5 ms·

And I can keep my non-apple laptops for longer b/c I can upgrade ram and storage and easily put in a a new battery when needed.

by itg 4y ago

akmarinov 4y ago
Those are some chonky laptops I assume.
- nehal3m 4y ago
  That’s a non sequitur. Repairable / upgradable doesn’t exclude a sleek design. See high end business notebooks or the Framework laptop.
- gs17 4y ago
  I had an ASUS that was only marginally thicker than a MPB with upgradable ram and storage (which puts it miles ahead of the MBA I ran out of both on immediately despite using it for almost nothing). The battery was likely also replacable, I just never tried.
geerlingguy 4y ago
On the flip side, I've sold every one of my old Apple laptops, usually for a few hundred bucks at least after 4-6 years of use. After 4-6 years I can get maybe $100 or a little more for any of the Lenovo and Dell laptops I owned. Apple laptops depreciate much slower.
- javaunsafe2019 4y ago
  Apple stops giving you software updates after seven years which makes such a device unusable for normal use (browsing, banking, coding etc). Also the ssd will fail sooner or later.
  - gt565k 4y ago
    at the 7 year mark you should probably get a new laptop... really at the 5 year mark unless you got a top of the line machine.
    - javaunsafe2019 4y ago
      Can’t confirm - my parents still use one of my first work laptops which is over 12 years old and is powered by Linux. It’s enough for all their casual use cases. Edit: throwing away laptops after 5 years won’t help us to live more in a more environment friendly way don’t u think?
      - actionfromafar 4y ago
        But at that point, you can install Linux on the 12 year old Mac too.
        javaunsafe2019 4y ago
        As I wrote, the ssd will die at some point and can’t be replaced
    - mahathu 4y ago
      Why after 5 years if it's still working fine?
- nehal3m 4y ago
  This is true, but on the flip flip side… I’ve administered several hundred Macs for a few years, and when they do break you’re at Apple’s mercy for turnaround. The business I worked for had surplus, so not that big a deal, but it would be a bitch for my personal business and life. If all I need is parts then it’s a day max, or I can switch to whatever can run Fedora halfway decently.
  - ohyoutravel 4y ago
    Flipping again, I just go to the Apple Store, of which there are multiple in any major city. I was on a Surface for a while but Microsoft closing all their retail stores meant my next upgrade was to a MacBook.
- actionfromafar 4y ago
  I just breathed new life into a 2015 MacBook Pro, OpenCore Legacy Patcher to install Ventura, 2TB NVME SSD with the help of a random Amazon adapter, and a new battery in the mail. All can be had for a couple of hundred dollars or less. I hope to delay a year or two the inevitable of having to buy a nicely specced Macbook, now that even the disk can no longer be upgraded, if I understand correctly.
- esskay 4y ago
  Yup I sell mine after 3 years, still get at least half its value back. Zero chance of getting anything close to that with a Dell/HP/Lenovo/etc
- tlavoie 4y ago
  Alternatively, used Thinkpads and Dells are probably quite affordable for the capability, which includes the ability to repair and upgrade.
toomuchtodo 4y ago
I am running code right now on my desk (archival ops) on a ~10 year old MacBook Air (MacBookAir6,2 from system report;8GB ram 512GB SSD). Apple replaced the battery for $100.
- rabuse 4y ago
  Same. Still have my 2012 Air as my backup device, and it runs fine.
varispeed 4y ago
It's not difficult to upgrade ram and storage on M1. The problem is limited availability of memory chips. But if you have pre-balled chips and hot air station (even the cheap ones would do) it's fairly quick to swap them out. Even if you have used chips re-balling with right stencils is relatively easy. I think legislators should compel Apple to make chips available to general public so these upgrades can become mainstream. If general public is not comfortable doing that themselves, I am sure any repair shop would be more than happy to do such an upgrade for the customer.
- jki275 4y ago
  "not difficult" is a very different thing in your world than it is for nearly everyone else in the world. For all intents and purposes, for basically everyone, memory and storage are non-upgradeable in the M1 Macs.
nicce 4y ago
We are already in situation that if you buy 32gb RAM for your PC, it is likely that there are other bottlenecks than RAM for the next 5 years. Also the disk requirement is not increasing so drastically anymore, unless you are gamer.
friedman23 4y ago
I just pay apple for insurance and they replace my battery at no additional cost. And if I ever spill water on the laptop or damage it in any other way that's my fault they replace it for a fraction of the actual cost of the thing.
D13Fd 4y ago
This is an increasingly niche need. It’s rare for people to upgrade HDDs or RAM in laptops.
steveylang 4y ago
Batteries on Apple laptops have always been pretty easy to replace (if not RAM and storage), just not swappable on the go. No glue, just screws- not sure if that's changed recently though.
- tlavoie 4y ago
  That hasn't been the case since the Retina models. My mid-2013 Retina MBP had to have the battery replaced, which involved the top case, track pad, keyboard... and the battery. And then the charging circuit went on the motherboard, for which only a like-for-like replacement was permitted. I had hoped to purchase one with more RAM, so I bought a Thinkpad instead of fixing this one.

