How long do MacBooks last for

[kwaku_100]

I’m thinking of getting a MacBook Air 2021 and wondered how long past MacBooks have lasted in the past and if anyone knows how long this one will last before slowing down too much. 

[Mling]

Mine lasted three months. 1X coffee spill, 2X beer spill. Otherwise they last years. IMO the only thing special about them is the alloy case. A windows laptop with a metal case could last just as long or longer. My water proof chromebook currently has lasted 10x longer than my macbook air.

[Video Beagle]

I'm typing this reply on my 14 year old macbook plus, so...

[aisle9]

34 minutes ago, kwaku_100 said:

I’m thinking of getting a MacBook Air 2021 and wondered how long past MacBooks have lasted in the past and if anyone knows how long this one will last before slowing down too much. 

In terms of usability, MacBooks tend to hold up well. A 2011 MacBook Pro, assuming the GPU hasn't gone boom, is still 100% useful today and a perfectly capable daily driver. The real issue is that Apple has made some really boneheaded decisions over the years--like the way GPUs were installed in 2011 15" Pros--that have made a mess of things. The 2015 SSDs also come to mind. So does the peeling display issue that's easy enough to fix.

 

The biggest problem is that Apple has made it as difficult as possible to replace parts. They've gone all in on planned obsolescence. They do not want you using your 2021 Air in 2026. They want so many things to have reached EOL on your 2021 that by 2025 you've caved and bought a replacement. That's going to kill you with Apple long before actual obsolescence does.

[Wh0_Am_1]

It depends on how well you treat them, your luck in the draw in units. Now how long they will remain relevant is a different story, it depends on what you expect out of them. Now if you don't care about weight and want a laptop that will remain powerful and useful into the future, while being able to drag them around and do what you need to do, grab a Ryzen gaming laptop with a large battery, some of the more recent gaming laptops can expect 8+ hours out of their battery with all the power saving features on. While still having the ability to deliver a serious punch when plugged into the wall.

[Wh0_Am_1]

4 minutes ago, aisle9 said:

In terms of usability, MacBooks tend to hold up well. A 2011 MacBook Pro, assuming the GPU hasn't gone boom, is still 100% useful today and a perfectly capable daily driver. The real issue is that Apple has made some really boneheaded decisions of the years--like the way GPUs were installed in 2011 15" Pros--that have made a mess of things. The 2015 SSDs also come to mind. So does the peeling display issue that's easy enough to fix.

Let's not forget the butterfly keys and display cable shorts.

[aisle9]

2 minutes ago, Wh0_Am_1 said:

Let's not forget the butterfly keys and display cable shorts.

I didn't want to pile on them too hard. This is the company that gave us the 2012 13" Unibody, which is damn near God's Perfect Laptop for anyone who wants to do literally everything but game--or at least was, until Apple decided that it "wasn't capable" of running Big Sur.

 

But yeah, basically everything from 2015-2019 for them was a dumpster fire. Way overpriced, underwhelming specs and configurations, constant ignorance of the biggest complaints (like the damn butterfly board) while forcing out new features that no one wanted (the touchbar). The new stuff with ARM silicon is looking so much more promising.

[Wh0_Am_1]

1 minute ago, aisle9 said:

I didn't want to pile on them too hard. This is the company that gave us the 2012 13" Unibody, which is damn near God's Perfect Laptop for anyone who wants to do literally everything but game--or at least was, until Apple decided that it "wasn't capable" of running Big Sur.

 

But yeah, basically everything from 2015-2019 for them was a dumpster fire. Way overpriced, underwhelming specs and configurations, constant ignorance of the biggest complaints (like the damn butterfly board) while forcing out new features that no one wanted (the touchbar). The new stuff with ARM silicon is looking so much more promising.

Meh alright if you say so. (personally I prefer other thin and lights, but to each their own)

[kwaku_100]

@Wh0_Am_1 @aisle9

so if I got this one it should last me for five or so years? I plan to mostly use cloud devices to limit how much storage I use.

[Wh0_Am_1]

36 minutes ago, kwaku_100 said:

@Wh0_Am_1 @aisle9

so if I got this one it should last me for five or so years? I plan to mostly use cloud devices to limit how much storage I use.

Most likely.

[GeoStellar]

As an Apple Certified Tech I'll give my opinion. Macbooks and iphones both last as long as apple lets them sadly.  I have a 2016 pro that works great, but once those software updates quit for it, im afraid that it will be close to a paperweight.  The other downside to macbooks is that these days, they are 100% proprietary, from software to hardware.  What I mean by that is even in my 2016 pro and the 2013 13 inch airs I used to work on all the time, a lot of the parts were custom.  Even things such as the nvme SSD were custom.  Meaning that if your disk failed, you couldn't just go and buy a new one off the shelf.  We shall see how long apple keeps the intel based stuff alive.  If your big into thin and lite, Honestly, look at lg gram or HP specter.  I own a specter x360 13 inch and honestly, its starting to slowly replace my macbook as my daily driver.  

[Noodle 1]

The new M1 Macbooks don't have the butterfly keyboards anymore and their SSD, GPU, CPU, and RAM situation is very different compared to previous generations so take their anecdotes about them with a grain of salt. Most of the complaints about the M1 have been about software compatibility for professionals in specific use cases. If you absolutely need a certain specialized software and it's not working with M1 yet then that's going to be a deal breaker. They have sorted most of it out since release but check for your specific use case and don't assume Apple's software is fully compatible either. 

 

Since you're asking this question then I would assume you've never touched an MacBook before so ask yourself what specs you'll need. A 7-core GPU and 8gb of RAM is more than enough with Apple's software optimization so the only question is storage. You won't be able to slot in an SSD yourself down the line and any external SSD you connect will still be noticeably slower compared to Apple's soldered SSD not to mention you'll need to lug it around everywhere. Ask friends or family with a Macbook about how much local storage they used and go from there. 

 

If you absolutely need upgradeability in an ultrabook, take a look at the Dell XPS, Lenovo ThinkPad, Razer Blade, or even FrameWork's PCs. The last one is completely user upgradeable, LTT did a video about it recently and it should be around the same price as an M1 MacBook Air.