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I did this once, bought an older MacBook Pro to make sure my app was still 'usable' on an older machine. After about a year the machine didn't get any OS update

I did this once, bought an older MacBook Pro to make sure my app was still 'usable' on an older machine. After about a year the machine didn't get any OS updates, and then a year after that it just died. Wasted my $300. I have a 2006 Intel MacBook that still works but I've also had 3 year old Macs just quit working.

bombcar 4y ago
In some ways $150/yr to make sure your app was usable may be a worthwhile expenditure. And if you abuse things like https://github.com/dortania/OpenCore-Legacy-Patcher/releases https://github.com/dortania/OpenCore-Legacy-Patcher/releases you can keep running "modern" releases on older hardware. But it depends on what you're trying to do.
danuker 4y ago
Perhaps the devices are worth fixing. I trust Rossmann Repair because of their YouTube videos.
- bombcar 4y ago
  Depending on how it dies, it's often not worth repairing a $300 laptop - since you can buy another one for $300. It is often worth selling the dead one for parts to someone else; even if the logic board is dead the screen is likely to be useful.
olyjohn 4y ago
You bought a used machine, and got 2 years of testing out of it for $300? You got a pretty good deal. I've also had 3 year old Dells, HPs, Lenovos, ASUS, you name it... all die prematurely. I don't honestly believe that any particular company uses any better quality hardware than another. Not measurably better, at least. You're just gonna win some, and lose some, no matter how much you pay for the hardware. This year's most reliable laptop could have a revision next year that makes it the worst laptop... With laptops and proprietary desktops especially, it's sometimes worth paying for the extra warranty.
TheRealPomax 4y ago
Sorry, did you say "this computer that only cost me $150 a year but allowed me to test and deploy for its platform on native hardware was a waste of money"? Because it kinda sounds like the completely opposite? As a counter anecdote, I've done this three times for macs so far, and all of those still work for their intended purpose. The 2011 model even survived overheating due to user error and fried its internal graphics cables but works fine with an external monitor. And sure, they're all stuck on whatever their respective latest operating systems are, but that's fine: they're test/compile machines, not daily drivers. And not all of them: in 2022 the oldest realistic mac target you're looking at is the 2015 macbook pro (i.e. "the good one", that even today's models can still take design lessons from). And here's the best part: if something in them breaks, replacing the entire machine is only a few hundred bucks. Which you don't have to: you just need to buy a "for parts" with the bits you need still working. Any model that's still being used in the wild still has a decent sized for parts market. You can tell when the world stops using a model when the parts dry up.

bombcar 4y ago

In some ways $150/yr to make sure your app was usable may be a worthwhile expenditure. And if you abuse things like https://github.com/dortania/OpenCore-Legacy-Patcher/releases https://github.com/dortania/OpenCore-Legacy-Patcher/releases you can keep running "modern" releases on older hardware. But it depends on what you're trying to do.

danuker 4y ago

Perhaps the devices are worth fixing. I trust Rossmann Repair because of their YouTube videos.

bombcar 4y ago
Depending on how it dies, it's often not worth repairing a $300 laptop - since you can buy another one for $300. It is often worth selling the dead one for parts to someone else; even if the logic board is dead the screen is likely to be useful.

olyjohn 4y ago

You bought a used machine, and got 2 years of testing out of it for $300? You got a pretty good deal. I've also had 3 year old Dells, HPs, Lenovos, ASUS, you name it... all die prematurely. I don't honestly believe that any particular company uses any better quality hardware than another. Not measurably better, at least. You're just gonna win some, and lose some, no matter how much you pay for the hardware. This year's most reliable laptop could have a revision next year that makes it the worst laptop... With laptops and proprietary desktops especially, it's sometimes worth paying for the extra warranty.

TheRealPomax 4y ago

Sorry, did you say "this computer that only cost me $150 a year but allowed me to test and deploy for its platform on native hardware was a waste of money"? Because it kinda sounds like the completely opposite? As a counter anecdote, I've done this three times for macs so far, and all of those still work for their intended purpose. The 2011 model even survived overheating due to user error and fried its internal graphics cables but works fine with an external monitor. And sure, they're all stuck on whatever their respective latest operating systems are, but that's fine: they're test/compile machines, not daily drivers. And not all of them: in 2022 the oldest realistic mac target you're looking at is the 2015 macbook pro (i.e. "the good one", that even today's models can still take design lessons from). And here's the best part: if something in them breaks, replacing the entire machine is only a few hundred bucks. Which you don't have to: you just need to buy a "for parts" with the bits you need still working. Any model that's still being used in the wild still has a decent sized for parts market. You can tell when the world stops using a model when the parts dry up.