What is your longest lasting Apple product?

[MyopicPaideia]

2012 Mac mini quad core i7 that just now didn’t make the cut for Big Sur support. It is used daily and even does 4k 30Hz using its mDP port. Kids use it as their shared ”proper” computer for schoolwork and playing games. Made lots of home movies on that machine over the years with FCPX and iMovie...

 

[George Dawes]

I had a quadra 840av from 1994 to 2000 , best Mac I’ve ever had , so versatile and helped me out when I really needed it.

 

[itsmilo]

I am still using my MacBook Pro retina from 2012. I increased my SSD and it is still running flawless. It does not even feel old at all with the tasks I am doing. Everything is snappy. Shame it will no longer run Big Sur since I am sure it would run it perfectly. My battery health is even still at 93,3 % with 463 cycles according to coconutBattery (Apple had to replace the battery for free at the end of 2013) and I mostly use it plugged in.

 

[robbieduncan]

I have an iPad 2nd Generation bought very soon after launch in 2011 that is still in regular use. Sure it can't run modern iOS but it's fine for a toddler to occasionally watch kids iPlayer etc

 

[211]

iMac 2009 and iPod nano 6th generation 2010

 

[George Dawes]

My iPad Air 2 is the best iOS device ive ever had , still going strong

 

[robbieduncan]

My iPad Air 2 is the best iOS device ive ever had , still going strong

I have one of those too. I bought it to update the iPad 2 mentioned above. My wife now uses the Air 2 as her daily iPad.

 

[NewUsername]

My 2011 MacBook Air.
Well, I don't have the computer anymore, but I still use the power extension cable.

 

[gnasher729]

This reply is typed on a Mid-2010 MacBook Pro.

Will be replaced when I can get a new MacBook with 2TB storage that is _cheap_. Or when it breaks.

 

[gnasher729]

iPhone 4 in iOS 7 as a glorified iPod. And although I replace my iPad 2 cellular with an iPad 7th gen...the iPad 2 is still good for streaming and watching TV

"Whippersnapper" I say and "get of my lawn, kids". I have an iPhone 3GS bought used for £65 exactly to be a cheap iPod. Still works, it's in a drawer permanently plugged in and connected to may HiFi speakers, and connected to Apple Music. It once crashed and I had to reinstall the OS, lost almost all apps at that point, except Music fortunately.

 

[tevion5]

I OWN Apple devices going back to 1979 still working but in terms of devices I bought new...

My 2011 13" MBP. Bought 9 years ago, my daily driver until last December when I upgraded to a big beefy Mac Pro 7,1.

Got me through half of secondary school and all of Computer Science in college. Still my laptop for when I need one, High Sierra is still fine for most out of the house work.

 

[MacBH928]

I have a G3 Beige Tower upgraded with a G4 525 MHz processor, still working. (from 1997)

What do you use it for? Does it run OS9? X?

3 x 2007 iMacs in daily use (my 3 kids) since they were new - I have replaced all the hard drives with solid state drives but otherwise have run perfectly.

Ok, 13 years of the same desktop daily in use I think you are pushing it. Does it even run modern software? I think its not safe for any money translations or online accounts. Plus, I never heard some one buying 3 iMacs at one go for home use, especially in 2007 laptops over took the market.

My iPod Hifi has been in constant use since it was introduced (2006?) now optically connected to an Airport Express for AirPlay 2.

My Apple Extended Keyboard II has been in use since I believe 1996 (got it with a PowerMac 9600) and it would still be if my ADB to USB adapter had not died. I have not been able to source a new one for a reasonable price.

I think you got more than your money's worth out of it???
What is it that you like about that keyboard?

Come to think of it, these are actually the oldest "Apple products" that I still own. Got my Apple ][ in 1978 and unfortunately it's long gone, but I still have all the manauls and these tapes.

View attachment 953268

nice, Apple cassette tapes... although does not fit the topic, I didn't realize they were any. I thought they might be audio tutorials or something. Are these 3rd party or Apple original? whats their worth? Amazing you never though of throwing them out even by 1997 when tape was a worthless technology...now it aged enough to be a rare antique!

