The Latest generation of Apple Computer is now on the market for a year, and all we hear is that they are fast, silent, and cool. It is tempting to get a new machine.
But I would like you to jump 10 years back when the MacBook Air i7 were released. It happen that I own one of this machine, a MacBook Air 11” with dual core i7 at 2.0 GHz + boost 3.2GHz.
An history of quality computers
I still use it, sure it is not my main computer, but I use it almost everyday, browsing, watching videos, listen to music and even coding. During lockdowns, it was my wife work computer, her 8h/day working machine, plugged to an external monitor, she never complained (browsing, Mail, word, excel, zoom, teams…). This computer is nearly 10 years old and yet work like a charm, I would say, like on its first day. All part are original and anyway there isn’t much you can change, beside the wifi module and the SSD. It did cost US$1349 ($1575 with inflation), which isn’t cheap but still affordable for many people at the time.
Great Support
It has seen not less than 8 versions of MacOS X, from Mountain Lion (10.7.x) to Catalina (10.15.x). And as far as I know, without noticeable slowdown.
Catalina is the latest supported OS for this computer and Catalina will be supported until roughly the end of 2022.
This computer will continue to be functional for another 2–5years I believe, that 12 to 15 year longevity, not bad!
Across the years, Apple has demonstrated that the computers they build, are designed to function for years. Not only the hardware last long, but with a great support, software and updates doesn’t kill the experience.
For most end-users that mean keeping their computer for a long time, or being able to sell it on the secondhand market for great value.
A word on the SoC
It comes with some caveats, the tendency to integrate all components on a solder board can be debated. While it is hardly upgradable, I have to admit that it reduces the risk of failures.
Picking the right configuration is essential if you plan to keep your computer for some…
