What is your longest lasting Apple product?

[D.T.]

Lots of people with way older gear here but I'd like to give a honourable mention to my 1st generation Apple Watch which has been on my wrist every day since summer 2015. Obviously apps on it have been laggy since the start and hardly even load these days, but for receiving messages and alerts, setting timers, basic stuff like that, it's still a champ. I even use it for my daily workout though in a very basic way. Battery still lasts all day.

Same here! A Series 0 Apple Watch, pre-ordered when released in '15, been all over the US, in pools, the ocean, etc., and it's still got solid battery life, laggy as heck, still use it 4-5 days a week to record workouts and check the time

Wife is still using her bought new 2010 13" MBP, it's had a couple of upgrades, SSD, more RAM, etc., but it's about to be retired, replaced by my old (but still way newer/faster/better) 2015 MBP 15"

I guess my oldest functioning Apple product is my 80GB iPOD 5.5, ~12 years old, still works perfect, just rarely gets used.

 

[robertosh]

My first mac, an early-2008 iMac is still my main desktop today. I've upgraded it with 6G of RAM few years ago and and with a ssd two years ago.

 

[StyxMaker]

Late 2009 iMac.

7The post below reminded me that I have a 2007 iPhone in the drawer that was still working the last time I plugged it in and changed it up.

 

[pippox0]

My iPhone from june 2007 . It’s stil working with its own battery.
Never changed!

 

[ghboard2010]

A 2006 Mac Mini Core Duo 1.66 2GB 200GB(replaced original 80 GB unit for more space) HDD with Snow Leopard 10.6.8, in its' original box. I've taken it out to check it out functionally, but it hasn't been my primary machine for over a decade. Thirteen years old and it still just works(at least booting to the desktop), no plans to do anything to or with it. Maybe in another decade I'll auction it off through Lloyd's of London for a million dollars. . . 🤣

 

[Ulenspiegel]

My beloved iPhone 3G. Still in pristine condition. In the drawer.

 

[Stephen.R]

Still in pristine condition. In the drawer.

Reminds me of this guy:

 

[MultiFinder17]

The oldest continually-used Mac that I have in service is my primary classroom laptop, a mid-2010 white MacBook. This machine was purchased new by me in 2010 as a gift for my mother. She used it daily for work and home (she's a teacher) up until 2018 when I got her a 2015 Air to replace it and took possession of it. It has since been repurposed as my primary work laptop (I'm a teacher too) and upgraded with its max 16GB of RAM, a 256GB SSD, and a nice key cap swap from a MacBook Pro. This little MacBook does everything I need of it and more, and I still couldn't be happier with it. At some point I need to put a new battery in it, but even after 700+ cycles and a decade of use, it's only down around 77%.

I love that after a decade of solid use, it's still going and I can see still getting a couple more school years out of it.

The main computer that I use in my classroom is also a mid-2010 21" i3 iMac. 2008-2010 seems to have been a pretty solid era for Macs

 

[kohlson]

Several years ago I helped my brother buy a refurb white 13-MB. A few years after that I installed a 120GB SSD into it, and probably upped the RAM to 2GB. A year ago I sent him a 2011 13-MBA because his bank wouldn't allow access with the browser - capped with 10.6.8. But he still likes to use the white one, and he brought it with him for Thanksgiving so I could give it a once over.

 

[Spacetime Anomaly]

I had a 2008 Mac Pro in constant use for a decade (upgraded RAM, graphics card and replaced the PSU because it blew). I've gone portable now, so it's retired, but it still works well enough.

 

[sakurarain]

The Hi-Fi and iPod video, using every day when back home.....i did not purchase the HomePod, as the Hi-Fi works perfect for me...... BTW, my boy would like to show himself on MR.

 

[throAU]

My 2008 Airport express

 

[pika2000]

So far, it's my iPhone 5. Bought it on launch day, replaced the battery once. Still works. 2012 - _____

I do have older Apple products like various iPods, but they are all "dead," as in the battery is no longer working.

 

[TheBonk]

Early 2011 Macbook Pro 13". Maxed to 16GB RAM and 1TB hybrid SSD. I use a Chrome extension called The Great Suspender so theoretically I can run hundreds of tabs, though more typically I have 20-30 open. I'm very pleased with how long these classic MBPs last. My previous 2006 white Macbook had to be replaced after just 5 years because C2D got unbearably slow for me.

Also, still have the original battery with a whopping 1457 cycles and 64.8% capacity. Never got around to replacing it as I'm plugged in most of the time anyway.

 

[revmacian]

My longest lasting Apple product that I still own is my 2017 MacBook Pro. I'm still waiting for the butterfly keyboard issues that everyone feels the need to warn me about.

 

[assoc]

I've got a 2006 Mac Pro still in the family, but the real champ is my dad's av to headphone adapter that came with the IIsi way back when. That thing is still hooked to the same set of speakers (which are even older, but not Apple).

 

[Obi Wan Kenobi]

Items that have been left in drawers for years, but still power up don't meet the OPs Rule 1.

Just for fun, name the Apple product that lasted you longest. Give the name of the product and how many years it has been working for you. If you can add a picture of it.

