Apple adds 2013 and 2014 MacBook Air, Pro models to vintage and obsolete list

Posted:
in General Discussion edited June 2020
Apple on Tuesday added a few additional MacBook Air and MacBook Pro models to its vintage and obsolete products list, a bit later than previously expected.

Apple's 13-inch MacBook Pro from mid-2014, which the company added to its vintage and obsolete product list on Tuesday.
Apple's 13-inch MacBook Pro from mid-2014, which the company added to its vintage and obsolete product list on Tuesday.


Back in the beginning of April, internal documents suggested that a pair of MacBook Air models and a 13-inch MacBook Pro would be added to Apple's vintage list by the end of that month.

That didn't turn out to be the case, but on Tuesday, May 12, Apple added the 11- and 13-inch MacBook Air models and the MacBook Pro model to the list. The specific products include 11-inch and 13-inch MacBook Air models produced in mid-2013 and early 2014, as well as the 13-inch MacBook Pro produced in mid-2014. Apple also added the fifth-generation iPod touch to its vintage products list.

Apple defines "vintage" devices as those that have not been manufactured for more than five years but fewer than seven years. "Obsolete" products, on the other hand, are any that have been discontinued for more than seven years.

Vintage products remain eligible for repairs and service at Genius Bars and Apple Authorized Service Providers, but only if those shops have the required parts in stock. Obsolete products are not eligible for repairs at these locations.

The company keeps a rolling list of vintage and obsolete products on its website, which includes recent additions like the iPhone 5 in 2018 and the iPad 2 in May 2019.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 16
    elijahgelijahg Posts: 2,753member
    The vintage/obsolete list makes me wonder when they'll discontinue parts for the 2013 trashcan MP. Will they really keep manufacturing parts until 2024, by which time the MP will be 11 years old? 

    On the other hand, 5 years seems like a pretty short lifetime for a premium machine, often which is still perfectly functional after 8 or 9 years - especially now that Moore's Law is very much dead. My 2012 iMac is absolutely fine and isn't slow in the slightest, but if the hinge defect  manifests itself again you're SOL. Manufacturers of cars sold in Europe have to keep spare parts on the shelf for 10 years, not sure why manufacturers of other expensive, premium equipment aren't held to the same standard. Arguably most car parts use much much more physical space to store than computer parts too.
    edited May 2020 qwerty52HarriganF_Kent_Danantksundaramrazorpit
  • Reply 2 of 16
    sflocalsflocal Posts: 6,092member
    elijahg said:
    The vintage/obsolete list makes me wonder when they'll discontinue parts for the 2013 trashcan MP. Will they really keep manufacturing parts until 2024, by which time the MP will be 11 years old? 

    On the other hand, 5 years seems like a pretty short lifetime for a premium machine, often which is still perfectly functional after 8 or 9 years - especially now that Moore's Law is very much dead. My 2012 iMac is absolutely fine and isn't slow in the slightest, but if the hinge defect  manifests itself again you're SOL. Manufacturers of cars sold in Europe have to keep spare parts on the shelf for 10 years, not sure why manufacturers of other expensive, premium equipment aren't held to the same standard. Arguably most car parts use much much more physical space to store than computer parts too.
    If your Mac is running fine, then this is a non-issue.  Worst-case is that your Mac no longer gets access to next-gen MacOS.  It doesn't mean your Mac suddenly stops working.  
  • Reply 3 of 16
    dewmedewme Posts: 5,335member
    A certain level of sadness ensues when another one of your prized Apple devices ends up on the obsolete list. Sigh...
    xamaxelijahg
  • Reply 4 of 16
    elijahgelijahg Posts: 2,753member
    sflocal said:
    elijahg said:
    The vintage/obsolete list makes me wonder when they'll discontinue parts for the 2013 trashcan MP. Will they really keep manufacturing parts until 2024, by which time the MP will be 11 years old? 

