Have you found yourself reluctant to upgrade your Mac because it’s still happily chugging away? You might not be alone, as a new survey indicates that people are keeping their Macs longer than ever. Users now hesitate to upgrade or replace their Apple computers compared to the past.
Good news or bad news for Apple fans?
The survey, conducted by research firm CIRP and published on the company’s Substack blog, sheds light on this trend. According to CIRP, the study was partly motivated by Bloomberg journalist Mark Gurman’s claims. He suggested that Apple devices are lasting longer and are being kept longer by customers.
In the survey, CIRP found that over the past year, the percentage of Mac users whose previous device was older than two years increased to 68% compared to 59% in 2020. The numbers were similar for iPhone owners, rising from 63% to 71%. This suggests a greater proportion of Mac and iPhone users are now keeping their devices for two years or more before upgrading.
Gurman’s report states that Apple devices have seen a shortage of breakthrough features in recent years. This gives users fewer reasons to spend on a new product. Even Apple Intelligence, a brand-new feature, will work with M1 Macs released back in 2020. This means that owners of older Macs may not need to worry about upgrading if they want to use Apple’s AI platform.
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Gurman believes that the improved reliability of Apple’s products has helped them last longer than ever. CIRP agrees, stating that “for most laptop owners, improvement in battery longevity may be the most important factor.” This aspect may have reached a satisfactory threshold for many users.
Apple devices have long had a reputation for impressive longevity. Past studies, such as those from Consumer Reports in 2015 and Alta Technologies in 2022, show that Macs tend to last longer than rival devices. This suggests that claims of planned obsolescence on Apple’s part, often cited but rarely proven, are likely inaccurate. Instead, Apple focuses on improving durability, as outlined in a detailed report the company recently released.
Ultimately, devices that last longer can only be good news for consumers. But if exciting new features aren’t coming as regularly as they used to, there might not be as much to get Apple users’ blood pumping. Perhaps Apple Intelligence will change all that when it launches later this year.
