Apple Users Are Keeping Their Devices for Longer as Upgrades Slow
macrumors.com
macrumors.com
My old Macbook from 2016 is still being used by my wife and the only issue she has is hard drive space. The compute power is still spot on. My reason for upgrading to a M1 was just because I wanted to play with the ARM chipset.
I've never had any other brand of laptop or phone age so well (maybe because my last Android was from 2014). There's a cost premium for Apple but I think over time, their gear is more cost effective.
Wow!
For comparison I’ve had my iPhone 12 for 3,5 years and it shows no sign of slowness or battery issues or whatever, and I intend to keep it for at least 1 or 2 more years. When OP say it stays functional for several years, they mean it stays as functional as the first day for several years, with no degradation.
I had a Mac Mini Core Duo from 2006 that was abandoned by Apple in less than 3 years. I put Windows 7 on it. MS didn’t end support for Windows 7 until 2020.
I had a Dell Core 2 Duo 2.66Ghz laptop from 2008 that I put Windows 10 on and it doesn’t reach end of life until 2025. I just retired it as my Plex Server in 2020.
It works just fine, but Apple don't want it to work.
My daughter has an apple watch se that they also stopped updating after just 3 years, so now the LTE on it is useless as the carriers here require a newer version.
She's getting the pixel treatment when it's time to get a new phone.
Even if apps require macos 14, it looks like it is supported on machines going back to 2018 for the most part:
https://support.apple.com/en-us/105113
I suspect that Macs will reach back to M1s for quite a while.
When I had a job writing mobile apps, I tried to "fight the good fight" by keeping our minimum version as low as possible, but everyone up the chain from me pressured us to increase it, especially software engineering, because it was "too hard" to maintain backward compatibility with older versions. Even though maintaining compatibility usually just meant a handful of if statements.
If we're talking about OSs alone, Windows wins. MacOS/iOS second. Android dead last on average (but it's much better now on some new phones).
You can easily run Windows on a PC from 2010 (at least on a desktop PC with a good CPU), getting updates well into the 2030s...
If the laptop and the ipad had been sitting in a corner of a climate controlled room being rarely handled, they would likely have lasted quite a bit longer.
If I compare my iPad to my mom's Surface, it is MUCH more durable. Same thing when I compare a macbook to a Dell laptop.
Maybe I'm too optimistic, or the wear and tear of portability really has a lot of influence here.
Windows PCs tend to slow down. I had a Dell 530s that I used for 10 years but midway Windows got too slow. I switched to Linux and it extended its life for another 5 years. It’s still quite usable under Linux but I moved on.
Apple devices are guaranteed 7 years of support. That’s not bad.
Not Dell but Lenovo and not Windows but Linux but for the rest the comparison is just fine to me. If it were not for the switch to 64 bits I'd still be using a 19 year old IBM Thinkpad T42p - I have three of them - daily. I still use them but the things are hampered by their 32 bits Pentium M CPUs. The keyboard and screen still beats whatever other notebook I've tried though...
Is anyone here still running a 2005 Apple laptop? That'd be a PowerBook G4?
> ...or a Samsung Galaxy S3 running the latest android.
I'm using one of those, a Galaxy SIIIneo running Android 11 - not the latest but not out of date either. It actually works quite well for a 10 year old phone, the battery easily lasts for a week with occasional use (and it is user-replaceable when the need arrives). Of course it is not running a Samsung Android distribution, those stopped somewhere around Android 4.4 on this model if I'm not mistaken. No, it runs LineageOS 18.1 with OTA updates, the last update was about a month ago.
So yes, Apple does offer longer support for its hardware than many other vendors. They are outclassed though by the longevity of AOSP-derived distributions like LineageOS on mobile and by Linux distributions on PC-type hardware - which includes Apple hardware, I'm typing this on a "late 2009 27" iMac" running Debian. The thing has been out of support by Apple for quite a while with MacOS 10.13 'High Sierra' being the last supported version. I managed to get 10.15 'Catalina' running on it but that is where it stops. It has no problems whatsoever running Debian 'Sid' (the 'unstable' latest version which in practice is not all that unstable, really) and will keep on doing so for the forthcoming years.
It's sad how much longer the hardware outlasts the software (which doesn't wear out).
Can't you just switch the SSD to a 4TB one and clone the old disk over?
The difference between an iPhone 6 and 7 is massive compared to an iPhone 14 versus 15.
But I get it - some people use it for things that are much more intensive and the difference is noticeable.
But for me, it's mostly messaging, a few travel/shopping apps, and occasional Safari use.
