will a MB last me 5 years?

[mad jew]

your computer will never slow down. it's just going to take longer to do harder tasks.

Exactly. Ignoring the effects of internal wear and tear, the machine will not slow down. If you can avoid the temptation of upgrading all the apps and OS over the next five years, then you'll theoretically have a machine that proves right now it can manage all of your listed tasks. However, one of the great things about Apple is that generally their operating system upgrades are fine on older machines (to an extent), unlike their Windows brethren. Tiger was a bit of an anomaly in that it uses a fair chunk more resources than Panther and doesn't run much faster. Otherwise, most OS upgrades over the past few years have been better optimised for the hardware and therefore run even faster than before. With that reasoning, the current MacBook should be fine in five years, albeit not compared to the latest hardware at the time.

 

[ShiggyMiyamoto]

topic says it all, i probably wont use it for gaming, but will it support most new Mac OS's?
My uses will be:
- iTunes
- Web surfing
- Mail
- AIM/iChat
- iMovie
- Homework (Probably NeoOffice)
- Very minimal gaming


So will it last 5 years?

EDIT- just so u know i make things last, the computer im on is from 2000, damn its slow

I have a 600 MHz iBook G3 from 2001 with a custom installed 80 GB HDD and 640 MB of RAM (its max), since its stock 15 GB HDD died. I have the latest version of Tiger running on it as well, and for what I use it for it works great. That would make it just under 6 years old. I agree with everyone here that's said that MacBook will last 5 years. My iBook lasted that long, so I don't see why a dualcore Intel Core 2 Duo MacBook could last that long or even longer. Go for it. You'll love it.

 

[showtime]

If it does all your basic tasks fine now, it should do the same thing perfectly fine in 5 years as long as you don't make too big of a jump in some of the software you use. But that is easier said than done.

The great thing about apple is that they hold their resale value really well. I plan on selling my macbook about a month before a major update to the line to get the most out of my macbook. My little way of keeping up with technology.

 

[Membrain]

Useable?

Depends if you mean will it still be functional or will it be useful. If you buy it today and leave it in the box for 5 yrs, it will still work in 5 yrs, probably 50!
Everyday use and wear and tear on the internal parts as well as becoming outdated means 3 to 3 1/2 years is the useful life of a laptop. Apple care is for 3yrs, does that tell you something about the expected lifespan of these computers?
Look after the external casing by buying a sleeve and get one of the silicone keyboard covers to protect the screen, keep all the accessories that come with it and you will get 1/3 of the purchase price back in 3 yrs.
My $0.02

 

[iW00t]

I would even go as far as to say it will last you 20 years.

I mean there are still people here who are using 300mhz G3 iBooks... and those are close to 6 years old! The Macbook is easily 10X as fast as an iBook, and if an iBook can last some people 6 years, it should last (those same people) 60 years.

 

[mad jew]

Twenty years might be a bit ambitious, and sixty years is outright ridiculous when you take into account the wearout period of many of the components.

 

[macpluslaptop]

Have to comment on this one. I'm posting on a 600mhz ibook, 640mb ram, with updated 60gig hd. It's worked flawlessly for 6 years (not one problem), traveled all over, sturdy and reliable. Its prime limitation is the small hd - since I take a lot of pics, I have to use an external. I love this machine. When I upgrade to a new MBP soon, I'll keep this as an internet radio and sometime travel machine if I just want to throw a 12" into a bag.

I even much prefer the screen dimensions over its smaler successors - as a writer, the new MacBook is too shallow a screen (pages still run vertical, we're not all watching movies)...But I will love the 15" MBP when it comes, too.

I can't replace computers every couple of years, so whatever I get has to last for a while

 

[Igantius]

Have to comment on this one. I'm posting on a 600mhz ibook, 640mb ram, with updated 60gig hd. It's worked flawlessly for 6 years (not one problem), traveled all over, sturdy and reliable.

One of my friend's is a very similar position - bought hers around the same time when she started doing her MA and it's still her main (read: only) computer for both professional and personal uses.

 

[BryanLyle]

Yes, but you'll want a newer model after one year.

Absolutely true.

BTW, the iBook in my sig is going to be for sale shortly. If anyone is interested PM me. I don't have enough posts yet to post in the Marketplace forum. The iBook is in pristine condition and the battery on it has less than 20 cycles on it (replaced last year during the recall). It will officially be for sale in about a week.

