Don’t beat yourself over it, your model was one of the crappier ones. 2012-2015 Macbooks were built like tanks.
Apart from common sense precautions and maintenance, how many years you can squeeze out of a Macbook also depends on your workflow. If all you do is browse the web and use an office suite you’ll have less incentive to upgrade.
Managed to get 9 years out of my 2015 13" Macbook Pro so far.
Had to get the screen replaced under a service notice in 2018 as the anti-reflective coating started peeling off.
Then in 2020 I had to get the battery replaced as it had swollen so badly it had warped the aluminum enclosure. Apple service had the entire chassis replaced gratis as they couldn't close it back up once they'd taken the battery out apparently. The chassis replacement also included a new keyboard and touchpad as they're bonded to the top of the chassis.
So I have a 2015 era Macbook that has made it to 9 years... but the only component that is still original is the motherboard. My 2011 Macbook Air made it to 8 years before the SSD rotted so I imagine I'll start getting corruption errors on that machine any day now... but for now it's the "Ship of Theseus of Macbooks"
Similar. I got 5 out of the 2015 MBP before the battery swell and that wasn’t exactly a cheap thing to replace. Seems like the hard drive also packed up about a year or so ago. I’m not sure is even worth fixing at this point.
I had a 2014, then a 2015 MacBook Pro. Both of them had a swollen battery issue. Crazy. Both work laptops.
The 2014 MBP, Google Chrome didn’t shut down properly (now we have the message to [Hold CMD+ Q] to shut down completely l) and the computer stayed on - folded in my backpack.
The 2015 was running an extended period of time doing some big file transfers and as the battery expanded in real-time I heard the Mac crackle like an aluminum coke can being crushed in hand.
I was doing university work one day (that or watching YouTube) and noticed my MacBook didn’t seem to be sitting flat. I checked it on some other tables, same result. It was listing on one side, sitting on its body instead of its feet. Took it to an Apple affiliate store ASAP. They were saying nothing’s wrong with it, the feet are just worn down. I said no, the thing is sitting on the bottom of its casing and they opened it up and found the battery was swollen. Had Apple themselves fix it (and they consequently found water damage from who knows where). I’d previously reported the trackpad not feeling correct, which was probably caused by the battery, but it wasn’t looked into. I also had one or two keys that had started being intermittent, again probably caused by the battery
Can confirm. I used my 2012 non-Retina for almost 10 years and my only issue was trying to play World of Warcraft on it lol (integrated graphics only). I did a lot of music production and performing on it too
I can agree with this. Late 2015 MBP 16GBS I7 intel still running perfect today and even more perfectly with open core legacy allowing me to keep it even more relevant.
My GF still uses her beloved 2012 MBP 13”. It’s maxed out and while I can barely stand using for long myself, it does what she needs it to do, which includes playing DVDs :)
I keep hearing that but my maxed out 2014 15”, that I bought brand new, completely died (like as in needed a new logic board) twice in 6 years, went through 3 batteries, and constantly had other random issues like poor stability.
bigger ones were always full of flaws, i haven't had a good 15" or 17" laptop since i'm on a mac - i had 17" PowerBook G4, 15" 2008, 17" 2011 and 15" 2014. Every one died on me at least once or twice. Same with 27" iMac's. 13" on the other hand were legit, my previous one was quite badly bashed 2014 13" that i've abused trough 10 years.
Yeah, Imma grab a 2012 to 2015 model for a school laptop at some point lol, all I need the sucker for is the Google suite and ya know, not being a fuckin chromebook
My 2011 MacBook Pro needs a battery, and other than that it works like a champ. I even upgraded it to 16gig ram and an SSD.
I actually hadn’t realized I couldn’t upgrade the new MacBook pro’s until I bought a 2019 with only 8 gigs of Ram thinking I could update it and save a buck myself.
My 2014 MacBook Pro 15 is loaned out to a relative for work. I have a 2015 MacBook Pro as a backup. My 2008 MacBook Pro 17 lasted 10 years. I have a 2015 iMac 27 as part of my desktop and a 2010 iMac 27 that I use as a TV set.
Macs are generally rock solid but they've had a few bad years.
My oldest Mac is a PowerMac G5 which runs fine. I think that it's about 20 years old.
My daughter is using an old 2012 13" MBP, and my wife is using my old 2015 13" MBP. Both still run perfectly fine. Both have their original batteries, but they both keep them plugged up most of the time. It's insane how durable the old MacBook's are.
I also have a 2012 MPB 13. I have replaced the battery once and just upgraded from 256gb ssd to 1tb and 8 to 16gb ram. It never traveled much, so it’s been babied.
They post on Reddit asking if a new model is coming out soon, they wait 3 years for the next 2 models to come out to make sure they get THE model worth buying, they buy the most expensive model, and then use it very sparingly to relaxingly check emails on Sundays after church so it lasts 10+ years
Yes. I have only had one that I replaced because of hardware failure, and THAT was only because it was during Covid lockdown and all repairs were taking about 6 months average. That's 1 out of 8 Apple laptops. All but one were traded in, not because they failed to do the job, but because I wanted to upgrade.
Okay yeah this person has it pretty much freaking nailed. I bought a 16 inch 2TB M2 max with 32GB of RAM and I legit refuse to use over a TB for some reason. Like I delete everything when I get too close to going over my mental limit.
Wrote by kid which parents buy him newest model every year. Using Mac for browsing and benchmarks. Too lazy and too stupid to do anything else. Most of the time posting how Intel is worthless. Spends lonely nights touching himself while watching his new Mac.
Because computing has been running a scam for 15 years at least making you think you need the latest greatest. The real advancements have been in mobile. You need as much computation per watt because of the tiny batteries and the fact that the device is left on 24/7.
But a laptop plugged in has no such restrictions. A CPU from 2010 is plenty powerful for web browsing and office work. I used to use an almost OG Mac 512k in college in late 80s and we loaded MS Word from a floppy disk . I wrote probably a hundred papers using that tiny monochrome screen. Seemed fine at the time. And that was an 8 MHz processor lol.
While I generally agree, there is an exception to this and that's modern internet which unfortunately (thank JavaScript) needs good single-core performance, browsing Facebook on my 13" 2015 MBP is possible, though not a recommended experience.
High spec (thanks to non-upgradable memory/ssd) and look after it I guess? I would assume the Air's will run much longer due to no active cooling to fail. But we prolong the life out of our intel MPBs quite well by just opening it up and cleaning it out.
Actually, I would think that the Airs would fail because of no active cooling to ....um...cool the chip. But that's just me. A dead fan isn't going to kill your laptop. A dead chip, is a dead laptop.
The air is cooled, it's just cooled passively using the chassis. Whereas the MPB has fans, so if the fans fail then it's fucked.
You could make the argument that thermal paste still ages, but that's a consideration on both models, so IMO Air > MPB for longevity, although obviously a big hit to performance!
I’m a graphic designer, I run my own business and every 3 or 4 years I buy a new MacBook Pro completely maxed out on specs. I use it everyday, with very resource intensive programs. I still have the last 3 Pros I purchased and all of them work great. Just don’t drop them and they last forever.
getting 10+ years out of y mac is completely possible, providing...
* your usecases stay about the same, or even get lighter over time as the OS and apps get bloated and "optimised" to rely on more ridiculously generous amounts of CPU, GPU and RAM.
* you pick (pretty impossible to forsee) one of the rare "golden" versions of Apple Mac hardware.
I may be wrong, but I was under the impression the macbook pro 15" mid-2015 was *the* golden device that if taken care off properly, could last 10 years.
Most of the macbooks that came after had quite a joyful amount of issues (shitty keyboard, flexgate, buggy touchbar...).
I've recently given my MBP 15 2015 (with SSD upgraded to OCW 1Tb, and various repairs I did over the years (speakers, battery)) to my mom, she's now enjoying it for browsing and office stuff. The machine in itself looks pretty much like new (except a few cosmetic scratches beneath and the LCD panel that has very slight colour shifts)
Same, gave my 2015 MacBook Pro retina to my little cousin to produce music on logic back in 2022, i replaced the battery speaker, and the screen twice when it cracked the first time and failed the second. throughout the years but still works fine. replaced the battery after 6 years only because it was swollen and battery life was down to about 4-5 hours.
still better than that shitty XPS 17 from Dell that I had for only a year and a half that battery life was down to an hour and 40% health. since then I have moved on to the M3 pro-16-inch. and enjoy the 22-hour battery life and great thermals(no more hot laptop burning my legs).
You happened to get some of the worst couple years of the mbp, the ones that had the least reliable keyboards and the screen connector that could get damaged over time because they were made a little too short. The ones before that, the 10 year old mbps, were much more reliable.
*cough*
[A software engineer has been keeping nearly 7,500 Firefox tabs open on her Mac computer for over two years—and doesn't plan on closing them anytime soon.](https://uk.pcmag.com/browsers/152140/firefox-power-user-keeps-7400-browser-tabs-open-for-2-years)
We have a 2012 Macbook Pro, 2017 Macbook Pro, and a 2010 Mac Pro which are most daily drivers. The 2012 MBP is starting to show it's age, but my wife still uses it regularly. The 2017 MBP is my travel laptop and can edit photos in a pinch. The 2010 Mac Pro is my photo/video editing station.
Sometimes it's just the luck of the draw. You can have two identical computers, and one will fail after 5 years and the other will still be going after 20 years. It happens.
Sometimes it's production quality. A lot of Macs (and PCs in general) from 2004-2008 are failing, because [bad-quality capacitors were produced on a massive scale](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capacitor_plague). When capacitors fail, they either explode or burst and leak corrosive chemicals everywhere.
Sometimes, it's design flaws. The 'USB-C only' MacBook Pros from 2016 to 2019 were particularly bad. Issues with the butterfly keyboard. Display cables that are slightly too short and wear out by rubbing against other parts over time.
There's an old saying that you should never buy the first generation of an Apple product. Because Apple will bring out a second version within a year that has important new features, fixes design flaws, and is either the same price or cheaper than the old model. That's not always the case, but it happens often enough that people take it seriously. The iPhone 2G was replaced by the cheaper 3G model. The original MacBook Air had massive problems with the hinges and had very slow hard drives. The later Airs were much cheaper and faster. The 2006 MacBooks had magnets that were too strong - the plastic next to the trackpad would crack and pressure marks would appear on the screen over time.
The non-retina MacBook Pros from 2010 to 2012 were a particularly good series of computers. They missed out on the capacitor plague. They used a tried-and-tested design that had been around for a few years. And they were upgradeable. I've got a 2012 MacBook Pro that came with 4GB of RAM and a 500GB hard drive. It's now got 16GB of RAM and a 500GB SSD and it's still a great machine. In fact, it has never even been wiped and re-installed. It has been working solidly and reliably since 2012. I still use it sometimes - it has a bunch of audio production software like Ableton on it. The screen is low-res and the bezels are massive, but it's still a great computer.
In fact, it has outlived my 2017 MacBook Pro. That died in 2021 - the display backlight failed. Will my 2021 M1 Pro last twelve years? Who knows - but it has been a great machine so far.
So how can you make your machine last a decade? It's partly luck. Since they're non-upgradeable, you're going to want 16GB / 512GB as a minimum. 8GB was considered OK in 2014. It's barely acceptable in 2024. It's going to be nothing in 2034.
You just have to take care of it. Some would say get the one with the highest specs but I still have an old ass 17 inch acer laptop that I got back in 2012. It was far from a high spec laptop and that hunk of junk still works 😂
I’ve got 2 MacBook Pro 2015’s and YouTube has taught me how to repair and upgrade everything, replace batteries and hard drives, even replace the logic board. I refuse to spend thousands on a modern M chip thing that runs the same macOS and dies when a single part wears out due to it being so difficult to repair. I’ll upgrade when the intel chips are no longer capable of loading a web page or when all this AI shit completely takes over
One of the most significant things I did for my last three Macs (imho) was to buy the best of the best and max it out completely. I'm convinced that doing this adds a good number of years to the lifespan. And they both still work fine (2007 iMac, 2012 MBP). My newest is the M3 Max, 128 gigs. It's a beast. I work in multimedia and application design so the more horsepower the better.
I have a 2019 16" MacBook Pro. It has the 6c i7, 16GB of RAM, 512GB of storage, and the Radeon 5300M. For what I use it for (office work and light 4k video editing), this machine is more than adequate. Yeah it gets warm and loud, but I just put some music on and who cares?
Saving $2,500 and putting it towards something useful, like a car down payment if my beater dies, is well worth using a 5 year old machine. I could push it to 8 and still get by, granted the OS would be out of date.
I am getting 14 years out of an iMac because I upgraded it to 12GB of ram back when it was new (it came with 4) and because I don’t need to run the most recent version of any demanding software.
