A new report from CIRP (Consumer Intelligence Research Partners) attempts to quantify how long consumers hold on to their Macs before buying a new model. And its conclusion, which will not make happy reading for Apple, is that the numbers are going up.
The study asked US consumers how old their previous Mac had been when they chose to replace it. In 2024, more than half (56 percent) said 3 years or more. That’s a 16-point increase from the equivalent survey in 2020, when just 40 percent gave that answer.
As the “3 years or more” category increased in size, all the other categories shrank. The number of upgraders who keep their Mac for 2-3 years has dropped from 19 to 13 percent; those who keep it for 1-2 years have dropped from 23 to 19 percent; and the lucky group who are able to replace their Mac annually has dropped from 19 to 13 percent.
The reason consumers are keeping their Macs longer, according to CIRP, is that users are moving more towards streaming and web-based apps, which means there is less need to bump up processing power and therefore less motivation to upgrade frequently. CIRP also highlights a report by Mark Gurman that cites fewer cutting-edge features as well as increased reliability and durability as reasons for the increasing lifecycle of Apple devices.
“In recent years,” Gurman writes, “Apple’s pace of hardware innovation has slowed… The current MacBook Pro has the same basic form factor as it did in 2021, and I wouldn’t expect a new look until 2025 or 2026. The MacBook Air was redesigned in 2022, and a future change is probably years away as well. The end result: Getting average consumers to regularly upgrade to a new model is harder than it used to be.”
A modern Mac computer with an Apple M-series chip is strong enough for most Mac users to hold on to it for 3 years or more. Even the first machine with Apple’s M1 chip, the MacBook Air from 2020, still has enough bounce in its step for everyday use such as sending emails, browsing, simple photo and video editing.
In some ways, then, the report reflects well on Apple’s Mac range; but that will be scant consolation if revenues dry up from a lack of upgrade activity. Let’s hope Cupertino has something exciting in store for the M3 Mac Studio.