What is your longest lasting Apple product?

[ThomasJL]

The mid-2012 13-inch MacBook Pro which I am typing on right now. I bought it new eight years ago.

From day one, I never used the stock RAM and stock HDD. I replaced the stock RAM with 16GB of Crucial RAM. I replaced the stock HDD with a 1TB HDD, and then replaced that in 2016 with a 1TB Samsung 850 EVO SSD. (I enabled TRIM support on the same day that I installed the SSD.) The fan failed in 2016, and was replaced. The hard drive cable failed in 2019, and was replaced. (That will eventually happen to every hard drive cable for this specific model.) In early 2020, as a preventive measure, the battery was replaced.

As of right now, there are zero problems with this eight-year-old MacBook Pro.

 

[Mitthrawnuruodo]

so your problem is the TB not the MBP

Pretty much, yeah... otherwise it’s a great, little machine

 

[J.J. Sefton]

2013 Mac Pro.

 

[Mitthrawnuruodo]

Just retired my good, old Time Capsule, ie. the AirPort Time Capsule 802.11n (4th Gen), that's been working flawlessly for years and years.

Lately though, it's been showing signes of wear and tear: More and more of our wireless devices have been struggling to keep connected to it (some "refusing" to even connect), and once it became clear that it couldn't be _every_ other device that was failing, I had to come up with a replacement.

So I dug up my old Drobo 5n and ordered a new mesh system: A pack of 3 the tp-link Deco M5. Once set up (which was a breeze) "suddenly" all those "failing" devices were more than happy to connect to the new "mesh" network. Added bonus: Better coverage throughout our apartment.

Also, now the (quite noisy) Drobo is hidden away in a (mostly) unused room with one of the Decos, and set up to work as a reserve file server and location for Time Machine backups. Replacing that function from the Time Capsule.

A toast to a faithful old Apple device, and another to a brand, new mesh network. 🥂

 

[MacBH928]

Just retired my good, old Time Capsule, ie. the AirPort Time Capsule 802.11n (4th Gen), that's been working flawlessly for years and years.

Lately though, it's been showing signes of wear and tear: More and more of our wireless devices have been struggling to keep connected to it (some "refusing" to even connect), and once it became clear that it couldn't be _every_ other device that was failing, I had to come up with a replacement.

So I dug up my old Drobo 5n and ordered a new mesh system: A pack of 3 the tp-link Deco M5. Once set up (which was a breeze) "suddenly" all those "failing" devices were more than happy to connect to the new "mesh" network. Added bonus: Better coverage throughout our apartment.

Also, now the (quite noisy) Drobo is hidden away in a (mostly) unused room with one of the Decos, and set up to work as a reserve file server and location for Time Machine backups. Replacing that function from the Time Capsule.

A toast to a faithful old Apple device, and another to a brand, new mesh network. 🥂

that was part of the problem for me seeing so many stick with time capsules and airport routers, surely wifi has much advanced to keep those around not to mention security on the firmware. I am also not aware if those Wifi antennas deteriorate over time and give less performance or not like lithium batteries, or do they keep on giving like a copper wire.

 

[Eithanius]

2010 MacBook Pro 15"...

Dying soon. The GPU panic recently came back after a fix by Apple in 2014. Upgraded to 480GB Crucial M500 back in 2015, RAM maxed out at 8GB. Hopefully it'll last me until the Apple Silicon MacBook Pro comes end of the year. Don't intend to buy anymore MacIntels knowing they may not be supported by future macOS four years down the road.

 

[AxiomaticRubric]

I've been using an iPod HiFi every week since I bought it in 2006.

I use it connected to an AirPort Express with a Toslink cable. The latest firmware updates and macOS / iOS updates have enabled properly synchronized audio over Wifi.

I'm no audio expert but I prefer the sound output of the HiFi over the HomePod.

 

[Mitthrawnuruodo]

that was part of the problem for me seeing so many stick with time capsules and airport routers, surely wifi has much advanced to keep those around not to mention security on the firmware. I am also not aware if those Wifi antennas deteriorate over time and give less performance or not like lithium batteries, or do they keep on giving like a copper wire.

I'm not sure.