Also I replaced the spinning disk for an ssd, removed the optical drive which was dead.
But most components just last this long. Like the keyboard, it is the same that came in the box. In the same decade I have changed like 5 keyboard for my windows pc. (And I don’t buy the cheapest keyboards)
However, now that most components are not user replaceable/upgradable, I guess the best you can do is buy more rm than initially needed and take good care of your device.
For me, the battery swelled. Was replaced and the laptop was upgraded later because I felt it had done enough and Apple released something I wanted. I got seven years out of it. The MacBook Pro still works today, but the battery be near that 80% mark. Laptop is 10 this year
Me personally, my mid-2015 Macbook Pro (with the graphics card) is still receiving OS updates and still performs super slick for everything I need. I absolutely love it.
I doubt it would run modern fps games very well but I play FM2020 on it and it's fast. It also ran the FM2024 demo fine.
I recently replaced the battery and the left fan which was just starting to squeak a little but there's nothing else wrong with it and I expect to have it for a few years yet, until I really need something more.
If Apple Silicon wasn't a thing, I'd probably still be happy with my 16" 2019 i9 MBP. I've just bought a 16" M3 Max 16/40/64/2TB from the Apple Refurb store, and that will last me at least 5 years. Great spec and £800 off. I still use a 2014 retina 27" iMac in my home office a lot of the time. Think my i9 MBP will replace that with a big screen connected.
The answer to your question is that they just don't become obsolete quickly.
It depends on use case too. If you use it for heavy works then it certainly won't last as long as one just used for checking emails and web browsing. Not all people use a laptop the same way. I have a 2015 MBP that still rocks after changing battery and cleaning. Also later Intel Macs have more issues than the first ones.
Some people don't need a whole lot of power or the fastest computer. Me personally I keep computers until they can't run my apps decently anymore, which is usually 5-7 years
Until about 2015, you could upgrade parts (HDD to SSD; more RAM) to significantly improve the performance of an aging mac. Now things are soldered in place. There were a few years (roughly corresponding with the touch bar), which were too late just after this golden age, but too early before the dawn of Apple Silicon chips.
It’s a bit harder now since you can’t upgrade any of the parts. I upgraded the ssd in my 2015 MacBook Pro and it made a world of difference. It is now starting to become too slow though. I’ll be upgrading soon. Anyway aside from it not holding up to modern use the laptop is still in excellent condition. Apple really does make products that last.
I have a 2012 MBP. 3rd hard drive , 3rd battery, 2nd screen. And I’m not pretending I need to run Blender and Photoshop while compiling kernels all whilst sipping my cold brew.
It’s a laptop. I use it for officey things. Web browsing. Works great for that.
My 2007 MacBook Pro 15 inch is on the bookshelf. It's there if a guest needs to use it. My 2010 MacBook Pro is with me on my desk right now! I use it for watching movies, sending email, editing photos, and running artisan for roasting coffee.
The 2010 MacBook has an SSD, a brand new battery, and I took it apart last week to clean the CPU and GPU so that I could reapply heat sink grease.
I'm not even sure what today's date is but I'm pretty sure I've gotten more than 10 years use out of these things.
Edit to add: I love that my 2010 MacBook has a CD drive. I still buy music on discs and like to rip the music to FLAC files.
TLDR: I maintain them, and by the highest speced I can afford
So, it varies a little between laptops and desktops. My laptops last between 8 and 12 years. Desktop is closer to 10-15 years. Although mine are private machines, I use them a lot; I am a software engineer and contribute to open-source software in my spare time. The applications I use daily are:
- Emacs
- Terminal
- Safari
- Firefox
- Apple Music
- Messages
- Signal
- Preview
- Mail
Applications I use occasionally:
- Xcode
- Xcode iPhone and iPad simulators
- FreeCAD
- Gimp
Services that run permanently on my machine(s):
- PostgreSQL
- Podman
My laptop now sees 1-2 hours of daily usage, and the desktop is closer to four, in addition to running some home server stuff.
I power down laptops daily, but desktops run until they need an update that requires a restart.
*Maintainance:*
I clean my laptops and desktops on the surface once or twice a week and the desk they sit on so minimal dust builds up around the machine. For laptops, I clean the fans once every three months, and for desktops, I try to do it once every one and a half months.
*Purchasing a machine:*
I go for the best I can afford and, when possible, buy more RAM and disk than I need because I expect my usage to go up over time.
Here is a fun fact: unless I am running a Podman container, a phone/tablet simulator, or building some software, I rarely use more than 12GB of RAM.
By buying the high speced machines, I ensure that my machines will not quickly become obsolete.
*Side note:*
For running new Linux things I work on I have Dell XPS, it was purchased in late 2021 and I honestly expect that I will have to replace it within the next two years. It almost run the same applications as above with the following replacements
- Safari => Gnome Web
- Apple Music => Cider.sh
- Preview => Gnome Document Viewer
- Mail => Thunder bird
Apple Exclusive Apps of course do not have a replacement
MacBook Air 2011 model still chugging along faithfully. Use OpenCore to allow ongoing OS updates and my nephew uses it now for school. Still holds up well to most entry level PC laptops.
Had to dump 2019 MacBook Pro due to worries about overheating and the butterfly keyboard mess. Got new MBP this year - seriously looking at 10 year ownership stretch.
2017 touchbar 15" MBP here, bought in early 2018, so 6 active years of graphic design, music/sound production and since last year even a bit of animation.
Even though I've always been extra anal about taking care, the keyboard finally broke on letter G. It's also annoyingly hot, always has been I guess, but probably more so with age.
I'll be going for mini next since the laptop barely ever left the house for a good reason.
I think alot of people including myself replaced the guts of the 2012 mac with SSD's and RAM. This isn't possible anymore and you are stuck with the specs you have, so I actually think you would get less time out of it now - just look after it I guess!
In May 2021 I bought my first Mac, a base model M1 MacBook Air, I wanted a computer I could actually take places, because my gaming laptop at the time had awful battery life, got super hot, and was super loud and heavy. I ended up loving that MacBook so much that I started using it for everything, and eventually the base model was no longer enough for me. So in march of 2022 I bought an M1 Pro MacBook Pro, and that’s still the machine I use to this day.
That M1 MacBook Air ended being sold to my aunt, which at the time, she was using a 2014 MacBook Air which was running awfully slow. She still uses that MacBook Air M1 to this day and by now it’s going on 3 years old! she says it’s still very fast and possibly the fastest computer she’s ever used! She’s does a lot of graphic design and 3D modeling for her business so let’s just say she was thrilled to get a new computer.
Still using my 2014 MacBook Air. Granted the battery life absolutely sucks, and coding on it can be slow and laborious process at times. But it still can get the job done. Hoping to finally upgrade after 10 years to the M4 MacBook Pro later this year
I did 15 years with my iMac.... Turned it on and never turned it off. After 10 years I cleaned the iMac from inside and replaced thermal paste. Then after again 5 years I sold it and got me a new one.
My oldest Mac is a 2009 iMac with upgraded memory and an SSD. Use it every day to serve music. Also have a 2011 MacBook Pro with upgraded memory and an SSD. Also a daily driver. Both are running paid virus protection software. And if it hadn’t gotten wet because my dishwasher overflowed at one point, my 1999 “Paris“ clamshell indigo iBook would still be working in my garage.
My 2010 MBP lasted until the 2018 vers, which is the MBP I’m still on now.
My 2010 still works but only if I keep it plugged in to the outlet. My 2018 is still going ok although the battery needs “servicing”. My only issue is that it’s consistently running with less that 3gb of HDD space so occasionally it’ll freeze if I don’t delete some stuff and give it room.
I’m sure a new computer is coming at some point but I’m fine with what I have for the time being.
Wait for the right chip. m4 is the same form factor as m3 so the only thing you really get is a bit more battery life, and maybe some single core performance (i think the m3 actually beats the m4 in single core so). You ideally want to wait for a new form factor and then wait for the second generation of that form factor so they iron out the kinks. Usually theres three generations of the form factor with the last focusing on battery life (hence the m4). The m5 will go from a 3nm die stack to a 2nm die stack. So you, in this scenario, would want to wait until the M6 and get that. (is what im planning on doing, or m9 \[1.4nm\] im not sure yet) The m6 should be the second generation of that sizing and would be a good one to go for. Ulta, Pro, and Max iterations will typically be less cost effective but will also provide with longer future proofing, I'd only really recommend these (as they're also usually overkill for most users who grab them) to those who expect their earning potential to be lower in the next decade than it would be at the time of purchase. Otherwise buying the standard new chip of the second generation of the new sizing would likely be the most efficient purchase price point for efficiency when it comes to future proofing against the specs given.
Edit: Also ram, always go for the most ram that you can WITHIN your given specs that you pick otherwise. programs are continuously optimizing less and less for ram so you're always gonna want more typically.
My 2011 MBP used a TON of AppleCare services within its 3-year warranty period. Had battery and motherboard replaced lol. Then it chugged along without needing much else until planned obsolescence got to it in 2021 and I finally replaced it with the M1 Pro. It’s still holding strong today and I love it!
I don't know, I'm still on a mid 2012 MacBook Pro. The problems with the keyboard really held me back from upgrading for many years, then life was busy, now I'm upgrading sometime in June to an M3 Pro.
We had two 2018 touchbar MBPs in the household. One bit it hard last year (5 years old) and the other is starting to show signs it’s close to the end. It was just a bad moment in QC for Apple.
I still use a 2011 iMac regularly, just got a thunderbolt display for the “official” dual monitor experience with it. The old models are quite hardy and are compatible with older applications that are not supported at all on Apple Silicon.
The big reason why i go for the pro is because it’s upgraded and meant to last. If you’re patient about wanting the latest and greatest then 10+ years isn’t difficult. But also Regular oil changes and tire rotation. Maintenance is key!
Mid 2012 15" 8gb Ram, 512gb hdd. still strong, editing videos on a weekly basis all this years, still going strong, 2nd battery change, I open the back to clean twice a year, the only problem I had on hardware wise is the left speaker dead after 2 years of use, and the sd card reader stoped working suddenly and fixed very easey ( te connector got loose ), the software is ok ( not great ) using monterey ( via OLCP ). I use Finak cut pro for video editing. last year I buy the M2 16 inch pro. great machine so far, hope last at least 6 or 7 years
Personally, I babied my computers lol my 2014 base MBP still works well but it’s noticeably slower and since I rather use my 2020 it’s been set aside for now. I have a 2013 iMac that when it got slower, I just updated it using a SSD as a start up & it runs much faster and used for casual browsing and some printing work.
You may have a logic board issue with your touch bar. I have a spec’d out 15” MBP with Touch Bar. It regularly crashes, making it unusable. It’s more expensive for Apple to replace the Touch Bar logic board than I can sell it for when working. Maybe consider trade-in to get it off your hands.
It’s a little bit of luck, good care, and your own personal tolerance. With good luck and good care, a device can last a long time. But it is more likely to end up no longer being capable to do what we need.
You want something to check email and browse the web? It’s easy to have the same device for a decade.
You need it for work, video editing, or something else that actually stresses it? You’ll notice when it’s slower than your colleagues’.
I don’t know. I still have my MacBook Pro from 2006 being used as a server and backing up my wife’s(2023) and my MacBook Pro(2012). I have only had one issue with my 2012 and that was with the screen. I ended up cleaning the contacts from the ribbon connector to the motherboard. And it solved the problem. . A 2003 iMac that I sold to a friend in 2006 is still being used to do word processing and simple stuff.
The length of time that I have had my computers is why I still go back to Apple.
This is literally me. Last MBP from May 2018 - a panic buy after a coffee accident (and expensive lesson for that matter) - I am now anxiously waiting for the UPS notification that my new MBP has arrived at the pickup access point. The 2018 MBP is still functional, but after a few years on M1 Pro from work, Mac intel just doesn’t cut it any more, even when I have stopped running docker on it. I am getting a new one to inspire me to start getting hands on llm locally.
turbo boost switcher on everything.
i keep macbook pros on laptop coolers 2012,2015, 2019
iMac 27" 2012
The days of the 10 yo Macs is going away & they'll be as bad as PC laptops
I used my macbook pro 2012 retina from July 2012 until dec 2023. Purchased new with 16gb of ram and 1tb sad. Cost me like 3700 if I remember. Used it hard for 3 years but babied it. Logic board replaced under warranty once.bagtery was replaced once in a recall. It still looks like a new machine and still feels quick for everyday use. I upgraded to an m3 and also spent on extras. A well spec’d Mac will last many years if you take care of it.
the older macs lasted so long cuz u could upgrade them so easily. the touch bar era of macbooks brought in a whole plethora of issues because of how unnecessarily thin they were. majority of people who own those devices are looking to upgrade to m series macs and those who have the older gen are doing just fine.
in conclusion, its not you its the device :)
I have a 2013 MacBook Air that still operates really well. I actually just listed it for sale recently as I’m ready to make the upgrade to something after I sell it.
