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Putting upgradeability aside, Macs typically have longer usable lifespans as evinced by their relatively high resale value. Anecdotally, it's common to find 5-7

by krrrh 5y ago

Putting upgradeability aside, Macs typically have longer usable lifespans as evinced by their relatively high resale value. Anecdotally, it's common to find 5-7 year old MacBooks being used by their original owners (I'm typing on one right now), and Apple will offer around ⅓ of the original value on a 5 year old machine as a no hassle trade-in because their refurb partners are able to sell them (you can usually get more selling privately). It would be nice to see some objective stats on this though.

NotPractical 5y ago
The design of the MacBook Pro changed in 2016, and it became less repairable and easier to break (see: issues with butterfly keyboards). It would be difficult to convince me to buy a used old 2016+ MacBook Pro.
CameronNemo 5y ago
While this is true, the kind of people that run Linux are often on even older hardware.
_ph_ 5y ago
Macs can have a very long usable lifespan - if they don't require a repair. Then even young machines are quickly totaled as soon as they are out of warranty. I wonder how many macbooks ended up in landfill because of broken keyboards which where too expensive to repair (like 600$ ?), though keyboards shouldn't just break and not cost more than 100$ to exchange... My 6 year old iMac has a fan which sounds horrible, would be easy to clean if I just could access it... and while the HD is actually still upgradable, I can't reach it any better than the dirty fan. And of course there are batteries, which do fail quite often after like 5 years and are also not meant to be exchangeable. In Europe, it might be difficult to get Apple to exchange the battery of older laptops though.
- tim333 5y ago
  Though apple don't encourage DIY battery replacement it's not that hard. On my old 2013 air it's really easy apart from sourcing a decent battery, and on the new M1 air it seems quite doable if you don't mind glue. https://www.ifixit.com/Answers/View/675334/Is+it+possible+to+replace+the+battery+of+the+M1+MacBook+Air https://www.ifixit.com/Answers/View/675334/Is+it+possible+to...
  - _ph_ 5y ago
    Yes, it is possible, a colleague of mine replaced the battery of a 2012 MB Pro. It is possible, but not easy and involved chemicals which should not be handled by anyone without basic lab experience. Things have become somewhat better but still the question is: why isn't it easy and why doesn't Apple offer battery exchange for a longer time? If they really care about the environment, they should at least offer to fix your old MB at a reasonable price. (At their typical battery replacement prices, there should be a healthy margin anyway).

by krrrh 5y ago

NotPractical 5y ago

The design of the MacBook Pro changed in 2016, and it became less repairable and easier to break (see: issues with butterfly keyboards). It would be difficult to convince me to buy a used old 2016+ MacBook Pro.

CameronNemo 5y ago

While this is true, the kind of people that run Linux are often on even older hardware.

_ph_ 5y ago

Macs can have a very long usable lifespan - if they don't require a repair. Then even young machines are quickly totaled as soon as they are out of warranty. I wonder how many macbooks ended up in landfill because of broken keyboards which where too expensive to repair (like 600$ ?), though keyboards shouldn't just break and not cost more than 100$ to exchange... My 6 year old iMac has a fan which sounds horrible, would be easy to clean if I just could access it... and while the HD is actually still upgradable, I can't reach it any better than the dirty fan. And of course there are batteries, which do fail quite often after like 5 years and are also not meant to be exchangeable. In Europe, it might be difficult to get Apple to exchange the battery of older laptops though.

tim333 5y ago
Though apple don't encourage DIY battery replacement it's not that hard. On my old 2013 air it's really easy apart from sourcing a decent battery, and on the new M1 air it seems quite doable if you don't mind glue. https://www.ifixit.com/Answers/View/675334/Is+it+possible+to+replace+the+battery+of+the+M1+MacBook+Air https://www.ifixit.com/Answers/View/675334/Is+it+possible+to...
- _ph_ 5y ago
  Yes, it is possible, a colleague of mine replaced the battery of a 2012 MB Pro. It is possible, but not easy and involved chemicals which should not be handled by anyone without basic lab experience. Things have become somewhat better but still the question is: why isn't it easy and why doesn't Apple offer battery exchange for a longer time? If they really care about the environment, they should at least offer to fix your old MB at a reasonable price. (At their typical battery replacement prices, there should be a healthy margin anyway).