Who here waits 7+ years before buying a new Mac? The M1 Mac Mini is my first Mac purchase since 2013.

[ader42]

The Pro end of the Mac line up is for business use and so would be written off after 3 years anyway - I always expected those to have a short length of life - in 3 years they earnt their keep.

The normal Macs have always had a long life, son uses my 2013 MBP to this day but I just ordered myself an M1 Max MBP.

My iMac is a 2014 Retina - only just not able to fully use for XCode app development (unless I upgrade to Big Sur) - so that tells me it’s approaching end of life. I may or may not get a new iMac when they launch. The 2014 iMac might become a bootcamp gaming machine for son if I do migrate away from it soon - it would run the PC games he currently likes just fine.

I bought the other half a well specced 2019 iMac that will last her years yet but I guess that could become a decent bootcamp gaming machine if she needs to move to Apple Silicon - depends when companies stop making Intel upgrades for Mac.

I have an M1 Mini which I bought just to try it out - it will become a media server or maybe a render node.

I do have a tendency to avoid low-end base entry point Macs - maybe that is why they last me so long…

 

[Bug-Creator]

2010 MPro (bought around 2014) -> open end (well maybe a new Mini next year)
2005 PowerBook -> 2017 rMB (no update planned anytime soon)

 

[macintoshmac]

I used it to revive/restore my M1 MBA after experimenting with fresh installs in its early days

For that reason alone I pondered over keeping my MBA 2017 with me, to use to restore and revive. I usually like to perform a 'gpt destroy' command from the USB installer Terminal and then proceed to install everything again. I cannot do that with the M1 enabled MacBook Pro I have now.

But, the trade-in value I got was just too good to resist, and considering the cost of this computer, I wanted to get as much rebate as possible. I bought the 2017 MBA used for USD 550 in 2018 and traded that a week ago for USD 350. That trade-in value meant that I essentially used a store display piece in new condition for 3 years for USD 200. ?

About keeping the computer:

I bought a Late 2011 MBP 15" in Late 2011. Bought a 2016 MBP 13 in Late 2016. But wasn't happy with that computer, so sold it in 2018 to buy an MBA 2017, used. Sold that computer last week to buy this MBP 2021 16".

That works out to be 5 years for me. I sold the 2011 due to my needing a smaller form factor as well as the fact that it was developing hardware failures. Otherwise, I wanted to keep it for as long as it would receive major macOS versions.

I will do the same with this 2021. Keep it till the last macOS version and then buy another next year or maybe the same year, to retain some value. Let's see how the market is in 5 years.

 

[pakupakuman]

I have a 2011 Mac Mini and a 2014 MBP. I added RAM and installed an SSD in the Mini. No longer accepting updates. What a beast of a machine it's been. I've had to reset it no more than 10 times in its lifetime; I can't say the same for the countless desktops prior to it. In my clumsiness I broke the MBP's screen, and replaced it thanks to youtube. Still going strong.

 

[Skewlovevism]

Still using my 2013 MacBook Air i7. Tempted to get an M1 Air but the old one works just fine.

I have 2012 MacBook Air with Big Sur running on it (unsupported) but it runs beautifully. Will try Monterey, as soon as I know how.
Next, I want to go to 13 inch pro (because I don’t use FN keys, besides of volume, so I want a Touch Bar
For this I will wait another year and it used one
I use 9 years old Air for Logic X. It can still handle almost everything, if I don’t use too many plugins

All my Macs always lasted long time (I still have 2004? white iMac running Tiger, as my media center (love the front row) and for legacy software.

I must say, I am more than pleased with my Mac computers. When I was on windows, I used to buy a new computer every 2 years (max spec HP compaqs)
I know it depends on many factors, but with Mac, in 18 years, I have had a problems, I could count on a fingers of a single hand.
At work (windows 10), I have this many problems, almost daily.

 

[Freeangel1]

Personally I think the hardware updates will be coming alot slower once everyone is on an Apple silicon machine.

I mean how much can you continue to shrink A CPU die and still match or beat last years power and high frequencies.

Are future CPU chips really going to get faster going beyond 3nm??

Can they even get past 3nm??

So upgrading so soon may not even be an issue in the future.

After all it was Tim Cook who recently said we are close to a TECH slow down.

