Maximizing new MacBook Pro Lifespan

I'm picking up a new 15" Retina MacBook Pro tonight from the Apple Store and I have a general question about maintenance.

What can I do to maximize the performance and looks of my MacBook pro? I will probably end up reselling it and buying a newer one in a year or so, so I would like to get the absolute best bang for my buck.

I'm talking about things such as cooling, cases, regular maintenance, battery life tips, etc. Any advice is much appreciated.

Thanks!

SlothPony said:

I'm talking about things such as cooling, cases, regular maintenance, battery life tips, etc. Any advice is much appreciated.

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- Get a hard shell case to protect the exterior.
- Battery...plug the computer in when near electrical outlets (and keep it plugged if using near an outlet). Only use on battery power when not near an electrical outlet.
- Use the free program called Onyx...for periodic maintenance.
- Don't install any anti-virus programs.

Enjoy your new computer!

- Nick

"Maximizing lifespan" and "selling it in a year"...

DOES NOT COMPUTE

What in the world do those 2 things have in common?
Even Windows machines have a "lifespan" longer than a year.

If you're only going to keep it for a year, I'd use it however you want to (short of physically damaging it).
A year from now, clean install the OS and it's ready to go.

bobtomay said:

"Maximizing lifespan" and "selling it in a year"...

DOES NOT COMPUTE

Click to expand...

Very Very true...does not compute!

Other than maybe minimizing any external cosmetic damage (like you mentioned..."physical damage").

- Nick

While I don't necessarily believe directly in karma, I treat others (and in this case others' things) as I would like myself (my things) treated. If I know I'm going to be selling the MacBook in a year, I would like the person who buys it to receive a genuinely well-maintained machine with plenty of life left in it.

The kind of mentality you have displayed is the reason I never buy used.

SlothPony said:

The kind of mentality you have displayed is the reason I never buy used.

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You're jumping to inaccurate conclusions my new Mac-Forums friend!

Neither bobtomay or myself are suggesting that you not take as much care as possible of your brand new MacBook Pro (so the next owner gets as great a computer as possible)!

What we are saying is...an average, reasonable, responsible, mature, caring person should not have any need to be concerned about anything they do to a laptop computer in one year of ownership that should SERIOUSLY detract from the computers value.

You also must realize that this has nothing to do with "karma"...since you get a direct benefit from keeping this computer as pristine as possible. The nicer it's condition...the more it will be worth in a year...and the more $$$$ you will get in your pocket when it is sold!

bobtomay and myself have a combined total of 43,000+ posts and 12+ years here on Mac-Forums helping folks with their computing issues.

Do you really really think that with that sort of combined experience that we don't have a very very VERY good idea of how things work...and that we are only here to help folks (just like you)?? Didn't you see my first response earlier in the thread?? I don't believe you commented on that post...or said "Thank You"!

The question you're asking is a VERY good question! But 99% of the time...this question is asked by folks who intend on keeping a computer for 3-5 years or longer. In one year of ownership...if you are a careful, mature, responsible person...there really isn't much you can do to hurt your computer.

Please be a bit more "measured" with your comments. We are a VERY friendly forum here...probably the best Apple Macintosh forum you will find on the internet...AND probably one of the best forums overall (all topics).

As a basically brand new member...you don't want to burn any bridges before you even have any built!

Let's start over...and Welcome to Mac-Forums!

- Nick

p.s. And as far as buying used computers. I haven't purchased a new computer since about 1996! And when I sell a used computer that I purchased used...99% of the time...it's sold in almost exactly the same condition that I purchased it in.

Pigoo, please don't mistake my comments for hostility. I really appreciate the fact that this is such a friendly forum and thank you for the warm welcome.

That being said, I'm not sure if we are reading the same comment made by bobtomay. Is this the comment you are seeing?

"If you're only going to keep it for a year, I'd use it however you want to (short of physically damaging it)."

To me that doesn't seem like a comment that promotes being "an average, reasonable, responsible, mature, caring person."

Maybe I'm just confused.

SlothPony said:

That being said, I'm not sure if we are reading the same comment made by bobtomay. Is this the comment you are seeing?

"If you're only going to keep it for a year, I'd use it however you want to (short of physically damaging it)."

To me that doesn't seem like a comment that promotes being "an average, reasonable, responsible, mature, caring person."

Maybe I'm just confused.

Click to expand...

I think that you may be trying to read too much "between the lines".

If something written on an internet forum seems confusing...it's probably best to respond with a question to the person asking for clarification of what they meant. Instead of guessing what you "think" they meant (which many times may end up being an incorrect conclusion). Just ask for clarification.