 

[Dustman]

the MBP would be more future-proof since u can upgrade the ram further than the 3 GB in the MB.. however, to answer your question, 3 gigs of ram in 5 years should be plenty to be able to run most of you applications. i like the life span of intel cpus so far. I have a 500mhz P3 downstairs running XP PRO flaaaaawlessly.

Absolutely true.

BTW, the iBook in my sig is going to be for sale shortly. If anyone is interested PM me. I don't have enough posts yet to post in the Marketplace forum. The iBook is in pristine condition and the battery on it has less than 20 cycles on it (replaced last year during the recall). It will officially be for sale in about a week.

price?

edit: btw, does anyone know (off-topic, i know.) where it says on macrumors how many posts is required to upgrade your status? like from n00b, to regular, to the processor names?

 

[x Shadow Dragon]

thanks for all the comments and knowing that some of u are using a 6 year old iBook makes me feel even better, plus if I really do need another laptop i can always sell the MB

 

[Scarlet Fever]

I mean there are still people here who are using 300mhz G3 iBooks... and those are close to 6 years old

i still use my LC575 (1994, so 13 years old) for some basic word processing. I could use it for internet stuff if i wanted to as well.

 

[iW00t]

Have to comment on this one. I'm posting on a 600mhz ibook, 640mb ram, with updated 60gig hd. It's worked flawlessly for 6 years (not one problem), traveled all over, sturdy and reliable. Its prime limitation is the small hd - since I take a lot of pics, I have to use an external. I love this machine. When I upgrade to a new MBP soon, I'll keep this as an internet radio and sometime travel machine if I just want to throw a 12" into a bag.

I even much prefer the screen dimensions over its smaler successors - as a writer, the new MacBook is too shallow a screen (pages still run vertical, we're not all watching movies)...But I will love the 15" MBP when it comes, too.

I can't replace computers every couple of years, so whatever I get has to last for a while

And so if 600mhz lasted you 6 years, a dual core 2.16ghz macbook will be able to last 2 x 21 years = 42 years in total easily!

 

[samh004]

edit: btw, does anyone know (off-topic, i know.) where it says on macrumors how many posts is required to upgrade your status? like from n00b, to regular, to the processor names?

Here is your answer.

 

[ricgnzlzcr]

There are tons of people who still get really great use out of their older macs. Just check out www.lowendmac.com and you'll see tons of articles. Just because Apple might release x product with y innovation doesn't mean that you need it. I just bought a near 7 year old powermac cube and it's running really well with upgraded ram. I say that if you get the macbook and in about 3-4 years you start to feel bogged down--upgrade to whatever is the top of the line hard drive or maximum ram for your machine.

The 1 ghz tibook will turn 5 years old this year and with that 1 gig of ram and a new hard drive, it's hard to tell the difference in day to day performance from a macbook. I know first hand since I had that tibook and switched to a macbook c2d (no worries, the tibook was sold to a great macrumors member)!

Anyways, mileage varies with everyone and their uses. It seems that a macbook will be a great computer for long time.

 

[zap2]

It will work....but its going to feel dated. My iBook is slow to open apps like NeoOffice when I'm working on stuff. Even my Mac Mini isn't amazing at something I'd like to do(run XP, use Safari, iTunes) its fine, and I knew I'd give up speed for size. Kind of upset because the Mini hasn't seen an update for a while(atleast one worth buy for me)


Leaves me in a weird spot, as no current Apple desktop offer what I need. I'm in a minority of computer users, and my needs would be solved my a Core 2 Duo Mac Mini update. But a new cube would be even better, although far more unlikely

 

[synth3tik]

for what you are doing minus the gaming I see no reason it couldn't last you 5 years, although it will get tough to work with. But then you also might be able to save up moneys and get a new one in 3 years or so.

The reason I am excluding gaming is that right now with a new MB you would be hard pressed to find good performance.

 

[nplima]

old hardware uses old software, that's all

If you want to keep your computer usable for 5 years, all you need to do, besides not damaging it, is to keep using the software of its day. Using a OS and applications of 2007 with a 2001 computer will feel slow and that will probably be true in 2012 with a 2007 computer.

If you do the other way around, you'll see first hand how hardware has evolved, for instance, I've installed Windows 3.11 and MS Word 2.0 on a RAMdrive (approx. 32MB) of a recent PC some time ago and it was the fastest thing I had ever seen