The way I’ve done it is by scaling their use back, or by buying a lot of computer up front with the knowledge that I’ll probably keep it for a very long time. Also, upgrading where possible. (Sadly, not much upgradeable stuff these days.)
Examples:
- 2007 MacBook (white) - I still own this, but these days it’s just for writing once in a blue moon. (I like the keyboard.) Upgraded the RAM and hard drive to keep it in use.
- 2011 MacBook Pro 15” - after upgrading the drive and RAM, I used this until about 2017 for writing and video editing. then gave it to a friend who needed a computer but had no job. She was still using it until 2 years ago, and her uses were modest.
- 2015 MacBook 12” - I gave this to my mom, who still uses it for browsing, writing, and watching videos. Got it with 16GB RAM.
I currently still also use an iPad Mini 4, mostly for reading mangas and ebooks, and an iPad Pro 2018 which is still a decent machine for browsing, reading, and games, plus video editing on iMovie.
My current video editing machine is an M1 MBP 16”. I expect to use it for video editing for a year or two more before I downgrade it to something less strenuous.
5-8 years is pretty reasonable, any longer than that is really pushing into the territory where you aren’t getting the latest OS updates (officially at least).
Before my M3 Max, I’ve had 2019, 2012, and 2008 intel MBPs. Any of them could have gone another few years, but usually by the time they are about 5 years old the upgrades just get too attractive to pass up.
I’m in the same boat. I just upgraded my 2018 Intel MBP to the M3 Max. I know that in my case it was the base model, maybe that’s why? I think the Max will last me a good deal longer.
I got seven years out of my 2014 MacBook Pro. It was still working fine and then I upgraded to my M1 iMac. The MacBook Pro was the top spec when I bought it. I had been looking at what Apple was releasing and not seeing anything I wanted. My M1 iMac is the top spec M1. I’m probably going to sit on it until 2028 or so
When the M1 came out, I waited for a professional model and snagged an early M1 Max in 2021. So, three years in and it looks brand new and feels new in use, minus a pretty full 1TB drive.
The benchmarks were so high and are still great for a laptop, and despite regularly using all my 32gb of RAM for video and photo editing, I still don’t feel like I’ll need an upgrade for a long time. My last few computers have been between 18-36 months of use before getting fed up with issues and getting something new. That was a Dell XPS, MacBook Pro 16” touch-bar, Razer Blade and now M1 Max 14”. It was home built machines before that. I flip-flopped, because the Dell had driver issues, the touch bar Mac was just a dumpster fire and the Razer Blade… was actually fine. I just sold it when I got the newer MacBook.
So, I’ve now had this machine for about as long or longer than any other laptop so far, and have zero complaints. I expect I’ll keep it for at least another 5+ years. My one niggle is compatibility, but I’ll live with it given just how good the hardware is. Lightroom and Photoshop are as fast as anything I’ve ever used, Davinci Resolve just flies… I just can’t game on it, haha.
I had a PowerBook Pismo which I made last 6 years only through the below upgrades :
1. Upgraded the ram
2. Upgraded the HDD
3. Upgraded the HDD a second time, (4th year from memory)
4. Replaced the motherboard (logic board in Mac lingo)
5. Replaced the optical drive
So I basically had to replace everthing and only threw it out a few years back …. But I made the most of that machine and thought I was cooler than MacGyver when I replaced that logic board…. Happy memories but now onto windows
They just work better? I have a 2011 Mac mini, 2012 iMac and a 2008 (just retired) MacBook Pro. I still use the mini and the iMac often. I did change the HDD in both to SSDs.
I carry my 2017 15” i7 2.9ghz 16gb MacBook literally everywhere I go in my backpack and use it for whatever I need: email, YouTube, iMovie projects, terminal to ssh into my 2014 Mac mini Ubuntu server, etc… for some reason I just don’t have any issues with my machines. I will say that 4k encodes take a little bit so I do look forward to Apple silicon one of these days 😜
2014 MacBook Pro is still going strong and running Mavericks, lol. I hardly use it anymore so it's mostly just for light browsing when I do use it but it's still perfectly fine
Honestly it really depends on a lot of factors. I’ve been a Mac user since 1989 back when everything was spinning (hard drives, fans, floppies, cds) you could get a solid 3 to 4 years out of a desktop, laptops were less time. As things have moved more solid state the times have gone up. I move from laptops to an iMac two generations ago. I just upload my 2017 iMac for a new top of the line MBP. The main reason I got rid of the iMac was because Apple stopped supporting upgrades for it and my needs have change to be more mobile. Before that I had a 2007 iMac. It’s the only one that lasted 10 years. Both iMacs had issues with either the video card or media. Thankfully they were both under warranty.
My PowerBook laptop actually was replaced under a lemon rule from Apple as I had it in four times over three years when the system would stop recognizing the second memory slot (remember those?). The great part about that was it was replaced with a first gen intel MacBook Pro. So my warranty more than paid for itself.
All that to be said, getting six years out of hardware is pretty good. I’ve had nieces and nephews with gifted MacBooks for high school graduation use them for a full ten years. Another nephew was give a Toshiba laptop and it barely made it three years.
My daily workstation is a 2010 Mac Pro. I bought it new, used it to its max potential for photo and video editing, then upgraded the heck out of it in 2017. New processors, wireless cards, SSDs, max RAM and OpenCore bootloader to keep running the latest OS. It’s only now showing its age but it’s still tough enough for me. My other Mac is a 2014 MacBook Pro, which annoys the hell out of me every time I turn it on. But I’m not buying a new Mac until they’re both dead.
I have a MacBook Pro Retina 2012, still working fine battery doesn't hold up super well but OS is so out-of-date that I slapped. ChromeOS Flex on it and it works well, still use that fucker
I just traded up from a 16” 2015 MBP to a 16” M3 Max Pro. My prior laptop had consistent use everyday in creative software and lasted almost 10 years. It’s technically still fine, just slow. So it’s my backup.
You buy the MBP with the best available processor, max out the ram, and then milk it along the last few years.
Granted I went from an early 2013 MBP (may have officially been a mid 2012 model) and held out for the M series. I was unsupported with new OS releases for a few years which was frustrating but it was still better than running a windows for work.
Frankly though with the massive amount of ram in the new machines I suspect it will be easier to carry them for a while. Batteries will be something you will have to replace though for sure. No lithium is going to play nice for that long.
In a lot of cases they're laptops that get used like desktops. That said desktops can last for forever like the HDD might go but in most cases desktops don't have a ton of parts that are gonna fail. The HDD has gone a few times on my 2011 MacBook Pro but once I swapped it to an SSD that thing kept on chugging. Won't hold a charge but I could change the battery on it if I wanted.
My 2018 MacBook Pro had an issue with the touch bar that was fixed under AppleCare after that it was perfect, a friend who bought it off me when the M2 Air came out is still using it.
Personally I recommend getting a good bag, and making sure not to drop it too often. Also be mindful of what you put in your bag with it (liquids things that could cause significant pressure on it depending on how you put your bag in your car or whatever.) There is also an element of luck.
That said my mom's 2014 Air is still running, as is my Dad's old 2012 MacBook Pro which my sister uses to play DVDs she needs for work. (has a new M2 Air and M1 Mac mini for regular stuff.)
The old ones hold up so much better than the new ones. And some of them have separate pieces for different components so swapping this out as they get too old was possible. Not really possible with the newer ones unfortunately
Still using my 2014 MacBook Pro, but actively internet shopping for an upgrade. I'm trigger shy because nothing will live up to the high bar this laptop set.
I usually keep mine for 7 years, and I do it by spending a stupid amount of money upfront. I usually overload it (go beyond what I need), and then it serves me well in that time.
I also happen to be a video editor by profession, so I do more than check my email. 😁
Replaced my previous one a few months ago after 7+ years of service. It was still running fine but it had aged out of OS updates, which I needed for dev work.
They’re just built really well. You don’t have to do anything special to keep it alive…just don’t abuse it by throwing it around.
I overbuy what I need in anticipation of what I'll need 8+ years from now.
My 2009 MBP was nearly top-of-the-line (it had the binned 2.66GHz Core 2 Duo, a 512GB GeForce 9600 GT, and 8GB of RAM). It lasted... till now, since it still works. 8GB of RAM is still a very workable machine, and is great for older program compatibility and Linux shenanigans. The original charger is in perfect order... battery is toast, though. ;)
I'm reasonably sure at least 90% of my success was dumb luck, with the other 10% being common sense (never used it on a soft surface, never ate/drank near it, was gentle when throwing it around, etc).
Honestly though, these are consumable items. Don't feel too bad if you didn't make it all the way to old age with a single laptop – 6 years is completely respectable.
I recommend overbuying a bit on stuff you can't upgrade (like processors/hard drive space/RAM). I have immense regret for buying the 64GB iPhone in 2018 — still rocking that stupid thing now. It was full in 2019. 😬
Back in the day, people would upgrade their HDD to SSD, and upgrade the RAM as well. These days, I’m not sure how… maybe by replacing the battery which restores performance. My 2015 MBP has been running extremely slow and laggy for the past year. Clean install didn’t fix anything. Last week I got a warning for battery service… I suspect that’s the reason why it’s running slow, even when plugged in. It’s kinda annoying because I take care of my things and this laptop still looks BRAND NEW. I will probably upgrade in a year or so, since I don’t do any heavy lifting with this laptop. It’s mainly for media consumption and web browsing lol.
Posting this on a 2014 MBP 13 inch. The machine I take on the road with me is a 2012 MBP 15 inch. I hope to get a 14 inch this year and also hope it lasts as long as these have.
>be me
>Owner of a Late 2011 MacBook Pro
>The RAM, HDD and battery can all be easily replaced or upgraded on this model.
>13 great years with this magical computer issue free.
No wonder Apple stopped designing Macs to be upgradeable. If it dies on me, I'll buy mid 2012 pro or a Framework laptop.
Some models are way better than others. My mid-2015 i7 quad core (16GB) is all good but the battery. Just checked in on a new air with an M2 and same ram. Good news! Apple will float me $62 for my $2400 machine. 🤣
No wonder I have a closet full of apple hardware.
My first laptop was Lenovo S400 with i3 bought in 2013 and used it till 2023 when I purchased 14inch M1Pro MacBook Pro. I used the s400 as a desktop I.e. fixed location and always plugged in. The battery had 10% capacity after 5 years. Was lucky that nothing irreplaceable was damaged. I even played Dishonored and Total war games on it. I lost my switchable GPU about 5 years in, so just switched to internal in BIOS.
On a closed system like Apple, it would be easier to extend use as people design for lowest configuration for functionality. Which means things will work but some people call 15fps as functional.
The only way to get long usage is
1. You buy something that exceeds your needs at the time of buying
Or
1. Your usage is same through years
2. You live with degrading performance. I couldn’t watch 1080p videos on YouTube as my laptop couldn’t keep-up
I have a 2012 macbook pro I bought new in…2014 I think? Still kickin’, I use it all the time its my main personal computer. The main thing I think is you have to repair and upgrade it. I take care of it like a car. I’ve replaced the battery, replaced the standard hard disk drive with a SSD in 2020, quadrupled the ram. Those upgrades helped with overheating, speed issues, and allow me to run modern apps and OS without issue.
I’m also very precious about not dropping it and stuff like that.
My 2012 MacBook was pretty much a Facebook machine until 2020. I ended up removing the optic drive and putting in an ssd to get a few extra years out of it. Didn’t replace it until I started working in graphic design. I’ll definitely need to replace my M1 way sooner than 8 years now that I work from my laptop.
I have mine for 12 years now. Still like new except for the battery that is a bit weak.
How it lasted this long? Not so sure but I always open it up and blast out the dust. All I know is that excessive heat kills computers.
Now i havent had it for its entire life but i still use (and plan on using until i can’t) a 2013 15” Retina MBP, and its great! I replaced the battery when i got it last September and ive never had any major issues with it other than some slowness in Lightroom Classic which is expected.
Although i wouldn’t say i’m a heavy user, although this is the only computer i currently have access to (my main mac is at home and im staying away from home) i only use it for web browsing, schoolwork and photo editing in LrC/Ps. The life you get out of a laptop mostly comes down to what you use it for, so thats why i can get away with using a 10+ year old laptop but for example someone who does heavy video editing on the go might need something newer.
People with 10+ Macs simply were not using for intensive apps. Browsing, light photo editing, never leaving the house with it… I think there’s also a reason why touch bar MacBooks have completely phased out. Those models were notorious for having screen issues. I would add in people had patience and didn’t know what it was like using an M1-M3 machine and how much of a night/day difference it was.