 

[Boyd01]

I thought they might be audio tutorials or something. Are these 3rd party or Apple original? whats their worth?

These are original Apple tapes that came with the Apple ][ computer I bought in 1978, it was one of the first 5000 that Apple made. There was no disk drive available at that point, they had announced one but it was not yet shipping. So tape was the only way to load or save programs. There was an audio input port on the computer that connected to a modem for a tape drive (you had to provide your own cassette recorder, Apple did not sell one). The computer also included an RF modulator so you could connect it to a TV as a display.

These tapes were both games, which was really about all that existed for the Apple ][ initially. The basic Apple ][ only had 4k (4096 bytes) of RAM with an assembler and integer BASIC in ROM. If you wanted to use floating point BASIC, you needed 16k of RAM and load it from tape each time you started the computer. Note that the Star Trek game required 16k of memory, so it didn't work on base model Apple ][.

No idea what those tapes are worth. I also have all the original manuals from that computer - one of them is typewritten, stapled together and looks like it was photocopied. Wish I still had the computer, but it was stored in a shed in a second home and destroyed when a big tree fell during a storm. Back then, I never considered that the computer might actually be valuable some day.

 

[Bkdodger]

2011 MBP with no updates

 

[Arctic Moose]

I think you got more than your money's worth out of it???
What is it that you like about that keyboard?

Layout, size, feel, clickiness and travel.

 

[beryllium]

My Mac Pro Early 2009 (MacPro 4,1). I bought it in late 2009. I used it until last week, when I replaced it. Still works perfectly.

 

[MacBH928]

I see a lot of Airport Expresses here, what am I missing? Those are old Wifi 2.4Ghz that do not utilize the newer 5Ghz not to mention I am assuming they were not made to handle the plethora of Wifi devices in the house today. Why not upgrade?

Also, surprising how many people here utilize a whole computer for a dedicated purpose. An iMac as a music player, or Mac Mini just to watch YouTube.

 

[MacBH928]

2001 original iPod 10gb. Used every night, all night for light music using a pillow speaker (about 30 different ones). So, 19 years and counting.

Any battery or HDD replacements? My understanding the first models are not sturdy enough for a long life.

While I haven't had it that long, I was given a PowerBook G4 Titanium back in 2014 (it didn't power on, the PRAM battery was dead shorted) and looking at the bottom it's copyright Apple Computer Inc, 2000. That makes it now 20 years old and still working on most modern sites (through hacks). The battery that was in it also works (although it only lasts for an hour or hour and a half. the latter playing music the other just sitting with the screen on). My second oldest is an iPhone 4 I found discarded at a junkyard. It worked last time I tried putting a SIM into it, sadly it's on iOS 7 (which i despise) and cannot be downgraded. I found it in 2018. It's in bad shape but still works.

This experience is why I still own Apple products. I don't support e-waste or disposability so I buy Apple to ensure long lasting items. I know many have 'laughed' at posts of me saying it but I seeing as I baby all my stuff, and don't abuse it, I expect my 2019 MBP to last 20 years like my PowerBook. The PowerBook is at the disadvantage given its archaic OS, 20 year old NiMH battery pack, dying SuperDrive (it will destroy discs if you use it too much), and a spinning hard disk that's been clicking and freezing the system doing anything intensive for a few years now. My MBP has the upper hand with more RAM, me disabling updates, an SSD, and Li-Ion battery.

View attachment 956043

Like you I used to buy things and suck the most use out of them. I really appreciate a long lasting product that manufacturers do not tend to make now days. As I got older I learned that life is short and instead of rocking a 10 year computer to its maximum I might as well enjoy my life while it lasts and get the new gadgets.

I am completely for repurposing older products to any of those who can find them useful or in need of them. Schools or institutes or any business around the world.

