I recently had to retire an old friend.
A 2014 iMac, originally purchased by someone else and later adopted by my wife, finally hit its limit. After five faithful years in our home, it couldn’t run the latest version of macOS anymore. No Sonoma. No Sequoia. It was time.
I replaced it with a shiny new M4 Mac mini. It’s incredibly fast, quiet, and sips electricity like a hummingbird. But it also got me thinking: Why did that 10-year-old iMac feel just fine until the software outpaced it?
Here’s the thing: hardware lasts. Especially on the Apple side of the universe.
From my experience, a MacBook or iMac easily gives you five to seven good years, more if you’re not pushing the limits. iPhones? At least four, maybe five. Apple Watches? Three if you’re lucky, but they’re the exception.
Compare that with the average Windows laptop lifespan—often bogged down by clunky drivers, bloated software, and declining performance after year two. Or Android phones, which might never see an OS update beyond their first birthday.
Apple’s secret sauce is simple: vertical integration. They control the hardware, the software, and the user experience. That means your gadgets not only age more gracefully—they stay useful longer.
But here’s the paradox.
While your iPhone 12 might still be snappy and take great photos, the moment Apple announces the iPhone 16 Pro Max with its LIDAR 2.0 and AI-powered photo mood filters, you feel like your camera is a potato. Each year, the camera upgrade alone gives you a little FOMO. And to be honest, it’s not a bad trade-off—memories do get sharper every year.
But for computers? Tablets? Unless you’re editing 8K video or designing rockets, even a 5-year-old MacBook Air handles email, Zoom, Google Docs, Netflix, and 100 browser tabs just fine.
The bigger story here is how fast software moves compared to hardware. Features get smarter. Apps get heavier. And eventually, no matter how solid your device is, it gets left behind—not because it failed, but because the OS left it behind.
This fast march forward has shaped our disposable mindset. But maybe it’s time to resist that just a bit.
Buy better. Use longer. Know when to upgrade only when it gives you tangible benefits.
If you stretch your hardware for 5+ years, that’s a great ROI. And if it still works but can’t run the latest software, consider repurposing it—turn it into a media hub, donate it, or set it up as a homework machine for the kids.
Not everything has to be latest-gen all the time. In a world that upgrades every year, sometimes the smarter move is to stand still.
Now the M4 Mac mini should last 10 years. At least until the software leaves you us no choice.