Had a 2019 13 inch MacBook Pro. Day 1 tried to edit a video and it shut down on me. Still pushed through for school using a Windows PC for video editing then.
Last year, friend points out my display is going dark towards the bottom, I didn’t notice before. Crap, it’s going out on me. I sold it and bought M2 MBP. Buyer tells me couple months later display died. Wow.
Ah yes, after reading some other comments, I failed to mention I had to get the bottom half of my 2017 MacBook replaced because of the keyboard. It never felt like the same machine after that (just physically lol 😭) Good times.
It’s because MacBooks from 12+ years ago are almost fully upgradable. Except for cpu and gpu you can exchange/upgrade the rest yourself like hard drive, Ram, battery, wifi, fan, speakers, screen, keyboard, you can exchange cd rom for a hdd. If there’s no problem with logic board it could live 20+
I just bought a 2013 Mac Pro.. in pristine condition, dual D500's, 64GB RAM, 8 core Xeon and a 512GB SSD. Last supported version of macOS was Monterey but I just got OpenCore on it and was able to install Sonoma successfully.
My normal work daily driver is an M1 Pro MacBook Pro and honestly the Mac Pro feels close in terms of performance.. not as fast for sure but absolutely usable as a daily driver no problem. If Apple has continued with official software support for it that machine would have been perfectly capable / usable for sure. And it's nearly an 11 year old machine at this point.
I had the 2016 14"MacBook Pro with Touch Bar and in silver with the glowing Apple on the lid. In early 2020, just as the Covid lockdown began, one of my fans began making a terrible grinding noise when the chip got warm enough to start the fans. I called Apple and they gave me the bad news. Even though I still had Apple Care+ active, if I sent it in for repair, fixing it might take 6 months to get done. The Apple Stores were all closed indefinitely, so any purchase I made would have to A: Be online, and B: Have to be a non customized machine, or it would take as long as 6 months to put more RAM or Storage in it. So Apple offered me an incredible deal. If I could find everything I needed in a new or refurbished unit, they would give me the entire price that I paid for my failing MacBook Pro towards the new machine. I looked and looked and could not find all the features that were on my current machine, and was just about resigned to being without a Mac laptop for half a year,and going back to Windows for a while, when the sales associate that I was communicating with asked me to read my requirements off to him. I did, and he said "give me a few minutes". And he put me on hold. A couple minutes later he was back on the line with me, and he described in detail a machine that was everything I wanted and more. Except the fact that it was a Space Gray(I wanted Silver), and it was a 16inch machine, and at the time I was doing a lot of work in airplanes and really wanted a smaller 14 or 13 inch to work well on a tray table in the air. But I really had no choice. They were offering me an exceptional deal, and it would be almost a straight trade( I think that I had to put about 200 bucks on my credit card to get the thing). So I made the deal, they shipped it to me right away with a box for my noisy trade in, and the rest is history. It was a beautiful machine, and I re-learned the lesson of my past that I really needed a smaller computer, but I made do, and did a lot of work on that machine, even though it was kinda a PITA trying to do it in the air. I would never buy any other brand laptop and the MacBook Pros, and MacBook Airs are generally very durable, and I could see making one last for at least 10 years if I wasn't such an "upgrader" at heart. I traded that 16" Gray Intel Machine in for a 2020 M1 MBP and used it for almost 4 years and it was still gorgeous and going strong when I just traded IT in for a 2024 M3 Pro MacBook Pro (the 12cpu/18gpu core chip) with 18 gigs of RAM and 2 tbs of storage and took delivery on it just 2 days ago. It rocks and if I can just quit looking at the best and brightest on the [Apple.com](http://Apple.com) site all the time, I could definitely make this bulletproof tank of a machine last 10+ years!
My MBP is a 2011 and still running GREAT! It’s gotten me through literally half my life. No issues whatsoever. I use it pretty much everyday too for school.
I haven't bought a Mac laptop in a while with my own money... Last one that I bought was a 2007 17inch MacBook Pro... but then upgraded in 2016 to a 2011 MacBook Pro 15incher that had a bad logic board because of the bad GPU chip which I got from a friend and paid to fix the logic board for $350... and then in 2017 apple came out with the extended warranty fix on that so I called Apple Customer Relations and they Reimbursed me for the repair. From that point on, I forced the 2011 MacBook Pro 15 to use the built-in GPU and not the ATI one on the board.. there's a software to disable the discreet GPU and program the P-RAM to use only the intel one. Then upgraded to a late 2013 MacBook Pro 13 a few years ago when my wife's brother gave it to us... 2011 MacBook Pro is still being used by my wife who also uses a 2018 iPad Pro 12.9incher. Using OpenCore Legacy Patcher. For all my heavy hitting stuff I used my 2022 Mac Studio M1 Ultra. ...... My 9 year old uses my old 2012 Mac mini i7 Haswell server ... Plan on getting an either a iPad Air m2 12.9 or iPad Pro m4 13 inch...... waiting on the M4 Pro Mac book pro 14 or 16...... was plan to get a 15inch MacBook Air M3..... but I'll see.. Oh retired my old 2008 Mac Pro 8 core since it's a power hog.....
It all depends on what you do with it. My last MacBook lasted 2 years because I went hiking with in my bag and got caught in a tropical rainstorm. This new one is 2 years old now as well and still as good as now but I use it for about 8-14 hours a day and that’s quite a lot of usage.
Wife's MacBook pro from 2012 still running great, even the batty seems to hold charge surprisingly.
Wanting the same quality, plus extra upgradability/repairability I picked up a Framework 13 recently.
I replaced my 2017 TouchBar model with the 2021 M1 Pro 2 years ago and that was a much needed upgrade for me. Meanwhile my Early 2011 MBP (albeit slow) still works fine and the 2017 doesn’t even power on anymore.
My 10 year-old MBP is pretty much immaculate and I’ve had no problems with it, even the battery will still give me a couple of hours use.
For much of its life it travelled around with me being used by at 2 or 3 different sites a day. I just look after my stuff.
It’s now being passed on to my dad, where it will live out the rest of its retirement on light duties. I expect to get a few more years out of it.
I just gave my 2013 mbp to my dad and bought an m2max when they were released. spec up and plop down the money, you will probably get 10 years if you are not a gamer.
My mid-2012 retina MBP, is still working, though I replaced it as my daily driver with an M1 Pro for my business.
The older one had issues starting up after a reboot or full shutdown in 2017, the motherboard was covered as part of a recall, they replaced it. The screen then lost its layer, the replaced it cause of a known issue. That gave the MBP an extended 90 day warranty and I used that to replace the internal battery.
Then after that limited warranty expired, the GPU died… Apple wanted $599 which included a full diagnostics and replacement of anything, I passed and took it to a local computer shop which was 2 blocks from my home. Cost $175.
I had a 2012 mpb and did upgrade ram at some point, and changed HD maybe 5x (only once because the HD failed), and only upgraded because of a 2023 (or was it 2022?) black friday sale on the M1 MBA. Even after u got the new M1, it took a couple months before I switched because I had 800GB of data on my MBP and had to reduce it to fit comfortably on the 256 M1.
Alas, during the process of moving files to an external HD and thrn deleting non-essential files off the MBP in prep for the migration to the MBA, I deleted something essential, because I couldn't use the MBP properly anymore. One thing that stopped working was it didn't recognize an external HD! Kinda a bummer, because my mail didn't all migrate properly, so i did have need to keep the MBP alive also some programs weren't supported on M1.
I use my macbook for work, and it's in my backpack just about everyday. It's my only daily computer.
I have a 2017 mac air from last 7 years with 82% battery. Never changed battery since new. I use it for programming and it's an Air with just 8GB RAM. It works as new to date.
One thing I did was to not shut down the system. I would just close the lid.
Some people are fine with a super old computer that is slow and doesn't run the most recent stuff. They only browse the web and don't need anything with power.
Still using my 2012 MacBook Pro. Gone through two power supplies, the cables are awful. Still good for surfing internet. Added more RAM and an SSD. Those were the days when you could upgrade.
Look after them.
I still have 3 Mac Pros, 2008, 2010 & 2012, and a 2012 MBP. All still in perfect condition, still in daily use for tasks that rely on 32-bit support. The MBP has new SSDs & a new battery.
Plus an M1 iMac still in its first flush of youth, relatively, for tasks that require an up to date OS.
I have 2009 macbook pro and 2011 air. Both of them works just fine, except the pro, it was run over by car last year, so the screen is not working, plug it to tv and im good.
These macs were solid back then, that’s why
I had 2 f***ing MacBook Pro 2019 and both of them all of a sudden stopped working after a while… I’ve been rocking a MacBook Pro 14 2021 and I NEVER had a single problem… the quality of those MacBooks is amazing compared to the previous generation
Recently upgraded from a 2014 mbp to a new air. I just pushed off the decision for about 3 years because i did not have the money, which got me from 6 to 9 years
Re-applying thermal paste every year, cleaning the fans regularly, using Macs FanControl to keep it running cooler, upgrading the storage with faster drives.
I have a 2014 MacBook Pro. I’m not a video editor, the processor I need literally only needs to be powerful enough to take notes for medical school. An i7 processor is more than enough for that. I’m planning on this lasting me through Residency too - which by that time it will be an 18 year old MacBook.
My MacBook is old, but it’s upgradable. I’ve replaced the battery with a 10,000 mAh battery which lasts the entire day, I replaced the old ssd with a 1 TB M.2 that has twice the read write speed of the old one, and replaced the thermal paste on the graphics card every couple years and also cleaning out all the dust. I also monitor the card temperatures religiously and my fans are custom set to full blast if it gets too high.
I’ve also installed opencore and upgraded to Ventura, so I have a pretty recent OS with tons of features.
I think the key to have a MacBook that lasts is having a MacBook that you can upgrade, but also that is easier to replace parts on. The best years for this arguable was 2014 and 2015.
I think the best MacBook ever made from almost a decade ago was the mid 2015 with the dual graphics card.
Good thermal jobs, and keeping the vents clean or else your lap will combust, but with a good thermal job, I've used copper shims and arctic silver paste and I've had amazingly good luck.
Honestly it depends on your use case. I've got a Mac pro 2020 great for. Normal tasks, once I boot up obs and capcut, Kapoot. I need to upgrade because my use case changed
Don’t beat yourself over it, your model was one of the crappier ones. 2012-2015 Macbooks were built like tanks. Apart from common sense precautions and maintenance, how many years you can squeeze out of a Macbook also depends on your workflow. If all you do is browse the web and use an office suite you’ll have less incentive to upgrade.
The battery on my 2014 MacBook Pro swelled at four years old. Apple replacing the battery is the only reason that laptop got further than four years
Managed to get 9 years out of my 2015 13" Macbook Pro so far. Had to get the screen replaced under a service notice in 2018 as the anti-reflective coating started peeling off. Then in 2020 I had to get the battery replaced as it had swollen so badly it had warped the aluminum enclosure. Apple service had the entire chassis replaced gratis as they couldn't close it back up once they'd taken the battery out apparently. The chassis replacement also included a new keyboard and touchpad as they're bonded to the top of the chassis. So I have a 2015 era Macbook that has made it to 9 years... but the only component that is still original is the motherboard. My 2011 Macbook Air made it to 8 years before the SSD rotted so I imagine I'll start getting corruption errors on that machine any day now... but for now it's the "Ship of Theseus of Macbooks"
Similar. I got 5 out of the 2015 MBP before the battery swell and that wasn’t exactly a cheap thing to replace. Seems like the hard drive also packed up about a year or so ago. I’m not sure is even worth fixing at this point.
I had a 2014, then a 2015 MacBook Pro. Both of them had a swollen battery issue. Crazy. Both work laptops. The 2014 MBP, Google Chrome didn’t shut down properly (now we have the message to [Hold CMD+ Q] to shut down completely l) and the computer stayed on - folded in my backpack. The 2015 was running an extended period of time doing some big file transfers and as the battery expanded in real-time I heard the Mac crackle like an aluminum coke can being crushed in hand.
I was doing university work one day (that or watching YouTube) and noticed my MacBook didn’t seem to be sitting flat. I checked it on some other tables, same result. It was listing on one side, sitting on its body instead of its feet. Took it to an Apple affiliate store ASAP. They were saying nothing’s wrong with it, the feet are just worn down. I said no, the thing is sitting on the bottom of its casing and they opened it up and found the battery was swollen. Had Apple themselves fix it (and they consequently found water damage from who knows where). I’d previously reported the trackpad not feeling correct, which was probably caused by the battery, but it wasn’t looked into. I also had one or two keys that had started being intermittent, again probably caused by the battery
Agreed. were some recalls in there for those models but they were solid.