The oldest daily-used Apple product has been a December 1999-vintage G4 PowerMac, which remained in use until April 2017, when it was finally retired (still in working order). It had seen a couple of HD replacements, RAM upgrades, a replacement optical drive and a CPU upgrade, but was otherwise perfectly serviceable.

My actual older Apple gear however is a bit older. 1984 and 1986 Apple IIc computers - the elder one with a Z-RAM 1Mb memory board which are used for Appleworks and Visicalc, and a PowerBook 1400cs, which I think dates to 1996, has had no work done on it, and runs system 9. The LCD is rather dimmer than it once was, but otherwise it too works perfectly.

The benefit of these old systems (to me at least) is that they allow me to focus on work, not the distractions posed by more modern systems that have internet things and email.

I do have much later systems though, because sometimes the internet is useful.

I think you win this thread, 17 years of constant use. Honestly, what were you doing with a 1999 Mac all the way to 2016?

 

[lostom]

Late 2009 13" MacBook, updated with SSD and 8gb Ram, used everyday, running El Capitan.

Wish I still had my original Apple ][ with 16kb, green screen and Epson RX80?? dot matrix printer ( obviously not Apple), it was pretty good kit back in the day.

 

[MacBH928]

"Whippersnapper" I say and "get of my lawn, kids". I have an iPhone 3GS bought used for £65 exactly to be a cheap iPod. Still works, it's in a drawer permanently plugged in and connected to may HiFi speakers, and connected to Apple Music. It once crashed and I had to reinstall the OS, lost almost all apps at that point, except Music fortunately.

iPhone 3GS can still log on to iCloud and run Apple Music?!

My Mac Pro Early 2009 (MacPro 4,1). I bought it in late 2009. I used it until last week, when I replaced it. Still works perfectly.

How would you say it performs in 2020? Interested to learn how these powerful expensive machines for their time, how would they fare a decade later. Would it run catalina or Big Sur?

 

[Arctic Moose]

I see a lot of Airport Expresses here, what am I missing? Those are old Wifi 2.4Ghz that do not utilize the newer 5Ghz not to mention I am assuming they were not made to handle the plethora of Wifi devices in the house today. Why not upgrade?

You are missing Airplay 2. Airport Express is currently the only practical and affordable way to connect any speaker that has an analog or an optical interface to wifi.

I have six Airport Express units that do not provide wifi connectivity themselves, they just connect to my Orbi mesh setup through Ethernet where practical and wifi otherwise. This makes all my stereo systems and standalone speakers (including an iPod Hi-Fi) available to any Apple device, allowing playback on all of them in sync if so desired.

 

[MacBH928]

You are missing Airplay 2. Airport Express is currently the only practical and affordable way to connect any speaker that has an analog or an optical interface to wifi.

I have six Airport Express units that do not provide wifi connectivity themselves, they just connect to my Orbi mesh setup through Ethernet where practical and wifi otherwise. This makes all my stereo systems and standalone speakers (including an iPod Hi-Fi) available to any Apple device, allowing playback on all of them in sync if so desired.

a router with AUX...I never noticed that, interesting.

 

[theMarble]

A PowerBook G4 from Late 2003. Been my secondary laptop for almost 7 years, and before that, my friend used it since he got it brand new in 2003. Used it as my main computer from 2013-2015 for video editing (240p baby!) and school work. Now I use it as a web browsing machine when I want to use an old Apple product and more often when my current 2015 15" is rendering and I need another computer to use.

 

[Micky Do]

Early 2009 Mac Mini...... Booted mostly 24/7, unless I was going to be away for several days, it was on my desk in Thailand until November 2019, when I returned to my home country. Having recently moved into a new apartment, I bought the required peripherals to set it up again, and am using it to make this post.

It is still running the original HDD, and has 4 GB of RAM installed along side the 1 GB of RAM it came with. Still adequate for general day to day needs.

 

[cosmichobo]

2009 MacBookPro 13"... went from being used for my wife during Uni, writing her thesis, to regular "general" use as a laptop, to now being a HTPC. So - 11 years...