Apple is making three MacBooks obsolete later this month; check if you own any

Apple devices are known to last long and the company also provides long-term support for most of them both on the software as well as the hardware front. This works well for Apple customers and loyalists who can comfortably use their devices for a longer time as compared to other companies.

However, every once in a while, Apple ends support for some of its older devices and declares them vintage, and then obsolete.

Apple does this for two reasons. One, because older devices aren’t capable of supporting newer software updates and also cannot be bumped up on the hardware front to do so. And two, because the company has rolled out newer devices that are an upgrade to these older ones.

Apple recently added the iPhone 6 Plus, and the 2012 MacBook Pro to the vintage products list and these two devices will also eventually be declared obsolete after a few years. Now, the company is adding three MacBooks to the obsolete list - the 11-inch MacBook Air (launched early in 2014), the 13-inch MacBook Air (also launched early 2014), and the 13-inch MacBook Pro (launched mid-2014). All these devices will be declared obsolete on April 30.

Apple had categorised these MacBooks as vintage products in 2020 and now in 2022 they are finally being declared obsolete. The company usually maintains a long-enough time frame between listing a product in the vintage category and then declaring them obsolete, giving users enough time to mull over and buy their next device.

Apple’s vintage products are those that the company has not been selling for the last five to seven years. The obsolete products are those that they have not been selling for more than seven years. Now, while Apple still provides repair support (hardware) for vintage products, at least till stocks and supplies last, they don’t for obsolete products. They also stop shipping spare parts for obsolete devices to Apple Stores and authorised service centres.

So, if you are using an obsolete device and something breaks, you will have to get it repaired unofficially with second-hand or unofficial replacement parts. However, in this case, battery replacements for some of these MacBooks will be available in certain regions for a certain amount of time only.

Also read: Apple has added iPhone 6 Plus to its vintage list, here is what it means

Also read: Apple’s 2012 MacBook Pro is getting added to the vintage products’ list