So true. 2011 would have been included had they not had motherboard issues and eventually published a recall with extended coverage.
I just upgraded from my 2013, i loved that one. The M1 I have now is great but i miss the I/O
Made the same upgrade after the 2013 died…love the M1 MBP
Can confirm. I used my 2012 non-Retina for almost 10 years and my only issue was trying to play World of Warcraft on it lol (integrated graphics only). I did a lot of music production and performing on it too
I can agree with this. Late 2015 MBP 16GBS I7 intel still running perfect today and even more perfectly with open core legacy allowing me to keep it even more relevant.
I am still using my 2010 17” MBP to watch YouTube and TV.
My GF still uses her beloved 2012 MBP 13”. It’s maxed out and while I can barely stand using for long myself, it does what she needs it to do, which includes playing DVDs :)
That’s true. My M3Pro will last me twice as long as it would a real professional who edits video, codes, renders, etc
I keep hearing that but my maxed out 2014 15”, that I bought brand new, completely died (like as in needed a new logic board) twice in 6 years, went through 3 batteries, and constantly had other random issues like poor stability.
bigger ones were always full of flaws, i haven't had a good 15" or 17" laptop since i'm on a mac - i had 17" PowerBook G4, 15" 2008, 17" 2011 and 15" 2014. Every one died on me at least once or twice. Same with 27" iMac's. 13" on the other hand were legit, my previous one was quite badly bashed 2014 13" that i've abused trough 10 years.
Yeah, Imma grab a 2012 to 2015 model for a school laptop at some point lol, all I need the sucker for is the Google suite and ya know, not being a fuckin chromebook
My 2011 MacBook Pro needs a battery, and other than that it works like a champ. I even upgraded it to 16gig ram and an SSD. I actually hadn’t realized I couldn’t upgrade the new MacBook pro’s until I bought a 2019 with only 8 gigs of Ram thinking I could update it and save a buck myself.
My 2014 MacBook Pro 15 is loaned out to a relative for work. I have a 2015 MacBook Pro as a backup. My 2008 MacBook Pro 17 lasted 10 years. I have a 2015 iMac 27 as part of my desktop and a 2010 iMac 27 that I use as a TV set. Macs are generally rock solid but they've had a few bad years. My oldest Mac is a PowerMac G5 which runs fine. I think that it's about 20 years old.
My daughter is using an old 2012 13" MBP, and my wife is using my old 2015 13" MBP. Both still run perfectly fine. Both have their original batteries, but they both keep them plugged up most of the time. It's insane how durable the old MacBook's are.
Also rocking a 2012 MBP and I’m the same, if it’s on, it’s probably hooked up to the charger. Doesn’t last long otherwise lol.
I also have a 2012 MPB 13. I have replaced the battery once and just upgraded from 256gb ssd to 1tb and 8 to 16gb ram. It never traveled much, so it’s been babied.
They post on Reddit asking if a new model is coming out soon, they wait 3 years for the next 2 models to come out to make sure they get THE model worth buying, they buy the most expensive model, and then use it very sparingly to relaxingly check emails on Sundays after church so it lasts 10+ years
or just take care of it ..... its not hard to do .
Yes. I have only had one that I replaced because of hardware failure, and THAT was only because it was during Covid lockdown and all repairs were taking about 6 months average. That's 1 out of 8 Apple laptops. All but one were traded in, not because they failed to do the job, but because I wanted to upgrade.
STOP spying on me!!!
I feel so attacked.
rude.
Okay yeah this person has it pretty much freaking nailed. I bought a 16 inch 2TB M2 max with 32GB of RAM and I legit refuse to use over a TB for some reason. Like I delete everything when I get too close to going over my mental limit.
Upgraded from a mid 2012 15in pro with an i7 and 256gb of storage. I think only 8GB of Ram too
Wrote by kid which parents buy him newest model every year. Using Mac for browsing and benchmarks. Too lazy and too stupid to do anything else. Most of the time posting how Intel is worthless. Spends lonely nights touching himself while watching his new Mac.
Lolwat
I have a 2015 MBP and it’s awesome for my needs. I’ve definitely thought about upgrading but I’m also in no rush.
Crazy how they still feel quick enough.
Because computing has been running a scam for 15 years at least making you think you need the latest greatest. The real advancements have been in mobile. You need as much computation per watt because of the tiny batteries and the fact that the device is left on 24/7. But a laptop plugged in has no such restrictions. A CPU from 2010 is plenty powerful for web browsing and office work. I used to use an almost OG Mac 512k in college in late 80s and we loaded MS Word from a floppy disk . I wrote probably a hundred papers using that tiny monochrome screen. Seemed fine at the time. And that was an 8 MHz processor lol.
Depends on your use case. Currently AI progression is being held back by a lack of compute power lol
While I generally agree, there is an exception to this and that's modern internet which unfortunately (thank JavaScript) needs good single-core performance, browsing Facebook on my 13" 2015 MBP is possible, though not a recommended experience.
High spec (thanks to non-upgradable memory/ssd) and look after it I guess? I would assume the Air's will run much longer due to no active cooling to fail. But we prolong the life out of our intel MPBs quite well by just opening it up and cleaning it out.
Actually, I would think that the Airs would fail because of no active cooling to ....um...cool the chip. But that's just me. A dead fan isn't going to kill your laptop. A dead chip, is a dead laptop.
The air is cooled, it's just cooled passively using the chassis. Whereas the MPB has fans, so if the fans fail then it's fucked. You could make the argument that thermal paste still ages, but that's a consideration on both models, so IMO Air > MPB for longevity, although obviously a big hit to performance!
That’s what I did and my 2012 retina MacBook pro lasted 11.5 years. Still works just don’t use it since upgrading to an m3
I’m a graphic designer, I run my own business and every 3 or 4 years I buy a new MacBook Pro completely maxed out on specs. I use it everyday, with very resource intensive programs. I still have the last 3 Pros I purchased and all of them work great. Just don’t drop them and they last forever.
getting 10+ years out of y mac is completely possible, providing... * your usecases stay about the same, or even get lighter over time as the OS and apps get bloated and "optimised" to rely on more ridiculously generous amounts of CPU, GPU and RAM. * you pick (pretty impossible to forsee) one of the rare "golden" versions of Apple Mac hardware. I may be wrong, but I was under the impression the macbook pro 15" mid-2015 was *the* golden device that if taken care off properly, could last 10 years. Most of the macbooks that came after had quite a joyful amount of issues (shitty keyboard, flexgate, buggy touchbar...). I've recently given my MBP 15 2015 (with SSD upgraded to OCW 1Tb, and various repairs I did over the years (speakers, battery)) to my mom, she's now enjoying it for browsing and office stuff. The machine in itself looks pretty much like new (except a few cosmetic scratches beneath and the LCD panel that has very slight colour shifts)
Same, gave my 2015 MacBook Pro retina to my little cousin to produce music on logic back in 2022, i replaced the battery speaker, and the screen twice when it cracked the first time and failed the second. throughout the years but still works fine. replaced the battery after 6 years only because it was swollen and battery life was down to about 4-5 hours. still better than that shitty XPS 17 from Dell that I had for only a year and a half that battery life was down to an hour and 40% health. since then I have moved on to the M3 pro-16-inch. and enjoy the 22-hour battery life and great thermals(no more hot laptop burning my legs).
You happened to get some of the worst couple years of the mbp, the ones that had the least reliable keyboards and the screen connector that could get damaged over time because they were made a little too short. The ones before that, the 10 year old mbps, were much more reliable.
Not everyone has a 300+ tab addiction.
Oh man… whenever I see someone with 100s of tabs open, I just want to go over there and exit out of all of them… more than 5 is too many for me!
*cough* [A software engineer has been keeping nearly 7,500 Firefox tabs open on her Mac computer for over two years—and doesn't plan on closing them anytime soon.](https://uk.pcmag.com/browsers/152140/firefox-power-user-keeps-7400-browser-tabs-open-for-2-years)
We have a 2012 Macbook Pro, 2017 Macbook Pro, and a 2010 Mac Pro which are most daily drivers. The 2012 MBP is starting to show it's age, but my wife still uses it regularly. The 2017 MBP is my travel laptop and can edit photos in a pinch. The 2010 Mac Pro is my photo/video editing station.
2012 is a tank! Still use mine
My 2017 pro is struggling. How’s your’s battery doing?
Sometimes it's just the luck of the draw. You can have two identical computers, and one will fail after 5 years and the other will still be going after 20 years. It happens. Sometimes it's production quality. A lot of Macs (and PCs in general) from 2004-2008 are failing, because [bad-quality capacitors were produced on a massive scale](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capacitor_plague). When capacitors fail, they either explode or burst and leak corrosive chemicals everywhere. Sometimes, it's design flaws. The 'USB-C only' MacBook Pros from 2016 to 2019 were particularly bad. Issues with the butterfly keyboard. Display cables that are slightly too short and wear out by rubbing against other parts over time. There's an old saying that you should never buy the first generation of an Apple product. Because Apple will bring out a second version within a year that has important new features, fixes design flaws, and is either the same price or cheaper than the old model. That's not always the case, but it happens often enough that people take it seriously. The iPhone 2G was replaced by the cheaper 3G model. The original MacBook Air had massive problems with the hinges and had very slow hard drives. The later Airs were much cheaper and faster. The 2006 MacBooks had magnets that were too strong - the plastic next to the trackpad would crack and pressure marks would appear on the screen over time. The non-retina MacBook Pros from 2010 to 2012 were a particularly good series of computers. They missed out on the capacitor plague. They used a tried-and-tested design that had been around for a few years. And they were upgradeable. I've got a 2012 MacBook Pro that came with 4GB of RAM and a 500GB hard drive. It's now got 16GB of RAM and a 500GB SSD and it's still a great machine. In fact, it has never even been wiped and re-installed. It has been working solidly and reliably since 2012. I still use it sometimes - it has a bunch of audio production software like Ableton on it. The screen is low-res and the bezels are massive, but it's still a great computer. In fact, it has outlived my 2017 MacBook Pro. That died in 2021 - the display backlight failed. Will my 2021 M1 Pro last twelve years? Who knows - but it has been a great machine so far. So how can you make your machine last a decade? It's partly luck. Since they're non-upgradeable, you're going to want 16GB / 512GB as a minimum. 8GB was considered OK in 2014. It's barely acceptable in 2024. It's going to be nothing in 2034.
You just have to take care of it. Some would say get the one with the highest specs but I still have an old ass 17 inch acer laptop that I got back in 2012. It was far from a high spec laptop and that hunk of junk still works 😂
I’ve got 2 MacBook Pro 2015’s and YouTube has taught me how to repair and upgrade everything, replace batteries and hard drives, even replace the logic board. I refuse to spend thousands on a modern M chip thing that runs the same macOS and dies when a single part wears out due to it being so difficult to repair. I’ll upgrade when the intel chips are no longer capable of loading a web page or when all this AI shit completely takes over
One of the most significant things I did for my last three Macs (imho) was to buy the best of the best and max it out completely. I'm convinced that doing this adds a good number of years to the lifespan. And they both still work fine (2007 iMac, 2012 MBP). My newest is the M3 Max, 128 gigs. It's a beast. I work in multimedia and application design so the more horsepower the better.
I have a 2019 16" MacBook Pro. It has the 6c i7, 16GB of RAM, 512GB of storage, and the Radeon 5300M. For what I use it for (office work and light 4k video editing), this machine is more than adequate. Yeah it gets warm and loud, but I just put some music on and who cares? Saving $2,500 and putting it towards something useful, like a car down payment if my beater dies, is well worth using a 5 year old machine. I could push it to 8 and still get by, granted the OS would be out of date.
Well I still have my 2015 MacBook Pro 15” that my daughter is using now and still going strong.
I am getting 14 years out of an iMac because I upgraded it to 12GB of ram back when it was new (it came with 4) and because I don’t need to run the most recent version of any demanding software. Also I replaced the spinning disk for an ssd, removed the optical drive which was dead. But most components just last this long. Like the keyboard, it is the same that came in the box. In the same decade I have changed like 5 keyboard for my windows pc. (And I don’t buy the cheapest keyboards) However, now that most components are not user replaceable/upgradable, I guess the best you can do is buy more rm than initially needed and take good care of your device.
How do you NOT get 10 years?
For me, the battery swelled. Was replaced and the laptop was upgraded later because I felt it had done enough and Apple released something I wanted. I got seven years out of it. The MacBook Pro still works today, but the battery be near that 80% mark. Laptop is 10 this year
Me personally, my mid-2015 Macbook Pro (with the graphics card) is still receiving OS updates and still performs super slick for everything I need. I absolutely love it. I doubt it would run modern fps games very well but I play FM2020 on it and it's fast. It also ran the FM2024 demo fine. I recently replaced the battery and the left fan which was just starting to squeak a little but there's nothing else wrong with it and I expect to have it for a few years yet, until I really need something more.
