Using old laptops

April 23, 2024

I keep thinking about the analogy given by Cheapskate’s Guide when it comes to the subject of using old laptops instead of buying new ones. To write this article, I am using a 11-inch Early 2015 MacBook Air, purchased for $308.69 in October 2022. It has 8 GB RAM and 256 GB SSD. It is the last version before Apple introduced the MacBook Air with Retina display and the horrible butterfly keyboard. It runs macOS Monterey.

More knowledge equals lower cost. Cheapskate’s Guide compares buying cheap laptops with car mechanics who drive junk cars and suggests two reasons why this is so. Mechanics work on cars all day and don’t see the value in using them as a status symbol. It’s not universal. While their daily driver may be a clunker, car mechanics on some level do enjoy buying and owning cars. Car mechanics are experts and have a much stronger understanding of the value of a car. They have an innate knowledge of a car’s worth from knowing how easy and costly a car will be to repair and maintain.

Much like the mechanic who knows exactly what he wants and how long he expects it to last, I did the same when I bought my “old laptop”. I wanted the specific form factor, enough RAM and storage and also the ability to continue to run an updated operating system. While Monterey is not the latest macOS release, it is still plenty modern enough for me.

Saving money is not the only motivation when looking for “old laptops”. Keeping old, but still functional laptops out of the recycling is more sustainable. Kris De Decker writing for Low Tech Magazine discusses how much energy and resources replacing laptops consumes. Using a “old laptop” means you have a lower carbon footprint.

Why do people replace computers more often? Much like cars, computers are also a status symbol. People want to have the latest and greatest, even when they know they could buy something used. The assumption with buying something brand new is you won’t have to worry about something breaking. The difference between a used computer and a used car is there is not as much of stigma to buying a used car. Often there are much longer period of support for cars than computers.

The real reason is computer manufacturers do not have the incentive to support their products for long periods of time because it means they will sell fewer computers. The Early 2015 MacBook Air will continue to function much longer than Apple will officially support it. The problem runs much deeper than just one company. Kris De Decker also links to a 2015 study looking at how even as laptops have improved in terms of battery life, weight, and electricity consumption, the gains in efficiency are countered by increased computing power, Jevons Paradox at work. With the increased available computing power, software ends up using more resources than less. The effect is exacerbated by software developers who use the latest and most powerful computers to create software that doesn’t run well on old more low end computers. It is also more pronounced on the web, as Maciej Cegłowski discussed in The Website Obesity Crisis back in 2015. Anyone who uses a cheap Android phone sometimes runs into websites or apps that crash often because developers don’t optimize as much for efficiency because computing power keeps increasing.

The solution is not so clear. But as the right-to-repair movement grows and becomes more mainstream, companies cannot continue to use various tactics to make it harder for people to repair and upgrade their computers so they don’t need to replace them as often. The success of OpenCore Legacy Patcher means you’re not totally locked out when Apple decides to drop support for your laptop. Installing Linux on an old laptop can also keep it running much longer. Not everyone can switch to Linux, but using Ubuntu or Linux Mint doesn’t require you become an expert. You should use what works for you. There are still valid use cases for purchasing a new computer. Old doesn’t have mean useless.