Anecdotal but I have a White Macbook from 2010. It's sitting on a shelf not because it doesn't work (minus the battery), but because it's too outdated to be of much use. And there's a small crack in the case.
I have a Macbook Pro from 2016. I still whip it out from time to time when I don't want to use my latest one for whatever reason (say, network troubleshooting). It works fine. Even the battery still holds charge. If those two had USB-C (and charging over that port) I'd probably use them more often. Their keyboards is also pleasant (since they are before the scissor key nonsense).
My company has thousands of Macbooks. It's rare that I see anyone at all with issues. They aren't perfect, but the build quality is far better than most PC laptops and so is the attention to detail. The price premium kinda blows, but the M line made them way better.