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Macbook Air lifespan
- Thread starter wrinkster22
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I still use my late 2010 11" MBA. I use it everyday for at least 10 hrs as it is my only computer. It is very underpowered as it only has 2gb ram. It doesn't run lion or above smoothly so I have to downgrade back to snow leopard. Physically it is still in perfect condition. I'm really aiming for 5 years with this machine I hope it can make it. I really hope apple hardware is capable because my old Toshiba laptop's motherboard fried after just 3 years :-(
Seeing as this was my original post when I first got the machine I thought I would post an update. This was my first Mac and it was great. I took it all around the world and the machine was still plenty fast. However the beginning of the end is near: the keyboard is starting to fail. Under AppleCare I had the logic board replaced entire screen display and the keyboard replaced twice. So around $2000 in repairs. I spent a ton of time using it so I guess it made since that it failed. It was remained in perfect condition until now: there is one tiny mark on it, a certain four legged one knocked it into a radiator. Oh well 
the laptop may take a new form as a desktop hooked up to a monitor and external keyboard and mouse as I wait for a air with 16gb or another Mac that appeals to me. For now I just got a new iPad mini 2 too play with and am receiving a new to me iPhone 5s. I think I take excellent care of my things and in return they function well.
Wrk later
the laptop may take a new form as a desktop hooked up to a monitor and external keyboard and mouse as I wait for a air with 16gb or another Mac that appeals to me. For now I just got a new iPad mini 2 too play with and am receiving a new to me iPhone 5s. I think I take excellent care of my things and in return they function well. Wrk later
Ok obviously you cant answer this question *exactly* but...
How long do you think your macbook air will last you by the looks of it. I plan on getting a maxed out MBA would it be unreasonable to expect it to last 5 years? Do you think it will be fine? I am not a heavy user but I am willing to speng the extra 100$ for the i7 upgrade if it will future proof my MBA. Also how durable is it? Anyone dropped it? thanks in advance
~Wrinks
Still running my late 2010 Air, which also was a maxed out one at that point in time (SSD, 4 GB). Three days ago I've set up my father's new Air (SSD, 8GB). So, did I realize a huge difference in day to day activities like surfing the web and mailing? No. Maybe this answers your question.
EDIT: Just realized your original posting date
I own a 2010 MacBook Air and I plan to keep it for another 3-4 years. I'm glad that I actually maxed the RAM (4 GB) out when I bought it back in December 2010. 128 GB of storage is becoming annoying but thanks to the JetDrives I'll make it 240 GB plus the original drive, which should be plenty (368 GB).
Battery is doing okay, around 400 cycles between 84-88%.
Battery is doing okay, around 400 cycles between 84-88%.
Wow, nearly 5 years old and its still going strong.. Amazing!
How is it performing for you though, still feel snappy?
Yeah some of these responses are ridiculous. My white macbook (08) is still running strong and is used as a "guest laptop" now, but still sees tons of use. Its only limits are obviously pro apps that shouldn't even be used on a 13" screen anyways. But it handles web/simple audio production/great as a media center/etc. It's still as quick as the day I bought it. I feel like 90% of the people here either just go out and by the newest without any need for it, or they really don't know how to maintain a computer and keep it running smoothly.
Granted, the newer macbook pros seem like they're getting less and less reliable. Apple themselves gave a 3-year lifespan estimate at one point. I've had 5 MBP's now, a 2010, early 2011, 2012, 2014, (All with serious issues, most logic board failure / graphics failure) and now I'm back to a late 2011. Luckily, this one seems solid.
To answer your question, for things a laptop should do, especially an air, (you shouldn't be video editing, building 3d models, etc. anyways) it should by all means last you 5 years from a tech standpoint. People don't realize, core2duo processors and 4gb of ram are still more than enough for what the majority of people use their computers for. Your only concern should be whether or not your MBA will literally last that long.
Granted, the newer macbook pros seem like they're getting less and less reliable. Apple themselves gave a 3-year lifespan estimate at one point. I've had 5 MBP's now, a 2010, early 2011, 2012, 2014, (All with serious issues, most logic board failure / graphics failure) and now I'm back to a late 2011. Luckily, this one seems solid.
