Life span of a Macbook

[DH60]

Hi, I have a 12-inch Macbook 2017 (no pro or air) which has received the Ventura update. Thinking about Apple's normal practice I can't see it getting the 2023 Mac Os update.

I was wondering what the practical life expectancy of a Macbook is. Not so much from a hardware perspective but more around how long the software will function effectively, how long will Safari continue to render websites?

Any thoughts or experiences are gratefully received.

 

[russell_314]

From everything I’ve read the lifespan is about 7 years. 10 if you’re really stretching it.

 

[EuroChilli]

My 2011 MBP which came with Lion stopped at High Sierra, which was about 4 years ago. So I guess you can expect 7 years macOS support/updates. Said machine still works, but it is showing its age. Safari, Adobe and other apps were/are giving problems. My wife and I actually still each have one, and Aperture still works perfectly on both. As a photographer, that is her preferred photo software and so we are keeping them mostly just for that.

You should get next years update, and probably the following one too.

 

[Mr_Brightside_@]

Posting this from my 2013 Air which works perfectly for the lighter use I need it for. Fully up to date on Big Sur. 7 years seems too low.

 

[Ifti]

Lifespan of a MacBook is however long it keeps working and doing what you need it to do. Be in 5 years, 10 years, or 20.

 

[bradl]

If it helps (and I don't know if I'm in rare company), but I bought my first MacBook in 2011, with the mid-2011 13" MBA. It's still going strong, rock solid on MacOS Sierra. No repairs of any kind have been done to it. I'm at 11.5 years with it now, despite my upgrading to a 16" M1 Pro MBP.

My wife's 12" Macbook from 2015 is still going strong as well. Heh.. my Apple IIe is still running strong, and it's coming up on 40 years. My point is the above from @Ifti : If it still runs and suites your purposes, then lifespan doesn't really matter, as it will still do everything you need it to do within the confines of its hardware.

BL.

 

[hoo-man-b-ing]

The software as-is should continue to run, but I would be concerned about not receiving security updates, particularly since it sounds like you plan to use it for Internet Browsing.

As for Safari rendering web sites, you’re likely fine for many years to come (especially the larger sites). Even though there are always new CSS and HTML features being added, developers and browsers are generally slow to pick them up since they have to optimize for their largest audience.

This might mean some site eventually starts using, for example, attribute based lazy loading of images, but they’ll likely have a fallback for browsers which don’t yet support it (e.g., not loading images lazily or lazy loading via JavaScript). If you’re curious what a nightmare browser compatibility is, feel free to check out this Browser Capability Matrix which shows which browser versions support the capability I just mentioned (note the Edge and Chrome currently support this, but FireFox doesn’t and Safari only supports it in the Technical Preview.)

 

[Ifti]

I always feel every software iteration is more demanding on hardware, so slows an older system down somewhat - hence I now try to stick with the version of OSX that came with the MacBook when I purchased. Both my current MacBooks are running Monterey, which is what they came with, and I intend to keep them that way for as long as I can.....

 

[weirdsmith]

ArsTechnica did a good article on this topic recently. Basically, and in spite of the headline, it found this:

• For all Mac models tracked, the average Mac receives almost exactly seven years of new macOS updates from the time it is introduced, plus another two years of security-only updates that fix vulnerabilities but don’t add new features.
• The average Mac receives updates for about 5.5 years after Apple stops selling it. Buying a Mac toward the end of its life cycle means getting significantly fewer updates.

The support period tends to diminish around the time of an architecture change - the last PowerPC Macs got less time in the sun than their predecessors and less than the machines that followed - and this is likely to be true for the last Intel machines. This is at least partly to do with third party support - drivers and such - according to the article.

 

[Lloigorr]

Well, I still have an ancient white Polycarbonate MacBook from 2007 that’s stuck on OSX 10.7.5 Lion. Last security update was 2014 (I think) and Safari has a hard time with any modern website.

With Chromium Legacy however it‘s still usable today, if you‘re patient with it. The e-learning websites from our child’s school work just fine with it.

Your 2017 machine should have plenty time left

 

[Tyler O'Bannon]

Upgrading every 3-4 years will always keep you feeling very up to date and not lacking anything significant. The jump to ASi is an excepction because it’s a huge jump. Anything beyond that timeframe, you get displays, cameras, speakers, mics, form factors, WiFi specs, Bluetooth specs, ports, slower ram or SSD, etc. that start to feel dated.

If you have more than 1 Mac, I can understand keeping one around for many more years. But if you have one mac, this timeframe will always keep you comfortably new without annual upgrades.

 

[EugW]

ArsTechnica did a good article on this topic recently. Basically, and in spite of the headline, it found this:

• For all Mac models tracked, the average Mac receives almost exactly seven years of new macOS updates from the time it is introduced, plus another two years of security-only updates that fix vulnerabilities but don’t add new features.

This is incorrect. It really depends on the situation and the specific Mac.

For example, my 2014 Mac mini, 2015 MacBook Pro, and 2017 MacBook Air all got Monterey but not Ventura. In fact, I bought all three in 2021 (for cheap!) precisely because they could run Monterey natively. Monterey is a 2021-2022 OS, meaning the Mac mini got 8 years, the MBP got 7 years, and the MBA got 5 years.

Why? Cuz the 2014 Mac mini was for sale 2014-2018, while the 2017 MBA is basically just a rehash of the 2015 MBA. You could argue a bit about the release dates, but either way both the Mac mini and MBP got longer than 5 years from the date of release.

As for the 2017 12-inch MacBook, I suspect Ventura is the last but it should be noted that it was actually for sale until 2019, so it wouldn't be a complete surprise if it got OS 14 in 2023 as well. Same with the 2017 iMac.

