I was running Linux on my desktop from 2009 until I finally decided to swap the hardware last month. It started as my computer for school, I later added a GPU to play games, upgraded the GPU, then removed the GPU to turn it into a NAS (in 2017) when I upgraded the hardware (CPU was lagging in games). So I got ~8 years out of it as a desktop, then another 7 years as a server, and I only replaced it because I had better hardware doing nothing (faster and lower power).
Likewise with my laptop. I bought a Lenovo T series in 2012-ish (replaced a POS HP that was falling apart from 2009), accidently killed it with water damage (a lot of water, like a full cup) in ~2017, then got a Lenovo E series to replace it, which I still use today. The E series has been dropped multiple times (once from almost 2 meters onto a hard floor), stuffed in bags, used by kids, etc, and the only issue is a small chip in the back (fall damage) and a slightly loose USB-C charge port (mostly from kids tugging on it; still works fine). I still get 3-ish hours battery life and my kids love playing minecraft and Lego games on it. I expect it to last years still.
I’ve never had to replace a computer because of Linux support. It’s never even come across my mind as a thing to think about. Everything just works, even if I move my boot drive from one computer to another (upgrading my 2009 system to my 2017 system was just moving the boot drive).
I don’t think Apple hardware is special, they just don’t ship crap like the budget end of the market. If you buy something quality, it’ll be just as reliable, if not more. If I cared to fix my Lenovo T series, it would probably be with me today, but the newer, faster model was <$500 so I didn’t bother.
That’s true of Linux too though.
I was running Linux on my desktop from 2009 until I finally decided to swap the hardware last month. It started as my computer for school, I later added a GPU to play games, upgraded the GPU, then removed the GPU to turn it into a NAS (in 2017) when I upgraded the hardware (CPU was lagging in games). So I got ~8 years out of it as a desktop, then another 7 years as a server, and I only replaced it because I had better hardware doing nothing (faster and lower power).
Likewise with my laptop. I bought a Lenovo T series in 2012-ish (replaced a POS HP that was falling apart from 2009), accidently killed it with water damage (a lot of water, like a full cup) in ~2017, then got a Lenovo E series to replace it, which I still use today. The E series has been dropped multiple times (once from almost 2 meters onto a hard floor), stuffed in bags, used by kids, etc, and the only issue is a small chip in the back (fall damage) and a slightly loose USB-C charge port (mostly from kids tugging on it; still works fine). I still get 3-ish hours battery life and my kids love playing minecraft and Lego games on it. I expect it to last years still.
I’ve never had to replace a computer because of Linux support. It’s never even come across my mind as a thing to think about. Everything just works, even if I move my boot drive from one computer to another (upgrading my 2009 system to my 2017 system was just moving the boot drive).
I don’t think Apple hardware is special, they just don’t ship crap like the budget end of the market. If you buy something quality, it’ll be just as reliable, if not more. If I cared to fix my Lenovo T series, it would probably be with me today, but the newer, faster model was <$500 so I didn’t bother.