How long will it last?

One of the main reasons why I ventured into the Mac world was because I have more dead pc's laying around here than I prefer to count.

Seems like they either die, or because of all the bloatware, spam, crap, blah blah blah, they become virtually unusable within a couple of years.

And I've heard stories of Mac users having the same computer for 10+ years and it works great. Obviously not as good as brand new ones, but still kicking as they should for what they are many years later.

Is this the rule for Mac's? Should I expect my iMac to be a solid computer for me for the next 5+ years or so? More?

Just curious what everyone's opinions are on how long a typical Mac would last.

I plan to buy a Mac later this fall. This topic will be very interesting to me. I hope some of the more experience Mac users can give their opinions.

Mine is about four months old and still kicking

I have a G4 still running strong as a back-up server, now 10 years old and runs OSX tiger server (10.4)

I also own a Mac SE30 (1989) , works great as a book stop but still boots up and runs system 7 from the early nineties. Its not much use as it cannot connect to the internet and shares no ports or disk formats with modern macs - but still works as a little bit of Historic curiosity.

Macs do fail, but the vast majority still soldier on after many years doing useful work, so expect to still have a machine running as good as new in five years or more

Just curious what everyone's opinions are on how long a typical Mac would last.

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It's not so much a question of how long the hardware will last because Macs are built well and will for the most part last quite a while.

The problem is with today's rapid moving technology, your new Mac will likely be outmoded long before the hardware fails.

louishen said:

I have a G4 still running strong as a back-up server, now 10 years old and runs OSX tiger server (10.4)

I also own a Mac SE30 (1989) , works great as a book stop but still boots up and runs system 7 from the early nineties. Its not much use as it cannot connect to the internet and shares no ports or disk formats with modern macs - but still works as a little bit of Historic curiosity.

Macs do fail, but the vast majority still soldier on after many years doing useful work, so expect to still have a machine running as good as new in five years or more

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Thanks, five years is more than I have ever used a Windows machine. I am on 4 years with my current Windows PC and that is because of the recession.

chscag said:

It's not so much a question of how long the hardware will last because Macs are built well and will for the most part last quite a while.

The problem is with today's rapid moving technology, your new Mac will likely be outmoded long before the hardware fails.

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That’s also a concern of mine…

MontyMo said:

Mine is about four months old and still kicking

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Thank you too…

The one before lasted 4 years the current MBP 1.5 years.

My Macbook is coming up to 4 years i think and i cant count the amount of windows laptops my friends have gone through in that time. Still runs everything i need really well and is the best £800 or so pounds i have ever spent.

I have a 10yr old iMac running that i use for my 8yr old son so he can learn the Mac. Works great still running 10.4.11. I recently picked up a PowerMac G3 running OS 9 Bought it home hooked it up to my 46" TV and she booted up in 5 Mins. Still working like the day it came out. And my 2010 MBP is going well too.

Cheers

My turn-around time is usually about 4 years. The last MBP is 4 years old and got slow editing HD video. So I just got a new iMac for those tasks, the MBP still runs super with everything else and I'm still using it for travelling.

dekan said:

My turn-around time is usually about 4 years. The last MBP is 4 years old and got slow editing HD video. So I just got a new iMac for those tasks, the MBP still runs super with everything else and I'm still using it for travelling.

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You just helped me in my decision between a MBP and an iMac.

Thanks

My G4 eMac 1.25GHz and G4 iMac 1GHz are both still around. They were released in 2003 and 2002 respectively. I hope this baby lasts that long.

My first macbook (2006) lasted 2 years. I only sold it 'cos I wanted to use more RAM.

My second macbook has lasted 3 years. It too is due to be sold soon, as I want more RAM, and its replacement (15" MBP) has been delivered.

My '06 MBP in my signature still runs like the day I brought it home. Best decision I ever made!

My '06 is running better than when I brought it home with upgrades to RAM and drives.

First computer since the DOS days that I have ever maintained as my primary computer for longer than 12-18 months. And as such, has been the best money I've ever spent on a computer.

I know that, as a Mac user, I shouldn't say this but if your Windows PC is full of bloatware, spam, crap, blah blah blah .... who's fault is that?
I'm not a lover of Windows based computers but I have to have 3 of them running here to do my job. I'm based at home and all 3 machines are running XP Pro (SP3). 2 of them are Compaqs from about 2002 and the other is a netbook from around 2008.
Both Compaqs put in about 10 hours each day on the web doing various jobs and doing them almost as well as they did on Day 1.
How has this miracle come about? I hear you ask.
Simple. NOTHING gets downloaded and used without passing an up to date AV programme (I use the free version of Avast) + an Antimalwarebytes scan + a Superantispyware scan. And when I say "Nothing", I mean Nothing. Not even e-mails from family and friends because you never know where THEY got the info that they are sending that they think is perfectly safe to send.
Also, I have a prog that I run every 3 days on all of them.
This prog shuts down from the web and then fires up a new connection. It then connects to the Avast website and downloads the latest updates before doing a full scan of the computer. It then goes to the Antimalware website, downloads any updates and does a full scan of the system. Next is a defrag and then the computer shuts itself down.
Bloated? ..... No.
Full of malware, worms, trojans, viruses etc? ... No.
Working well even after 9 or 10 years? ..... Absolutely.

Like I said, I'm no great lover of Windows machines but I think it's more a case of not liking the way the software creators work rather than having a downer on the hardware.

With apologies for the rant.
Steve

I've been on my black MacBook since early 2006? Almost 6 years, and it's still kickin'!

I'll keep buying Apple as long as I don't get into 3-year replacement cycles. That's one reason why I switched in the first place. If that goes away, then cobbling cheap Windows systems might get attractive again.