Do Not Borrow Loaners From the IT Center.

Yes, the title is slightly aggressive but maybe not aggressive enough to express my annoyance and disappointment towards the loaner MacBook.

The AISG Tech Center allows students to borrow MacBooks if a student’s very own MacBook is being repaired. The requirements to borrow a loaner is just an e-mail from your parents and your signature on the contract. The student is allowed to use the loaner at no cost for a maximum of seven days and fees may be charged after that period.

On Thursday morning, I headed down to the Tech Center to borrow a loaner after handing my MacBook to the Parc Central Apple Genius Bar the day before to have my display assembly repaired. Fortunately, my warranty was still valid and the repair was free. After texting my parents to e-mail the Tech Center and signing my name off, I received a loaner MacBook to use for free. Today is my fourth day using the school’s loaner and long story short, I am genuinely frustrated, disappointed and annoyed by my loaner. (Unfortunately, I am using the loaner to write this article.)

It is December 2018 right now and we are only a few weeks away from 2019. Why is it that when I click About My Mac, the overview screen tells me that this loaner was produced in 2011? Quick math, 2018-2011=7. This MacBook is 7 years old. According to Chron, the average lifespan for laptops is between three to five years of use. This MacBook is 2 years older than its maximum lifespan. Some might say “Those numbers are just general average numbers, Alex. If a laptop is in good condition, it can last for a decade!” If you are one of them, please proceed to the next paragraph.

First, battery. Surprisingly, when I click on the battery icon while holding the option key, it says the battery is at normal condition. Hmm. On Friday, I went to school with a fully charged MacBook and only used it in two classes. I did not play any video games or had 20 applications open at the same time. Before 3 o’clock, my MacBook was dead.

Second, lagginess. All I have to say is for the past 4 days, I have pressed option + command + esc, seen the spinning wheel of death and typed calm.com in my address bar way too many times. Out of curiosity, I measured the time it takes to open Microsoft Word on this loaner. It took 5 seconds. Now, I use pages.

Lastly, the weight. At 2.04 kilograms, the 13-inch loaner is heavy. For comparison, the 13-inch MacBook Pro released in 2017 weighs 1.37 kilograms. The loaner weighs 1.49 times more than my MacBook that is being repaired at this very moment. I believe Apple tries to lighten MacBooks’ weight every time they release a new product for a reason.

Frankly, I am thankful that AISG’s Tech Center generously lends loaners to students as it allows the students to not fall behind in the class and catch up with their school work. It is a great system without a doubt. However, what confuses me is how the loaners are from 2011 when Apple has released 4 new MacBook models since then. Of course, the loaners do not have to be Apple’s newest products as they are merely used for loaning purposes. However, a 7-year-old laggy MacBook does not seem reasonable. I believe its about time for the school to invest a decent amount of money on loaners.

Please feel free to comment your own experience with the school’s loaners down below to voice your opinion and make a change.