To answer your question, for things a laptop should do, especially an air, (you shouldn't be video editing, building 3d models, etc. anyways) it should by all means last you 5 years from a tech standpoint. People don't realize, core2duo processors and 4gb of ram are still more than enough for what the majority of people use their computers for. Your only concern should be whether or not your MBA will literally last that long.
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I'll chime in here.
When I bought my mid-2011 MBA, I was still primarily using my Linux box as my primary machine (desktop), with a Windows box for some games. I went with the Mac at the time for my business, plus to help out with my Wife when she had questions or issues with her 2008 15" MBP.
Well, times changed, to where I finally got tired of maintaining everything that that I had on my Linux box, and replaced that with a Hackintosh, just to see if a Mac could once again fit my needs.
It did and then some to when shortly after Yosemite was released, I backed up the last of my personal things on my linux box to my NAS, Time Machined my Hackintosh to get my data and applications, and took my MBA from Lion straight up to Yosemite...
.. and man, did it see some improvements. Much faster than Lion (and even the 2 days that I had it on Mavericks). It is now my primary machine, coming up on 4 years after I purchased it, with less than 50% of the drive space used.
If I can get another year or 2 out of it (depending on the next OS X hardware requirements), I'd be extremely happy, because I've never gone more than 2 years from completely rebuilding a machine, or tweaking with it. I'm coming up on 4 now.
By contrast, my wife's MBP just started to tank, and that is only because my son stepped on the clam, and broke the screen. Nothing that a miniDisplayPort to VGA adapter couldn't handle as a bandaid until getting her a new MBA later this year.
4 years on an MBA and 7 years on a MBP... astounding in the lifecycle of a computer.
BL.
When I bought my mid-2011 MBA, I was still primarily using my Linux box as my primary machine (desktop), with a Windows box for some games. I went with the Mac at the time for my business, plus to help out with my Wife when she had questions or issues with her 2008 15" MBP.
Well, times changed, to where I finally got tired of maintaining everything that that I had on my Linux box, and replaced that with a Hackintosh, just to see if a Mac could once again fit my needs.
It did and then some to when shortly after Yosemite was released, I backed up the last of my personal things on my linux box to my NAS, Time Machined my Hackintosh to get my data and applications, and took my MBA from Lion straight up to Yosemite...
.. and man, did it see some improvements. Much faster than Lion (and even the 2 days that I had it on Mavericks). It is now my primary machine, coming up on 4 years after I purchased it, with less than 50% of the drive space used.
If I can get another year or 2 out of it (depending on the next OS X hardware requirements), I'd be extremely happy, because I've never gone more than 2 years from completely rebuilding a machine, or tweaking with it. I'm coming up on 4 now.
By contrast, my wife's MBP just started to tank, and that is only because my son stepped on the clam, and broke the screen. Nothing that a miniDisplayPort to VGA adapter couldn't handle as a bandaid until getting her a new MBA later this year.
4 years on an MBA and 7 years on a MBP... astounding in the lifecycle of a computer.
BL.
2010 Air 11 inch still going strong - until
My son dropped in a pond a few months ago.
Worked fine until that happened - word processing, spreadsheets, web browsing and iphone management. I used to use it when on the road - have a mac mini at home. Plenty fast enough for light duty. The only issue was I only had 2 GB of ram so it ran mountain lion OK but I held off upgrading to Mavericks
It had been dropped onto concrete several times resulting in a couple of hardly visible dents, no problem. But full immersion - different story.
I am not traveling much at the moment so I make do with my iPad. I am hanging out for the 12 inch before I buy a new one.
I would not bother with the processor upgrade but I would go with maximum ram. That is the thing that will allow you to keep up with the operating system updates which is what gives you the latest functionality.
Also think about an external wireless hard drive for your media (video, music photos). Makes the internal hard drive go further and also means you can access the media from your iPhone or iPad
My son dropped in a pond a few months ago.
Worked fine until that happened - word processing, spreadsheets, web browsing and iphone management. I used to use it when on the road - have a mac mini at home. Plenty fast enough for light duty. The only issue was I only had 2 GB of ram so it ran mountain lion OK but I held off upgrading to Mavericks
It had been dropped onto concrete several times resulting in a couple of hardly visible dents, no problem. But full immersion - different story.
