How long are you keeping your machines for?

[Woodstockie]

I keep them till they either no longer work or are too painfully slow to work on. Current oldies, all on open core legacy patcher:
- 2012 MBP 13” has a dual SSD
- 2013 MBP 15”
- 2015 iMac 27”

Issued from work a MBP 14” M2

 

[PotentPeas]

Got a M2 Max 16" a few months ago, and I think I should be able to easily last on it for six years. My plan when buying it was to just use it until they stop offering macOS upgrades and then buy whatever is current at that time. (I've been doing this with iPhones for a good while now; just recently switched over to Mac.) I am already setting aside some money every month for this purpose so it won't be a big lift to spend a few thousand on a new laptop in six years or so.

I might upgrade sooner if there is a compelling reason to do so... But I am not sure what that would be. The system performance is great and I don't see anything coming down the pipe that would give me trouble. I do gaming, but my backlog is so huge, I am fine waiting even for a few years to play a game if the performance demands are too great for my current system. I am a data packrat and I would like them to raise the SSD storage cap (and lower storage prices), but for now, moving "bulk" stuff to network storage works well enough. An OLED panel would be enticing but also I wouldn't want to be in the first group of people getting those; I'd want to make sure that things like burn-in aren't a problem before committing. Hearing rumors of OLED MacBook Pros coming in maybe 2026-ish, so 2029 sounds good for an upgrade.

 

[throAU]

I make my MacBook Pros last 9-10 years. I look after them and will change the battery as necessary. But they're not cheap and for office work they can last up to that long. I'm not hugely concerned about Apple's lack of support the last few years of their life. They just coast along.

If your MacBook Pro is lasting you 10 years, you probably don't need a MacBook Pro and would be far better off with an air twice as often at half the price - you'd end up being far more current with faster wifi/usb standards, builtin encryption and codec support, etc. A new MacBook Air will typically outperform a 5 year old MacBook Pro most of the time in most things.

You'd even have warranty for 60% of the time, instead of 30%.

At year 5, you could either keep the older machine as a spare, of re-sell it to contribute to the ownership cost of the new one at 5 years.

 

[MBAir2010]

wow that MacBook Air 2010 11" will be 14 years old soon!
that received a battery upgrade this year and a another power chord.
the MBA ws running Mojave since 2018 thanks to Dosdude!
currently running Mountain Lion but might get an upgrade to El Capitan for better airport and security.

 

[Silvestru Hosszu]

I upgrade whenever I feel the need.
My current laptops are m1 max mbp pro 16 which replaced 2 years ago the 2019 mbp 16 (one of the worst apple laptops I ever had) and a m2 pro mbp 14 which replaced one m1 mba this january.
As I said, for me there is no predetermined upgrade cycle. When I'll find my current machines lacking I will upgrade. This usually happens every 2 to 3 years but this is not a rule.

 

[Fishrrman]

4-6 years for me.
Then... hand it down to my sister and I get a new one.
(good excuse, I reckon...)

 

[Flash1420]

I usually upgrade when a new design comes around. However, I just got the M3 Pro and I don't see myself upgrading until the M6 series come out.

 

[kschendel]

We've generally kept our Mac's for 6-8 years. The predecessor to the machine I'm typing on (M2 15" MBA) was a late 2013 model that almost made it to 10 years, and would have except for an accident. The "family" iMac predecessor made it 10 years, with a couple upgrades; the current one (a 2019) might not last quite that long. I expect this MBA to last me for at least 5 years and I'd prefer longer.

 

[turbineseaplane]

Typing this on my travel machine -- 2015 15" MacBook Pro, up to date with Open Core Legacy Patcher.

Works smooth as butter!

 

[Macbookey]

I have had the fortune of being able to run my Macs for the full duration of macOS support. After that I give them away to friends, for their kids to use as homework machines or media servers. My longest lasting was the 2007 20” Intel iMac, which lasted me until I believe Sierra in 2016 where it was capped at El Capitan. An amazing 9 year run. OCLP is an option, but I prefer to just make upgrades then. Still working on a MacBook Pro to replace my former 5K iMac for music creation. My Air is doing surprisingly well for me for now.

 

[thmsnt]

I kept my first Mac (2020 Intel MBP) for 3 years.

Tried using an M2 iPad Pro 12.9 for half of this year, but just went and got a new 14 inch M3 Pro MBP and I love it.

Gonna keep this thing until the end of this decade.

 

[AdamInKent]

I remember when I was a kid - our German washing machine lasted for 15+ years ... we drove our car for 10+ years... our TV was used for 10+ years too

Don't ask ME about the longevity of modern products! Its the modern generation plus the marketing and sales IDIOTS that invented the trash and buy new habit that kills the planet!

