TBH whilst the hardware failures are relatively normal for a well used portable computer of that age, another factor is PC multimedia has improved loads even in just 6 years and the more intense competition means that PC kit is cheap enough to devote entire machines to single tasks, for instance I keep one old laptop (with a knackered battery) on light duties simply for capturing video and controlling radio receivers, a cheap desktop to run the dual screens and audio mixing whilst another (slightly newer) one is what I use for work.
I know a fair few people with macs but they are all either hippy environmentalist types who have previously had well paid public sector jobs, or if they are techies they worked for British Telecom at the boffins research centre. All these jobs are gone now, they won’t come back, and it would not surprise me that when their macs finally stop working (though these tend to be kept in less harsh operating conditions) they will end up buying cheap Chinese PC kit like everyone else.
If cheeseweasel was making £20 000+ a year on a full time salaried job in multimedia then maybe he could justify buying another mac but I can see the issue especially with the English-language music industry declining hard due to a combination of malign USA influence and also puritanism against live music events in England.
