8 ms·

It's usually just Apple people cycling their macbooks every "new shiny" release. Most people on PCs run them into the ground over 6-8 years.

killjoywashere 6y ago
Haven't bought a new MacBook since the original rMBP (or any other new laptop), which I ordered before the keynote was finished.
- smileysteve 6y ago
  I also have the 2012rmbp; it's not even showing its age.
- secfirstmd 6y ago
  Yeh I've always found the opposite. Mac tends to last longer. I'm on a 2014/15 1TB SSD 16GB Pro Retina and it's still a rocket. I've found very little that would make me want to buy a new Mac at this stage.
  - photojosh 6y ago
    2013 with similar specs here. My battery life is now garbage, but I think it's worthwhile replacing it. I wasn't tempted at all until the M1...
tptacek 6y ago
That's a good thing. People who want to spend money on shiny machines (I'll probably get the next M1 iteration) pay a premium they're happy to pay, while a secondary market for previous iterations grows to satisfy price-conscious users.
- idlewords 6y ago
  This is exactly the way the car market works, except you can't (yet) lease a new laptop for three years.
  - prosaic-hacker 6y ago
    I don't know where you live but companies have been leasing computer equipment for decades. Usually for 3 to 5 years or monthly for special projects. Over 20 years ago I joined a company as Director of IT. In the first 10 days I cancelled several thousands of dollar of monthly leases of equipment that siting unused from projects that were over but not returned. Nobody looked at the leases while the Directors position was being filled. Random IT leasing article from google. https://www.costowl.com/rental/equipment-leasing-it-cost.html https://www.costowl.com/rental/equipment-leasing-it-cost.htm...
    - kasey_junk 6y ago
      I suspect he meant in the consumer market. You can effectively lease mobile devices. It’s IDD it’s not commonplace for laptops.
    - idlewords 6y ago
      That's super interesting. I was thinking about consumer laptops, where in this analogy your thing would be more like car company fleet sales. I'm fascinated this business model is alive and well well into the cloud era!
  - fuzzfactor 6y ago
    Seems to me over the last couple decades most laptops have been designed to last only two years.
rokhayakebe 6y ago
Fashion vs Function
saagarjha 6y ago
Anecdotally, this is not how Mac users buy computers at all, unless they are quite well off or have someone else paying for them. Most people run Macs for half a decade if not more.
- shepherdjerred 6y ago
  Most of peers at college used MacBooks and kept the same one for many years. Most only considered upgrading when theirs broke.
- 0_____0 6y ago
  can confirm, am still running a late-2015 macbook as my daily driver. it still works really well and despite trying to convince myself otherwise, I can't think of a good reason to replace it.
  - stickfigure 6y ago
    I've been using a (max'd) 2015 Macbook Pro as a dev box for... a long time now. I'm about 2 hours into the upgrade to an M1 air. The difference is... jaw dropping.
    - 0_____0 6y ago
      I gave it serious thought but I run a decent amount of CAD software on Windows via boot camp. If I was MacOS only I might have given it a go.
- Smoosh 6y ago
  Anecdata: My wife is still rocking a ~10 year old Macbook Air, which is fine for "household" duties. I have a Mac Pro 2013 for my main computer.
- mickotron 6y ago
  Running 2011 macbook as mostly daily driver, was daily driver for much of its life, has run linux most of its life.
stephen_g 6y ago
I've never heard of anybody doing that with a Mac, and have never replaced a Mac laptop with less than 5-6 years of heavy use of it... I type this on a Mid-2015 Macbook Pro, still working well but Mac OS tells me I need the battery serviced. I'll probably buy a new Macbook Pro 16" when they bring one out with Apple Silicon and then do the battery replacement and keep this one going as a spare machine (and for the old Photoshop and other Adobe CS6 apps that won't work on a 64-bit only OS which is why this is still running Mojave).
manicdee 6y ago
My 2011 MacBook Air still works fine. My Windows-using friend is on their third laptop in the last decade, not including the Chromebook they inherited from work. If you want to find the "new shiny every year" people, look for the ones buying gaming rigs. There are very few games that run on macOS so there's very little pressure to upgrade to the latest greatest every year.
ivanmaeder 6y ago
Apple should tone down the way they promote their products. They can't keep pretending to be aligned with the environment and then put on a big show every year for products that provide tiny incremental benefits. I'm thinking mostly of the iPhone, but even things like M1: yes it's a step forward but that doesn't mean I *need* one right now. For the record, I'm using a 2012 MacBook Air (8GB) for everything. The fans will spin up sometimes when browsing, or when Docker becomes uncontrollable, but it does everything I ask and it doesn't feel at all slow.

