Apple is about to sunset support for a number of iPhones, Macs, and other products as it plans to switch several models to “Obsolete” or “Vintage” status in June, according to internal documents.
When a device receives Obsolete status from Apple — Vintage status only applies to California and Turkey, where the company is required to continue offering support — it no longer offers service or repair support through its own Apple retail stores or authorized service providers. It typically begins the process for models 5-7 years after manufacturing has been discontinued and maintains a list on its website here.
iPhone models that are about to get the boot include the iPhone 3G, iPhone 3G (China), iPhone 3GS, and iPhone 3GS (China), all of which become obsolete in Asia-Pacific/Canada/EU/Japan/Latin America and all Apple Retail Stores. These models are also “Vintage” status where applicable in the US.
In addition, the original iPhone loses its vintage status in the US after Apple first made the device obsolete in most countries back in 2013.
A number of Macs are also switching to obsolete status in June, including: MacBook Pro (17-inch, Mid-2009), iMac (20-inch, Mid 2007), and iMac (24-inch, Mid 2007). These will no longer be supported for repair or service in AP/CN/EU/JP/LA/U.S. and all Apple Retail Stores. In addition, a few products lose their vintage status after previously becoming obsolete outside of the US, including MacBook Pro (17-inch, 2.4GHZ), MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2.4/2.2GHZ), AirPort Express Base Station, Xserve (Late 2006), and Xserve RAID (SFP, Late 2004).
All of the products above will officially move to their new status on June 9, 2015, and no longer be supported for repair by Apple Stores or authorized resellers, but Apple continues to offer support by phone for AppleCare customers.
Here’s the full list:
iPhone (Obsolete in AP/CN/EU/JP/LA and Apple Retail stores, vintage in U.S.)
- iPhone 3G
- iPhone 3G (China)
- iPhone 3GS
- iPhone 3GS (China)
iPhone (Obsolete in AP/CN/EU/JP/LA/U.S. and Apple Retail stores)
- Original iPhone
Macs (Obsolete in AP/CN/EU/JP/LA/U.S. and Apple Retail stores)
- MacBook Pro (17-inch, Mid-2009)
- iMac (20-inch, Mid 2007)
- iMac (24-inch, Mid 2007)
- MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2.4/2.2GHZ)
- MacBook Pro (17-inch, 2.4GHZ)
Other:
- AirPort Express Base Station
- Xserve (Late 2006)
- Xserve RAID (SFP, Late 2004)
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For a trip down Nostalgia Lane… Let’s take a look at the 10 most popular laptops of 2009 (according to CNET): http://www.cnet.com/pictures/top-10-most-popular-laptops-of-2009-photos/6/
I wonder if you can go to any of those original manufacturers and still get support – paid or otherwise – for any of the laptops on that list? That Asus EEE PC I’m sure is still up and kicking strong, but if the display goes out, I’ll bet they have a brand new OEM part on hand at Best Buy they’d be happy to install for you for much less than the machine is currently worth!
Likewise, I wonder if you can still go to the Samsung store and get a repair on your O.G. Samsung Galaxy or the HTC Store to get your HTC Hero or HTC Tattoo serviced?
All of this is of course thinly veiled sarcasm inb4 the Apple Haters get all up in arms about how Apple does planned obsolesce while all other vendors don’t, or how it’s ridiculous that Apple will no longer support their 6-10 year old (2006 Xserve is just now going vintage!?!?) hardware.
You can’t even go to a Samsung Store and get your Galaxy S6 repaired. They outsource that stuff to a third party.
Part of my point :)
A good friend of mine is a die-hard Android fanboy. After his last experience trying to get his wife’s 4 month old Nexus repaired/serviced by Google or Samsung, he’s strongly considering converting them all to iPhones after hearing gym tales of getting service with my 2 year old iPhone.
So that means that my MBP Mid 2009 15inch 2.53 Ghz will not get 10.11?
This is different. Starting from June, you won’t be able to get your device repaired by Apple, in other words, Apple won’t repair your computer even if you’d like to get it fixed by paying. But the software updates are completely different thing. Your computer may get OS updates. But, because of its age, it also may not be. But this article is nothing to do with software part of these devices. It’s just hardware related.
The document doesn’t even mention anything about your Mid 2009 15″. Only the 2.4/2.2GHz models back from 2007 are considered “Obsolete”.
They still sell Airport Express base stations so does this just mean, any Airport Express that’s gone off of AppleCare?
If I had to guess: it’s the M9470LL/A Airport Express (original model) that was sold from June 2004 to March 2008 and was simply called “Airport Express”
The next revision is known by support teams as the “Airport Express 802.11n (1st Generation)”
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AirPort_Express
Wow, they held onto those XServes for a good long while, didn’t they?
I have to say that I’m more than a little horrified to see the 17″ 2009 MacBook Pro on this list while the 15″ and 13″ are still supported. When you buy the top of the line model you don’t expect it to be the first one to lose support.