Show HN: Apple no longer repairing older MacBook Pros

You should actually compare the actions of Apple compared to other companies before stating that their stance is bullshit. I don't think this holds up to scrutiny. It looks to me that they actually do a lot for the cause of environmentalism.

Also, have you never had an old car where the repairs start to cost more than the car is worth? Sometimes you do need to replace things.

Repairs on a Volvo 240 may cost more than the car is worth but the total annual cost is many times less than replacing the car. And it's more reliable than modern >$40k cars.

Ikea also practices fake environmentalism by using non-standard parts in their light fixtures while not providing replacement parts.

While I understand you might be frustrated.

It could be considered satire if you would substitute "Apple" with "Generic Windows Laptop OEM" and "MacBook Pro" with some plastic model of a windows laptop.

What I'm trying to say that 7 years is a great lifespan for a laptop and a fact that only now first-party repair is becoming problematic (I understand it was possible to replace battery with OEM a year ago) and you have to resort to third-party parts seems still outstanding for a consumer goods company.

Apple does have its fair share of problems with less repairable laptops as of recently - that's for sure. Especially if you listen to Louis Rossmann

Seriously, if I had a problem with a dell XPS laptop I’d have throw it away. Repair after 7 years? I think Dell would laugh in your face.

Lenovo and Apple are the only brands that even remotely stand by their products after even a couple of months and don’t make it horrendously awful to repair.

It’s a miracle it works after 7 years of use. I’d venture to say that Apple is the best of breed in longevity for the original purchase. You paid about $1/day for that laptop. If you can buy another that lasts remotely as long and it isn’t made by Lenovo I’d love to hear about it.

>It’s a miracle it works after 7 years of use

What do you people do with your laptops? ThinkPads aside, even my $300-350 Acer laptop is coming up on 6 years of (11-12h daily) use and everything works more than fine. I don't even use an SSD. The one I had before this lasted a good 10-11 years of similar if not heavier use (my entire family used it).

Before covid, I carried my laptop to where I was working, and I did that on a daily basis for years. No matter how gentle you are, they take a beating because the rest of the world definitely isn't nearly as careful.

As an aside: the Dell Latitude 610 I carted around for several years was a goddamn beast. It weighed a shit ton, but it took some drops and hits that I was positive wrecked the thing. What killed it eventually was the hinges on the screen breaking and shearing the video connector.

And yet, late last year or early this year I was able to buy a replacement charger [edit to add: they sell the battery too] from Dell for my 2013-model-year Latitude laptop. Not the exact same model as was originally bundled, but it's still new from Dell, still officially documented as compatible with my laptop, and still works fine with it in practice.

You described Apple as a consumer goods company and called this scenario satire if you just substitute a different company. Keep in mind the sale to OP was made by the much less consumerized Apple of 2014, not the "you can't touch /System without disabling important protections" Apple of 2021, and was from a Pro laptop line ostensibly targeted at business use cases, not a consumer model.

The expectations of OP for a top-tier business laptop seem quite reasonable to me, both in the past and in the present. My laptop still meets my needs well enough after more than 6 years of use (yeah I bought it in 2014) that I haven't been able to justify the purchase of a replacement, even though I could afford one if needed. Dell's offering of guaranteed compatible new parts reinforced both that decision and my openness to Dell business laptops whenever I do upgrade, since it's not a planned obsolescence trap.

you just compared buying a charger to replacing the battery. Also, I am sure if OP wants to replace the battery at a 3rd party store, they could. It’s been 7 years.

The point was that the manufacturer is still willing to produce and sell new replacement parts that are officially advertised and supported for that old of a model, instead of refusing to. I didn't have to guess that it would work, it was on the product page, and they would have treated it as a warranty issue (under the charger's warranty) if it didn't.

They also still have a page on their website documenting current battery products that work with this exact model, including one battery model that can be installed inside the machine like the original one. It's a very different attitude than Apple's.

That charger is probably the same one they have used in all models for like 20 years...

No, they have several different models with different wattages and other characteristics. But, sure the fact that they switch chargers less often than Apple does is another plus.

You can still buy the Magsafe Macbook charger from Apple's website to this day. Like, Google it and it'll come up.

A charger is completely different from a lithium-ion battery, which degrades over time.

They still sell a battery for this model too:

https://www.dell.com/en-ca/shop/dell-45-whr-4-cell-primary-b...

I focused more on the fact that they were still willing to provide this level of support for the repairs that such an old machine might need than on the particular part I chose to buy. My battery could use a replacement too, but I use it plugged in too much for me to want to spend on that. In a different lifestyle I'd buy that as well.

> Let's see: $199 to replace the battery on a perfectly functional $2400

That's not a $2400 laptop. That's a $400 laptop at most.

It was $2400 in 2014, which was seven years ago.

A new laptop with equivalent specs from Apple is at least $2400. This is not complicated.

I own the same laptop model, same year, also with battery that needs replacement. At well kept state they can reach 600 Euro (about $700 USD) on ebay in my country. Mine isn't well kept and I wouldn't sell anything with a battery in a bad condition so I have no illusion mine is worth even $400.

Your laptop does not have equivalent specs to the new ones :P No doubt yours will feel very slow compared to it running modern software.

If you really think so I would recommend looking at some benchmarks because that is not particularly close to reality.

Although you should wait until the M1 variant of your laptop releases. It is a bad time to buy the non Apple Silicon macbooks.

A new laptop with equivalent specs is probably a $300 Chromebook.

That thing is 7+ years old.

Don't be silly.

I was about to say the same thing. Its not a $2400 laptop.

His only choice is go to ebay / amazon. A laptop 7 years old it is a miracle that laptop lasted that long. at $200, apple rep is right, its best to put that $ into a new or slightly used laptop.

I do not get these posts that say things like this on a laptop that has done its duty for 7 years. Even HP / Dell / Lenovo enterprise will not have the parts for this.

> A laptop 7 years old it is a miracle that laptop lasted that long.

It's not a miracle, it's why Apple hardware has high second hand value. Got a 2012 Macbook Pro here still doing great. As it should be.

If Apple wants to become a car company, they better change their policies.

If they can sell a car for 2400$ then I think this would actually be acceptable policy :P

Meanwhile I'm writing this comment on a mid 2012 MacBook Pro. Apple has serious longevity, but if you're machine is over 5 years old and needs a part, don't count on Apple supplying it. You can still by the charger. Everything else you're pretty much screwed. I'm not complaining though because these are the best, longest-lasting laptops I've ever used. Frankly, I'm more concerned about Apple's software than I am their hardware.

Even iFixit batteries are not good. So, be careful. One of the problems with aftermarket batteries is that these batteries were made at least 2 years ago or so.

To make matters worse, Apple actively weaponizes the legal system against repairers and to make sure that spare parts aren't put on the market for their computers.

Battery change is doable but be sure of the supplier. I got one of the swelling batteries.

This is where third-party repair companies really shine.

This is where third-party repair companies would shine, if Apple let them[1].

[1] https://thenextweb.com/apple/2021/03/14/apple-makes-third-pa...

You're speaking generally, but I'm speaking specifically. Third parties perform battery replacement on 2014 MacBook Pros every day.

Will they be able to do the same on more recent iterations a few years later?

how do you think they got that trillion

it wasn't by repairing every gadget they sell