Will any mac last you three years?

[jefhatfield]

...ASSUMING YOU ARE A HIGH END USER/GAMER ON MAC

Or is Apple just stringing us along with tiny, incremental updates not worthy of you pros and high end gamers?

ps- don't ask me...since this post is all i will ever tax my machines for

 

[springscansing]

It's Moto stringing you along, not Apple. Yeesh.

 

[marcsiry]

Depends on what you do.

If you're a true power user, you reach a point where they benefits of upgrading outweigh the costs of getting a new machine. This is assuming you are getting paid to work on your Mac.

I make my living with my Mac, and I find myself upgrading about every two years. It just doesn't make sense to chug along on an older machine when there's something eight times faster out there... not that the old machine is suddenly nonfunctional, it's just that you can get stuff done better and faster with a new one.

I still see plenty of people working on Macs that are 5+ years old. In most cases, they are also working with older software- Photoshop 5, Quark 4, etc- that doesn't have the same memory and speed requirements that their modern counterparts do. At some point, those people will also have to make the same cost benefit analysis- but I personally believe it's a false economy to put off upgrading for the sake of economy if your livelihood depends on your machine.

My personal upgrade path went something like this:

1991: Mac IIcx
1993: Quadra 700
1994: Mac 7100/80
1996: Umax S900
1999: Blue & White G3
2001: Upgraded BW G3 to a 500 Mhz G4
2002: Dual Gig Quicksilver

So, that's a new Mac or upgrade about once every 2 years on average.

 

[Mr. Anderson]

I'm at 3.5 years on my Sawtooth 450MHz G4 - and I'm not dropping the bucks on anything until I get something an order of magnitude more powerful. The current top of the line is only about 5x as fast (at best). I'm hoping for atleast 10x with a version of the IBM 970.

So as to whether I can wait, that's a yes.

D

 

[Kid Red]

Yes, even more so now that we are over 1ghz. I had my G4 450 for 3 years and I'ma photoshop power user. If we were using 9 still, then I wouldv'e still had that machine. But after trying X on it, I knew I needed to upgrade to my dual gig. This baby could last 2 more years (it's 1 year old already) but I will get the 970 once it comes out. For power users upgrading is a tax deduction

 

[job]

My upgrade path has gone from a 75Mhz/7200 to a slot loading iMac DV (400Mhz). So, following with my upgrade plan which calls for me to squeeze every last drop of computing power out of my current CPU, I'll need a single 2133Mhz Mac. I guessing this time next year.

I regards to gaming. No. You probably won't get three years of high end gaming unless you purchase the top-end tower and constantly upgrade your GFX card. These factors are based on your decisions, not Apple's.

 

[MrMacMan]

I had a preforma 'CD' Series... Then it died... (Smoke + burnt out screen)

THEN IT CAME BACK TO LIFE! (3 Months later after pressing on for the 2000th+ time)

After that i got the original iMac 233 baby!

And this past winter I got my new iMac 800 17".
Look for dates on models cause I'm lazy right now.

 

[Dont Hurt Me]

Motorola has been stringing us and apple for a long time thats why they have been talking to IBM! If you play the hard core games or are a power user there is no way you can get 3 yrs unless you contantly upgrade the powermac or are playing those games like my wife like bejeweled,scrabble,pop pop etc. But if you want to play Nascar,MOH,RTCW or are looking to HALO and UT2003 or say the next i am going to make you and your mac cry!- game like DOOM3 then you better have juice and muscle and these crappy little motorola hickups or bumps if you will just wont get it done! Hopefully we will see some real speed improvements this year on the desktops such as the 7457 if motorola will ever get off their dragging A _ _!If not ill just keep waiting for the 970 to show cause I have almost decided no more motorola! Please no Boo Hooers crying you use Mac for GAMING!I dont want to hear that crap!I Use MY MAC FOR ALL!Now for the last TIME STEVE JOBS IF YOU ARE OUT THERE HOW ABOUT A GAMERS IMAC! i know cant do that cause of the powermac

 

[King Cobra]

My iMac was turned on a few months ago, but I don't think it counts, since I don't use it for anything that high-end or that often, at least anymore.

My iBook is going real strong after two years, and my Cube is going super-strong after about a year and a half. My iBook should last me through college, so I think it can make it up to 6 or even 7 years with constant use and system refreshments.

 

[TyleRomeo]

i can wait a while. I went from a 200MHZ P1 IBM to the first Dual 1.25 G4. I'm not upgrading into a new desktop until we have a mac with a High Def DVD burner that can burn blu ray disks under 30mins.

If i labtop i need at the new IBm chip or some Moto chip that can handle DDR2. and at least a 500GB hard drive. I'm hoping for these upgrades withing 6 years.

Tyler