Why are so many people using out of date Macbooks?

[anshuvorty]

Mac computers are expensive, particularly outside of the US. If an older Mac is still functioning well, why replace it?

Also, the Macs, especially during the Steve Jobs era, and before the introduction of the butterfly keyboard + touchbar Macs, were built like tanks and worked very reliably. Hence, many people still keep using the older Macs; they were just superior products before Apple got influenced by the iPhone design and build aesthetic and brought it over to the Mac, with disastrous results.

 

[MacCraig Pro]

Mac computers are expensive, particularly outside of the US. If an older Mac is still functioning well, why replace it?

Also, the Macs, especially during the Steve Jobs era, and before the introduction of the butterfly keyboard + touchbar Macs, were built like tanks and worked very reliably. Hence, many people still keep using the older Macs; they were just superior products before Apple got influenced by the iPhone design and build aesthetic and brought it over to the Mac, with disastrous results.

Very true about the build quality.

However, I think the build quality is back now they've gone over to M Series CPU's. My M1 MBA seems to be built as well as the 2010-15 Mac's.

 

[Yorkieray]

I saw a guy in Starbucks here in the UK 2 weeks ago with a MacBook that was white and plastic. How old was that?
My aunt still has her 2012 unibody MBP, though she much prefers to use her Android phone.
I’m still occasionally using my late 2013 Retina MBP mainly to boot Windows 10 for a couple of Win only apps for my amateur/ham radio.

 

[MacCraig Pro]

I saw a guy in Starbucks here in the UK 2 weeks ago with a MacBook that was white and plastic. How old was that?
My aunt still has her 2012 unibody MBP, though she much prefers to use her Android phone.
I’m still occasionally using my late 2013 Retina MBP mainly to boot Windows 10 for a couple of Win only apps for my amateur/ham radio.

Probably 14-15 years old! If it still works…

 

[AZhappyjack]

I saw a guy in Starbucks here in the UK 2 weeks ago with a MacBook that was white and plastic. How old was that?
My aunt still has her 2012 unibody MBP, though she much prefers to use her Android phone.
I’m still occasionally using my late 2013 Retina MBP mainly to boot Windows 10 for a couple of Win only apps for my amateur/ham radio.

The polycarbonate MacBook was sold between May 2006 and July 2011 and came in black and white. They ran the Intel Core Duo and subsequently the Intel Core 2 Duo.

So that would make them between 12 and 17 years old.

Probably 14-15 years old! If it still works…

It would be between 12 and 17 years old, regardless of whether it works or not.

 

[Furka]

If your old mac do the job for you that is suposed to do, why to buy a newer one ? Actually with OCLP we can tun Monterey/Ventura/Sonoma on old Macs, so they will run another 2-3 years more. I am a simple user, with low needs in terms of performance, so I do not see the need to go to a new Mac until they die. Actually I have a 2012 MBP 13, 2012 MBP 2015, 2015 MBP 15 and a 2019 iMac. All my needs are covered and I love each one of them. Actually I am a fan of the 15" 2023 Macbook Air, but I could live without it.

 

[Peter Franks]

Totally disagree with that comment that if you have an iPhone 14 then you can afford a new laptop. I bought the 14 a year ago because my 8 ran out of battery half way through the day. I'd love a new MBP, but am still on the 2011 model. I can't afford it. Simple as that. With interest rate rises, my mortgage has gone up 15 times consecutively in the last 16 months and is now 5 times what it was 18 months ago and unaffordable. The equivalent MBP to what I use now is probably about 2000GB. Not a chance

 

[Furka]

I am writing now from the 2012 MBP 13" with a recently SonomaOS installed (after some tests with BigSurOS, MontereyOS and VenturaOS (perhaps the best compromise is MontereyOS IMHO). I can use Universal Control, I can import photos/scans/draws from my old Iphone6 SE, and I can airplay the contents or music to another mac or TV. All my needs are covered, and I do not have huge needs in terms of export videos (I am only an iMovie user for amateur and family short ones). This machine rocks !

Really, in my real world, on CatalinaOS all my needs are covered too, but I do not notice the system too slow on SonomaOS (after a little update to a faster Crucial SSD than the Kinsgston old one) to make the basic tasks that I use. I like try and test OSes, and SonomaOS will be a few weeks in test purposes. However, there will be a big battle with MontereyOS, perhaps a little more snappier in this machine. Monterey has olso the 'old' much faster Preferences pane, that I like so much more than the newer based on iOS, that are more heavier to load too.

Do not trash your old macs, try a memory/SSD upgrade and make an OCLP to the most upgradable OS that is usable, or in the last chance, try to install a Linux distribution, and relive it a little more years, like my old White Macbook 2 core duo that is currently used only as a music player repository, on a ElementaryOS Linux.

