A 5-year-old laptop is at the awkward age. It still works, mostly. But it's slow, the battery is shot, and you're about to drop $500 on a screen repair. Should you? Here's the honest framework we use when customers ask, with no pressure to spend either way.
The 50% rule (with a twist)
The classic rule: if a repair costs more than 50% of equivalent-new, replace. So if a new comparable laptop is $1,200 and your repair quote is $700, you should replace. But this misses two big factors:
- The next failure — a 5-year-old machine that needs a screen today probably needs a battery in 6 months and a logic board in a year. Sum the likely costs over 24 months.
- Software support cliff — macOS supports Macs ~7 years, Windows 11 has hardware requirements that lock out 2017-era machines. If you're 1-2 years from being unsupported, that changes the math.
When repair is clearly the right answer
- Single low-cost fix on a recent machine (battery, keyboard, fan, SSD upgrade)
- Desktop tower — modular, easy to replace single parts
- Workhorse you love that you'd just buy the same model again
- Data attachment — if migrating to a new device is painful (custom software, irreplaceable settings)
When replacement is clearly the right answer
- Logic board / motherboard failure on a 5+ year machine — even fixed, it'll fail again
- Liquid damage on a MacBook — corrosion eats components over months
- Original CPU is too slow for current OS — Windows 11 needs TPM 2.0 and a recent CPU
- You'd buy a new one in 18 months anyway — bring that purchase forward
3 real Miami examples
Example 1: Brickell consultant's 2019 MacBook Air. Battery dead, screen scratched. Quote: ~$280 battery + $0 screen (cosmetic only). New M3 Air: $1,099. Decision: repair. Bought 3 more years of life on a $280 investment.
Example 2: Kendall family's 2018 HP Pavilion. Logic board failure, second time. Quote: $450. New comparable HP: $599. Plus battery was already weak. Decision: replace. Repair just delays the next failure.
Example 3: Doral graphic designer's 2017 iMac. SSD failure. Quote: $320 (storage + labor). New 24" iMac: $1,299. Designer's software runs fine on this generation. Decision: repair. 2-3 more years of solid use.
How to decide in 30 seconds
Use our free Repair vs Replace calculator — age, type, issue, and use case → honest verdict. Or call us with the device model and symptoms and we'll give it to you straight in 2 minutes, no obligation.
If we tell you to replace, we tell you specifically which replacement makes sense for your use case — and we migrate your data to the new device free of charge when you bring it in.