 

[darngooddesign]

Hi, I have a 12-inch Macbook 2017 (no pro or air) which has received the Ventura update. Thinking about Apple's normal practice I can't see it getting the 2023 Mac Os update.

I was wondering what the practical life expectancy of a Macbook is. Not so much from a hardware perspective but more around how long the software will function effectively, how long will Safari continue to render websites?

Any thoughts or experiences are gratefully received.

FYI, next year there will be a similar thread to this, but in the MacOS 14 sub-forum.

macOS Ventura (13)

macOS Ventura (13)

forums.macrumors.com

 

[icanhazmac]

Hi, I have a 12-inch Macbook 2017

Sorry to hear that you have a butterfly keyboard MB.

My advice is to bury it and then bury the shovel.

 

[mectojic]

The PowerPC community exists on Macrumors. Some dedicated folks are still getting work done on 20+ year old Macs.

 

[EugW]

The PowerPC community exists on Macrumors. Some dedicated folks are still getting work done on 20+ year old Macs.

As an owner of several PowerPC Macs myself, I'd say the number of people getting real work done on them is probably <0.1% of Mac owners.

 

[BotchQue]

I usually upgrade my h/w every eight years. I stretched my use of my MBA to ten, hoping for the rumored 15" MBA. As soon as the security upgrades quit coming, I started losing access to sites; first my Credit Union (I was fine with that), then Wikipedia (??), then CNN started making my machine run hot, then my trackpad would only register a click in one corner; at the ten-year mark I gave up and got a 16" MBP. It's overkill for what I use a laptop for, but I've since fallen for this beautiful display and don't regret purchasing it.
If you're getting on the 'net, its the last security update that will ultimately limit a machine's use.

 

[EugW]

then my trackpad would only register a click in one corner

If you still have it, often you can revive the trackpad by adjusting the trackpad screw.

 

[Realityck]

From everything I’ve read the lifespan is about 7 years. 10 if you’re really stretching it.

I was happy I got 7 years of MacOS updates, then another 2 years with Safari/security updates with a mid 2012 Retina 15" MBP, but I swapped it out fully functional at 9 years to a late 2021 16" MBP. So differently if you treat your apple laptop well it can go for 7 to 10 years, before technology advances warrant must have swap out.

 

[bradl]

I was happy I got 7 years of MacOS updates, then another 2 years with Safari/security updates with a mid 2012 Retina 15" MBP, but I swapped it out fully functional at 9 years to a late 2021 16" MBP. So differently if you treat your apple laptop well it can go for 7 to 10 years, before technology advances warrant must have swap out.

This. I got 11 years out of my MBA (and still going); however, what forced my hand to upgrade was the dropping of Intel support. When Rosetta 2 support gets dropped there will be no support at all for Intel-based Macs, so the days for what I needed were numbered.

BL.

 

[mectojic]

As an owner of several PowerPC Macs myself, I'd say the number of people getting real work done on them is probably <0.1% of Mac owners.

Am I that 0.1% then? Because I get work done on mine daily. And on my 2010 MBA.

 

[EugW]

Am I that 0.1% then? Because I get work done on mine daily. And on my 2010 MBA.

Yeah, if you're in that 0.1% congrats. Not really a viable argument here though.

 

[izzy0242mr]

Hi, I have a 12-inch Macbook 2017 (no pro or air) which has received the Ventura update. Thinking about Apple's normal practice I can't see it getting the 2023 Mac Os update.

I was wondering what the practical life expectancy of a Macbook is. Not so much from a hardware perspective but more around how long the software will function effectively, how long will Safari continue to render websites?

Any thoughts or experiences are gratefully received.

I had a 2011 MacBook Pro until this year. That's 11 years. I did have to upgrade the battery (and for what it's worth, I heard the 12" MacBook has a really cheap battery upgrade, which is good for you). And it certainly wasn't a fast machine by modern standards.

But it worked fine. And still works fine. I sold it for some cash to someone who wanted a cheap Mac. I could still do modern browsing on it. Safari worked. Chrome worked.

I personally think the Apple Silicon Macs are going to last even longer than Intel Macs did because the processors are so ahead of the times.

 

[bradl]

I had a 2011 MacBook Pro until this year. That's 11 years. I did have to upgrade the battery (and for what it's worth, I heard the 12" MacBook has a really cheap battery upgrade, which is good for you). And it certainly wasn't a fast machine by modern standards.

But it worked fine. And still works fine. I sold it for some cash to someone who wanted a cheap Mac. I could still do modern browsing on it. Safari worked. Chrome worked.

I personally think the Apple Silicon Macs are going to last even longer than Intel Macs did because the processors are so ahead of the times.

That's why I jumped on it. If that 2011 MBA lasted 11 years, I'm expecting this MBP to last just as long. I keep telling everyone this:

If I averaged out how much I paid in full for that MBA throughout the entire life cycle that I have (and still do) use it, it's cheap. I paid $1595 for that mid-2011 13" MBA, with a Core I-5 1.7GHz CPU and 256GB SSD.

12 months * 11 years = 132 months + 5 months (I bought it in July 2011) = 137 months.
$1595 / 137 months = $11.64/month.

And the longer it runs, the cheaper its monthly cost gets.

If I get similar for this 16" M1 Pro MBP I'm posting this from (even in just the years for the lifecycle), I'll be completely satisfied.

BL.

 

[darngooddesign]

Am I that 0.1% then? Because I get work done on mine daily. And on my 2010 MBA.

That's not a PowerPC.