Exactly. I'm running a 2012 MacBook Pro with all the latest patches and I'll continue getting patched for another year - then I can decide whether I want to upgrade to Catalina. I'm running Mojave by choice - I could have upgraded to Catalina but chose not to.

So, if I do nothing then I'll have had the machine for ten years before no longer receiving patches. If I upgrade to Catalina, which I probably won't, then I'll get 11. I don't think getting 10 years out of a laptop that's been my daily driver is a bad deal.

Yeah, I can't upgrade to Big Sur. So what? I'm still running on an OS that's supported and getting patched.

OTOH, MacOS today doesn't seem significantly more capable than it did in 2012.

I don't think that's a valid point to make now. A 2013 macbook is a fundamentally different machine, much more modular. For the all soldered machines, ultra compact, we simply don't have the data. And for real "repair" meaning you rip out everything and replace with a new board "module" isn't exactly sustainable design. You are extrapolating apples to oranges.

We still use my 2013 macbook air, it’s a good as new. Completely non-modular, the only thing we have replaced, and the only thing that can be replaced, is the battery. Just like in 2021. Modular macbooks are even older, maybe pre-2012?

I got 7 years out of my first Mac laptop and 10 out of my second.

Apple's entire business model is planned obsolescence

Haha no.