The written word is pretty much the only way we have to communicate on an internet forum...and sometimes what is written is not really always what is truly meant.

- Nick

pigoo3 said:

I think that you may be trying to read too much "between the lines".

...

- Nick

Click to expand...

Yep.

I apologize, it was late, I was tired, time for bed, and after reading it to my wife, she said I was "bein' uppity".
That's my story, and I'm stickin' to it.

It's just that I take words to mean what they say,

The things that "maximize the lifespan" of a computer involve replacing hardware in the box. Things like increasing the RAM, upgrading the hard drive, video card, CPU, etc.

The MBP is a computer. If you're only planning to use it as a computer as it was intended, there really is nothing that needs to be done to "maximize the lifespan" knowing you are going to sell it in a year.

Compared to the resell value of a Mac, any hardware after market upgrade you do to it will return only pennies on the dollar selling in a year and I would not recommend any of them.

You're not going to sell it with all of your personal info on it. So, other than not physically damaging the computer, the only thing you'll "need" to do, and that's when you're ready to sell, is wipe the drive and do a clean install of the OS for the new owner.

As a rationale individual, seeing as how you have the ability to buy a MBP and replace it with a new one in a year, I presumed you know how to take care of your stuff. You're not going to be carrying it in a back pack with a big wad of loose keys in there to scratch it up or take it out and play frisbee with it. Right?

I have an '06 MBP that is still going and runs faster than it did when new. I've done those hardware upgrades that were possible in order to increase the "usable" lifespan of the machine. Would not have done any of those things if I had known upfront that I was going to sell it in '07. We have folks posting here trying to resolve issues with their 5-10-15 yr old Macs - now those folks are "maximizing lifespan".

Of the specific items you mentioned, Nick pretty well covered them all and the battery is the only one that has anything to do with lifespan. If you have any "special use" scenario, then we would need to know about that to be able to make a specific recommendation.

Let us know and welcome to the forum.
And sorry for gettin' uppity.

You know bobtomay, maybe it wasn't your fault for being uppity.

Let me add some context to my question:

I've been using a desktop for the past year and a half that I built myself (which still works phenomenally, but I'm sick and tired of Windows (specifically 8)). Before I built that desktop, I was using an Alienware laptop. I spent $1300 on the 11" model. Long story short, I used it for about six months and its performance had already degraded severely. After another two months, the machine had become almost completely unusable. I'm not sure exactly what happened, but my theory is that the machine was constantly running at extremely high temperatures (due to a combination of bad cooling on Alienware's end and heavy use on my end).

My point is that even though the computer looked like a million bucks, I would probably cry if I was on the buying end of this product on Ebay and tried using it for the first time and realized how poorly it performed.

So, to bring this full circle - In my past experiences, I have noticed that PCs degrade at an usual rate in terms of performance. From what I have read, Macs do not seem to have this issue. This may be why you are confused about my obsession with maintaing a machine I only have for a year - probably just a scar that PCs have left on me forever.

Thanks for all the help guys!

You're right, Windows can be a pitr to maintain for some of those that try to keep it running as fast as new after it's 6-12 months old.

First off, there is no registry in OS X that gets filled with junk every time you install an app and then loads all that stuff every time you boot the machine like in that other OS.

If you're getting one with an SSD in it, at this point - I'm not sure there is any maintenance that needs to be done. Have had an SSD now myself in a Mac for 2 years, have never done any "maintenance" to it and it's still running fast as new. I've also pretty well maintained 50-60% free space on it, but as I haven't experimented with it, not even sure free space on a SSD has any bearing on the speed.

If you're getting one with a hard drive, there is some maintenance you'll want to do from time to time.
Nothing like the 4-6 hours a week I use to spend on my custom built gaming rigs though.

Nick already recommended Onyx - you'll want to install that and when you notice a little slow down, open it up and run the Automation tab cleaning and maintenance sections. You may need to do this once every 2-4 months. You won't need to put it on a schedule making a regular habit out of it.

The other biggie for maintenance with a hard drive - any hard drive and any operating system - keep enough free space on the partition the OS is booting from. In my own experiments with drives of any size up to 1 TB, (I just haven't used a 2 TB or larger drive as a boot drive) when you hit 35% free space, anyone that is watching, "will" see a slow down that is totally and only related to the amount of free space on the drive. If you're one that uses a drive with less than maybe 40% free space &/or you move a lot of large files on and off the drive, you might be a candidate for defragging the drive on occasion to keep it running at it's best. For that, I'd recommend iDefrag.