 

[MPclk2006]

1998 - iMac bondi blue
2002 - iMac G4
2006 intel imac
2013 - retina MacBook pro
2021 - M1 Mac mini

That is how infrequently I buy a new Mac because of how long they last and how durable they are. I went from a 2013 rMBP running Mojave straight to an M1 Mac mini running Monterrey.

Is anyone else in this situation? I think the M1 processor is a phenomenal leap forward.

I buy when I need a new one, there is no timeframe. I have a 2017 Macbook Pro and it works great, before that I used a 2011 Macbook I had bought used.

 

[EntropyQ3]

I use a 2009 27” iMac as my primary Mac.
Its lack of compatibility with the latest MacOS, and recently incompatibility with iOS Photos make me want a new Mac. It doubles as a screen and speakers for my PC box as well, and therein lies a problem, as the new iMacs don’t allow that.

Thus, I’m waiting for a reasonably performant “Mini” or whatever that connects to a screen that I can plug other gear into. As you can imagine, I was a bit disappointed when that wasn’t introduced along with the new MacBooks. Nice machines, but I really have my mobile needs covered.
Once/if Apple release such a computer, I’ll buy something that covers my needs for the foreseeable future. I don’t particularly enjoy futzing around with computer gear, I prefer to simply use it for my interests. I therefore tend to overconfigure them a bit. It can give them a bit longer service life and more headroom through the journey.

 

[hefeglass]

I update every year..sometimes more often. Although before the M1 macs I didnt upgrade all that often because the differences year to year were extremely insignificant.
Just sold my m1 macbook pro and got a 14in macbook pro and a 16in macbook pro. Probably give the 16in to my dad for christmas.

 

[Queen6]

I don't update unless there is a tangible financial or usability reason. My 13" M1 MBP was the first Mac I bought in over five years as previous to that Apple's notebooks were simply overpriced, lacking performance and reliability (Butterfly Keyboard).

I still don't like the port solution and the TouchBar is more a complication than an advantage, yet the 13" M1 is very capable of easily seeing off far larger hex core Windows notebooks with world class battery life and that works for me

Q-6

 

[macmanjim]

1998 - iMac bondi blue
2002 - iMac G4
2006 intel imac
2013 - retina MacBook pro
2021 - M1 Mac mini

That is how infrequently I buy a new Mac because of how long they last and how durable they are. I went from a 2013 rMBP running Mojave straight to an M1 Mac mini running Monterrey.

Is anyone else in this situation? I think the M1 processor is a phenomenal leap forward.

I get mine through work. The last Mac I bought for myself was a 2009 Mac Book. My first Mac was a Classic II. I have a 2019 MBP 16 now through work and a mid 2015 MBP 15 too. If I was going to buy one now, I'd bite the bullet and get the M1 Max, MBP 16.

 

[jerryk]

I replace my system every 2-3 years. I sometimes get a bit more storage, but usually don't buy the top-end system since the new unit will be as fast or faster than buying the top-end system from 2-3 years ago.

 

[MBAir2010]

Still using my 2013 MacBook Air i7. Tempted to get an M1 Air but the old one works just fine.

I might pick ones of those when there is a nice one available.

MP 2009 still humming along nicely. Upgraded the snot out of it. Skipped the trash can MP.
Considering the new MP, if only Apple had reasonable pricing. Not ruling out moving to PC.

in 2019 Dell made a better laptop than apple, so i purchased the XPS and love the notebook.
windows 11 is not for me tho.

 

[xraydoc]

I tend to keep my computers about 3 years before replacing them. For example:
- My Late 2013 27" quad-core i7 iMac was replaced by a 2016 USB-C 15" MacBook Pro in Q2 2016.
- The 2016 MBP was replaced by a Microsoft Surface Book 2 in Q3 2018.
- The SB2 was replaced by an M1 MacBook Air in Q1 2021.

That said, the Macs can obviously last longer than I keep them for. In fact, when I replaced the 2016 15" MacBook Pro in 2018, my wife started using it and she's still using it today. So that's going on 5+ years and seems to still be doing quite well. And the Late 2013 iMac is still running in my basement as a movie and photo server for my home network -- 8 years of nearly continuous uptime.