And I can keep my non-apple laptops for longer b/c I can upgrade ram and storage and easily put in a a new battery when needed.

by itg 4y ago

And I can keep my non-apple laptops for longer b/c I can upgrade ram and storage and easily put in a a new battery when needed.

akmarinov 4y ago

Those are some chonky laptops I assume.

nehal3m 4y ago
That’s a non sequitur. Repairable / upgradable doesn’t exclude a sleek design. See high end business notebooks or the Framework laptop.
gs17 4y ago
I had an ASUS that was only marginally thicker than a MPB with upgradable ram and storage (which puts it miles ahead of the MBA I ran out of both on immediately despite using it for almost nothing). The battery was likely also replacable, I just never tried.

geerlingguy 4y ago

On the flip side, I've sold every one of my old Apple laptops, usually for a few hundred bucks at least after 4-6 years of use. After 4-6 years I can get maybe $100 or a little more for any of the Lenovo and Dell laptops I owned. Apple laptops depreciate much slower.

javaunsafe2019 4y ago
Apple stops giving you software updates after seven years which makes such a device unusable for normal use (browsing, banking, coding etc). Also the ssd will fail sooner or later.
- gt565k 4y ago
  at the 7 year mark you should probably get a new laptop... really at the 5 year mark unless you got a top of the line machine.
  - javaunsafe2019 4y ago
    Can’t confirm - my parents still use one of my first work laptops which is over 12 years old and is powered by Linux. It’s enough for all their casual use cases. Edit: throwing away laptops after 5 years won’t help us to live more in a more environment friendly way don’t u think?
    - actionfromafar 4y ago
      But at that point, you can install Linux on the 12 year old Mac too.
      - javaunsafe2019 4y ago
        As I wrote, the ssd will die at some point and can’t be replaced
  - mahathu 4y ago
    Why after 5 years if it's still working fine?
nehal3m 4y ago
This is true, but on the flip flip side… I’ve administered several hundred Macs for a few years, and when they do break you’re at Apple’s mercy for turnaround. The business I worked for had surplus, so not that big a deal, but it would be a bitch for my personal business and life. If all I need is parts then it’s a day max, or I can switch to whatever can run Fedora halfway decently.
- ohyoutravel 4y ago
  Flipping again, I just go to the Apple Store, of which there are multiple in any major city. I was on a Surface for a while but Microsoft closing all their retail stores meant my next upgrade was to a MacBook.
actionfromafar 4y ago
I just breathed new life into a 2015 MacBook Pro, OpenCore Legacy Patcher to install Ventura, 2TB NVME SSD with the help of a random Amazon adapter, and a new battery in the mail. All can be had for a couple of hundred dollars or less. I hope to delay a year or two the inevitable of having to buy a nicely specced Macbook, now that even the disk can no longer be upgraded, if I understand correctly.
esskay 4y ago
Yup I sell mine after 3 years, still get at least half its value back. Zero chance of getting anything close to that with a Dell/HP/Lenovo/etc
tlavoie 4y ago
Alternatively, used Thinkpads and Dells are probably quite affordable for the capability, which includes the ability to repair and upgrade.

toomuchtodo 4y ago

I am running code right now on my desk (archival ops) on a ~10 year old MacBook Air (MacBookAir6,2 from system report;8GB ram 512GB SSD). Apple replaced the battery for $100.

rabuse 4y ago
Same. Still have my 2012 Air as my backup device, and it runs fine.

varispeed 4y ago

It's not difficult to upgrade ram and storage on M1. The problem is limited availability of memory chips. But if you have pre-balled chips and hot air station (even the cheap ones would do) it's fairly quick to swap them out. Even if you have used chips re-balling with right stencils is relatively easy. I think legislators should compel Apple to make chips available to general public so these upgrades can become mainstream. If general public is not comfortable doing that themselves, I am sure any repair shop would be more than happy to do such an upgrade for the customer.

jki275 4y ago
"not difficult" is a very different thing in your world than it is for nearly everyone else in the world. For all intents and purposes, for basically everyone, memory and storage are non-upgradeable in the M1 Macs.

nicce 4y ago

We are already in situation that if you buy 32gb RAM for your PC, it is likely that there are other bottlenecks than RAM for the next 5 years. Also the disk requirement is not increasing so drastically anymore, unless you are gamer.

friedman23 4y ago

I just pay apple for insurance and they replace my battery at no additional cost. And if I ever spill water on the laptop or damage it in any other way that's my fault they replace it for a fraction of the actual cost of the thing.

D13Fd 4y ago

This is an increasingly niche need. It’s rare for people to upgrade HDDs or RAM in laptops.

steveylang 4y ago

Batteries on Apple laptops have always been pretty easy to replace (if not RAM and storage), just not swappable on the go. No glue, just screws- not sure if that's changed recently though.

tlavoie 4y ago
That hasn't been the case since the Retina models. My mid-2013 Retina MBP had to have the battery replaced, which involved the top case, track pad, keyboard... and the battery. And then the charging circuit went on the motherboard, for which only a like-for-like replacement was permitted. I had hoped to purchase one with more RAM, so I bought a Thinkpad instead of fixing this one.