The Necessary "Upgrade"

 I am having to write this blog entry on a 2007 Macbook 3.1.  (That is eighteen years old!)  My Macbook Pro late 2011 is in the shop having its Magsafe charger repaired.  Not so quick!  It is 2026, and I am trying to repair a computer that was manufactured in mid 2011.  That means the Macbook Pro also is almost fourteen years old, thereabouts.  These are older machines, but they still operate fine.  There is no need to "upgrade," because the software I use runs on these respective operating systems, Mountain Lion, and Mavericks.  The Macbook 3.1 came from Mac Warehouse, and to begin with it was a dog.  While the price always is cheaper than a new Mac, and never have I bought a new Mac, because I can't afford it, sometimes you get a clunker.  This little polycarbon computer came to life with a software upgrade.  Mac 10.6.8 is Snow Leopard, and when I installed it perhaps a year later, every glitch and bug disappeared, and it began to run smoothly.  It has been working ever since, and this is 2026.  Because browsers now are out-of-date and hardware configurations no longer are supported, it does not get support from the internet.  Some websites come up in Firefox, but mostly this little computer will do what I still need it to do.  What is that?  It is an Editor/Librarian for synthesizer patches by MOTU's Unisyn.  I have coveted DX-7 patches saved on this computer.  That is why I kept it.  It sat for several years not plugged in and charging its battery, but when I fetched it and opened the lid is turned on.  I charged the battery, and here I sit typing on it like I did for several years working on cruise ships.  Why did I upgrade?  I upgraded because my home recording system on a PowerMac with Nubus and an accelerator card failed.  What happened?  The battery exploded inside.  It was time.  I got a Macbook Pro aluminum and used it in clamshell mode to run my new home recording and MIDI studio.  It worked for several years, but because I bought this computer used off eBay its graphic card failed.  It was a an AMD Radeon.  Boo!  It was a known issue as was the issue with my original iBook laptop.  The mother board would flex, and one particular solder joint would separate.  I spent almost $500.00 trying to get this computer fixed, and the Apple Store could not do it.  They put in a new hard drive and still the dreaded black screen.  They didn't tell me it was a known issue.  This last time I was more thorough in my choice.  Affordamac back then was a different company.  It was Charlie McCormick Computers in California, and they were an excellent Mac re-seller.  All three of my computers came from them, an iMac for my mother, a Mac Pro for my new studio, and eventually another Macbook Pro for me.  It would not be in the shop had not the Magsafe 1 charging port arced through the air causing a dead short.  It fried both sides of the charger, the jack in the computer and on the charger.  Here's the thing.  Trying to repair a computer manufactured in 2011 today in 2026 is going to have caveats.  The DC board the repairman put it differed slightly from the original.  It requires a full 19 volts rather than 18.5.  After disassembling the computer and removing the motherboard, repairing the DC rails and a fuse, still it would not charge the new battery.  Little did I know this was purposeful.  It has become a common practice to make it difficult to repair older equipment, because the manufacturer wants you to buy something new, even if you don't need it.  I don't need it, and the new offerings on Mac laptops do not serve my needs.  For one they don't have USB or Firewire ports  Are these obsolete?  The answer is "Of course not."  How can USB be obsolete?  It's all about the adapters.  They just changed the adapters to make you think you need something else.  I had two choices with my 2011 Macbook Pro.  With the newer DC board, no longer would the battery charge with my old chargers.  Eventually he was able to get it to charge but with a more powerful 140 watt brick; that brick is USB-3, and uses Thunderbolt plugs.  You also need a Thunderbolt to Magsafe 1 adapter.  Eventually they got that together and proved to me the computer had been repaired, but I would need this new charger and adapter.  In the meantime he found the old jack in a used surplus computer and offered it to me.  I had to assure myself that using a charger rated at fifty-five watts higher than what my Mac required would not damage it.  As it turns out Apple is good about these kinds of things.  It uses an intelligent power system that only draws the amount of electricity it needs.  There is no fear of overheating the computer or burning out the charging port.  It only will pull 85 watts from the brick.  An Apple Macbook Pro will also accept 220 volts AC from a European source and step down the voltage.  Cheers about that!  I like to blog, but I never knew the convenience and ergonomics of a laptop aids the blogging process.  You get to sit in a chair or on the couch with the computer in your lap.  It is more relaxed than sitting in an office chair staring at a large monitor.  So here I am on a 2007 Macbook 3.1.  I have my morning jolt coffee drink, which is a double shot of espresso and a strong cup of coffee.  I used to drink these on the ship, and it would give you enough energy to tackle the day's challenges, which were great on Princess.  In a nutshell I can go retro, put the original charging board back in the computer, and count the days and weeks until it fails again.  Or I can leave the upgraded board/port in there and buy the newer adapter.  What would you do?