does it make sense to buy one today (second hand, good price)? buying a machine for at least 4-5 years, for web browsing and documents mostly. normally intel Macs used to serve for 5 years and start getting quite slow and eventually unusable after 7 years, but don’t know what to expect here, we are on the year 4 now. battery will obviously be replaced after a while.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
How long an MBP 13 with M1, 512 GB SSD and 16 GB RAM going to last?
- Thread starter Propine
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
For your stated uses it should last an easy 10 years (total) and longer if it is taken care of. My wife's 2010 MacBook Air just died, and she abused the heck out of it ( I still have the bruises to prove it 
). Her uses are the same as yours.
). Her uses are the same as yours.well, the reason I am asking is that my MBA 2017 bought in 2019 is very slow and I want to replace itFor your stated uses it should last an easy 10 years (total) and longer if it is taken care of. My wife's 2010 MacBook Air just died, and she abused the heck out of it ( I still have the bruises to prove it
Given your uses I am a bit surprised. Have you run any software to check for bloatware? The biggest issue I have found with my wife's computer is given the web surfing she does she tends to get a lot of adware, and other tracking cookies that slow her system down. I suggest running both Onyx, and Malwarebytes. Also I suggest deleting all of your cookies in Safari or whichever browser you are using. Note however that you will lose any autofilled usernames, and password you have.
The only other thing, (other than a hardware issue) is if you are running the latest OS or the last recommend OS for your machine as that can slow down a computer in a heartbeat.
The only other thing, (other than a hardware issue) is if you are running the latest OS or the last recommend OS for your machine as that can slow down a computer in a heartbeat.
After 5 years even wiping the machine and installing from scratch might be a good idea. That can help a lot.
One other thought is why do you think your system has slowed down. The thought occurred to me if you are comparing an Intel Mac to a M series Mac the intel will be slower. I upgrade from a 2013 fully loaded 64 GB "TrashCan Mac Pro" to a 16GB M1 mini and was surprised by the speed differences. Not so much with MS Word files, (other than graphic intensive), but with video rendering, and surfing the web. Web surfing IMO was faster due more to advancements in wifi tech than chip.
Also like the other suggestion of wiping your current machine and reinstalling everything. A 2017 Mac should not be noticeably slowing down with just word documents, and web surfing.
Also like the other suggestion of wiping your current machine and reinstalling everything. A 2017 Mac should not be noticeably slowing down with just word documents, and web surfing.
I have both and they both run just fine. 2017 MBA stays on High Sierra and is a beast. I'm not updating it any further. MBA M1 had Monterey installed as I got it. I also left it on Monterey and it's being my main machine now. Of course it's faster than 2017 MBA just because of the hardware. It also has a fantastic sound compared to MBA 2017 and also a nicer display. The only downside of MBA M1 is lack of MagSafe charging port. I bought it new and specked up in the beginning of 2022 with 512Gb SSD and 16Gb of RAM and the battery is 91 per cent as of now.
I had a late 2013 rMBP until last fall and it ran fine; indeed, I would still be using it if it hadn't had a fatal accident. If you're seeing slowdowns doing simple stuff like web browsing, there's something wrong; I would wipe it and re-install.
An M1 MBP should last for as long as you care to keep it, if you are doing basic office and web tasks.
An M1 MBP should last for as long as you care to keep it, if you are doing basic office and web tasks.
Nobody yet knows how long an M1 MBA will last since there's not been enough time yet for any regularized forms of failure to occur. One can however surmise that since there are many, many earlier MBA models (and MBP etc) still out there and in use, and Apple's hardware is typically known for reliability and long usage, that an M1 even from the early release batch, will have years to go yet.
If there's a concern about any specific failure, it's probably the SSD, but it is worth noting that the studies on SSD reliability have shown that in fact they are far less prone to fail than traditional hard drives in general and common types of use. The commonly repeated belief that swap file use will cause failure has been largely disproved, not least by the fact that SSDs have been with us for many years already, and no such failure points have appeared.
If there's a concern about any specific failure, it's probably the SSD, but it is worth noting that the studies on SSD reliability have shown that in fact they are far less prone to fail than traditional hard drives in general and common types of use. The commonly repeated belief that swap file use will cause failure has been largely disproved, not least by the fact that SSDs have been with us for many years already, and no such failure points have appeared.
Mine (of the same age) is still running well - though I did replace it with a M1 MBA myself, and the difference in performance was quite staggering. That said, I'd wipe the 2017 hard drive and reinstall macOS. They do tend to bog down a bit over time, and a reinstall can work wonders.