 

[drrich2]

Not gonna slog through 18 pages, just relate my own experience. Some years back, I had a job where I had plenty of downtime at an on-grounds site. Kept an old early 2008 Mac Pro that was replace with an iMac, but for a 'home away from home' computer, it did fine. Eventually (probably close to 10 years old?), having had a few glitches along the way, it pretty much died. Picked up 2017 12" MacBook 8-gig RAM/512-gig SSD from B&H Photo & Video for a grand on sale. Bought an ornamental protective shell covering for it. Here's what this little bugger does:

1.) When I had that job, I hooked to an external 27" monitor with blue tooth keyboard and for casual web surfing, etc..., it worked just fine. I learned that having a bunch of browser tabs open and some apps in the background could bog it down a bit, so don't keep too much open at once.

2.) Since leaving that job, it's a small/compact and light notebook that fits in a backpack pocket nicely when I travel. This is handy, because the software I use in place of Quicken (crap on the subscription model, I switched) doesn't have a Mac version. Handy to take notes, send e-mails, etc... I have an iPhone 12 Pro Max and a 2022 M2 11" iPad Pro and blue tooth keyboard, but for some things the notebook is nice to have.

3.) When I hang out in our kid's room, I can hook it to the USB cable from the 27" Philips monitor in there and web surf on a big screen.

None of that is going to work substantially better with an M-series MacBook Air, etc...

A key factor is that the notebook isn't my primary computer. My primary is a 2017 iMac 27" whose Fusion Drive went out so now I'm running it with a Samsung T7 external portable SSD USB-C drive, which oddly enough seems to work a bit faster than the internal Fusion Drive did.

Neither machine officially supports the latest Mac OS, but hey, Ventura's fine for me. They do what I want done. If I decide to pour money into a new Mac, I'll want a new desktop Mac because that's where I do most of my Mac activity.

The budget doesn't smile on several hundred+ purchases that have little practical impact.

 

[Queen6]

Simple answer "old Mac's rock"

Q-6

 

[Queen6]

High Sierra on the 2011 15" has yet to fail me, The M1 MBP is on the latest OS as that makes sense for such a new notebook. My 2006 15" was still running on Snow Leopard until I had no further use for it and let it go. Give Apple it's due they build them to last...

Come back to me in ten years or so and I'll let you know how the M1 did...LOL

Q-6

 

[Queen6]

I am writing now from the 2012 MBP 13" with a recently SonomaOS installed (after some tests with BigSurOS, MontereyOS and VenturaOS (perhaps the best compromise is MontereyOS IMHO). I can use Universal Control, I can import photos/scans/draws from my old Iphone6 SE, and I can airplay the contents or music to another mac or TV. All my needs are covered, and I do not have huge needs in terms of export videos (I am only an iMovie user for amateur and family short ones). This machine rocks !

Really, in my real world, on CatalinaOS all my needs are covered too, but I do not notice the system too slow on SonomaOS (after a little update to a faster Crucial SSD than the Kinsgston old one) to make the basic tasks that I use. I like try and test OSes, and SonomaOS will be a few weeks in test purposes. However, there will be a big battle with MontereyOS, perhaps a little more snappier in this machine. Monterey has olso the 'old' much faster Preferences pane, that I like so much more than the newer based on iOS, that are more heavier to load too.

Do not trash your old macs, try a memory/SSD upgrade and make an OCLP to the most upgradable OS that is usable, or in the last chance, try to install a Linux distribution, and relive it a little more years, like my old White Macbook 2 core duo that is currently used only as a music player repository, on a ElementaryOS Linux.

Way to go, reuse not recycle My 2011 15" MBP has been our media server for many a year and now has 16TB strapped to it. I see no need to replace it in the near to medium future. Super stable on High Sierra, rarely rebooted maybe once a year or if we move house, it's up 24/7...

Last the 2011 was clean installed was at the factory, being very much a stock machine. Always thought it would succumb to dGPU failure. Ironically it's seen off many other Mac's and earned it's place in time. I rather think that as it's been rarely off, initially used very heavily and now under a constant load has helped to prevent dGPU failure as it's the Delta in temperature that results in failure. It's runtime has to be over 75K hours which is not bad by any means @4481 days young...

Q-6

 

[Peter Franks]

High Sierra on the 2011 15" has yet to fail me, The M1 MBP is on the latest OS as that makes sense for such a new notebook. My 2006 15" was still running on Snow Leopard until I had no further use for it and let it go. Give Apple it's due they build them to last...

Come back to me in ten years or so and I'll let you know how the M1 did...LOL

Q-6

I really loved Snow Leopard and used it for many years. That was on the 2011 MBP and I was loathe to upgrade the OS
I still use Sierra. Don't see the benefit of H Sierra.

