How long do laptops last?

Most laptops last three to five years, HP's own estimate for a well-maintained laptop, and the type of laptop sets the limit. A Chromebook lasts until a fixed Google update date, 10 years after its platform's release; Apple repairs a MacBook until seven years after it stops selling the model; a Windows laptop has no software end date, so its battery and memory decide.

Battery capacity falls with use on every type, and soldered memory decides whether a Windows laptop can be stretched past five years. The picks match Compare Electronic's Best laptop UK 2026 and Best laptop under £500 UK 2026 guides, and the table gives each type's limit.

What wears out first on a laptop?

The battery wears out first. Apple rates the MacBook Air M5's battery to keep up to 80% of its original capacity at 1,000 charge cycles, and Lenovo's specification for the ThinkPad T14 Gen 5 states that maximum battery capacity decreases with time, ambient temperature and use. A cycle is 100% of the battery's capacity used, whether in one session or across several partial charges.

A student who drains the battery every weekday reaches Apple's 80% mark in about 3.8 years, near the end of a degree. A home user who works on mains power most days may never reach it. Warranties reflect the same wear: Lenovo's three-year base warranty for the ThinkPad T14 Gen 5 covers the battery for one year only.

A worn battery is a repair, not a reason to replace a laptop, if the maker supports it. Apple offers battery-only repairs on Mac laptops for up to 10 years after it last sold the model, subject to parts. iFixit gave the ThinkPad T14 Gen 5 a provisional 9 out of 10 repairability score, with the battery, memory, SSD and keyboard all replaceable. Keyboards and hinges also wear on a laptop carried every day, and replaceable parts are the practical safeguard against both.

Which laptops last the longest?

Laptops with replaceable memory and a long software runway last longest: business laptops such as the Lenovo ThinkPad T14 Gen 5, and Chromebooks with late update dates. Lenovo's specification gives the ThinkPad T14 Gen 5 two DDR5 SODIMM slots that take up to 64GB, so a buyer who starts at 16GB can add memory in year four instead of replacing the laptop. Most thin laptops solder their memory to the board, so the amount bought is the amount kept.

Windows ends support by hardware generation rather than date. Windows 11 supports Intel processors from the 8th generation onwards, so laptops with 7th-generation chips lost free security updates when Windows 10 support ended on 14 October 2025; consumer Extended Security Updates run only to 12 October 2027. Microsoft services each Windows 11 version for 24 months, and has named version 26H2, serviced to 10 October 2028, as the last for laptops with the 2018 Snapdragon 850 chip.

Business laptops also get a second life. The renewed Lenovo ThinkPad T14 Gen 1 from 2020 sells on Amazon UK for £289 with 16GB of RAM, a 512GB SSD and Windows 11 Pro, because its 10th-generation Core i5-10310U meets the Windows 11 requirements. Lenovo's own blog states that it keeps spare parts for five years or longer after a system ends production. Chromebooks work the other way: the end date is fixed in advance, June 2032 for the ASUS Chromebook Plus CX34 and June 2033 for the Acer Chromebook Plus 514 CB514-5H, according to Google.

How much does a laptop cost per year?

A laptop costs between £51.00 and £299.80 a year across Compare Electronic's picks, and the cheapest per year is the £289 ASUS Chromebook Plus CX34, which runs to its June 2032 update date. Two extra years of life cut the yearly cost of the £1,064.99 Lenovo ThinkPad T14 Gen 5 by £60.86, which is how a repairable laptop earns back its higher price.

The lives match How much should I spend on a laptop?: Chromebooks to their Google update date, Windows laptops five years (the top of HP's three-to-five-year estimate) and the MacBook Air seven years (Apple's repair window). The last column adds two years for laptops whose parts and support allow it.

Over five years the ThinkPad costs £120.88 a year more than the Zenbook, so its case rests on lasting longer: memory slots, a replaceable battery and a three-year warranty option make seven years realistic, where the Zenbook's soldered 16GB has no upgrade path. Gaming laptops cost most per year because the graphics card sets their limit. The ROG Strix G16's RTX 5060 has 8GB of video memory, and Tom's Hardware measured a 37% gap with ray tracing at 1080p between the 16GB and 8GB versions of the desktop Radeon RX 9060 XT. Why 16GB of system memory matters for a long life is covered in Is 8GB RAM enough in 2026?

Which laptop will last the longest?

The Lenovo ThinkPad T14 Gen 5 is the laptop most likely to last past five years, at £1,064.99 on Amazon UK at the time of writing (October 2026), with a 12-core Intel Core Ultra 5 135U, 16GB of DDR5 in two SODIMM slots, a 512GB SSD and Windows 11 Pro. Lenovo rates this configuration at up to 18.1 hours of local video playback from its 52.5 Wh battery.

Lenovo states that the ThinkPad T14 Gen 5 passed MIL-STD-810H military test procedures, and its two Thunderbolt 4 ports, HDMI and Ethernet cover an office without adaptors. The Core Ultra 5 135U is a 2024 chip and the laptop is not a Copilot+ PC, which matters less over seven years than the ability to add memory and swap the battery.

Verdict

Most laptops last three to five years, and the right choice lasts longer. For the longest life, buy the Lenovo ThinkPad T14 Gen 5 at £1,064.99 for its memory slots and replaceable parts, or the Apple MacBook Air 13-inch M5 at £1,189 for Apple's seven-year repair window. For the lowest cost per year, the ASUS Chromebook Plus CX34 at £289 runs to June 2032. The full shortlist is in Best laptop UK 2026, and budgets by use are in How much should I spend on a laptop?