iMac Longevity

Brand new to Mac.....just got 2 MacBook Pros and I am looking to replace my desktop with an iMac.

With typical use, how long can I expect an iMac to last me? I usually replace my Windows base PCs at around 5 years. I am hoping the switch to Mac will give me more mileage.

I am using these machines for basic computing, web, light office work, and mainly music, photo and home videos. I am looking at the top end 27" iMac but at that price I'd hope to get 6+ years out of it. I really want the big screen so that is a deciding factor too.

Any input is greatly appreciated.

giardinop said:

With typical use, how long can I expect an iMac to last me? I usually replace my Windows base PCs at around 5 years. I am hoping the switch to Mac will give me more mileage.

I am using these machines for basic computing, web, light office work, and mainly music, photo and home videos. I am looking at the top end 27" iMac but at that price I'd hope to get 6+ years out of it. I really want the big screen so that is a deciding factor too.

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Depends what you mean by "last". There's:

- When will this thing fall apart "lasting"?

and...

- When will this thing be "technologically obsolete" "lasting"?

I think that "technologically"...you should probably get at least 5 years...maybe even as much as 7-8 years depending on what you do.

But hey...who can predict the future. Who even knows if we'll still be using computers as we know them today in 5-8 years!

- Nick

pigoo3 said:

Depends what you mean by "last". There's:

- When will this thing fall apart "lasting"?

and...

- When will this thing be "technologically obsolete" "lasting"?

I think that "technologically"...you should probably get at least 5 years...maybe even as much as 7-8 years depending on what you do.

But hey...who can predict the future. Who even knows if we'll still be using computers as we know them today in 5-8 years!

- Nick

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That's a fair answer.......

Just trying to get an idea. Obviously any machine can fail at any time and I am aware of that. I was thinking along the lines of maintaining the ability to "keep up" as time and technology goes by. My experience with PC was that they become obsolete in less than 4 years and they have failures around 5.

The stuff I've heard about Mac is they can keep up for much longer. Keeping in mind I'm not doing any high power gaming and I'm not editing Thor 2 on it.

I have an old iMac from 2002 which is still fully functional.

My sister still uses my iSight G5 iMac from 2005, we use original CD Intel iMacs at the office that are from July 2006 and my Alum iMac from fall 2007 is still running strong.

My experience is that "light duty" (ie normal stuff) users tend to get a lot of life out iMacs -- six years or more is not at all unusual.

The "problem" is that most users eventually "graduate" out of "light duty" and into more power-user type stuff, which of course has enormous benefits BUT leads to faster "obsolescence," mainly on the software or graphics-card front.

It's hard to predict the future, since every so often big breakthroughs happen that change the rules, but light-duty users tend to get by for longer on less.

Great responses and information. Now it's off the the Apple Store! Thanks for all of your insight.

There are a few things to keep in mind that may affect the usability or upgradability of the machine beyond 5 years:

1) Will Apples OS still support the machines architecture? Example: Apple released the first Intel machines in early 2006 and by mid 2010 the latest OS (10.6 / Snow Leopard) did not support non-Intle based machines. This means that anyone who purchased a last generation PPC machine (4 to 5 years old) is no longer able to update past 10.5 (Leopard). It is also rumored that 10.7 (Lion) may not support the first generation or two of Intel Macs (Core Duo machines) when released in 2011. This would mean that Intel based machines that are between 4 and 5 years old may not be able to be updated to the latest OS.

2) Will 3rd party software continue to support systems beyond the 5 year mark? This is unlikely to happen within 5 years but perhaps not far beyond that. With Apple shifting to a full 64 bit architecture with the new Intel chips many Apps will need to be updated to work with the new systems and hardware. This may in effect leave older hardware and systems behind. While this has yet to happen with the Intel generations of Macs, it is happening rapidly with the 5 year old last generation PPC Macs. Example: Office 2011 is not compatible with non-Intel based Macs. Doesn't mean Office 2008 and 2004 don't work just fine though.

None of these things will, however, impact how long you may find the machine itself useful. There are plenty of folks out there still running G3. G4 and G5 PPC based Mac today that are perfectly happy with how they function in the roles they use them. Even if Lion passes the C2D first Gen Macs by, there will be plenty of folks using them for years to come.

None of these things will, however, impact how long you may find the machine itself useful. There are plenty of folks out there still running G3. G4 and G5 PPC based Mac today that are perfectly happy with how they function in the roles they use them. Even if Lion passes the C2D first Gen Macs by, there will be plenty of folks using them for years to come.

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+1. Good information and advice.

I bought my first iMac 5 or six years ago. I always update it to the latest software and, to me, it is as up-to-date as when I first bought it. I have since bought seven more macs for our office and personal use. I don't think you'll ever hear that from a Windoze user in a post-pc world.

Not really true. I've done a lot of field work and been in various jobs where Windows machines were the only computers. I've seen some very old Win boxes that kept on going and are still alive although obviously outmoded.

A lot depends on the user as well. I still have an old Toshiba notebook from 2003 which works fine. Lousy screen, slow, but it can access the net and these forums.