I am writing now from the 2012 MBP 13" with a recently SonomaOS installed (after some tests with BigSurOS, MontereyOS and VenturaOS (perhaps the best compromise is MontereyOS IMHO). I can use Universal Control, I can import photos/scans/draws from my old Iphone6 SE, and I can airplay the contents or music to another mac or TV. All my needs are covered, and I do not have huge needs in terms of export videos (I am only an iMovie user for amateur and family short ones). This machine rocks !

Really, in my real world, on CatalinaOS all my needs are covered too, but I do not notice the system too slow on SonomaOS (after a little update to a faster Crucial SSD than the Kinsgston old one) to make the basic tasks that I use. I like try and test OSes, and SonomaOS will be a few weeks in test purposes. However, there will be a big battle with MontereyOS, perhaps a little more snappier in this machine. Monterey has olso the 'old' much faster Preferences pane, that I like so much more than the newer based on iOS, that are more heavier to load too.

Do not trash your old macs, try a memory/SSD upgrade and make an OCLP to the most upgradable OS that is usable, or in the last chance, try to install a Linux distribution, and relive it a little more years, like my old White Macbook 2 core duo that is currently used only as a music player repository, on a ElementaryOS Linux.

The RAM and SSD are probably an essential move, but I think the worst part is batteries. Not being able to source anything that lasts like the original did. That's the only real pain using the older machines. They've all been poor, battery wise.

 

[oldmacs]

I really wish Apple would stop talking the environmentally friendly talk and start doing things like extending the life of its hardware, both though part availability (mainly batteries) and also software support.

I had wished that as iOS devices matured support cycles would get longer and longer, but Apple has instead gone down the route of arbitrarily dumping support. A9 iPhones should have gotten iOS 16 and A10 and A11 iPhones should have gotten iOS 17. All 2012+ Macs should be upgradable to Sonoma as well.

 

[AZhappyjack]

I really wish Apple would stop talking the environmentally friendly talk and start doing things like extending the life of its hardware, both though part availability (mainly batteries) and also software support.

I had wished that as iOS devices matured support cycles would get longer and longer, but Apple has instead gone down the route of arbitrarily dumping support. A9 iPhones should have gotten iOS 16 and A10 and A11 iPhones should have gotten iOS 17. All 2012+ Macs should be upgradable to Sonoma as well.

The issue is that Apple doesn't make a single solitary dime off of a user holding on to and continuing to use an older device. They are all about "sell more widgets, make more money"... and yeah, they beat the "eco-friendly" drum, but that, too, is pretty much self-serving from Apple's POV. We're seeing a lot of planned obsolescence from Apple these days (and have ever since they started soldering memory and SSDs in place and gluing batteries to the cases).

 

[oldmacs]

The issue is that Apple doesn't make a single solitary dime off of a user holding on to and continuing to use an older device. They are all about "sell more widgets, make more money"... and yeah, they beat the "eco-friendly" drum, but that, too, is pretty much self-serving from Apple's POV. We're seeing a lot of planned obsolescence from Apple these days (and have ever since they started soldering memory and SSDs in place and gluing batteries to the cases).

I'd disagree with that sentiment. I think people who get a long life out of a product are more likely to remain brand loyal, it helps people who have multiple Apple devices but who aren't as well off to stay within the ecosystem and still have devices which are supported. Given how much Apple makes off services as well, supporting older devices and keeping more users in the ecosystem = more who are spending on Apple services (ie on a 50gb iCloud subscription).

 

[saudor]

I'd disagree with that sentiment. I think people who get a long life out of a product are more likely to remain brand loyal, it helps people who have multiple Apple devices but who aren't as well off to stay within the ecosystem and still have devices which are supported. Given how much Apple makes off services as well, supporting older devices and keeping more users in the ecosystem = more who are spending on Apple services (ie on a 50gb iCloud subscription).

This. I'm hesitant to buy a new mac since I know that I'm going to lose support in 5 years and feature support much earlier. While my old 2010 MBP that could upgrade way above its official cutoff point, you can't do that anymore with the current machines. Installing windows is also not an option either. In the meantime, my hackintosh serves me well running Adobe CC 2021 and Big Sur.

That being said, it's hard to put a dollar on brand loyalty so the almighty glue is what Apple lives by.

 

[bousozoku]

I saw a guy in Starbucks here in the UK 2 weeks ago with a MacBook that was white and plastic. How old was that?
My aunt still has her 2012 unibody MBP, though she much prefers to use her Android phone.
I’m still occasionally using my late 2013 Retina MBP mainly to boot Windows 10 for a couple of Win only apps for my amateur/ham radio.

I had a 2009 MacBook that had the multi-piece polycarbonate body and it worked fairly well, even with the GeForce 6100 inbuilt graphics hardware. I also had the iPhone 5c that matched.

 

[LordeOurMother]

My Mac Pro 5,1 is going to still be more powerful and better suited to the things I do (coding and light gaming) than most people's computers - even in 2023.

