I kept my 15" Macbook Pro 2010 for 7 years. I would have kept it longer but the GPU fault defect causing constant crashing (I fixed it at 3 years with Apple Care and it returned on year 6) made it unusable. I planned on keeping my 15" 2017 Macbook Pro for 7-10 years but Apple’s extreme screw up with the keyboard made me want to dump it immediately. A few days before Apple Care expired this year, my battery ballooned. So I sent it in and got it replaced (with logic board) but I am so glad to get rid of it with a trade in for the M1. I don’t like living in fear that my keyboard is going to die at any moment.
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@macsorcery How common are these hardware issues? I hadn’t heard of the GPU fault defect. Was that something that affected many MBP from that vintage?
re: MBP 2017 - is the battery issue common as well? I mean you’ve only had it for less than 3 years.
I have a 2014 MBP, i7, 16GB Ram, 512 Storage. It’s been a workhorse for me until I noticed the battery was swollen and trackpad unusable. (It’s was in clamshell so I never noticed). Sent to Apple Care for repair and will be re-purposed (assuming it’s just a battery issue). Upgraded to the new M1 Mac Mini which will become the new workhorse. If the battery wasn’t swollen, I would have kept using it until it dies. My wife’s previous MBP lasted for 10 years until it too had a swollen battery, but also was sluggish to the point I could brew coffee and drink it and it would still be trying to load an app.
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I sense a pattern with the swollen battery. What’s the cause of swollen batteries? Would it make sense to replace a battery before that happens to extend the life?
For my particular cases, I left the laptop in clamshell mode, plugged in 24/7 to an external monitor, I really never had the need to move it. Nothing ever flagged and said my battery was abnormal. If I hadn’t had to move my desk, I probably wouldn’t have noticed.
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Current Macs:
2012 mac mini i7 16gb ram - home server/plex/time machine/hazel/windows10
2016 macbook pro i5 16gb ram upgraded from 2013 MacBook Pro because wife needed a mac. Wife still is enjoying it 
I was hoping she would complain so I can upgrade.
Was tempted to upgrade both to M1 Macs. But I asked myself What cant I ship with the macs I already have?
The fact remains, both these Macs run fine and thats good enough for me.
I am happy with the state of the Macs so when I do upgrade, something delightfully fast and quiet will be waiting for me.
yeah the 2010 was famous for the gpu issue. google “2010 macbook pro gpu kernel panic”… it may have been a bigger problem than the keyboard. Apple had to fix them all but the fix only lasted 3 years apparently… here is a macrumors thread from the time…
I usually keep mine machines around 6 years. I was rocking a 2013 MacBook Air (office machine) and a 2016 MacBook Pro (home computer for remote work, photography and gaming), back in march I gave the MBA to my parents since the 2011 MBP they was using had problems and since being stuck at home I had no need for that machine…
The MacBook Pro had a keyboard replacement in 2018, but the D key is starting fo fail again… 
So I was tempted to get a M1 Air, but I think I’ll wait for the apple silicon 16" MBP to replace this dreaded machine…
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Right now I am moving from a 2015 MBP to an M1. If the improvements (battery life, speed) weren’t so huge, I would have stayed with it for a while.
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Wow, keep the votes coming. I thought it would end up being a normal distribution but it seems that people start consistently replacing between years 4 through 8. Current average ends up being 5.8 years with the median of 5 years.
This helps a lot because I feel that I’m the “average” Mac Power User and would like to plan out these bigger capital expenditures.
It’s also great to see that people have passed down older macs to family members.
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Hey same 
I would have expected a bimodal distribution formed by those that want the latest (and greatest?) and those that keep them until they wear out or otherwise can’t do the job.
But those people who consider their Macs to be fashion accessories or status symbols probably are not “Power Users”.
I expect you are seeing the year 4 through 8 range because in year 4 the AppleCare warranties are over and the cost of repair goes up, increasing the probability of replacement. When you go beyond 7 years they basically can no longer be serviced nor will they run the latest macOS.
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Still managing to get by with my 2013 MBP, the battery is shot, but it still works fine when hooked up to a monitor, keyboard and trackpad.
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I had my 2012 MacBook Air until 2018. Upgraded to a 13” MBP in 2018, a 16” MBP in 2020 and now a M1 MBA. I usually don’t upgrade machines that often but glad I’m back on the MBA.
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I usually keep my laptops for 3 years but my last mac was a 2016 MBP that I was fully intending to use for 5 years; it had its keyboard replaced last year and that came with a new battery. This was the plan until exactly a week ago when its SSD failed. Genius mentioned it was super dusty inside (despite the major work done a year ago when I assume it was cleaned out) so probably heat caused the failure. Since the storage is integrated into the logic board and the resulting quote came back at around $650 for logic board replacement so I was advised by my IT department to scrap it.
I had to do the unthinkable and get the last ever Intel MBP - I use Windows on a daily basis. At least I will not suffer from cold legs or palms this winter. Even brand new, man does this thing get toasty - even more noticeable now that every podcaster and reviewer remarks how cool the M1 Macs run! Got the 13" as I had decided to downsize this time. No regrets really but oh it was so hard to swipe the credit card for an Intel when the M1 was sitting right there. Sales guy asked me 3 times if I was sure…
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I probably replace laptops more often than I need to.
Unfortunately, the day always comes where I see the secret encoded text in Apple ads telling me “it’s time … we need your money … we need your money … buy … buy”.
Does no one else get those secret messages from Apple 
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yes, the absence of 1-3 year owners is surprising
I think that all the podcasters and other prominent people in the Mac community that go through computers very quickly (cough, Marco, cough) can skew our perception of how often most people actually upgrade their hardware.
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Yeah, that totally isn’t me… 
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I have a 2016 Macbook nothing, so it’s been 4 years. It’s my first Mac (or any computer of my own since I got it entering high school) so I don’t have any idea of how long I should expect it to last. But it’s working fine for me still and I feel like I’m really just getting to know some of the best power features!
Excited to upgrade to Big Sur this week…