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When should a 2017 model be replaced?

Considering this isn’t your mac in question, what prompted you to ask? Is she having any issues with her current Mac? Upgradability very much depends on the user, someone who uses it for heavier workflows will probably need to upgrade sooner then someone who uses it for basic web browsing.

As long as it’s doing what she needs it to, then she won’t need the upgrade. She also won’t appreciate an upgrade as much if she’s already happy with her current set up. My mom used an iPad 5th gen as her only computer, I finally got her a 9th gen for Christmas but she would have gotten by for another year or two no problem, just how light her use case is.
 
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1BadManVan said:
Considering this isn’t your mac in question, what prompted you to ask? Is she having any issues with her current Mac? Upgradability very much depends on the user, someone who uses it for heavier workflows will probably need to upgrade sooner then someone who uses it for basic web browsing.

As long as it’s doing what she needs it to, then she won’t need the upgrade. She also won’t appreciate an upgrade as much if she’s already happy with her current set up. My mom used an iPad 5th gen as her only computer, I finally got her a 9th gen for Christmas but she would have gotten by for another year or two no problem, just how light her use case is.
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I want her to upgrade but I know she probably wont for years to come. My mom was using an iPad Mini 1 and last year or the year before I got her to upgrade to the 5 only because the Mini 1 was getting incompatible with most software out there. Perhaps with her MacBook it will take this to get her to upgrade. I mean she has a hard time remembering passwords and I told her with newer models you have touch ID and can unlock passwords with the apple watch as what I do with my 2020 MacBook Pro. I tried to sell her a newer MacBook air but it did not work.
 
jwolf6589 said:
I want her to upgrade but I know she probably wont for years to come. My mom was using an iPad Mini 1 and last year or the year before I got her to upgrade to the 5 only because the Mini 1 was getting incompatible with most software out there. Perhaps with her MacBook it will take this to get her to upgrade. I mean she has a hard time remembering passwords and I told her with newer models you have touch ID and can unlock passwords with the apple watch as what I do with my 2020 MacBook Pro. I tried to sell her a newer MacBook air but it did not work.
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Sounds like my mom lol. Took us years to convince her just to get an iPhone, then finally an iPad and she definitely uses them a lot. But she’s not nearly as picky about performance for her use case. She still using my iPhone 8 Plus with zero complaints and has zero interest in a laptop. Luckily for apple, they support their products for years, so as long as your mom is happy with the performance of it, that’s all that matters.
 
1BadManVan said:
Sounds like my mom lol. Took us years to convince her just to get an iPhone, then finally an iPad and she definitely uses them a lot. But she’s not nearly as picky about performance for her use case. She still using my iPhone 8 Plus with zero complaints and has zero interest in a laptop. Luckily for apple, they support their products for years, so as long as your mom is happy with the performance of it, that’s all that matters.
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Yeah the older generation did not grow up with computers.
 
jwolf6589 said:
Not everyone makes the same amount of money. My mom has a 2017 model which I say is still new. MacBooks are very very expensive. One advantage of a new model is not having to memorize password after password for the advantage of touch id and the apple watch connectivity to the macbook. So the question is what year should my mom replace her 2017 model? Perhaps when it breaks? I know for my 2020 MacBook Pro I wont replace till it breaks since I also do not make allot of money and simply cannot afford a newer model.
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Why not hand me down your 2020 to your mom and get yourself a 2023?
 
jwolf6589 said:
Not everyone makes the same amount of money. My mom has a 2017 model which I say is still new. MacBooks are very very expensive. One advantage of a new model is not having to memorize password after password for the advantage of touch id and the apple watch connectivity to the macbook. So the question is what year should my mom replace her 2017 model? Perhaps when it breaks? I know for my 2020 MacBook Pro I wont replace till it breaks since I also do not make allot of money and simply cannot afford a newer model.
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Purely depends on your budget. Maybe the family person is quite used to the Mac, so no need to upgrade unless she edits 4k Youtube videos on it everyday. For all other tasks and even including the YT video editing, the Mac would be OK.
 
I will say a minimum of 3-4 years if you intend to upgrade for up to date features

Upgrading is always nice and keeping a machine until it is outdated is highly doable
 
I'm still running a 2017, but considering getting a M2 Mini for home and keeping the laptop for mobile (work travel, out-and-about) use. Might replace the battery, but -

In the greater scheme of things, it works fine and runs all the programs I need it to run - while currently running Monterey (as far up the MacOS food chain it can go) has been relatively trouble-free. It also has the advantage of being the last Air having all of the ports built-in, which - particularly when travelling, where not every place has the latest and greatest peripherals - is a lot better than dongles.