 

[MauiPa]

Oh please. Future proof just means a reasonably longer useful life than another alternative one might be considering, usually at a higher cost.

2006 from original post? that's pretty good if you ask me. Not much more future proofing than that.

 

[MauiPa]

I might pick ones of those when there is a nice one available.

in 2019 Dell made a better laptop than apple, so i purchased the XPS and love the notebook.
windows 11 is not for me tho.

meh, slow SSD, and thermal issues

 

[MauiPa]

My previous laptop was a 2014 MBP 15 i7-2.5 with 16 GB of ram. I was actually thinking about keeping it, but I forgot it when I went on a trip and needed a computer, so I got a 2020 MBP 13 M1 with 8GB. Way faster, way better battery life, never gets even warm, and yes I love the touch pad. As a surprise, I found you can use three monitors, built-in, external and an appleTV display. who knew?

 

[macintologist]

I'm still using my 2010 Mac Pro. It has had many upgrades throughout the years, i.e. 64GB of Ram, a Radeon 5700, 6-Core 3.46 Xeon, PCI-e OWC M.2 card, etc. It still holds up very well and handles most tasks relatively well. I was going to purchase a newer Mac Pro but just as I was about to buy Apple announced their own silicon and it made me a bit gun shy about forking over the cash for a machine that was going to be obsolete soon enough. I will wait for the M1 Mac Pros to release before I make a new purchase.

What OS version are you sticking with?

 

[pshufd]

Personally I think the hardware updates will be coming alot slower once everyone is on an Apple silicon machine.

I mean how much can you continue to shrink A CPU die and still match or beat last years power and high frequencies.

Are future CPU chips really going to get faster going beyond 3nm??

Can they even get past 3nm??

So upgrading so soon may not even be an issue in the future.

After all it was Tim Cook who recently said we are close to a TECH slow down.

Intel and AMD are going vertical so lots more transistors in the future.

 

[pwm86]

2007 white macbook

still using:
mid 2009 iMac24 running Catalina (installed 1TB SSD)
2001 Macbook Air running Catalina
2015 iMac 27 Monterey

 

[Stevez67]

I'm writing this on my 2015 MBP 13" running Monterey. I had to have the battery replaced in 2020 when it started to swell. At the age of 6 years, this MBP still runs rings around the 2020 Dell I was issued at work. I may buy an iMac when they deliver them with M2 silicon.

 

[FNH15]

Technically, the purchase history for my main machine is:

2008 White MacBook -> 2012 rMBP 15” (launch day preorder) -> 2021 16” MBP (launch day preorder)

My ownership history has a 2013 15” rMBP and a 2018 15” MBP in-between the 2012 & 2021, as they were AppleCare warranty replacements.
That being said I fully expect my 2021 to last for at least 7 years, as it’s a lot less failure prone than the 15” models with their dedicated GPUs.

the 2018 15” was a horrible machine. Beautiful design let down by the awful Intel chips.

I also have a 2014 13” rMBP as a backup machine, purchased new. Still going strong!

 

[Tozovac]

2006 from original post? that's pretty good if you ask me. Not much more future proofing than that.

Ha, maybe my post was misleading, I would say it was barely useful by ear five or six. I definitely would’ve been better served to have just bought two Macpros three years apart.

 

[Mlbkiwi]

I used to upgrade iPads, iPhones and Apple watches every year religiously but the tech is so good now I am still happy with my 2019 iPad Pro 12.9, Apple Watch 4 and iPhone XS Max. I have wanted to upgrade my iMac 27 - late 2015 i5 quad core 2TB fusion drive but it just keeps doing everything I want and it is powered up 24/7. I had to reinstall as new once when it got a bit glitchy a couple of years back and voila it was like new again. These days I do a few regular startup maintenance things like clearing NVRAM but it really is all I need and did I mention it doubles as my TV?. Now if the new apple Silicone iMac 27(+?) comes out I may not be able to resist the temptation for long regardless of how good my old iMac is performing. But that would most likely be a seven year cycle wouldn’t it? My tech replacement fund is bursting with funds right now too!

 

[filbert42]

Same here. Went from late 2013 MBP to late 2021 MBP.

Ditto. Have been hanging on and hanging on until Apple produced something worth parting with my Retina late 2013 MBP for. They finally did it and I bought straight away.