MacBook Pro Durability/Longevity

[James Falconer]

Simply wondering how our MacBook Pros are holding up? I picked up a new one just over a year ago now and she's still running like a top. No issues, battery life is still almost as good as the day I took it out of the box as well (kind of surprised about that).

How about you?

 

[Matty]

I purchased my very first and only Macbook Pro in 2011. Since day one, the performance has been great. Probably one of my happiest purchases ever and without a doubt, i will be getting another Macbook Pro for my next laptop. The battery life only lasts around 2.5 - 3 hours but for a nearly 6 year old laptop. I think that's pretty good going

I will admit, i don't play a lot of games, just use it for Mobile_Nations, watching movies, using Microsoft Office and some Android Studio Dev work. So I'm not exactly pushing it had but for my needs it working wonderfully. Especially for student work The one thing I've been impressed about is the hinge stiffness. There is still relatively little wobble.

Thinking of getting the new 2017 Macbook Pro at the end of this year as a 'Graduation' present.

 

[TwitchyPuppy]

I got a 2012 MBP and only had to put an SSD into it. It became lightning fast and felt brand new

 

[Abu Khadija]

I have a late 2013 15" rMBP with d/gpu. It's just over 3 years old now. AppleCare ran out in the middle of February. I'm just really starting to use it now since I've been using both iPad pros lately. Had windows 8.1 boot camped on it now with win 10. Bootcamped it just for 1 game that's not on macs. LOL.

Now thinking about iMovie and FCPX. Battery life is good. About 6 or 7 hours if I keep running it. I think it's running like it's brand new.

That's the good thing about macs, you can run them for years and there still good. Really have no use for the new ones. Don't like the touch bar. But that's just me.

 

[jmr1015]

I have a mid-2009 MacBook Pro and it still runs great. I felt it necessary to upgrade from 2gb to 8gb of ram about 3 years ago... and it could benefit from a switch to SSD. But overall it is still very reliable and even still holds a decent charge on its original battery. It's partitioned to run Windows as well. I rarely do, but it's nice to know I can when I want.

 

[bobpet63]

I have a 2011 17" mb pro. I put an ssd drive and it runs faster. Love it.

 

[bobpet63]

Bought it new

 

[Matty]

I have a 2011 17" mb pro. I put an ssd drive and it runs faster. Love it.

Wow a 17" Macbook Pro! I havent seen that size in AGES. There was only 1 guy in my whole school who had one (maybe the only one who could afford it haha). It's a pity Apple don't make them anymore, that screen was huge and just gorgeous to look at. Just thinking now, if the 15" is around $2,399 imagine what Apple would have sold the 17" inch for $2,799?

 

[anon(5719825)]

I bought two MBPs in the summer of 2015. I have a 2015 15" MBP and a 2012 13" MBP. I bought both of these brand new.

Both of these are still working 100%. On the 2012, I upgraded the RAM to 16GB and yesterday, I installed an SSD in it. I don't use either one on battery power much so both have less then 20 cycles after all this time.

I have never bought Apple Care for any Mac I have ever owned because I have never needed to send in any Mac for repairs. I still have a 2008 black MacBook that works 100% to this day, it's just too slow.

 

[Jude526]

I love how we in iMore appreciate the Mac Pro. I was reading on CNET user reviews on the 2015 model... not happy. Don't understand their issues. I have none of them. Love it

 

[int32_t]

Battery life still incredible on 2011 15" MacBook Pro, giving about 5h per charge. Other than a memory upgrade from 4 GB to 8 GB (which improved performance like you wouldn't believe), it's the same as day one and still a great machine.

 

[West Londoner]

I have a 17 inch Macbook Pro , which I bought in 2012 ( its 5th birthday is next week ! )

It came with an i7 , but I have added an 512GB SSD , upped the RAM to 16gb and removed the hard drive , which means it runs like a dream , on both Sierra and Windows 10

It may be old , but it is brilliant . I am holding on to it , in the hope that Apple release a new 17 inch , although I am not keeping my hopes high .

