0 - Software Engg 1 - Thinkpad 2 - Minimum 3 years. anything above that is bonus. (My 2015 MBP is still running fine)
I had a MBP 2015, which I upgraded in 2020 to the MBA M1. Now, I'm thinking whether or not to upgrade to a more newer MBA.
Ask HN: How long do you use your personal laptop before replacing it?
41–50 of 51 posts
Re: Ask HN: How long do you use your personal laptop before replacing it?
#420. SWE turned manager against my better judgment 1. MacBookPro M4 base model. 2. roughly 10 years ( my last one was a MCP retina 2015, and before that linux notebooks lasting about the same time ).
got it, thanks!
Re: Ask HN: How long do you use your personal laptop before replacing it?
#43Software. I typically use Macs. Previous one lasted 8-9 years (still working but bad battery). Current one (apple silicon) probably gonna last me the same time
I've always upgraded mostly due to battery issues. Since the silicon era of macs, IDK if they replace the battery.
Re: Ask HN: How long do you use your personal laptop before replacing it?
#44I used to change more frequently but since I got a MacBook Pro M1, the original one, I am still waiting for something significant better.
got it, thanks!
Re: Ask HN: How long do you use your personal laptop before replacing it?
#450. Developer 1. Lenovo L340 2. I often find that ~5 years is about the right time to change so i can stay somewhat in touch with the current tech. I often get lower-spec devices as i mostly work via remote machines though
Got it. Yeah, 5-7 seems like the common timeframe among devs.
Re: Ask HN: How long do you use your personal laptop before replacing it?
#46Recently retired software developer. Still using a crappy 2015 Acer laptop for hobby projects since I figure that whatever performance I'm getting it will be heaps better for most other people using my software
Are you able to run any of the LLM apps (not the OSS ones) like codex or claude on your machine?
Re: Ask HN: How long do you use your personal laptop before replacing it?
#470. Developer 1. Dell Latitude 7490 2. As long as I can. I think I've been on the Latutude for about 4 years now, but it's a second-hand device coming up on seven or eight years old. I generally don't need much oomph for the stuff I like to do at home (I don't game for example). I had a series of XPS laptops, but the battery life in use was poor and they tended to need the battery replacing quite quickly (puffy batter…
8 years and still kicking? and with more life left? For a Dell, that's amazing.
Re: Ask HN: How long do you use your personal laptop before replacing it?
#48Software engineer, last laptop was Dell Inspiron, I use it until it breaks in a way I can't fix. Laptops typically last me 7-10 years. However, I decided to switch away from laptops entirely when my last one broke. Towers fit my situation much better.
You seem to be in the farther right side of the spectrum in terms of your laptop longevity. 10 years is solid.
Re: Ask HN: How long do you use your personal laptop before replacing it?
#49Sysadmin who likes to code in his free time. I’ve bought my last MacBook Pro in 2015 and replaced it with a framework 12 this year.
How's the Framework laptop? I've heard good things about it, mostly from DHH.
The 12 is their convertible, it’s a good couch surfing device but the 13th gen intel i3 really struggles.
But that’s what i wanted, I was looking for a native device to test my apps and libs on to see how they perform on a constrained device.
I got a Ryzen 9 in a desktop when I need speed.
Re: Ask HN: How long do you use your personal laptop before replacing it?
#500. Developer 1. Dell Latitude 7490 2. As long as I can. I think I've been on the Latutude for about 4 years now, but it's a second-hand device coming up on seven or eight years old. I generally don't need much oomph for the stuff I like to do at home (I don't game for example). I had a series of XPS laptops, but the battery life in use was poor and they tended to need the battery replacing quite quickly (puffy batter…
8 years and still kicking? and with more life left? For a Dell, that's amazing.
I was issued an equivalent Latitude 7490 at a gig in 2019 and enjoyed using it (under Linux). It's robust and easily upgraded, but a little heavier than I would like. I replaced the battery a year or two ago.
I generally haven't had much trouble with second hand Dell and Thinkpad machines; perhaps buying second hand means that the real lemons are already ewaste? Though the XPS machines bought new were fine aside from the annoyingly brief battery life.
Currently using a Thinkpad X1 Carbon Gen 13 under Linux for work stuff and I like that (much lighter) so if I can get one second hand with enough memory I might choose that when/if the Dell eventually feels too slow.