Apple is curtailing support for a slew of older devices. What this means is, that you will no longer be able to avail repair support for them at Apple Retail Stores and Authorized Service Providers.
The company has yet to announce the same, but according to an internal document, a whole slew of MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, AirPort Express, and iPhone models will be cut off from support.
In case you are wondering why Apple is doing this, well, the company usually follows the practice of listing devices as obsolete, some 5 to 7 years after their release. This so, because repairs become difficult even for the iPhone maker, considering that sourcing parts for half a decade old devices gets pretty hard by then.
Here is the complete list (courtesy 9to5mac), and you can check and see if your device is listed here:
On Friday, June 30, 2017, the products listed below will be classified as either vintage or obsolete in Asia-Pacific, Canada, Europe, Japan, Latin America, the United States, and Apple Retail Stores.
Macintosh Vintage in the U.S. and Turkey / Obsolete in AP/CN/EU (except Turkey)/JP/LA and Apple Retail Stores:
- MacBook Air (11-inch, Mid 2011)
- MacBook Air (13-inch, Mid 2011)
- MacBook Pro (13-inch, Late 2011)
- MacBook Pro (15-inch, Late 2011)
- MacBook Pro (17-inch, Late 2011)
Macintosh Vintage in AP/CN/EU/JP/LA/U.S. and Apple Retail Stores:
- MacBook Pro (17-inch, mid 2009)
iPhone Obsolete in AP/CN/EU/JP/LA/U.S. and Apple Retail Stores:
- iPhone 3GS (16GB / 32GB
- iPhone 3GS (16GB / 32GB – China)
And in case you are wondering about the difference between obsolete and vintage, well, the latter means that the Cupertino giant will still provide limited support for these devices. That support however, ends two years from this date as well.
