For software updates, it's hard to imagine that any other phone, tablet, or laptop can compare. For example, I'm typing this on a "late 2012" mac mini, which is running the latest OS X.
Congrats, you're a pretty rare user. You don't have to google for very long to discover a large number of people complaining about forced Windows 10 updates. The equivalent situation for OS X is that almost everyone updates.
This is especially visible on phones. Twice I've had a 4 year iPhone, twice it ran the latest software. There are very few Android phones for which this is true.
> Why would a "less tech savvy" person have a gaming PC?
Kids. Adults buy kids new hardware to play latest games, and older stuff that is replaced is good enough for them.
> That's not what a gaming PC is for…
Repurposing old hardware for new uses is what being eco friendly is about.
> i7-960 is the processor from the Mac Pro.
No, it's a processor you would go and buy off shelf (hard to imagine, I know) and use in a decent gaming PC in that time, that happens to also be in a mac pro.
>The "newest Macbook Air" hasn't been substantially updated in around three to four years.
It's for June 2017 model, latest that was on Wikipedia. Is there a newer one which is twice as fast?
>The processor you've selected is from an ultraportable laptop
I wanted to state that for quite some time people don't actually need better hardware for web browsing or watching movies. This is a response to claim that 2010 PC users with Windows 10 being so rare, and that Mac mini from 2012 still having updates making it something special.
>Nexus 6P is the high-end flagship phone literally backed by Google. No other Android phone is going to get updates as long as it does.
iPhone is the high-end flagship phone literally backed by Apple. No other iOS phone is going to exist...
> Kids. Adults buy kids new hardware to play latest games, and older stuff that is replaced is good enough for them.
I don't understand what you're trying to say here. You mention that adults are buying their children new hardware, but you're also talking about 6-7 year old gaming PCs? Not quite sure what you mean.
> Repurposing old hardware for new uses is what being eco friendly is about.
Yeah, but these are gaming PCs. They're terribly impractical for casual use. They're bulky and hot and noisy, with terrible battery life and a large power consumption.
> It's for June 2017 model, latest that was on Wikipedia. Is there a newer one which is twice as fast?
It's the "latest" in the sense that they bumped the clock speed of the process slightly and kept the Broadwell-era CPU in 2017; otherwise it's all parts from 2015 or before. Even the MacBook from today is faster, and MacBook Pro, while not "twice as fast", is around 1 1/2 times faster or so.
> This is a response to claim that 2010 PC users with Windows 10 being so rare, and that Mac mini from 2012 still having updates making it something special.
You know, I've never seen anyone still using a PC from 2010. Macs from 2010 aren't that uncommon though; I know at least a handful of people who use the non-Retina MacBook Pros from like 2009 every day.
> iPhone is the high-end flagship phone literally backed by Apple. No other iOS phone is going to exist...
Yes, that's my point. You buy an iPhone because it's a high end phone that Apple's dedicated to support for years. With Android it's hit-or-miss. Sometimes you hit Google and get updates for two or three years. Sometimes you get Samsung and wait six months to get a two-year old version of Android from your carrier. You buy an iPhone and you are instantly guaranteed updates straight from Apple, immediately and regularly, for the next five years. And that's any iPhone, from iPhone X to iPhone SE.
Not true, and not really a good comparison because the Android world is enormous with all levels of models (super cheap up to premium). In fact there are projects out there to repurpose these old devices that wouldn't even be possible under the heavy control of a different platform. You can find lots of projects. One interesting one I saw recently was using old Android phones to detect illegal lumber cutting. There also some cool DIY home security projects that make use of older phones. Another that comes to mind is a crypto currency mining setup. You can also use the phones as routers or firewalls for your home. Anecdotally I still have and use an old tablet from 2011 that my kids play on.
Add another six months to the S4's release date and you get iPhone 5S, which has the latest version of iOS and every security update that Apple has to offer.