    On the other hand, 5 years seems like a pretty short lifetime for a premium machine, often which is still perfectly functional after 8 or 9 years - especially now that Moore's Law is very much dead. My 2012 iMac is absolutely fine and isn't slow in the slightest, but if the hinge defect  manifests itself again you're SOL. Manufacturers of cars sold in Europe have to keep spare parts on the shelf for 10 years, not sure why manufacturers of other expensive, premium equipment aren't held to the same standard. Arguably most car parts use much much more physical space to store than computer parts too.
    If your Mac is running fine, then this is a non-issue.  Worst-case is that your Mac no longer gets access to next-gen MacOS.  It doesn't mean your Mac suddenly stops working.  
    Well no, worst case is that it breaks or becomes unusable because of a custom part that is no longer available after the 5/7 years. And of course it is a non-issue when the computer is running fine, if there were never any problems the vintage/obsolete lists would be, well, obsolete. This is nothing really to do with software, Apple generally supports macOS on Macs for a few years they've become obsolete, then artificially cuts off support. But that's a different matter.
    razorpit
  • Reply 5 of 16
    F_Kent_DF_Kent_D Posts: 98unconfirmed, member
    Most parts can be found on eBay. I’ve seen part for really old Mac machines available on eBay making repair of entire machines possible. If I had the $ I would be buying, rebuilding, and selling older Mac hardware in a heartbeat.
    sflocal said:
    elijahg said:
    The vintage/obsolete list makes me wonder when they'll discontinue parts for the 2013 trashcan MP. Will they really keep manufacturing parts until 2024, by which time the MP will be 11 years old? 

    On the other hand, 5 years seems like a pretty short lifetime for a premium machine, often which is still perfectly functional after 8 or 9 years - especially now that Moore's Law is very much dead. My 2012 iMac is absolutely fine and isn't slow in the slightest, but if the hinge defect  manifests itself again you're SOL. Manufacturers of cars sold in Europe have to keep spare parts on the shelf for 10 years, not sure why manufacturers of other expensive, premium equipment aren't held to the same standard. Arguably most car parts use much much more physical space to store than computer parts too.
    If your Mac is running fine, then this is a non-issue.  Worst-case is that your Mac no longer gets access to next-gen MacOS.  It doesn't mean your Mac suddenly stops working.  
    Well no, worst case is that it breaks or becomes unusable because of a custom part that is no longer available after the 5/7 years. And of course it is a non-issue when the computer is running fine, if there were never any problems the vintage/obsolete lists would be, well, obsolete. This is nothing really to do with software, Apple generally supports macOS on Macs for a few years they've become obsolete, then artificially cuts off support. But that's a different matter.

  • Reply 6 of 16
    elijahgelijahg Posts: 2,753member
    F_Kent_D said:
    Most parts can be found on eBay. I’ve seen part for really old Mac machines available on eBay making repair of entire machines possible. If I had the $ I would be buying, rebuilding, and selling older Mac hardware in a heartbeat.
    Yes that is true, but for some parts that break due to bad design (such as the plastic washers on the 2012-2014 iMac hinge) an already used one doesn't really help. Apple replaced it for free when it became an issue - though only with the same plastic washers so it will have a finite life, but now it's "obsolete" so they won't. 
    razorpit
  • Reply 7 of 16
    xamaxxamax Posts: 135member
    dewme said:
    A certain level of sadness ensues when another one of your prized Apple devices ends up on the obsolete list. Sigh...
    Yes it’s sad...
    elijahg
  • Reply 8 of 16
    fastasleepfastasleep Posts: 6,408member
    elijahg said:
    The vintage/obsolete list makes me wonder when they'll discontinue parts for the 2013 trashcan MP. Will they really keep manufacturing parts until 2024, by which time the MP will be 11 years old? 

    On the other hand, 5 years seems like a pretty short lifetime for a premium machine, often which is still perfectly functional after 8 or 9 years - especially now that Moore's Law is very much dead. My 2012 iMac is absolutely fine and isn't slow in the slightest, but if the hinge defect  manifests itself again you're SOL. Manufacturers of cars sold in Europe have to keep spare parts on the shelf for 10 years, not sure why manufacturers of other expensive, premium equipment aren't held to the same standard. Arguably most car parts use much much more physical space to store than computer parts too.
    You have other options. You can find a 3rd party repair service to do it for you.