killjoywashere 6y ago

Haven't bought a new MacBook since the original rMBP (or any other new laptop), which I ordered before the keynote was finished.

smileysteve 6y ago
I also have the 2012rmbp; it's not even showing its age.
secfirstmd 6y ago
Yeh I've always found the opposite. Mac tends to last longer. I'm on a 2014/15 1TB SSD 16GB Pro Retina and it's still a rocket. I've found very little that would make me want to buy a new Mac at this stage.
- photojosh 6y ago
  2013 with similar specs here. My battery life is now garbage, but I think it's worthwhile replacing it. I wasn't tempted at all until the M1...

tptacek 6y ago

That's a good thing. People who want to spend money on shiny machines (I'll probably get the next M1 iteration) pay a premium they're happy to pay, while a secondary market for previous iterations grows to satisfy price-conscious users.

idlewords 6y ago
This is exactly the way the car market works, except you can't (yet) lease a new laptop for three years.
- prosaic-hacker 6y ago
  I don't know where you live but companies have been leasing computer equipment for decades. Usually for 3 to 5 years or monthly for special projects. Over 20 years ago I joined a company as Director of IT. In the first 10 days I cancelled several thousands of dollar of monthly leases of equipment that siting unused from projects that were over but not returned. Nobody looked at the leases while the Directors position was being filled. Random IT leasing article from google. https://www.costowl.com/rental/equipment-leasing-it-cost.html https://www.costowl.com/rental/equipment-leasing-it-cost.htm...
  - kasey_junk 6y ago
    I suspect he meant in the consumer market. You can effectively lease mobile devices. It’s IDD it’s not commonplace for laptops.
  - idlewords 6y ago
    That's super interesting. I was thinking about consumer laptops, where in this analogy your thing would be more like car company fleet sales. I'm fascinated this business model is alive and well well into the cloud era!
- fuzzfactor 6y ago
  Seems to me over the last couple decades most laptops have been designed to last only two years.

rokhayakebe 6y ago

Fashion vs Function

saagarjha 6y ago

Anecdotally, this is not how Mac users buy computers at all, unless they are quite well off or have someone else paying for them. Most people run Macs for half a decade if not more.

shepherdjerred 6y ago
Most of peers at college used MacBooks and kept the same one for many years. Most only considered upgrading when theirs broke.
0_____0 6y ago
can confirm, am still running a late-2015 macbook as my daily driver. it still works really well and despite trying to convince myself otherwise, I can't think of a good reason to replace it.
- stickfigure 6y ago
  I've been using a (max'd) 2015 Macbook Pro as a dev box for... a long time now. I'm about 2 hours into the upgrade to an M1 air. The difference is... jaw dropping.
  - 0_____0 6y ago
    I gave it serious thought but I run a decent amount of CAD software on Windows via boot camp. If I was MacOS only I might have given it a go.
Smoosh 6y ago
Anecdata: My wife is still rocking a ~10 year old Macbook Air, which is fine for "household" duties. I have a Mac Pro 2013 for my main computer.
mickotron 6y ago
Running 2011 macbook as mostly daily driver, was daily driver for much of its life, has run linux most of its life.

stephen_g 6y ago

I've never heard of anybody doing that with a Mac, and have never replaced a Mac laptop with less than 5-6 years of heavy use of it... I type this on a Mid-2015 Macbook Pro, still working well but Mac OS tells me I need the battery serviced. I'll probably buy a new Macbook Pro 16" when they bring one out with Apple Silicon and then do the battery replacement and keep this one going as a spare machine (and for the old Photoshop and other Adobe CS6 apps that won't work on a 64-bit only OS which is why this is still running Mojave).

manicdee 6y ago

My 2011 MacBook Air still works fine. My Windows-using friend is on their third laptop in the last decade, not including the Chromebook they inherited from work. If you want to find the "new shiny every year" people, look for the ones buying gaming rigs. There are very few games that run on macOS so there's very little pressure to upgrade to the latest greatest every year.

ivanmaeder 6y ago

Apple should tone down the way they promote their products. They can't keep pretending to be aligned with the environment and then put on a big show every year for products that provide tiny incremental benefits. I'm thinking mostly of the iPhone, but even things like M1: yes it's a step forward but that doesn't mean I *need* one right now. For the record, I'm using a 2012 MacBook Air (8GB) for everything. The fans will spin up sometimes when browsing, or when Docker becomes uncontrollable, but it does everything I ask and it doesn't feel at all slow.