After reading the sticky, I see that synthetic oil can go ~7k without needing a change.

But what I don’t get is that it says to change the oil filter halfway through that interval.

How do you change the oil filter, and not change the oil?

I don’t understand!

I’ve been changing the oil in my car, since ’97, and I want to switch to synthetic oil for the benefits of longer intervals between oil changes and also keeping my engine running strong.

If I use mobile 1 filters, and mobile 1 synthetic, can I get 5k with out an oil & filter change?

 

You'll lose a little oil when you remove the filter, but not much (just what's in the filter.) All the rest of the oil is down in the pan.

5K on synthetic, with a filter change at the same time, is overkill.

I'm shifting to synthetics at the next change (30K) and I'm going to go 5K on the filter, 10K on the oil

 

That's a pretty conservative, but great interval choice. I've been doing 1 to 2 oil changes a year on the Durango with 2 filter changes a year.