    Or, just suck it up and fix it yourself for $9, these are steel replacements for those plastic washers:
    https://www.amazon.com/A1418-Display-Screen-Repair-2012-2017/dp/B0821T3HS1/

    Or the lazy hack way for $20:
    https://www.amazon.com/MacHack-Original-Solution-Computers-Premium/dp/B07QBKJ2YL/
    edited May 2020
  • Reply 9 of 16
    elijahgelijahg Posts: 2,753member
    elijahg said:
    The vintage/obsolete list makes me wonder when they'll discontinue parts for the 2013 trashcan MP. Will they really keep manufacturing parts until 2024, by which time the MP will be 11 years old? 

    On the other hand, 5 years seems like a pretty short lifetime for a premium machine, often which is still perfectly functional after 8 or 9 years - especially now that Moore's Law is very much dead. My 2012 iMac is absolutely fine and isn't slow in the slightest, but if the hinge defect  manifests itself again you're SOL. Manufacturers of cars sold in Europe have to keep spare parts on the shelf for 10 years, not sure why manufacturers of other expensive, premium equipment aren't held to the same standard. Arguably most car parts use much much more physical space to store than computer parts too.
    You have other options. You can find a 3rd party repair service to do it for you.

    Or, just suck it up and fix it yourself for $9, these are steel replacements for those plastic washers:
    https://www.amazon.com/A1418-Display-Screen-Repair-2012-2017/dp/B0821T3HS1/

    Or the lazy hack way for $20:
    https://www.amazon.com/MacHack-Original-Solution-Computers-Premium/dp/B07QBKJ2YL/
    I am quite capable of doing it myself, but as it's a design defect I shouldn't have to, Apple should be fixing it with better quality components rather than plastic washers that they shouldn't have used in the first place. Plus it takes about 2 hours to replace those washers as you have to remove literally everything from the machine to expose the hinge mechanism. That MacHack is good, but also pretty hideous imo... 

    But that was just one specific issue. There are others. Apple's one year warranty is really stingy too for something positioned as "premium". The support is generally excellent, but it's often a bit of pot luck whether they'll help you or not.
    edited May 2020 razorpit
  • Reply 10 of 16
    boboliciousbobolicious Posts: 1,139member
    I just picked up a maxed out 2010 mac pro because it will run (officially) everything from rosetta to mojave, and rather quickly with many cores and metal graphics. No dongles required. Given all reports suggest the 2012 had minimal differences it is disappointing officially Catalina support for this 2010 is unavailable. It is faster than most macs available since forever... It also runs a 40" 4K monitor at true full 4K resolution, matching the 110 dpi of the legacy mac 27" displays. Last time I checked I couldn't get the '6K' Pro display to even 4K, irrespective of dpi scaling differences...   So far this mac experience has been fantastic, unlike the 2015 and 2016 macbook pros I tried that wouldn't even run Apple's own 27" Cinema Display sold as late as 2011, and were after countless exasperating hours of struggle returned. How sustainable is that ?

    Used parts are available for most macs, and hopefully can keep this beast and 'obsolete' macs going for some time. Adjusting ram, drives, ports - everything is so much easier than the new 'onboard' limitations that have infiltrated all but the current tower and finicky iMac options - to me so much that was great about Apple died along with SJ - the new onboard everything, annual vs merit based upgrades and an effective loss of 6 year support with 2 year OS upgrade cycles (on average) by 50% to shorter three year unofficial software support window, upgrade fatigue at this end is a much degraded user experience - does it serve Apple and developers and NOT customers by turning us all into beta testers with greatly increased support and licensing overhead...?  Now that the perpetual license gold rush for most software is experiencing diminishing returns, are we increasingly being held hostage?  RIP SJ.



    edited May 2020
  • Reply 11 of 16
    fastasleepfastasleep Posts: 6,408member
    unlike the 2015 and 2016 macbook pros I tried that wouldn't even run Apple's own 27" Cinema Display sold as late as 2011
    I am still using two 30" ACD's with my 2018 MBP at home and office. I think you did it wrong.

    "It is faster than most macs available since forever" — Hahahahaha Hahahaha Hahaa 
    Uh, just a cursory search on Geekbench says my hexacore i9 2018 MBP is almost twice as fast in single core and multicore even against the 12-core 2010 Mac Pro. 

    Enjoy your dinosaur Mac! If it does what you want, then great! Leave Jobs out of it.
  • Reply 12 of 16
    fastasleepfastasleep Posts: 6,408member

    elijahg said:
    elijahg said:
    The vintage/obsolete list makes me wonder when they'll discontinue parts for the 2013 trashcan MP. Will they really keep manufacturing parts until 2024, by which time the MP will be 11 years old? 