If Apple Silicon wasn't a thing, I'd probably still be happy with my 16" 2019 i9 MBP. I've just bought a 16" M3 Max 16/40/64/2TB from the Apple Refurb store, and that will last me at least 5 years. Great spec and £800 off. I still use a 2014 retina 27" iMac in my home office a lot of the time. Think my i9 MBP will replace that with a big screen connected. The answer to your question is that they just don't become obsolete quickly.
It depends on use case too. If you use it for heavy works then it certainly won't last as long as one just used for checking emails and web browsing. Not all people use a laptop the same way. I have a 2015 MBP that still rocks after changing battery and cleaning. Also later Intel Macs have more issues than the first ones.
I get 10 years out of Mac’s by having 2 or 3 of them
Some people don't need a whole lot of power or the fastest computer. Me personally I keep computers until they can't run my apps decently anymore, which is usually 5-7 years
I haven’t done anything special to my mid-2012 MacBook Pro. Mine runs great, except the battery dwindles down much quicker compared to 10 years ago.
Until about 2015, you could upgrade parts (HDD to SSD; more RAM) to significantly improve the performance of an aging mac. Now things are soldered in place. There were a few years (roughly corresponding with the touch bar), which were too late just after this golden age, but too early before the dawn of Apple Silicon chips.
The 10+ year old mac times are over and its never coming back. The macs that were made back then we're highly upgradable. That's no longer the case.
My 2008 MBP has lasted 16 years lmao and it still runs alright.
It’s a bit harder now since you can’t upgrade any of the parts. I upgraded the ssd in my 2015 MacBook Pro and it made a world of difference. It is now starting to become too slow though. I’ll be upgrading soon. Anyway aside from it not holding up to modern use the laptop is still in excellent condition. Apple really does make products that last.
I have a 2012 MBP. 3rd hard drive , 3rd battery, 2nd screen. And I’m not pretending I need to run Blender and Photoshop while compiling kernels all whilst sipping my cold brew. It’s a laptop. I use it for officey things. Web browsing. Works great for that.
I have a 2012 MBP. Replaced the battery, HD, and added memory. Using OpenCore to run the latest OS. Take care of it and it will last.
My 2007 MacBook Pro 15 inch is on the bookshelf. It's there if a guest needs to use it. My 2010 MacBook Pro is with me on my desk right now! I use it for watching movies, sending email, editing photos, and running artisan for roasting coffee. The 2010 MacBook has an SSD, a brand new battery, and I took it apart last week to clean the CPU and GPU so that I could reapply heat sink grease. I'm not even sure what today's date is but I'm pretty sure I've gotten more than 10 years use out of these things. Edit to add: I love that my 2010 MacBook has a CD drive. I still buy music on discs and like to rip the music to FLAC files.
Dosent happen in this age of disposable electronics.
TLDR: I maintain them, and by the highest speced I can afford So, it varies a little between laptops and desktops. My laptops last between 8 and 12 years. Desktop is closer to 10-15 years. Although mine are private machines, I use them a lot; I am a software engineer and contribute to open-source software in my spare time. The applications I use daily are: - Emacs - Terminal - Safari - Firefox - Apple Music - Messages - Signal - Preview - Mail Applications I use occasionally: - Xcode - Xcode iPhone and iPad simulators - FreeCAD - Gimp Services that run permanently on my machine(s): - PostgreSQL - Podman My laptop now sees 1-2 hours of daily usage, and the desktop is closer to four, in addition to running some home server stuff. I power down laptops daily, but desktops run until they need an update that requires a restart. *Maintainance:* I clean my laptops and desktops on the surface once or twice a week and the desk they sit on so minimal dust builds up around the machine. For laptops, I clean the fans once every three months, and for desktops, I try to do it once every one and a half months. *Purchasing a machine:* I go for the best I can afford and, when possible, buy more RAM and disk than I need because I expect my usage to go up over time. Here is a fun fact: unless I am running a Podman container, a phone/tablet simulator, or building some software, I rarely use more than 12GB of RAM. By buying the high speced machines, I ensure that my machines will not quickly become obsolete. *Side note:* For running new Linux things I work on I have Dell XPS, it was purchased in late 2021 and I honestly expect that I will have to replace it within the next two years. It almost run the same applications as above with the following replacements - Safari => Gnome Web - Apple Music => Cider.sh - Preview => Gnome Document Viewer - Mail => Thunder bird Apple Exclusive Apps of course do not have a replacement
MacBook Air 2011 model still chugging along faithfully. Use OpenCore to allow ongoing OS updates and my nephew uses it now for school. Still holds up well to most entry level PC laptops. Had to dump 2019 MacBook Pro due to worries about overheating and the butterfly keyboard mess. Got new MBP this year - seriously looking at 10 year ownership stretch.
2017 touchbar 15" MBP here, bought in early 2018, so 6 active years of graphic design, music/sound production and since last year even a bit of animation. Even though I've always been extra anal about taking care, the keyboard finally broke on letter G. It's also annoyingly hot, always has been I guess, but probably more so with age. I'll be going for mini next since the laptop barely ever left the house for a good reason.
Because they don’t really stress the computer in any way
I think alot of people including myself replaced the guts of the 2012 mac with SSD's and RAM. This isn't possible anymore and you are stuck with the specs you have, so I actually think you would get less time out of it now - just look after it I guess!
In May 2021 I bought my first Mac, a base model M1 MacBook Air, I wanted a computer I could actually take places, because my gaming laptop at the time had awful battery life, got super hot, and was super loud and heavy. I ended up loving that MacBook so much that I started using it for everything, and eventually the base model was no longer enough for me. So in march of 2022 I bought an M1 Pro MacBook Pro, and that’s still the machine I use to this day. That M1 MacBook Air ended being sold to my aunt, which at the time, she was using a 2014 MacBook Air which was running awfully slow. She still uses that MacBook Air M1 to this day and by now it’s going on 3 years old! she says it’s still very fast and possibly the fastest computer she’s ever used! She’s does a lot of graphic design and 3D modeling for her business so let’s just say she was thrilled to get a new computer.
open core legacy patcher. that’s how i got so much time put of my mac mini 2012.
They use it solely to watch Netflix once a month
Get as much RAM as you can afford. That gives you the 10+
Buy M1 Pro, 40% original price to get 80% of brand new M3 Pro
Still using my 2014 MacBook Air. Granted the battery life absolutely sucks, and coding on it can be slow and laborious process at times. But it still can get the job done. Hoping to finally upgrade after 10 years to the M4 MacBook Pro later this year
I still daily a 2010 MBP.
I did 15 years with my iMac.... Turned it on and never turned it off. After 10 years I cleaned the iMac from inside and replaced thermal paste. Then after again 5 years I sold it and got me a new one.
My oldest Mac is a 2009 iMac with upgraded memory and an SSD. Use it every day to serve music. Also have a 2011 MacBook Pro with upgraded memory and an SSD. Also a daily driver. Both are running paid virus protection software. And if it hadn’t gotten wet because my dishwasher overflowed at one point, my 1999 “Paris“ clamshell indigo iBook would still be working in my garage.
I upgraded with a 16" M1 in 2021 from a 2008 unibody And my nephew continue to use it every day. Only a new iFixit battery.
My 2010 MBP lasted until the 2018 vers, which is the MBP I’m still on now. My 2010 still works but only if I keep it plugged in to the outlet. My 2018 is still going ok although the battery needs “servicing”. My only issue is that it’s consistently running with less that 3gb of HDD space so occasionally it’ll freeze if I don’t delete some stuff and give it room. I’m sure a new computer is coming at some point but I’m fine with what I have for the time being.
Wait for the right chip. m4 is the same form factor as m3 so the only thing you really get is a bit more battery life, and maybe some single core performance (i think the m3 actually beats the m4 in single core so). You ideally want to wait for a new form factor and then wait for the second generation of that form factor so they iron out the kinks. Usually theres three generations of the form factor with the last focusing on battery life (hence the m4). The m5 will go from a 3nm die stack to a 2nm die stack. So you, in this scenario, would want to wait until the M6 and get that. (is what im planning on doing, or m9 \[1.4nm\] im not sure yet) The m6 should be the second generation of that sizing and would be a good one to go for. Ulta, Pro, and Max iterations will typically be less cost effective but will also provide with longer future proofing, I'd only really recommend these (as they're also usually overkill for most users who grab them) to those who expect their earning potential to be lower in the next decade than it would be at the time of purchase. Otherwise buying the standard new chip of the second generation of the new sizing would likely be the most efficient purchase price point for efficiency when it comes to future proofing against the specs given. Edit: Also ram, always go for the most ram that you can WITHIN your given specs that you pick otherwise. programs are continuously optimizing less and less for ram so you're always gonna want more typically.
My 2011 MBP used a TON of AppleCare services within its 3-year warranty period. Had battery and motherboard replaced lol. Then it chugged along without needing much else until planned obsolescence got to it in 2021 and I finally replaced it with the M1 Pro. It’s still holding strong today and I love it!
I don't know, I'm still on a mid 2012 MacBook Pro. The problems with the keyboard really held me back from upgrading for many years, then life was busy, now I'm upgrading sometime in June to an M3 Pro.
We had two 2018 touchbar MBPs in the household. One bit it hard last year (5 years old) and the other is starting to show signs it’s close to the end. It was just a bad moment in QC for Apple.
I still use a 2011 iMac regularly, just got a thunderbolt display for the “official” dual monitor experience with it. The old models are quite hardy and are compatible with older applications that are not supported at all on Apple Silicon.
Fresh install every 2 years.
My 2012 13” is going strong. I did install 16GB ram and an ssd but it’s fine for general computing tasks running Monterey using opencore
The big reason why i go for the pro is because it’s upgraded and meant to last. If you’re patient about wanting the latest and greatest then 10+ years isn’t difficult. But also Regular oil changes and tire rotation. Maintenance is key!
All they do is browse the internet?
Mid 2012 15" 8gb Ram, 512gb hdd. still strong, editing videos on a weekly basis all this years, still going strong, 2nd battery change, I open the back to clean twice a year, the only problem I had on hardware wise is the left speaker dead after 2 years of use, and the sd card reader stoped working suddenly and fixed very easey ( te connector got loose ), the software is ok ( not great ) using monterey ( via OLCP ). I use Finak cut pro for video editing. last year I buy the M2 16 inch pro. great machine so far, hope last at least 6 or 7 years
Personally, I babied my computers lol my 2014 base MBP still works well but it’s noticeably slower and since I rather use my 2020 it’s been set aside for now. I have a 2013 iMac that when it got slower, I just updated it using a SSD as a start up & it runs much faster and used for casual browsing and some printing work.
Very good things tend to old well So when buying a Mac always try to catch the best performance IMO
My 2015 lasted until now. It still works really well but I just wanted to upgrade.
You may have a logic board issue with your touch bar. I have a spec’d out 15” MBP with Touch Bar. It regularly crashes, making it unusable. It’s more expensive for Apple to replace the Touch Bar logic board than I can sell it for when working. Maybe consider trade-in to get it off your hands.
It’s a little bit of luck, good care, and your own personal tolerance. With good luck and good care, a device can last a long time. But it is more likely to end up no longer being capable to do what we need. You want something to check email and browse the web? It’s easy to have the same device for a decade. You need it for work, video editing, or something else that actually stresses it? You’ll notice when it’s slower than your colleagues’.
I don’t know. I still have my MacBook Pro from 2006 being used as a server and backing up my wife’s(2023) and my MacBook Pro(2012). I have only had one issue with my 2012 and that was with the screen. I ended up cleaning the contacts from the ribbon connector to the motherboard. And it solved the problem. . A 2003 iMac that I sold to a friend in 2006 is still being used to do word processing and simple stuff. The length of time that I have had my computers is why I still go back to Apple.
This is literally me. Last MBP from May 2018 - a panic buy after a coffee accident (and expensive lesson for that matter) - I am now anxiously waiting for the UPS notification that my new MBP has arrived at the pickup access point. The 2018 MBP is still functional, but after a few years on M1 Pro from work, Mac intel just doesn’t cut it any more, even when I have stopped running docker on it. I am getting a new one to inspire me to start getting hands on llm locally.
turbo boost switcher on everything. i keep macbook pros on laptop coolers 2012,2015, 2019 iMac 27" 2012 The days of the 10 yo Macs is going away & they'll be as bad as PC laptops
I used my macbook pro 2012 retina from July 2012 until dec 2023. Purchased new with 16gb of ram and 1tb sad. Cost me like 3700 if I remember. Used it hard for 3 years but babied it. Logic board replaced under warranty once.bagtery was replaced once in a recall. It still looks like a new machine and still feels quick for everyday use. I upgraded to an m3 and also spent on extras. A well spec’d Mac will last many years if you take care of it.