I am not traveling much at the moment so I make do with my iPad. I am hanging out for the 12 inch before I buy a new one.
I would not bother with the processor upgrade but I would go with maximum ram. That is the thing that will allow you to keep up with the operating system updates which is what gives you the latest functionality.
Also think about an external wireless hard drive for your media (video, music photos). Makes the internal hard drive go further and also means you can access the media from your iPhone or iPad
I don't really get this comment. My middle school son has been using a base MBA for 2.5 years in the school laptop program...no problems. I am use a 3.5 year old MBA at work....no problems. I bought a base MBA for home use last year for $750 (on sale with education discounts)....no problems. BTW - I don't think $750 is an extravagant rich person's laptop.
I expect to get 3-4 years from the base level MBAs. I see no reason to buy a new MBA every 1-2 years.......that is completely inconsistent with my experience using these computers.
I bought a 2010 MBA the day it was released and used it until halfway through last year. It was in near-mint condition with ~90% battery health when I sold it on Craigslist and I have no reason to believe it wouldn't continue to work well for another 4 years.
The main thing that prompted me to upgrade was that it struggled to play streaming videos. I do that a fair amount when I travel.
I replaced it with a 2014 11" MBA which is a million times faster and that makes everything nicer, but in terms of practicality, the 2010 MBA was still able to do most things just fine.
I think the MacBook Air can last 5 years easily if you do basic stuff (Mail, Safari, Word, Pages, iMovie and even some light photo editing. I have a mid 2011 MacBook Air and it stils runs great a little bit slower but I am running Yosemite, this Mac came with Lion we are almost 4 years further and still handels everything good to great. It's a great blazing fast little ultrabook.
Yeah, my MBA's doing great. He's been on the road with me for my whole college life, traveled extensively (4-5 a round world trips). Performance wise, it's almost as the very first day I unpacked it, I kept it on Snow Leopard as I don't need the fancy stuff Mavericks nor Yosemite brings, prioritizing performance over functionality.
What type of streaming videos you play? I can watch 1080p streamings flawlessly whatsoever.
HD video from both Netflix and Amazon stuttered horribly and were unwatchable. SD video was watchable although there were sometimes dropped frames and the computer would heat up enough that the fan had to spin at 4000-5000 RPM to keep it cool, which is kinda noisy.
I don't know what you mean by 1080p "streamings" but I suspect you might mean files that you download and store locally (i.e., not streaming video). I agree that the 2010 MBA can play these files no problem with very low CPU utilization. Flash and Silverlight are notoriously inefficient.
I really don't have any problems with HD video on my mid-2011 MBA, though I don't have Flash nor Silverlight installed, for the reason you mention.
BL.
1) The 2011 MBA is massively faster than the 2010 MBA.
2) How do you stream video without Flash or Silverlight?? Netflix, Amazon, and Hulu all require one or the other.
What causes a computer to stop functioning optimally? I don't understand why a computer would age faster if I frequently use certain programs (iMovie, Garageband, etc.) in addition to simple tasks like browsing, word processing, etc.
Please explain.
Please explain.
My 2010 13" MBA is still does well on daily tasks. I am running Yosemite on it. It is not as fast at it was when it was new, but still chugs along pretty well during normal use.
If you put a lot of load on the CPU it will heat up. As soon as you stop, it cools back down. These thermal cycles, in theory, could put strain on the connections to the chips.
Realistically I don't think this is anything to worry about though.
I would expect most MBAs to continue to work indefinitely unless they are mistreated--drops, liquid spills, etc. Maybe clicking on the trackpad or opening/closing the lid might eventually cause a mechanical failure.
Of course the battery will wear out after a while but those are easily replaced.
In theory the SSD will wear out if you write enough stuff to it but that wouldn't happen for a long, long time.
When I said 1080p streamings I was referring to HD content from YouTube, Netflix etc.
I just signed up for a free trial on Netflix to try whether that was true or not and surprisingly it does handles HD streams.
The maximum bitrate I was able to get by forcing it was 3000 kbps at 1280x720 (I think there's a cap on MacBooks/laptops) and it worked flawlessly, no stuttering, jiggling. Fans did kick off pretty heavily but it was watchable with no frame dropping. Super HD was not compatible on my 2010 MacBook Air.