    On the other hand, 5 years seems like a pretty short lifetime for a premium machine, often which is still perfectly functional after 8 or 9 years - especially now that Moore's Law is very much dead. My 2012 iMac is absolutely fine and isn't slow in the slightest, but if the hinge defect  manifests itself again you're SOL. Manufacturers of cars sold in Europe have to keep spare parts on the shelf for 10 years, not sure why manufacturers of other expensive, premium equipment aren't held to the same standard. Arguably most car parts use much much more physical space to store than computer parts too.
    You have other options. You can find a 3rd party repair service to do it for you.

    Or, just suck it up and fix it yourself for $9, these are steel replacements for those plastic washers:
    https://www.amazon.com/A1418-Display-Screen-Repair-2012-2017/dp/B0821T3HS1/

    Or the lazy hack way for $20:
    https://www.amazon.com/MacHack-Original-Solution-Computers-Premium/dp/B07QBKJ2YL/
    I am quite capable of doing it myself, but as it's a design defect I shouldn't have to, Apple should be fixing it with better quality components rather than plastic washers that they shouldn't have used in the first place. Plus it takes about 2 hours to replace those washers as you have to remove literally everything from the machine to expose the hinge mechanism. That MacHack is good, but also pretty hideous imo... 

    But that was just one specific issue. There are others. Apple's one year warranty is really stingy too for something positioned as "premium". The support is generally excellent, but it's often a bit of pot luck whether they'll help you or not.
    Having done many iMac surgeries, I understand. But, just saying you can pay someone else to do it for you, just as you'd be able to pay Apple in the past. The hack wedge thing you'd literally never see, and for an 8 year old Mac who cares? If you do, then pay the dude to fix the inside with the part I showed you.

    Which other computer company services their machines older than 7 years? 
  • Reply 13 of 16
    boboliciousbobolicious Posts: 1,139member
    unlike the 2015 and 2016 macbook pros I tried that wouldn't even run Apple's own 27" Cinema Display sold as late as 2011
    I am still using two 30" ACD's with my 2018 MBP at home and office. I think you did it wrong.

    "It is faster than most macs available since forever" — Hahahahaha Hahahaha Hahaa 
    Uh, just a cursory search on Geekbench says my hexacore i9 2018 MBP is almost twice as fast in single core and multicore even against the 12-core 2010 Mac Pro. 

    Enjoy your dinosaur Mac! If it does what you want, then great! Leave Jobs out of it.

    Third party dongles and docks did become available to run the ACD after a number of years and I ended up picking one up, however the TB spec was supposed to be backward compatible as I recall, and the Apple TB3>TB2 adapter did NOT work BY DESIGN, despite numerous sales and tech support from Apple suggesting it (logically) should:  https://www.apple.com/shop/product/MMEL2AM/A/thunderbolt-3-usb-c-to-thunderbolt-2-adapter?

    "Note: This adapter does not support DisplayPort displays like the Apple LED Cinema Display or third-party DisplayPort and Mini DisplayPort displays."
    ...so do we support an Apple in orphaning both the TB standard and their own 4 year old display with proprietary connecting cables and adapters...?  Wow.

    Speed depends on function and to your point the current i9 MBP is remarkably fast IF an 8G 5500 gpu is BTO (at how many x the cost?) and yes it does appear to finally beat a decade old MP per https://barefeats.com/mac-pro-2019-12-verusus-older-pro-macs.html so congratulations... 

    I'm getting 6490 in multicore Geekbench 5 which seems to make the fastest i9 MBP maybe ~7% faster than the MP in question (certainly not double), and I certainly didn't say it was faster than all macs especially the new pro at how many times the cost, and there does appear room to upgrade the 2010 Pro further https://barefeats.com/cmp-5700-xt-vs-other-gpus.html especially if Apple simply chooses to support macOS in the interests of sustainability, as they claim to want to do...

    I can't say what kind of fan noise might be present when an i9 mbp is under load and it also can't run legacy apps.
    The i9 can't be upgraded or drives swapped in minutes either... 

