MacBook Pro's Durability

Question

Few days ago i purchased my first Mac, a 15" MacBook Pro. I would like to keep it brand new and working as long as possible, because of the high price tag. With regular battery replacements, how long do these things last? I want to keep mine alive for ad least three years. Is that possible, with adding new OS versions and stuff? I take much care about the thing, always clean and i want to keep it scratch free as well. What about your experiences?

Answer 1

While Apple does not specify time spans that they expect their products to last, there are some things that can be logically be deduced from Apple business practices, especially their Applecare plan. It is an insurance policy against mechanical failure that costs very roughly around 20% of the new cost of the machine.
It is quite likely that Apple makes either a profit or loss on this program, but more likely a profit than a loss. However, lets assume that it breaks even and represents a true representation of what Apple expects in the way of potential failures. On that basis it is not unreasonable to assume that Apple expects up to 20% of the machines to experience some kind of failure in the 3 year period of the plan. As I expect Apple profits from this plan I expect the actual figure to be lower.
It is a good indication, to me, that Apple expects the majority of its computers to be still functioning without failures for the 3 years following purchase. After that failure rates are likely to increase to a point where Apple is not prepared to offer the protection plan.
If I thought an Apple computer would not last more than 3 years I would not be happy to pay the asking price.
Nothing lasts forever, however I have a 6 year old iBook still running like new and it is about to enter a new life as my son's laptop for college. I have confidence in Apple products.