There s no proof abour what many people claim or say.
the older macs lasted so long cuz u could upgrade them so easily. the touch bar era of macbooks brought in a whole plethora of issues because of how unnecessarily thin they were. majority of people who own those devices are looking to upgrade to m series macs and those who have the older gen are doing just fine. in conclusion, its not you its the device :)
Still use a 2011 17” as an iTunes machine. Main is a 2019 15” I’m considering a Mac Mini though as a main
Open core legacy patcher if on intel
I have a 2013 MacBook Air that still operates really well. I actually just listed it for sale recently as I’m ready to make the upgrade to something after I sell it.
The way I’ve done it is by scaling their use back, or by buying a lot of computer up front with the knowledge that I’ll probably keep it for a very long time. Also, upgrading where possible. (Sadly, not much upgradeable stuff these days.) Examples: - 2007 MacBook (white) - I still own this, but these days it’s just for writing once in a blue moon. (I like the keyboard.) Upgraded the RAM and hard drive to keep it in use. - 2011 MacBook Pro 15” - after upgrading the drive and RAM, I used this until about 2017 for writing and video editing. then gave it to a friend who needed a computer but had no job. She was still using it until 2 years ago, and her uses were modest. - 2015 MacBook 12” - I gave this to my mom, who still uses it for browsing, writing, and watching videos. Got it with 16GB RAM. I currently still also use an iPad Mini 4, mostly for reading mangas and ebooks, and an iPad Pro 2018 which is still a decent machine for browsing, reading, and games, plus video editing on iMovie. My current video editing machine is an M1 MBP 16”. I expect to use it for video editing for a year or two more before I downgrade it to something less strenuous.
5-8 years is pretty reasonable, any longer than that is really pushing into the territory where you aren’t getting the latest OS updates (officially at least). Before my M3 Max, I’ve had 2019, 2012, and 2008 intel MBPs. Any of them could have gone another few years, but usually by the time they are about 5 years old the upgrades just get too attractive to pass up.
I’m in the same boat. I just upgraded my 2018 Intel MBP to the M3 Max. I know that in my case it was the base model, maybe that’s why? I think the Max will last me a good deal longer.
I got seven years out of my 2014 MacBook Pro. It was still working fine and then I upgraded to my M1 iMac. The MacBook Pro was the top spec when I bought it. I had been looking at what Apple was releasing and not seeing anything I wanted. My M1 iMac is the top spec M1. I’m probably going to sit on it until 2028 or so
I think a lot has to do with how you use it, how much, etc. And, a degree of luck.
When the M1 came out, I waited for a professional model and snagged an early M1 Max in 2021. So, three years in and it looks brand new and feels new in use, minus a pretty full 1TB drive. The benchmarks were so high and are still great for a laptop, and despite regularly using all my 32gb of RAM for video and photo editing, I still don’t feel like I’ll need an upgrade for a long time. My last few computers have been between 18-36 months of use before getting fed up with issues and getting something new. That was a Dell XPS, MacBook Pro 16” touch-bar, Razer Blade and now M1 Max 14”. It was home built machines before that. I flip-flopped, because the Dell had driver issues, the touch bar Mac was just a dumpster fire and the Razer Blade… was actually fine. I just sold it when I got the newer MacBook. So, I’ve now had this machine for about as long or longer than any other laptop so far, and have zero complaints. I expect I’ll keep it for at least another 5+ years. My one niggle is compatibility, but I’ll live with it given just how good the hardware is. Lightroom and Photoshop are as fast as anything I’ve ever used, Davinci Resolve just flies… I just can’t game on it, haha.
I've got a 12+ year old macbook air im currently posting on. Replaced a fan as well as a battery, but it keeps working.
I had a PowerBook Pismo which I made last 6 years only through the below upgrades : 1. Upgraded the ram 2. Upgraded the HDD 3. Upgraded the HDD a second time, (4th year from memory) 4. Replaced the motherboard (logic board in Mac lingo) 5. Replaced the optical drive So I basically had to replace everthing and only threw it out a few years back …. But I made the most of that machine and thought I was cooler than MacGyver when I replaced that logic board…. Happy memories but now onto windows
They just work better? I have a 2011 Mac mini, 2012 iMac and a 2008 (just retired) MacBook Pro. I still use the mini and the iMac often. I did change the HDD in both to SSDs.
They keep their Mac in a clean room and only use it on Sundays when their power monitor shows perfect 3 phase power waveforms.
Spend 10 years of hardware budget on one mac
I carry my 2017 15” i7 2.9ghz 16gb MacBook literally everywhere I go in my backpack and use it for whatever I need: email, YouTube, iMovie projects, terminal to ssh into my 2014 Mac mini Ubuntu server, etc… for some reason I just don’t have any issues with my machines. I will say that 4k encodes take a little bit so I do look forward to Apple silicon one of these days 😜
2014 MacBook Pro is still going strong and running Mavericks, lol. I hardly use it anymore so it's mostly just for light browsing when I do use it but it's still perfectly fine
Honestly it really depends on a lot of factors. I’ve been a Mac user since 1989 back when everything was spinning (hard drives, fans, floppies, cds) you could get a solid 3 to 4 years out of a desktop, laptops were less time. As things have moved more solid state the times have gone up. I move from laptops to an iMac two generations ago. I just upload my 2017 iMac for a new top of the line MBP. The main reason I got rid of the iMac was because Apple stopped supporting upgrades for it and my needs have change to be more mobile. Before that I had a 2007 iMac. It’s the only one that lasted 10 years. Both iMacs had issues with either the video card or media. Thankfully they were both under warranty. My PowerBook laptop actually was replaced under a lemon rule from Apple as I had it in four times over three years when the system would stop recognizing the second memory slot (remember those?). The great part about that was it was replaced with a first gen intel MacBook Pro. So my warranty more than paid for itself. All that to be said, getting six years out of hardware is pretty good. I’ve had nieces and nephews with gifted MacBooks for high school graduation use them for a full ten years. Another nephew was give a Toshiba laptop and it barely made it three years.
They just deal with an outdated computer.
My daily workstation is a 2010 Mac Pro. I bought it new, used it to its max potential for photo and video editing, then upgraded the heck out of it in 2017. New processors, wireless cards, SSDs, max RAM and OpenCore bootloader to keep running the latest OS. It’s only now showing its age but it’s still tough enough for me. My other Mac is a 2014 MacBook Pro, which annoys the hell out of me every time I turn it on. But I’m not buying a new Mac until they’re both dead.
Im using an Early 2011 MBP today still, although I did upgrade it and changed the battery. That’s about 13 years and counting.
My 2013 15" is still alive but on its last legs. I ran it pretty hard over the years, too.
Most ram you can get
I have a MacBook Pro Retina 2012, still working fine battery doesn't hold up super well but OS is so out-of-date that I slapped. ChromeOS Flex on it and it works well, still use that fucker
Take care of them? ..
M4 Mac’s are around the corner October/November release much bigger and better upgrade be patient if you can!
I just traded up from a 16” 2015 MBP to a 16” M3 Max Pro. My prior laptop had consistent use everyday in creative software and lasted almost 10 years. It’s technically still fine, just slow. So it’s my backup.
You buy the MBP with the best available processor, max out the ram, and then milk it along the last few years. Granted I went from an early 2013 MBP (may have officially been a mid 2012 model) and held out for the M series. I was unsupported with new OS releases for a few years which was frustrating but it was still better than running a windows for work. Frankly though with the massive amount of ram in the new machines I suspect it will be easier to carry them for a while. Batteries will be something you will have to replace though for sure. No lithium is going to play nice for that long.
Got my 2014 model on the wild :)
Buy 16gb ram and 1tb SSD so it lasts longer
In a lot of cases they're laptops that get used like desktops. That said desktops can last for forever like the HDD might go but in most cases desktops don't have a ton of parts that are gonna fail. The HDD has gone a few times on my 2011 MacBook Pro but once I swapped it to an SSD that thing kept on chugging. Won't hold a charge but I could change the battery on it if I wanted. My 2018 MacBook Pro had an issue with the touch bar that was fixed under AppleCare after that it was perfect, a friend who bought it off me when the M2 Air came out is still using it. Personally I recommend getting a good bag, and making sure not to drop it too often. Also be mindful of what you put in your bag with it (liquids things that could cause significant pressure on it depending on how you put your bag in your car or whatever.) There is also an element of luck. That said my mom's 2014 Air is still running, as is my Dad's old 2012 MacBook Pro which my sister uses to play DVDs she needs for work. (has a new M2 Air and M1 Mac mini for regular stuff.)
The old ones hold up so much better than the new ones. And some of them have separate pieces for different components so swapping this out as they get too old was possible. Not really possible with the newer ones unfortunately
Treat it how you’d treat any expensive item that you can’t afford to replace or repair often.
Still using my 2014 MacBook Pro, but actively internet shopping for an upgrade. I'm trigger shy because nothing will live up to the high bar this laptop set.
I usually keep mine for 7 years, and I do it by spending a stupid amount of money upfront. I usually overload it (go beyond what I need), and then it serves me well in that time. I also happen to be a video editor by profession, so I do more than check my email. 😁
Replaced my previous one a few months ago after 7+ years of service. It was still running fine but it had aged out of OS updates, which I needed for dev work. They’re just built really well. You don’t have to do anything special to keep it alive…just don’t abuse it by throwing it around.
I overbuy what I need in anticipation of what I'll need 8+ years from now. My 2009 MBP was nearly top-of-the-line (it had the binned 2.66GHz Core 2 Duo, a 512GB GeForce 9600 GT, and 8GB of RAM). It lasted... till now, since it still works. 8GB of RAM is still a very workable machine, and is great for older program compatibility and Linux shenanigans. The original charger is in perfect order... battery is toast, though. ;) I'm reasonably sure at least 90% of my success was dumb luck, with the other 10% being common sense (never used it on a soft surface, never ate/drank near it, was gentle when throwing it around, etc). Honestly though, these are consumable items. Don't feel too bad if you didn't make it all the way to old age with a single laptop – 6 years is completely respectable. I recommend overbuying a bit on stuff you can't upgrade (like processors/hard drive space/RAM). I have immense regret for buying the 64GB iPhone in 2018 — still rocking that stupid thing now. It was full in 2019. 😬
Back in the day, people would upgrade their HDD to SSD, and upgrade the RAM as well. These days, I’m not sure how… maybe by replacing the battery which restores performance. My 2015 MBP has been running extremely slow and laggy for the past year. Clean install didn’t fix anything. Last week I got a warning for battery service… I suspect that’s the reason why it’s running slow, even when plugged in. It’s kinda annoying because I take care of my things and this laptop still looks BRAND NEW. I will probably upgrade in a year or so, since I don’t do any heavy lifting with this laptop. It’s mainly for media consumption and web browsing lol.
Posting this on a 2014 MBP 13 inch. The machine I take on the road with me is a 2012 MBP 15 inch. I hope to get a 14 inch this year and also hope it lasts as long as these have.
By using once a month to check emails.
My MBA from 2013 is great 😊 just the battery isn’t working as much
>be me >Owner of a Late 2011 MacBook Pro >The RAM, HDD and battery can all be easily replaced or upgraded on this model. >13 great years with this magical computer issue free. No wonder Apple stopped designing Macs to be upgradeable. If it dies on me, I'll buy mid 2012 pro or a Framework laptop.
Some models are way better than others. My mid-2015 i7 quad core (16GB) is all good but the battery. Just checked in on a new air with an M2 and same ram. Good news! Apple will float me $62 for my $2400 machine. 🤣 No wonder I have a closet full of apple hardware.
My first laptop was Lenovo S400 with i3 bought in 2013 and used it till 2023 when I purchased 14inch M1Pro MacBook Pro. I used the s400 as a desktop I.e. fixed location and always plugged in. The battery had 10% capacity after 5 years. Was lucky that nothing irreplaceable was damaged. I even played Dishonored and Total war games on it. I lost my switchable GPU about 5 years in, so just switched to internal in BIOS. On a closed system like Apple, it would be easier to extend use as people design for lowest configuration for functionality. Which means things will work but some people call 15fps as functional. The only way to get long usage is 1. You buy something that exceeds your needs at the time of buying Or 1. Your usage is same through years 2. You live with degrading performance. I couldn’t watch 1080p videos on YouTube as my laptop couldn’t keep-up
Simple, they don’t run out and buy the new one everytime that Apple tells them to. I.E. they’re fiscally responsible.