When it comes to when to pry it from your Mom's hands, if it's still behaving and runs all the software she needs, I'd say just let it run it's course until she starts to comment she can't do something. Like perhaps was the case with the iPad? Might be frustrating to those around her who may always be looking for latest and greatest, but just take a breath. And when it comes to eventually upgrading, always check out Apple's Refurb site to save more than a few bucks - with no downside as to quality or warranties.
 
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Pakaku said:
My plan is always to repair if possible, and if not, there are usually decent deals on Apple's refurb site. The Macbook I'm using is a refurb 2012 model, and it's still going strong, although I did upgrade the SSD a few months back
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It's a 15" Quadcore right? It's still fast enough, right? Non-Retina Model?
 
Could you teach her to use keychain so she doesn't have to remember all her passwords? If she's ok with the performance, I'd probably just tell her to upgrade once security updates stop. If battery life is an issue you could always get a new battery for cheap too.
 
jwolf6589 said:
Only issue I find is that it won’t run the latest to be released MAC OS. However Monterey will still work.
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It comes down to how much computer knowledge you have. I have 2015 MacBook Pros and a 11-inch 2015 Air (see my sig below) and all my laptops are running MacOS 13.3 Ventura, the latest MacOS, without issues using OCLP 0.6.2n. If you read up on Open Core Legacy Patcher and make sure you understand the process, updating the 2017 laptop your mother uses to run the latest MacOS, should be a very easy process. On my 2015 laptops I am able to run everything (the latest Office 365 suite, Adobe Reader Pro, Lightroom, latest version of Safari, Firefox and Chrome browsers).

So with that said you can have a laptop last for many more years to come.

The information you would need to learn how to do this can be found in this link below. This is where I figured out how to do this for my 2015 laptop computers:

 
I think it’s probably a blessing that she didn’t upgrade to Ventura. If nothing else, those settings she may possibly remember have been rearranged or disappeared in the new System Settings.
Ventura is an OS version I’d skip
 
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Macdctr said:
It comes down to how much computer knowledge you have. I have 2015 MacBook Pros and a 11-inch 2015 Air (see my sig below) and all my laptops are running MacOS 13.3 Ventura, the latest MacOS, without issues using OCLP 0.6.2n. If you read up on Open Core Legacy Patcher and make sure you understand the process, updating the 2017 laptop your mother uses to run the latest MacOS, should be a very easy process. On my 2015 laptops I am able to run everything (the latest Office 365 suite, Adobe Reader Pro, Lightroom, latest version of Safari, Firefox and Chrome browsers).

So with that said you can have a laptop last for many more years to come.

The information you would need to learn how to do this can be found in this link below. This is where I figured out how to do this for my 2015 laptop computers:

Click to expand...
Why would I want Ventura to run on an older MacBook? When I bought my 2020 that year and sold my 2012 I DID NOT want that older heavy beast to run the latest Mac OS at that time.
 
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jwolf6589 said:
Why would I want Ventura to run on an older MacBook? When I bought my 2020 that year and sold my 2012 I DID NOT want that older heavy beast to run the latest Mac OS at that time.
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You can run any OS you choose. It's your money. The older MacBook you're referring to is still more than capable of running the latest MacOS perfectly. Since my laptops are all BTO laptops, they are still capable of running the current OS without any issue and I am able to keep them updated with all the latest security patches and OS updates. This in turn keeps them usable for many years to come so I am getting more than my money's worth from these laptops rather than throwing them away. I would rather put my money towards other things rather then having to buy computers every few years. That's why . . .
 
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jwolf6589 said:
Not everyone makes the same amount of money. My mom has a 2017 model which I say is still new. MacBooks are very very expensive. One advantage of a new model is not having to memorize password after password for the advantage of touch id and the apple watch connectivity to the macbook. So the question is what year should my mom replace her 2017 model? Perhaps when it breaks? I know for my 2020 MacBook Pro I wont replace till it breaks since I also do not make allot of money and simply cannot afford a newer model.
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Well it depends whether it suits your needs. Personally I'd say go for 2027 maybe even 2030 if it's still fast enough for you by then, though I doubt that.
 
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