Well, it's come time to say goodbye to my trusty 2006 white MacBook. It's served me and my wife well through college and beyond, but there are starting to be some serious issues related to ports failing and the screen going out sometimes, plus it's slow as molasses in January. I've been lusting after a shiny new MacBook for a while but thought that our iPads could fill the niche for portable computing. It turns out we end up needing a laptop more than I thought we might. My question is about the current MacBook lineup and future compatibility with OS updates. I really like having an optical drive and don't really care about retina displays (gasp!) so I'm considering getting the 2012 13" MacBook Pro. What I'm concerned about is how long this laptop will be supported with future updates. My current MacBook is stuck on snow leopard, which is kinda frustrating since it doesn't support many of the iCloud features that I use with my iPhone and iPads. I know this is a hard question to answer but does anyone have an idea of how long this older MacBook Pro will be supported? I'm guessing it might have more to do with the i5 chip versus i7, in which case some of the rMacbook Pros won't be supported if they make that cutoff in the future either. Maybe I'm overthinking this. And before you tell me that I can just get an external optical drive - I've considered that option but don't want to have to haul a peripheral device around. Also, I find myself using the optical drive unexpectedly to upload CDs at friends' houses or burn music and photos to CDs for friends that prefer physical media over Dropbox or other cloud-based options. Thanks for any advice you can offer.
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Time to replace the white dinosaur
- Thread starter clayek
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I would think you would be supported just about as long as anything else currently available in the MacBook lineup. For one, they still sell this machine new, and for two, it's only a year old on paper, compared to the newest retina model available(2012 vs 2013).
You kept your last machine over 7 years(assuming you purchased it new). There's no reason to think the cMBP wouldn't last that long providing you take care of it. Will it be supported for 7 years? Not likely, but since you don't have to have the latest and greatest, it should keep you guys happy for years to come.
I'd also recommend buying from the refurb store, or check retailers like Best Buy for sales, coupons etc.
The cMBP 13 inch can be had from the refurb store for 999.00. I'd recommend buying the base model, and doing your upgrades yourself to save money.
http://store.apple.com/us/product/F...133-inch-macBook-pro-25ghz-dual-core-intel-i5
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Apple usually provides support for its computers for at least 6 years from the manufacture date. Make sure to update your 13" with an aftermarket SSD though 
P.S. Buy refurbished and only refurbished! No need to overplay for already overpriced device.
P.S. Buy refurbished and only refurbished! No need to overplay for already overpriced device.
Thanks for the quick replies everyone. I've been looking at the refurb options and will probably go that way. My iMac is a refurb and it's worked out fine so far. I think I'll just go ahead and get a cMacbook Pro when a good deal shows up. It sounds like it should be supported for long enough.