Years go by and almost everything I’ve bought from Apple still works. That helped me make an important decision.

“Are any of your Apple devices really dead?“My brother-in-law asked me a while back while we were eating at my vacation retreat. The obvious answer that quickly crossed my mind was yes. Or so I wanted to believe, assuming it was logical. Thinking about it, I realized that answer is barely correct.

I have many products that work perfectly, despite being over a decade old, like a 160GB iPod Classic that only needs to be recharged to play the thousands of songs that have been locked in there for a long time. the two thousandThat says a lot of good things about Apple, but it also teaches me a lesson about how I should decide to upgrade those devices.

My devices aren’t dead, I’ve just retired them

The truth is that almost every Apple device I have purchased (the first one was in 2005) They are still active in one way or anotherAnd considering it’s been 18 years since I first started embracing Apple, that’s quite a milestone. Let’s take a look back.

• My first Apple device was a iPod 5G (Video)I still have it, although unfortunately it doesn’t work as it was literally run over by an SUV in 2008. I couldn’t revive it.
• My first Mac, a 20-inch iMac Core 2 Duo (a whitey) is still active in the office of Cesar, the person who evangelized me towards the platform. He uses it as a very basic machine and to use applications that have become obsolete on the most recent Macs. That same Cesar also uses some Beats Studio that I bought and didn’t want to use anymore because they gave me a headache if I wore them for more than an hour.

• My first MacBook It was another whiteypurchased third hand from a friend. Not used often, but inherited by my sister and still stored on a shelf labeled “just in case.” As far as I know, it works.
• From there I jumped into a MacBook Air 11-inch which, if I’m not mistaken, is still stored at my sister’s house since the same brother-in-law who inspired this article inherited it. And again, it should still be able to work. At most the battery will have failed due to disuse and age.
• He iPad 3rd generation which I bought as my first tablet is still holding up as a gaming device for my youngest niece.
• He MacBook Pro 15-inch The one I used during a time when I embraced the laptop-connected-to-monitor mode of work is pretty beat up, but my niece uses it for some things.
• My brother-in-law’s main Mac is the MacBook Pro 13-inch Core i5 which I bought in 2015.
• The only Mac I can consider clinically dead is my iMac 27-inch Core i7 I bought it in 2013, but beware: designer Miguel Morales recycled its screen so he could resurrect his own model. So at least part of it is still alive:

• I bought the first one 12-inch iPad Pro and my niece has inherited it, she uses it as a leisure and study machine.
• Before I got my iPhone 13 Pro Max I used a iPhone XS which is now my brother-in-law’s phone.
• My old one iPhone 6 Plus It’s my emergency phone, which I keep in case the one I carry now gets stolen. It works perfectly.

The important second-hand Mac market

It is likely that if I try to turn on one of the computers that have been turned off for several years I will find that they are dead, but I still have to say that the vast majority of gadgets The Apples I bought are having a second life. A retirement, that is. The obvious question I ask myself is: Did I really need to change them so urgently if they last so many more years? Maybe I’ve been too impulsive?

Maybe, and there are signs to support that. I used to consider a Mac to be well-used if it lasted three years. Or two years for iPhones. My iPhone XS lasted three years, and my 27-inch iMac lasted eight. My current Mac, the M1 Mac mini, is going to be on my desk for as many years as I can get. My iPhone 13 Pro Max should be able to last about four years in my pocket, and it would be nice if it lasted five. Oh, and on my wrist I have an Apple Watch Series 4 that’s approaching five years old. I don’t plan on upgrading until it’s a necessity rather than a whim. Maybe the Apple Watch Series 9 will be the opportunity, we’ll see.

This may be happening because we have reached a point where the evolution of devices does not bring major changes, but the savings factor and the environmental one They are also there. It is becoming increasingly clear to me that we must take advantage of our devices until they really have to be retired, either because they die beyond any possible repair or because there is a professional need that leads me to change.

It will no longer be a question of wanting a change: it will be a question of necessity. The bad news is for my relatives, who will no longer inherit my Apple devices so often.

Image | Tetsuya Tomomatsu for Unsplash

An older version of this article was originally published on 07/07/2023.