinkpads.
 
I went for the top of the range MBA in the hope that it would last me 3 years... a lot of people here seem to be a little more frugal than me though and expect longer from their machines.

I guess it all depends what Apple decide to do. If they decide that OS XI Puffer Fish is a closer mash up of iOS and OS X and that it will only run on the A7 chip... then our MBA's will be stuck on Lion for ever. Which would make me sad and want to upgrade.
 
i am hoping It will last 5 years. I can always use my parents computer for more power. (i5, 8gb ram, 1tb HD) although they don't upgrade often... I do not game so...
we have a credit card that doubles the warranty so :)
 
navier said:
That doesn't apply for Apple products, at least in Germany.
It's only one year worldwide
Click to expand...

Here on Spain you get 2 years warranty on almost everything, including apple products. Both my mac mini 2010 and iMac late 2009 have 2 years warranty. I made sure that was the case when I bought them by asking many times on different places where apple products were sold.


I think its unreasonable to think its unreasonable that any computer won't last you 5 years or more :D:D:D you don't need to upgrade the OS in 3 years or whatever if you don't want too. Lion will still be a great OS in 5 years and even more. To think your new 1200 euros macbook air will last only 3 years is insane! I wouldn't pay that amount of money for any computer if I knew I would only get 3 years of use... I buy everything knowing they will last a lot of time with the correct amount of care.

Every laptop I have still run perfectly. One Asus bought like 7 years ago is still being used daily. A Vaio bought 4 or 5 years ago is still being used regularly. And I expect my iMac and mac mini to last even more time. I may buy a different apple setup in the future because iMacs are too hard to upgrade and repair, but my iMac will still be used for other stuff. And my mac mini, which is used as a HTPC, will last like 10 years. Im pretty sure about it. I don't need a more powerful machine to run media on my TV.

A laptop which is so thin and small and easy to carry as the air can last more than 5 years easily. A laptop like the macbook pro 15 or 17 its more difficult, because you will get tired of its weight and big size. Thats why the air is a great laptop that can last 5 years and more, specially if you don't need big power.
 
I think that 5 years is too much for a laptop. Personally I have a policy of changing laptops every two years, desktops every 3.5 years and tablets/mobile devices every year.
 
Either the majority of posters here have a large amount of disposable income or they have unrealistically low expectations of a laptop's life cycle. I have the MBA Rev C I bought 2 years ago and expect to get at least another 5 years of good service from it. My boyfriend just snagged an old Sony desktop system I had in storage and is using with no problems (bought it in 2004).
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back