It's usually just Apple people cycling their macbooks every "new shiny" release. Most people on PCs run them into the ground over 6-8 years.
The difference is... jaw dropping.
I'm under the impression they launched it primarily with the new macbook airs because they're entry level, lower priced, and wanted to test the waters with the new architecture.
They can't keep pretending to be aligned with the environment and then put on a big show every year for products that provide tiny incremental benefits. I'm thinking mostly of the iPhone, but even things like M1: yes it's a step forward but that doesn't mean I *need* one right now.
For the record, I'm using a 2012 MacBook Air (8GB) for everything. The fans will spin up sometimes when browsing, or when Docker becomes uncontrollable, but it does everything I ask and it doesn't feel at all slow.
My Windows-using friend is on their third laptop in the last decade, not including the Chromebook they inherited from work.
If you want to find the "new shiny every year" people, look for the ones buying gaming rigs. There are very few games that run on macOS so there's very little pressure to upgrade to the latest greatest every year.
Over 20 years ago I joined a company as Director of IT. In the first 10 days I cancelled several thousands of dollar of monthly leases of equipment that siting unused from projects that were over but not returned. Nobody looked at the leases while the Directors position was being filled.
Random IT leasing article from google. https://www.costowl.com/rental/equipment-leasing-it-cost.htm...
I type this on a Mid-2015 Macbook Pro, still working well but Mac OS tells me I need the battery serviced. I'll probably buy a new Macbook Pro 16" when they bring one out with Apple Silicon and then do the battery replacement and keep this one going as a spare machine (and for the old Photoshop and other Adobe CS6 apps that won't work on a 64-bit only OS which is why this is still running Mojave).
I wasn't tempted at all until the M1...