Owners of Apple devices are staying with their Macs longer than ever before, with a new survey of Mac ownership showing a significant year-over-year increase in the number of years users are using their current systems. As Bloomberg's Mark Gurman recently reported, the trend extends to iPhones as well.

CIRP surveyed Apple owners to find out how old their devices are and posted the results on Substack. Over the last year, 68% of Mac owners had devices older than two years at the time they upgraded to a new one. This is a significant increase from 59% in 2020, indicating that Mac owners are using their devices longer before taking the plunge and buying new ones; more than half of new Mac buyers were using devices that were more than three years old. The report does not delve any further into how many devices are five or more years old.

Only 13% of Mac owners dispose of their devices and replace them with new ones within the first year. Only 19% will purchase a new one within the first two years.

As to why this is happening, Garman speculates that it is because there are few innovative features to excite buyers. "If there's nothing in a new Mac that screams 'must-buy,' there's no reason to spend $1,000 or more to get a new Mac when an old Mac will work just fine."

He also points to more reliable and durable products, i.e., devices that break far less often. Because laptops struggle to handle the latest software, unless users are forced to update theirs, they will not buy a new one just because theirs breaks.

Also, from a processing perspective, the leap between models is not as great, and one would assume that much software can now be run directly in the browser. If a user's favorite application no longer runs smoothly, there is no need to upgrade.

In any case, this is good for consumers, since longer-lasting devices mean lower expenses and more value.