Rules:
1-It should be in constant use, not forgotten for 5 years and fired up again for use.
2-Its ok to make it last with replaceable parts like ram, batteries, and hard-drives but going into extreme measures where most the device is not its original parts can't be included.(ex..Mac Pro with a replaced HDD, Motherboard, CPU, Power Supply, fans...etc, you get the idea)

I bought a MacBook Air 11" in 2011. It was a fantastic device. I used it as my main work computer every day for years, travelling thousands of miles. Over the years it was dropped down concrete stairs (a few times); it fell off a pile of files I was holding at chest height (a few times), and it still works brilliantly. My son now uses it at school every day.

It has dents and some scratches to the aluminium, and the battery is now v poor, but it's still brilliant. There was a lot to be said for those non-glass screens. Their durability was amazing.

I can't imagine any PC device going through all of that and still being in working order.

 

[Digger148]

I have a Macintosh SE that I bought in 1988. I use it 5 or 6 times a month to play StuntCopter, Invasion, Minefield and a few other old games. I know some are available for iOS and iPad OS but the experience isn't the same.

Daily, I use a usb keyboard from a 1999 iMac DV attached to my new MacBook Pro, and, I use a 2006 iPod Nano that has survived going through the clothes washer twice! It's in a silicone iPod case.

 

[kohlson]

Yesterday, I went to the house of an acquaintance who's wife recently passed away. She was a composer, and had just finished an orchestral piece using Sibelius 2.1, and they asked me to retrieve it from her eMac. Fortunately it has USB ports. I didn't catch the exact vintage, but it was running 10.3. She was an award-winning composer, worked up to the end of her life, and used this as her only computer since purchasing new.

 

[LizKat]

The oldest continually-used Mac that I have in service is my primary classroom laptop, a mid-2010 white MacBook. This machine was purchased new by me in 2010 as a gift for my mother. She used it daily for work and home (she's a teacher) up until 2018 when I got her a 2015 Air to replace it and took possession of it. It has since been repurposed as my primary work laptop (I'm a teacher too) and upgraded with its max 16GB of RAM, a 256GB SSD, and a nice key cap swap from a MacBook Pro. This little MacBook does everything I need of it and more, and I still couldn't be happier with it. At some point I need to put a new battery in it, but even after 700+ cycles and a decade of use, it's only down around 77%.

I love that after a decade of solid use, it's still going and I can see still getting a couple more school years out of it.

The main computer that I use in my classroom is also a mid-2010 21" i3 iMac. 2008-2010 seems to have been a pretty solid era for Macs

View attachment 881531

Love it! That's like my spare machine, that I bought used (and stuck an SSD and maxed out memory in... "still going". It's my go-to for entertainment serving, i.e. DVD watching, movie/TV/music streaming etc., and serving up via iTunes the contents of my iTunes music library to my collection of older iPods.

My actual oldest Macs in the still-working category but that I don't use every day are a 512k unenhanced Mac from 1985 and a G4 titanium powerbook I use with old MIDI gear from time to time. The former is just a curiosity at this point (mostly "will it still boot today?" maybe once every two years!) but the latter does get some use once in awhile. I can't believe the drive hasn't gone in the thing but so far so good.

 

[barbu]

I'll add that I do still get a bit of use out my G4 Cube. It's set up and running (mostly sleeping) 24/7 and I use it to mess around with GarageBand and a cheap USB piano keyboard. My 18 mo. girl enjoys banging away on it (as well as typing into "her" terminal session ).
Cube is hooked up to the little Cube speakers and a 22" Cinema Display. Pro Keyboard and Pro Mouse of course. What a great little computer.
All my old Apple stuff still works - the Duo I mentioned upthread (and the Dock even!), my Newton 2100, eMate 300, iMac G4, Color Classic... all still going. They just don't get used as much. I like using the eMate (with the PT100 app) to connect to serial devices like switches and my Cobalt Qube.

 

[MacBH928]

I love that after a decade of solid use, it's still going and I can see still getting a couple more school years out of it.

The main computer that I use in my classroom is also a mid-2010 21" i3 iMac. 2008-2010 seems to have been a pretty solid era for Macs

View attachment 881531

This was actually an Apple thing, that their computers serve for a very long time. We are talking minimum 7 years, and expectancy of 10 years. Its part of the reason why people see value in the higher price tag.

 

[MultiFinder17]

This was actually an Apple thing, that their computers serve for a very long time. We are talking minimum 7 years, and expectancy of 10 years. Its part of the reason why people see value in the higher price tag.

Having used them since the late 90s, I couldn’t agree more! My main desktop at home is an excellent example, having gone from a 1996 Performa to a 2001 Power Mac G4, then a 2009 mini, and currently a 2010 Mac Pro.

 

[CmdrLaForge]

In daily use since 2007. Apple Cinema Display 23"

 

[alfogator]

Mac mini G4 in use from 2005. After changing hands several times in the family ended up with my brother who used it for some light browsing and music listening.
It is still working but it has been retired this spring as the browser can't open many of the sites he visits.