I replaced a 20 year old washing machine a couple of years back. I swapped my then 12 year old VW car for a new one during lockdown (and it’s still going strong, with its second owner, at 14 years old) and my Panasonic Plasma TV is problem free over a decade after purchase.

Whilst I agree with your general point about our throw away society, it is still possible to keep most stuff running for a long time if you buy high quality products and look after them. (Apple still have much to do in this respect, though I am still running a gen 2 Apple TV and the replacement cycle of iPhones is much improved).

(Another good example is Dyson, who continue to supply parts for old machines for many years.)

 

[Knightimer]

I usually go 5 years. I'm due now to jump on the M3.

 

[xraydoc]

I have an M1 Pro which to be honest absolutely does not need an upgrade, though I've been looking at the M3 Max as I might want to add a 3rd external display (which the M1 Pro cannot do).

I also have a late 2013 Core i7 27" iMac which is still going strong running as an iTunes movie server for my AppleTVs (about 650 movies on an external HD) and as a Homebridge server for smart home automation.

 

[california_kid]

Until it dies of natural death......or when Apple comes out with a really cool color.

 

[Ta_whirimatea]

2011 Mac mini & then M2 mini last year?

Regret buying M2 as its software is a downgrade compared to 2011 model. Everything going subscription which I despise hence no more updates on Lightroom 6 in 2011, sucks 🫏⚽️⚽️’s

Doubt I’ll ever buy another Mac & just let them run till breaking by which I’ll be retired & peeing my nappy!

 

[Queen6]

2011 Mac mini & then M2 mini last year?

Regret buying M2 as its software is a downgrade compared to 2011 model. Everything going subscription which I despise hence no more updates on Lightroom 6 in 2011, sucks 🫏⚽️⚽️’s

Doubt I’ll ever buy another Mac & just let them run till breaking by which I’ll be retired & peeing my nappy!

Have an M1, don't play that game, just use the basic OS rest I delete via Terminal. I buy a Mac is my property not Apple's so I do as I see fit with it, Problem solved...

Q-6

 

[dpny]

Have an M1, don't play that game, just use the basic OS rest I delete via Terminal. I buy a Mac is my property not Apple's so I do as I see fit with it, Problem solved...

Q-6

Seems unnecessary. Just build yourself a cheap Linux/BSD box and save time and effort.

 

[Mac Hammer Fan]

I kept my MacBook Pro 2015 that I bought in 2018 for 5 years. Now I have an MP2 Pro that I'll keep for six years.

 

[Queen6]

Seems unnecessary. Just build yourself a cheap Linux/BSD box and save time and effort.

Problem being few are portable and they don't match Apple's runtime on battery nor build quality. Been on OSX for an age so is an easy task to accomplish. Linux I reserve for the desktops or run in VM...

Q-6

 

[RyanFlynn]

I typically upgrade whenever there is something faster. Time is money in my line of work.

 

[MBAir2010]

Have an M1, don't play that game, just use the basic OS rest I delete via Terminal. I buy a Mac is my property not Apple's so I do as I see fit with it, Problem solved...

Q-6

how does one terminal the "on at 7am off at 10PM" settings in Sonoma that were set in Monterey?
there is a sudo entry I discovered on live, but the source seemed fishy,
and this is my MacBook Air which I still love very much...

thanks

 

[dpny]

Problem being few are portable and they don't match Apple's runtime on battery nor build quality. Been on OSX for an age so is an easy task to accomplish. Linux I reserve for the desktops or run in VM...

Q-6

Dell XPS 13 is about $1,000 for a really good laptop, Ubuntu installed. But to each their own.

 

[whitby]

Historically 3 years for a laptop, 5 years for the iMac. However trade in on Apple Silicon Mac’s is awful and the bottom has fallen out of the old iMac market (since they killed the 27” iMac), so likely to keep Apple Silicon laptops much longer ~5 years) and for desktop moving back to Windows since the Studio solution is not worth it.

 

[Sciuriware]

With Apple silicone now available for three years, is it a feasible option to upgrade yearly or maybe every other year? The specs and design upgrades are minimal, so how long do you plan to stick with your current devices before considering an upgrade?

See my signature.
Also: I have been using MSWindows emulation for a long time,
but the emulation traject 16-bits > 32-bits > 64-bits > MacOS Intel64 > MacOS Silicon is too raggy:
more and more errors appear in those applications.
So, why still longer keep those old Intel machines; time for new applications on Silicon.
Btw.: APPLE computers just last too long. You only replace them when you get no more updates ...
;JOOP!