If you're a typical high income tech person who upgrades their desktop, laptop, phone, tablet, and watch on a regular cycle, that's a staggering amount of money to stay on the treadmill. I'm consciously choosing to keep my devices as long as possible. I've given up smartwatches, my desktop and tablet are 8 years old, and I plan to keep my phone for at least 5 years.
What's wrong with it ?
That being said, the battery capacity of my iPhone 12 Pro Max bought when it was first introduced is still at 80%
It is actually pretty amazing considering the device has been in continuous around the clock use (powered on) for nearly 5 years.
How? Apple doesn't sell spare parts. I went through two battery replacements on my iPhone SE 1G, after the original battery died. One from iFixit which was terrible. Battery SoC and performance was always wonky with that. Another from a reputable spare parts seller here, which had Apple branding on it, and it started good, but soon developed the same problem as the first.
Given Apples hostility toward repairs, it's obvious they'd rather you throw your device into the ocean and pay for a new one.
I bought a MacBook Pro M1 Max in 2021 and started using it as my primary machine driving external Studio Displays. It's the first computer I've ever owned that doesn't feel the least bit slow as I approach the three year mark. I've been asking myself when I think I'll upgrade and I truly don't know; probably not before some incredible new software feature isn't available on this hardware. I used to replace machines when the three year AppleCare coverage expired or soon after. I can't see that happening any longer.
To some degree, this isn't even about Apple Silicon (though that sure helps). Even my iMac Pro with Xeon processor was approaching a point where I'd have got to this milestone eventually. Apple Silicon accelerated the jump by a good margin. I have no doubt I'd be able to tell the difference if I got an M4 laptop whenever they arrive, but I'd struggle to justify it to myself. (I should mention, in fairness, that I've been on a hiatus from making music since partway through the pan and that undoubtedly makes a difference. But even then, I think the game has changed, at least for me.)
I'll keep upgrading my iPhones on a much more regular basis because there's still substantial improvements that I can notice and appreciate (improved displays, cameras, industrial design, etc). I don't think that's going to be the case with my Macs any longer. This will likely be the oldest computer I've ever had as primary when it gets replaced, and I think by a large margin. It's a strange place to be after decades of computing on the bleeding edge.
It still runs the current macOS, but I'm sure that's changing soon. When that happens I might downgrade mine to Mojave and use it as an offline-only "zen pod" machine for creative work.
Not sure if I'm representative of most Apple buyers, probably not, but I think this is not just me. When technology is exciting and new features are something you want, you will go and buy and shift money around to make it happen if necessary. But if you are not excited, and dread what's coming next (even less privacy, now with AI you don't control), it's a different story.
Thing is: Did I really miss out on the mobile ecosystem in the last years? There are apps, most of them run fine or fine-ish. The biggest problem are lazy developers using non native toolkits. Games, obviously are another problem, but I’m more of a puzzle gamer. The biggest advance was photography but since I couldn’t integrate photography in my life in the last 15 years I don’t think I will now. Whenever I look at newer iPhones, I don’t really feel huge FOMO. What are the mobile use cases to always upgrade to the newest one?
(Maybe because I’m primary a Mac user and the iPhone is more of an appendix to that.)
Then Apple just made FaceID work even with masks. Now TouchID is further behind by still not working with gloves, while FaceID works in more situations than ever before. When you don't need to authorize a sensitive operation, just unlock, a paired Apple Watch can also be configured to unlock the iPhone.
Last year I couldn't. Their website just wouldn't let me, with an unspecified error. Other people with similar errors online found no way of fixing it, even after talking to customer service.
It's possible I could have resolved the issue with a phone call, but instead I just dealt with having the phone a little longer. Now I'll own it and have another test device.
I love Apple's ecosystem. The devices interoperate very well, but Apple tries to make it feel like you're missing out on something if you don't have the full suite of devices. And unfortunately, it costs a lot to keep up.
For example, I have an iPhone, an Apple Watch, a Macbook Pro (M2 Max, main workstation), an iPad, 2 Apple TV 4Ks, and a Mac Mini (M1, used as a secondary machine in my workshop). This year I upgraded my iPhone and Apple Watch after 3 years. Next year I anticipate replacing my iPad, the following year is the Mac Mini, and a couple years after that would be the MBP (which will be a $4300? expense?).
While I'm fortunate enough to have a lot of disposable income... perhaps I'm being a bit stingy here, but spending more than $1500/yr feels rough. I can't see how anyone could mostly buy into Apple's ecosystem on an average disposable income level and not keep their devices for several years.