As my desktop is more than capable for my needs, I want the smallest lightest laptop I can find that is still in the Mac Ecosystem. The 11 inch MacBook is to date still the smallest laptop Apple has made - although there are some that are similarly light now.

 

[bkmoore773]

Read the OP on my DC Powermac G5 running 10.4 Tiger. I turned the lid over on my modern Intel-Macbook, only to discover that the Apple logo is glowing. I guess that makes me an offender. But honestly, unless Apple changes their pricing on RAM and SSD storage, I'm probably done with Apple for the foreseeable future.

I used to be one of Apple's best customers, I bought new from Apple: Apple 2e, Powerbook G3 Wallstreet, iMac G4, Powerbook G4 17 inch, iMac Core2 Duo 20 inch, Macbook Pro Core 2 Duo 17 inch, and Macbook Air 2016. Not counting iPods, iPhones, and other accessories, and other various second-hand Macs I have acquired along the way. But at some point, I just don't feel like Apple is making products for me anymore.

 

[dandeco]

Probably because Macs are built to last, and a used or refurbished Mac can be bought cheaper. I generally use an M1 MacBook Air, but for my Intel Mac needs (and I still have a few of them) I have a 2015 Retina 15" MacBook Pro, running Mac OS 13 Ventura via OCLP.
My first Intel Mac I bought in 2011 was a used mid-2009 polycarbonate white MacBook; I maxed out the RAM and put in a bigger hard drive and that boosted the performance even more, being able to run the latest Mac OS versions up until 2016, by which time I bought a 2012 quad-core i7 Mac Mini to use as my main computer in my room, with the MacBook being for when I was at my college campus or on the go anywhere else. But then its' screen backlight began failing in 2017, so I replaced it with a unibody polycarbonate MacBook, maxed out the RAM and put in a 256 GB SSD, and while it wasn't as powerful or featured as the Mac Mini, it was at least something for me to use when I was at my college campus for schoolwork and such. I still have it in my collection of older Macs, but when the time came to buy a new Mac that could run Mac OS 11 Big Sur and greater, in spring 2021 I took the plunge and bought an M1 MacBook Air, since that polycarbonate MacBook was noticeably older than my 2012 Mini. Plus, laptops are pretty versatile, as until I later buy a pro-level Mac Mini (hopefully some time later this spring) I can use the Air in desktop/clamshell mode when I need to charge the battery at my place. (And once I get the new Apple Silicon Mini, the Air I will still use when on the go and such.)

 

[marcinsf]

My goal is to buy as little as possible by any means possible. I'm tried of the silicon valley hype to buy, buy, buy insinuating that you will somehow fit into a hip group. All you really get is a big debt and make the Tim Crook (purposely misspelled for poetic justice) people more rich.

A really big cheer and thanks to the OCLP people for taking on such a huge undertaking to keep older hardware running.

If apple really cared about the environment, they wouldn't be moving blazingly fast at throw-away devices like the new macbooks, ipads and iphones. All of the new devices have horrible repairability scores and are tedious at best to do any sort of repair on when needed. This has worsened dramatically since Steve Jobs death and the transition to the 'new' management teams which ONLY appear to want high profits.

 

[Pjrufus]

I would still be using my iPhone 6+ if it were supported. Have a 12 Pro now (gift) that I will use until it dies or can’t do anything on it but make a phone calls/text, like the 6+.

Used my 2012 MBP (gift) daily for work with a Thunderbolt Display (gift) for a couple years after support yanked, it became glitchy and not being able to update some programs interfered with current work from home job. Made it work as long as I could. I still pull it out occasionally when I want to use Autocad or Sketchup, (which I purchased outright when I did 3D arch. work.) They still work just fine, and I refuse to subscribe to something I only use occasionally.

I now use a 2017 iMac Pro (job provided) with the old TB display as a 2nd monitor. I’m the only one in the company using a Mac. The iMac was used by a former employee who did video editing, and was just sitting unused.

Also have 2 iPads, I prefer the 6 yr. old iPad Pro (gift) to the new one.

i noted the gifts to emphasize the dominant reason why I don’t have the latest and greatest. I can’t afford them. I also don’t see the latest as always the greatest. My son loves to give anything tech as gifts, every BD and Xmas he always asks me what I need, I’m very lucky in that respect and don’t take advantage of it. My response is generally based on need vs. want.

 

[ojfd]

I would still be using my iPhone 6+ if it were supported.

Huh? I'm still using first gen SE - I can make a phone calls and write messages. Isn't that the primary purpose of the phone?

 

[skottichan]

My wife is in school to become a Medical Assistant, and she's using a 2014 15" i7 and it is more than enough for her needs. It still quick as hell and still has Boot Camp, and since she needs Windows for several applications, it's perfect to run Win11 on.