EDIT: Getting a ton of great responses thanks everyone <3 Once this is up for 24 hours or so I’ll make another edit summarizing everyone’s recs for future reference. Keep ‘em coming!

TL;DR Have any recs for non-Apple phones/laptops that have lifespans of at least 5+ years?

Wanted to get everyone’s opinion on want brands/products have worked for them. I’m lightly techy and not afraid to put some effort in, but also don’t want to build everything from scratch. I think Apple’s products are often anti-consumer, anti-privacy, anti-yadda yadda yadda.

At the same time, with both phones and laptops, I’ve found my Apple products to have double or even triple the lifespan of any other brand. I did my research and bought a $1000+ HP laptop with Ryzen7 a little over two years ago, and due to a flaw in the hinge which is now subject to a class action lawsuit, the screen has cracked and it’s mostly unusable. Other purchase haven’t failed quite that dramatically but don’t tend to last as long. On the other hand, my or my partner’s old Macbooks and iPhones are easily seeing 5+ years of use in addition to software updates.

So let me know what’s worked for you!

    • agentsquirrel@beehaw.org
      6·
      1 year ago

      I’m typing this on a ten year MacBook Pro that is running a currently supported version of MacOS and runs as fast as the day I bought it. I have two MacBook Airs that are eleven years old and still in secondary service. I have a pile of Dell and Lenovo Windows laptops of similar age that can still run but are basically doorstops or suitable for beater Linux or BSD machines, definitely not daily drivers.

      • argv_minus_one@beehaw.org
        4·
        1 year ago

        I’m typing this on a ten year MacBook Pro

        Lucky you, I guess, because I sure haven’t had such good fortune.

        that is running a currently supported version of MacOS

        How is that possible? The almost-dead MacBook I mentioned is younger than yours and is stuck on Monterey.

        and runs as fast as the day I bought it.

        Probably. I didn’t say anything about how fast they are, because all common platforms in use today still run reasonably well on decade-old hardware.

        If it had 10ish GB of RAM, at least. Browsers eat RAM like popcorn.

        I have a pile of Dell and Lenovo Windows laptops of similar age that can still run but are basically doorstops or suitable for beater Linux or BSD machines, definitely not daily drivers.

        I’m guessing you didn’t pay $2500 for them, though. That’s down to specs, not manufacturer. Apple hardware is almost invariably high-spec and therefore quite fast, but Apple thankfully doesn’t have a monopoly on fast computers.

      • argv_minus_one@beehaw.org
        10·
        1 year ago

        There’s a decade-old Windows 10 machine around here that says otherwise.

        And even older Linux machines.

        And their hardware still works.

        There’s also a MacBook that started falling apart a couple of years after purchase, and an iPhone whose battery life has gone to hell in only a couple of years (meanwhile, some even-older Pixel 3as are still running like champs).

        Apple hardware is junk.

              • I_is_a_pirate@beehaw.org
                3·
                1 year ago

                God its like battle of the neckbeards, “quite incorrect kind sir, MacBooks run for years, challenge me again and I will make you rue the day! I tip my fedora to you sir! Good day!”

              • argv_minus_one@beehaw.org
                2·
                1 year ago

                I am a source. Over the last few decades, most computers and phones around here worked fine throughout their service lives and either are still in service or were replaced because they became obsolete, but about half of the Apples suffered hardware failure of some kind—two Macs died, one MacBook’s video cuts out if the lid is opened more than a couple of inches and its keyboard is very glitchy, and one iPhone’s battery life has become terrible despite reporting 90% battery health. Seriously not impressed with Apple hardware.