Apple announces End of support for twelve devices

Apple regularly puts older devices on its list of “vintage” and “obsolete” products. For owners of these iMacs, MacBooks and other mobile devices such as iPhones, this means limited or no hardware support and repairs.

Several devices are no longer supported

Shortly after the release of macOS 15 Sequoia, Apple has removed some devices from support. As the corresponding website shows, three MacBooks will only receive limited repairs. For a total of nine MacBook and iMac models, there will no longer be any official hardware support at all.

Limited repairs

The following three products are now on Apple’s “Vintage” list. This list includes devices that have not been sold for more than five years. Apple Stores and Apple Authorized Service Providers can continue to offer repairs for these products for up to two years, but only if repair parts for the devices are still in stock:

• MacBook Air (Retina, 13-inch, 2018)
• MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2017, two Thunderbolt 3 ports)
• MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2018, four Thunderbolt 3 ports)

No more repairs

Apple has put a total of nine products on the “obsolete” list in the same breath. These “discontinued” devices have not been sold for at least seven years. In contrast to vintage products, no repairs are offered for them at all. At most, the battery can still be replaced:

• MacBook (Retina, 12-inch, Early 2016)
• MacBook Air (13-inch, Early 2015)
• MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2016, two Thunderbolt 3 ports)
• MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2016, four Thunderbolt 3 ports)
• MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2016)
• MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Early 2015)
• iMac (21.5-inch, Late 2015)
• iMac (Retina 4K, 21.5-inch, Late 2015)
• iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, Late 2015)

Long-term use for the sake of the environment

At the same time, Apple points out that all products from Cupertino are designed to last. The longer customers use one of the devices, the better it is for the planet. With the end of support, however, this is likely to become increasingly difficult for owners of one of the twelve MacBook or iMac models.

Incidentally, the limited or ending repairs have nothing to do with software support. This usually ends even earlier. For example, the 2017 MacBook Pro listed above had already stopped receiving an update to macOS 14 Sonoma in September 2023.