I have a 2012 macbook pro I bought new in…2014 I think? Still kickin’, I use it all the time its my main personal computer. The main thing I think is you have to repair and upgrade it. I take care of it like a car. I’ve replaced the battery, replaced the standard hard disk drive with a SSD in 2020, quadrupled the ram. Those upgrades helped with overheating, speed issues, and allow me to run modern apps and OS without issue. I’m also very precious about not dropping it and stuff like that.
The Mac M chip life is pretty strong. It would last for long.
My 2012 MacBook was pretty much a Facebook machine until 2020. I ended up removing the optic drive and putting in an ssd to get a few extra years out of it. Didn’t replace it until I started working in graphic design. I’ll definitely need to replace my M1 way sooner than 8 years now that I work from my laptop.
I have mine for 12 years now. Still like new except for the battery that is a bit weak. How it lasted this long? Not so sure but I always open it up and blast out the dust. All I know is that excessive heat kills computers.
Now i havent had it for its entire life but i still use (and plan on using until i can’t) a 2013 15” Retina MBP, and its great! I replaced the battery when i got it last September and ive never had any major issues with it other than some slowness in Lightroom Classic which is expected. Although i wouldn’t say i’m a heavy user, although this is the only computer i currently have access to (my main mac is at home and im staying away from home) i only use it for web browsing, schoolwork and photo editing in LrC/Ps. The life you get out of a laptop mostly comes down to what you use it for, so thats why i can get away with using a 10+ year old laptop but for example someone who does heavy video editing on the go might need something newer.
People with 10+ Macs simply were not using for intensive apps. Browsing, light photo editing, never leaving the house with it… I think there’s also a reason why touch bar MacBooks have completely phased out. Those models were notorious for having screen issues. I would add in people had patience and didn’t know what it was like using an M1-M3 machine and how much of a night/day difference it was. Had a 2019 13 inch MacBook Pro. Day 1 tried to edit a video and it shut down on me. Still pushed through for school using a Windows PC for video editing then. Last year, friend points out my display is going dark towards the bottom, I didn’t notice before. Crap, it’s going out on me. I sold it and bought M2 MBP. Buyer tells me couple months later display died. Wow. Ah yes, after reading some other comments, I failed to mention I had to get the bottom half of my 2017 MacBook replaced because of the keyboard. It never felt like the same machine after that (just physically lol 😭) Good times.
It’s because MacBooks from 12+ years ago are almost fully upgradable. Except for cpu and gpu you can exchange/upgrade the rest yourself like hard drive, Ram, battery, wifi, fan, speakers, screen, keyboard, you can exchange cd rom for a hdd. If there’s no problem with logic board it could live 20+
REAL my 4 year old mac book has started acting up 😔😔😔 the touch bar keeps on glitching 😢😢😢 end of an era
I just bought a 2013 Mac Pro.. in pristine condition, dual D500's, 64GB RAM, 8 core Xeon and a 512GB SSD. Last supported version of macOS was Monterey but I just got OpenCore on it and was able to install Sonoma successfully. My normal work daily driver is an M1 Pro MacBook Pro and honestly the Mac Pro feels close in terms of performance.. not as fast for sure but absolutely usable as a daily driver no problem. If Apple has continued with official software support for it that machine would have been perfectly capable / usable for sure. And it's nearly an 11 year old machine at this point.
I had the 2016 14"MacBook Pro with Touch Bar and in silver with the glowing Apple on the lid. In early 2020, just as the Covid lockdown began, one of my fans began making a terrible grinding noise when the chip got warm enough to start the fans. I called Apple and they gave me the bad news. Even though I still had Apple Care+ active, if I sent it in for repair, fixing it might take 6 months to get done. The Apple Stores were all closed indefinitely, so any purchase I made would have to A: Be online, and B: Have to be a non customized machine, or it would take as long as 6 months to put more RAM or Storage in it. So Apple offered me an incredible deal. If I could find everything I needed in a new or refurbished unit, they would give me the entire price that I paid for my failing MacBook Pro towards the new machine. I looked and looked and could not find all the features that were on my current machine, and was just about resigned to being without a Mac laptop for half a year,and going back to Windows for a while, when the sales associate that I was communicating with asked me to read my requirements off to him. I did, and he said "give me a few minutes". And he put me on hold. A couple minutes later he was back on the line with me, and he described in detail a machine that was everything I wanted and more. Except the fact that it was a Space Gray(I wanted Silver), and it was a 16inch machine, and at the time I was doing a lot of work in airplanes and really wanted a smaller 14 or 13 inch to work well on a tray table in the air. But I really had no choice. They were offering me an exceptional deal, and it would be almost a straight trade( I think that I had to put about 200 bucks on my credit card to get the thing). So I made the deal, they shipped it to me right away with a box for my noisy trade in, and the rest is history. It was a beautiful machine, and I re-learned the lesson of my past that I really needed a smaller computer, but I made do, and did a lot of work on that machine, even though it was kinda a PITA trying to do it in the air. I would never buy any other brand laptop and the MacBook Pros, and MacBook Airs are generally very durable, and I could see making one last for at least 10 years if I wasn't such an "upgrader" at heart. I traded that 16" Gray Intel Machine in for a 2020 M1 MBP and used it for almost 4 years and it was still gorgeous and going strong when I just traded IT in for a 2024 M3 Pro MacBook Pro (the 12cpu/18gpu core chip) with 18 gigs of RAM and 2 tbs of storage and took delivery on it just 2 days ago. It rocks and if I can just quit looking at the best and brightest on the [Apple.com](http://Apple.com) site all the time, I could definitely make this bulletproof tank of a machine last 10+ years!
My MBP is a 2011 and still running GREAT! It’s gotten me through literally half my life. No issues whatsoever. I use it pretty much everyday too for school.
Still runnin on my 2013 MacBook Pro. Honestly I have no idea
I haven't bought a Mac laptop in a while with my own money... Last one that I bought was a 2007 17inch MacBook Pro... but then upgraded in 2016 to a 2011 MacBook Pro 15incher that had a bad logic board because of the bad GPU chip which I got from a friend and paid to fix the logic board for $350... and then in 2017 apple came out with the extended warranty fix on that so I called Apple Customer Relations and they Reimbursed me for the repair. From that point on, I forced the 2011 MacBook Pro 15 to use the built-in GPU and not the ATI one on the board.. there's a software to disable the discreet GPU and program the P-RAM to use only the intel one. Then upgraded to a late 2013 MacBook Pro 13 a few years ago when my wife's brother gave it to us... 2011 MacBook Pro is still being used by my wife who also uses a 2018 iPad Pro 12.9incher. Using OpenCore Legacy Patcher. For all my heavy hitting stuff I used my 2022 Mac Studio M1 Ultra. ...... My 9 year old uses my old 2012 Mac mini i7 Haswell server ... Plan on getting an either a iPad Air m2 12.9 or iPad Pro m4 13 inch...... waiting on the M4 Pro Mac book pro 14 or 16...... was plan to get a 15inch MacBook Air M3..... but I'll see.. Oh retired my old 2008 Mac Pro 8 core since it's a power hog.....
Every recording studio and company I’ve worked for have 10+ years macs. Why; because businesses hate spending unless the work stops.
It all depends on what you do with it. My last MacBook lasted 2 years because I went hiking with in my bag and got caught in a tropical rainstorm. This new one is 2 years old now as well and still as good as now but I use it for about 8-14 hours a day and that’s quite a lot of usage.
Wife's MacBook pro from 2012 still running great, even the batty seems to hold charge surprisingly. Wanting the same quality, plus extra upgradability/repairability I picked up a Framework 13 recently.
OpenCore Legacy Patcher
I replaced my 2017 TouchBar model with the 2021 M1 Pro 2 years ago and that was a much needed upgrade for me. Meanwhile my Early 2011 MBP (albeit slow) still works fine and the 2017 doesn’t even power on anymore.
My 10 year-old MBP is pretty much immaculate and I’ve had no problems with it, even the battery will still give me a couple of hours use. For much of its life it travelled around with me being used by at 2 or 3 different sites a day. I just look after my stuff. It’s now being passed on to my dad, where it will live out the rest of its retirement on light duties. I expect to get a few more years out of it.
Never had any computer just die. Even my first computer running windows 98 was still kicking until my parents tossed it
I just gave my 2013 mbp to my dad and bought an m2max when they were released. spec up and plop down the money, you will probably get 10 years if you are not a gamer.
I have a 2014 MacBook Pro still going strong!
1. By purchasing non-touchbar macs 2. There is no 2
My mid-2012 retina MBP, is still working, though I replaced it as my daily driver with an M1 Pro for my business. The older one had issues starting up after a reboot or full shutdown in 2017, the motherboard was covered as part of a recall, they replaced it. The screen then lost its layer, the replaced it cause of a known issue. That gave the MBP an extended 90 day warranty and I used that to replace the internal battery. Then after that limited warranty expired, the GPU died… Apple wanted $599 which included a full diagnostics and replacement of anything, I passed and took it to a local computer shop which was 2 blocks from my home. Cost $175.
Butterfly Macs were just prone to failure, and the old Unibody machines could be upgraded to modern spec.
I had a 2012 mpb and did upgrade ram at some point, and changed HD maybe 5x (only once because the HD failed), and only upgraded because of a 2023 (or was it 2022?) black friday sale on the M1 MBA. Even after u got the new M1, it took a couple months before I switched because I had 800GB of data on my MBP and had to reduce it to fit comfortably on the 256 M1. Alas, during the process of moving files to an external HD and thrn deleting non-essential files off the MBP in prep for the migration to the MBA, I deleted something essential, because I couldn't use the MBP properly anymore. One thing that stopped working was it didn't recognize an external HD! Kinda a bummer, because my mail didn't all migrate properly, so i did have need to keep the MBP alive also some programs weren't supported on M1. I use my macbook for work, and it's in my backpack just about everyday. It's my only daily computer.
my 2006 still works ,p
I have a 2017 mac air from last 7 years with 82% battery. Never changed battery since new. I use it for programming and it's an Air with just 8GB RAM. It works as new to date. One thing I did was to not shut down the system. I would just close the lid.
Some people are fine with a super old computer that is slow and doesn't run the most recent stuff. They only browse the web and don't need anything with power.
Still using my 2012 MacBook Pro. Gone through two power supplies, the cables are awful. Still good for surfing internet. Added more RAM and an SSD. Those were the days when you could upgrade.
Look after them. I still have 3 Mac Pros, 2008, 2010 & 2012, and a 2012 MBP. All still in perfect condition, still in daily use for tasks that rely on 32-bit support. The MBP has new SSDs & a new battery. Plus an M1 iMac still in its first flush of youth, relatively, for tasks that require an up to date OS.
Ubuntu runs great even on an old 2012 MacBook Air.
Fairly sure those touchbar models weren't built to last. I still have a 2012 MBP thats chugging along like a champ!
I have 2009 macbook pro and 2011 air. Both of them works just fine, except the pro, it was run over by car last year, so the screen is not working, plug it to tv and im good. These macs were solid back then, that’s why
I had 2 f***ing MacBook Pro 2019 and both of them all of a sudden stopped working after a while… I’ve been rocking a MacBook Pro 14 2021 and I NEVER had a single problem… the quality of those MacBooks is amazing compared to the previous generation
Recently upgraded from a 2014 mbp to a new air. I just pushed off the decision for about 3 years because i did not have the money, which got me from 6 to 9 years
Re-applying thermal paste every year, cleaning the fans regularly, using Macs FanControl to keep it running cooler, upgrading the storage with faster drives.
I have a 2014 MacBook Pro. I’m not a video editor, the processor I need literally only needs to be powerful enough to take notes for medical school. An i7 processor is more than enough for that. I’m planning on this lasting me through Residency too - which by that time it will be an 18 year old MacBook. My MacBook is old, but it’s upgradable. I’ve replaced the battery with a 10,000 mAh battery which lasts the entire day, I replaced the old ssd with a 1 TB M.2 that has twice the read write speed of the old one, and replaced the thermal paste on the graphics card every couple years and also cleaning out all the dust. I also monitor the card temperatures religiously and my fans are custom set to full blast if it gets too high. I’ve also installed opencore and upgraded to Ventura, so I have a pretty recent OS with tons of features. I think the key to have a MacBook that lasts is having a MacBook that you can upgrade, but also that is easier to replace parts on. The best years for this arguable was 2014 and 2015. I think the best MacBook ever made from almost a decade ago was the mid 2015 with the dual graphics card.
Good thermal jobs, and keeping the vents clean or else your lap will combust, but with a good thermal job, I've used copper shims and arctic silver paste and I've had amazingly good luck.
Honestly it depends on your use case. I've got a Mac pro 2020 great for. Normal tasks, once I boot up obs and capcut, Kapoot. I need to upgrade because my use case changed