Onebuttonfruituser
Level 1 (0 points)

Q: I just bought a 2006 Macbook used for my 9 year old daughter.

My husband maintains that laptop 6 years old can be any good, even if it is an Apple. I am a fairly new returnee to Mac. Is he right? Do I have a future of repairs ahead of me?

MacBook, Mac OS X (10.7)

Posted on Nov 3, 2012 12:46 PM

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Onebuttonfruituser

Q: I just bought a 2006 Macbook used for my 9 year old daughter.

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  • by BGreg,

    BGreg BGreg Nov 3, 2012 2:54 PM in response to Onebuttonfruituser
    Level 6 (17,522 points)
    Nov 3, 2012 2:54 PM in response to Onebuttonfruituser

    There are many older MacBooks still chugging away. In a 6 year old machine, I would be concerned about the hard drive failing, as they often do between 3 and 5 years. After that, nobody can tell you whether or when an electonic component will fail or not.

     

    If you have Lion installed on it, while the minimum memory required is 2GB, you should install 4GB for reasonable performance. OWC and Crucial are two respected and recommended sources. Here's how to replace the memory.

  • by frederic1943,

    frederic1943 frederic1943 Nov 3, 2012 3:59 PM in response to Onebuttonfruituser
    Level 6 (9,985 points)
    Nov 3, 2012 3:59 PM in response to Onebuttonfruituser

    It would help to know which one of the 9 different models of MacBook you have. To see which model you have go to the Apple in the upper left corner and select About This Mac, then click on More Info (and then System Report if you’re running 10.7 Lion). When System Profiler comes up check the Model Identifier and post it back here.

  • by John Galt,

    John Galt John Galt Nov 3, 2012 4:07 PM in response to Onebuttonfruituser
    Level 9 (50,132 points)
    Mac OS X
    Nov 3, 2012 4:07 PM in response to Onebuttonfruituser

    Onebuttonfruituser wrote:

     

    My husband maintains that laptop 6 years old can be any good, even if it is an Apple.

     

    Here is iTunes version 2 running on my ten year old PowerBook G4:

     

    https://discussions.apple.com/servlet/JiveServlet/downloadImage/2-17789156-95524/Picture+1.png

     

    It could use a new battery but everything still works as well as it did when it was new.

     

    Posting a screen shot from my 20+ year old SE/30 will take some more time.

  • by britny,

    britny britny Nov 3, 2012 4:53 PM in response to John Galt
    Level 1 (125 points)
    Nov 3, 2012 4:53 PM in response to John Galt

    ahhhhh. itunes 2. still running it on my g3 imac.

  • by Cattus Thraex,

    Cattus Thraex Cattus Thraex Nov 4, 2012 12:06 PM in response to Onebuttonfruituser
    Level 4 (1,714 points)
    Notebooks
    Nov 4, 2012 12:06 PM in response to Onebuttonfruituser

    This is a purely theoretical question. My 2004 Powerbook, therefore 8 years old, almost 9, is still a perfectly functional machine. I have ordered a new battery, otherwise is up and running. So much the better with a 2006 machine, you may run a more recent OS, even if not the last one.