 

[msm0511]

I currently have 3 MacBooks, but only really use my late 2016 MBP. I have one of the white MacBooks from 2008. It's held up remarkably well for an intro model from 9 yrs ago. I mean sure it's slow, doesn't really get updates anymore, and battery life is really bad, but it still works. I gave it to my mom when I got my late 2011 MBP and it worked for her. My late 2011, however is another story. It's pretty much only usable as a browser and music player. The hard drive is failing and the battery is fried so it only works plugged in. But considering I spilled a mixed drink bit enough to get Tara Reid drunk on it I'm surprised it works at all. I've been planning to get a new battery and SSD to put in it just for fun.

My late 2016 MBP w/ Touch Bar is running great!! I only have one small bug that annoys me from time to time. Occasionally when I wake it my mouse pointer just isn't there. It takes playing with the track pad before I can see it.

 

[p1xel]

I've been using MBP's for over 10 years now for both work and home. The worst problem I've had was with my 2013 15". The graphics card went bad so I couldn't connect to any external displays. Eventually the internal display stopped working. Every once in awhile if I'm lucky, the display comes on and I can pull files off the hd.

The other problem I seem to always have is that the built-in SD card reader never seems to be able to mount my SD's. This actually occured on multiple MBP's, so maybe it's an issue with my SD cards.

Other than that I've been pretty lucky. I'll probably hold out on the new Touch Bar models for maybe a release or 2.

 

[kjung7]

My wife had an issue with the antiglare coating rubbing off on her 2015 MacBook Pro. Fortunately Apple replaced the screen under warranty.

 

[Ziich47]

My First MacBook Pro I bought in 2010 about a month after it came out. It has been very solid for me over the years and finally died this year. It had a couple issues but I definitely got my money's worth from AppleCare.
I still have a 2011 MacBook Pro that is still up and running. It never got apple care and has never had an issue since I got it.
I recently got the toucher MacBook Pro I have been generally been happy with it. My only gripe has been the inconsistency of battery life. If the newer models this year show a marked improvement, then I will switch immediately

 

[roystreet]

Although I don't have my MacBook Pro yet (It will be in my hands hopefully Monday) I'm looking forward to having my first Mac. I got an older one for my first one. MacBook Pro 2011 & these comments have really helped me believe I made a great choice. My experience with this machine will help me know if I want to invest into Macs in the future. I already have an iPhone & iPad Pro. I'm really looking forward to going 100% Apple -- As dangerous as that might sound - Coming from a MS IT person

 

[C6TX6]

We can imagine/dream, right?

I would like them to come out with a Macbook Pro Plus. It would have a 17" 5K screen, options up to 64GB (or more) ECC RAM, Xeon Processor, Quadro GPU w/ 8GB RAM, touch bar (of course) and some beefed up speakers. With a slightly thicker chassis, a full 99Wh battery with option for even larger (would violate FAA regs though). Possibly an AMOLED+ panel option. And color option featuring matte and jet black! While we're at it, bring back the glowing apple logo with user tunable RGB where it would look like the original Apple Logo from 1984 if wanted. (Or any other color or completely off)

A SEC connector for a pro tools doc featuring enough connectors to drive a pair (or more) of 8K panels at 60Hz, 10Gb wired Ethernet. The wifi chip onboard the computer should be capable of 4x4 AC with 160MHz channel width. 802.11AD a plus!

And a slot for SD cards!

Don't want to think about what it would cost. Probably have to sell a kidney to buy one!

 

[BenitoC]

My first Mac was a 2006 MacBook Pro that had its GPUs go unfortunately. Then I got a 2011 MacBook Pro which I immediately put an SSD into, it is still great and I'm using it for work. I just purchased a new 2017 MacBook Pro and I'm looking forward to many many more years of great use. I'm really feel that these laptops last a long time.

 

[anon(50597)]

Well, I just purchased a used 2012 MBP with a new 1TB HD. Updated it to Sierra and it's running like a champ. I'm not a heavy user so this will work fine for me for several years.