If that's not bad enough, now Apple's really pushing their added services to get more out of the devices. Apple One is $40/mo. Even though it's a suite of services, a $40/mo subscription feels steep.
Plus the current Pro Max equivalent costs almost a month worth of average salary here so no wonder people are upgrading less frequently.
I only upgrade my iPhone when there's a new touch ID model. I have no idea how large this segment is, but it's >1. If Apple kill off touch ID entirely, they'll lose me as a phone customer.
My primary desktop development machine is still a 10-core 2017 iMac Pro. At EOFY every year since 2021 I've checked for a 27" or larger iMac or iMac Pro with Apple silicon. No such product, no sale. The Studio is a nope; the physical ergonomics and convenience of a single-unit workstation matter too much.
I also have an iPad Pro 3rd gen. I thought it would lose support this year, but no! It's confirmed at least one more year.
I'd probably still be on an original SE, but the battery was poor and I broke the screen so it was easier to just upgrade then replace everything.
The only issue I'm seeing is the iOS updates. Some apps can't be downloaded on iOS 13 any more.
The end result for me personally was having a borderline unusable iPhone for how ever long this was, even though it was fairly new. And they never fixed the root cause, which was a seemingly flawed battery design.
As far as I know they added a setting to turn that feature off. Not sure if that's on by default or not.
The thing is, they were covering up a battery defect unique to a few models like the iPhone 6. Also the throttling was pretty conservative. It made my phone lag so hard that even typing in a default app like Messages was a chore. My phone almost never shut down even after I disabled it, so it's not like I needed it.
Do you have any proof of this?
> My phone almost never shut down even after I disabled it, so it's not like I needed it.
“Almost never” sounds like you did. There are a few factors at play such as temperature that can’t be exactly characterised so it has to be conservative.
Mine shut down once, at a low %. It was a very easy decision to disable the throttling. Even if I were unlucky enough to get a model that shut down more frequently, the throttling was so bad that it'd have been worth disabling.
It was limited to certain models, which makes sense because personally, I've never seen an older iPhone (≤5) shut off randomly. Apple didn't say what the affected models have in common.
This isn’t an issue unique to iPhones either. Different battery chemistries will behave differently and different technology nodes and designs will have varying supply requirements, but in general the internal resistance will increase as the battery ages and cause brownouts as the voltage dips under high load.
I understand that batteries in general can have voltage dips as they degrade, but the 6-7 had something especially wrong with them. Unlike Antennagate, Batterygate was a real thing.
11 and above:
> While performance impacts are reduced as much as possible, battery ageing might still eventually lead to noticeable, possibly temporary, effects. Depending on the battery state, level of charge and the tasks that your iPhone is handling, examples might include longer app launch times, lower frame rates, increased processing times, reduced wireless-data throughput, backlight dimming or lower speaker volume. During the most extreme cases, the camera flash or other camera features might be temporarily disabled.
https://support.apple.com/en-gb/106348
Below 11:
> Additionally, you can see if the performance-management feature, which dynamically manages maximum performance to prevent unexpected shutdowns, is on, and you can choose to turn it off. This feature is enabled only after an unexpected shutdown first occurs on a device with a battery that has diminished ability to deliver maximum instantaneous power. This feature applies to iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus, iPhone SE (1st generation), iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus. Starting with iOS 12.1, iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus and iPhone X include this feature; iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max and iPhone XR include this feature starting with iOS 13.1.
You can’t turn that off, but there’s now more communication that replacing the battery will make the phone faster.
They slowed individual handsets with degraded batteries to prevent resets. They still do. Replacing the battery brought the device back to full speed.
They got flak for not telling the user, so they alert now. All new iPhones have this feature.
Ironically this was actually to extend the life of the device - many people who would have upgraded if their phone was resetting under high load just carried on using it throttled (my wife included).
Apple is the only malicious perpetrator here. For many years they had specifically denied that they were doing this. That is malicious and borderline criminal damage.
Then when they got caught they came up with plausible deniability. It was evil, it was dishonest and it was awful.
Replacing the battery brought the handset to full speed. How do you fake this well enough for it to be only “plausible deniability”?
The Apple PR people are reaching pretty low trying to deny this ever happened.
> Then when they got caught they came up with plausible deniability.
This is the bit you need to prove. You are implying that they were maliciously doing something underhand rather than implementing a feature to stop degraded batteries causing reboots. How do you implement the exact features required for degraded battery management when you are trying to do something else like slow phones to sell more? That’s the bit you need to explain.