The old smaller Airport Expresses used - in my experience - to burn out after a year or so of hard use, and the symptoms were the same: stuff refused to stay connected, speed was varying, etc. until nothing worked anymore.

The Time Capsule followed the same pattern, but lasted much, much longer before starting to fail. (And slower, it didn't fail completely before I replaced it.)

I'm guessing it's some of the hardware inside that slowly dies from years of heat and general wear and tear.

 

[GalileoSeven]

After bringing out of storage, reinstalling the OS fresh and applying updates, I gave my trust 11" MBA (mid-2012) to my fiance. That's mainly a backup machine for her though when her 3 year old Asus acts up.

Otherwise, my longest lasting Apple product was my iPhone 6 which I bought at launch (2014) and used until this past fall (2019) when I upgraded to my current iPhone XR. Coming in a distant second is my 27" 5K iMac (a late 2015 model I bought in 2017 and which will hopefully keep running smooth for years to come).

 

[nickdalzell1]

I'm not sure.

The old smaller Airport Expresses used - in my experience - to burn out after a year or so of hard use, and the symptoms were the same: stuff refused to stay connected, speed was varying, etc. until nothing worked anymore.

The Time Capsule followed the same pattern, but lasted much, much longer before starting to fail. (And slower, it didn't fail completely before I replaced it.)

I'm guessing it's some of the hardware inside that slowly dies from years of heat and general wear and tear.

Likely failing electrolytic capacitors. Electronics these days tend to use lowest-grade components. I bet if one disassembled it you'd find some chinese Capacitors with bulging tops or leaking electrolyte. Been watching too much Shango066 on YouTube lately but you learn things.

 

[opiapr]

I still have an iPod Mini from 2005. It works perfectly.

 

[Bulllfrog]

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’ve been using my iPhone 11 Pro Max for 3 years, I’ve only dropped it a few times, Still in fantastic condition, Same charge cable, always had the same case and I clean the charging port every now and then gently with a toothpick, it’s my phone I use all day every day no faults. I will only buy a new phone when this one dies. Touch wood it doesn’t any time soon.😀😀😀

 

[F23]

Mid 2011 27 inch iMac still working fine daily, booted from external SSD.

 

[organerito]

My children use my old iPad 4 every day!

 

[MacBH928]

My children use my old iPad 4 every day!

yea...those should be archaic by today's standards but glad you still making use out of it and your children enjoying it!

 

[CyberDavis]

My recently replaced iMac, each iMac has served well with long service and I’m sure my Mac Studio will do equally well.
😀👍

 

[fishingfromakay]

2009 iMac 21.5" Got it new and still use it weekly. Changed to 8 GB ram.

 

[loby]

2009 Mac mini, still going strong with SSD added.

 

[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...

It's now semi-regular only, but being used by my kids.

Also in the house is my old iPod Nano 2nd Gen, which I got in 2007 and my son now uses regularly.

Not meeting criteria... my 2000 Pismo. I dragged it out of the cupboard a few months ago, and used it regularly for a few weeks playing Escape Velocity. But it's idle again now.

And also 2000 - Mac G4 Cube, which I really am going to get going as a sound machine... one day...

 

[Jack Neill]

I have tons of old Apple gear, the one that I bought new that I still use is my 256 XS. 670 Cycles 84% health.

 

[GalileoSeven]

My mid 2011 Mac Mini. Bough an external SSD, installed a fresh copy of macOS and it’s like a new machine. Turned it into the main desktop for my wife who uses it for occasional web browsing, light word processing and some skyping here and there.

 

[BotchQue]

2010 Macbook Air, retired last year. A combination of SW obsolescence (couldn't log into my bank, or even Wikipedia) and HW (2nd battery ran out after 3 hours, and trackpad would only register a click in the lower RH corner). It also got very hot on some common websites. Got my money's worth out of that one.

 

[Abazigal]

I like that my 2013 Apple TV is still chugging along. I continue to use it to mirror my ipad in the classroom every day.

 

[organerito]

yea...those should be archaic by today's standards but glad you still making use out of it and your children enjoying it!

They use it for YouTube videos. That's about all it can do now.

 

[akash.nu]

MacBook Air from 2013 still running like a champ.