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Journalism of Courage
Ahead of the iPhone 17’s release next week, Apple has added four items to its official list of vintage and obsolete products. These are the iPhone 8 Plus, MacBook Pro 15 (2017), MacBook Pro 13-inch (2017, four Thunderbolt 3 ports), and MacBook Air 11-inch (early 2015). The iPhone 8 Plus will still receive some service from the manufacturer, while the three Mac models are going to Apple’s graveyard.
Usually, Apple declares a product obsolete after it has been out of production for seven years. This indicates that the company will no longer provide software or hardware support for the designated product. The caveat is that, depending on the availability of parts, a MacBook may be eligible for battery-only repairs for a maximum of 10 years after the sale ends.
In 2010, Apple introduced the 11-inch MacBook Air with a tapered unibody design, alongside its larger 13-inch counterpart. Until 2015, it regularly improved and modified the small laptop’s specifications almost every year before ceasing production the following year.
Obsolete MacBook Pro models were a continuation of the significant redesign Apple launched in 2016. These MacBooks feature the Touch Bar, an OLED strip at the keyboard’s top that substitutes the function keys with digital controls.
These outdated MacBook Pro devices are a reminder of the butterfly keyboard scandal that Apple faced. The keyboard mechanism gave rise to many complaints and led to a $50 million class-action lawsuit against the company.
Nevertheless, Apple has included the iPhone 8 Plus (64GB and 256GB) as one of its handsets in the list of antique products. This occurs when a product has been off the market for more than five but less than seven years.
Depending on the availability of components, Apple Stores and Apple authorised service providers are still able to fix vintage Apple items. However, the company no longer provides these devices with new operating system upgrades or functionality.
Keep in mind that the red models of the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus (64GB, 128GB, and 256GB) were previously on the vintage list. Although Apple introduced the iPhone 8 series in 2017, the 64GB and 256GB iPhone 8 Plus devices were still available for purchase until the second-generation iPhone SE was released in 2020.