    Same old defence by the same old guard of the new Apple?
    If one develops for the platform is there a vested interest in obsolescence?

    From what I can tell the 'upgrade fatigue' and onboard design started ramping up after 2011, which suggests the obvious, at least to me...






    edited May 2020
  • Reply 14 of 16
    elijahgelijahg Posts: 2,753member
    I just picked up a maxed out 2010 mac pro because it will run (officially) everything from rosetta to mojave, and rather quickly with many cores and metal graphics. No dongles required. Given all reports suggest the 2012 had minimal differences it is disappointing officially Catalina support for this 2010 is unavailable. It is faster than most macs available since forever... It also runs a 40" 4K monitor at true full 4K resolution, matching the 110 dpi of the legacy mac 27" displays. Last time I checked I couldn't get the '6K' Pro display to even 4K, irrespective of dpi scaling differences...   So far this mac experience has been fantastic, unlike the 2015 and 2016 macbook pros I tried that wouldn't even run Apple's own 27" Cinema Display sold as late as 2011, and were after countless exasperating hours of struggle returned. How sustainable is that ?

    I use a 27" LED Cinema Display with my 2019 iMac via a USB-C to DisplayPort adapter, it works fine for the most part.
    fastasleep
  • Reply 15 of 16
    fastasleepfastasleep Posts: 6,408member
    unlike the 2015 and 2016 macbook pros I tried that wouldn't even run Apple's own 27" Cinema Display sold as late as 2011
    I am still using two 30" ACD's with my 2018 MBP at home and office. I think you did it wrong.

    "It is faster than most macs available since forever" — Hahahahaha Hahahaha Hahaa 
    Uh, just a cursory search on Geekbench says my hexacore i9 2018 MBP is almost twice as fast in single core and multicore even against the 12-core 2010 Mac Pro. 

    Enjoy your dinosaur Mac! If it does what you want, then great! Leave Jobs out of it.

    Third party dongles and docks did become available to run the ACD after a number of years and I ended up picking one up, however the TB spec was supposed to be backward compatible as I recall, and the Apple TB3>TB2 adapter did NOT work BY DESIGN, despite numerous sales and tech support from Apple suggesting it (logically) should:  https://www.apple.com/shop/product/MMEL2AM/A/thunderbolt-3-usb-c-to-thunderbolt-2-adapter?

    "Note: This adapter does not support DisplayPort displays like the Apple LED Cinema Display or third-party DisplayPort and Mini DisplayPort displays."
    ...so do we support an Apple in orphaning both the TB standard and their own 4 year old display with proprietary connecting cables and adapters...?  Wow.
    Again, you did it wrong. You just stated you used the wrong adapters for your monitor. A mDP to USB-C which is what I used with my ACDs work just fine. The ones I have were like $14.


    From what I can tell the 'upgrade fatigue' and onboard design started ramping up after 2011, which suggests the obvious, at least to me...


    The 2013 MP was definitely started by the time Jobs had passed, if that's what you're implying. There's no indication the tech wouldn't have progressed in the exact same had he lived longer. You have no idea what he would've done. Leave him out of it.

    edited May 2020
  • Reply 16 of 16
    darkvaderdarkvader Posts: 1,146member
    elijahg said:
    sflocal said:
    elijahg said:
    The vintage/obsolete list makes me wonder when they'll discontinue parts for the 2013 trashcan MP. Will they really keep manufacturing parts until 2024, by which time the MP will be 11 years old? 

    On the other hand, 5 years seems like a pretty short lifetime for a premium machine, often which is still perfectly functional after 8 or 9 years - especially now that Moore's Law is very much dead. My 2012 iMac is absolutely fine and isn't slow in the slightest, but if the hinge defect  manifests itself again you're SOL. Manufacturers of cars sold in Europe have to keep spare parts on the shelf for 10 years, not sure why manufacturers of other expensive, premium equipment aren't held to the same standard. Arguably most car parts use much much more physical space to store than computer parts too.
    If your Mac is running fine, then this is a non-issue.  Worst-case is that your Mac no longer gets access to next-gen MacOS.  It doesn't mean your Mac suddenly stops working.  
    Well no, worst case is that it breaks or becomes unusable because of a custom part that is no longer available after the 5/7 years. And of course it is a non-issue when the computer is running fine, if there were never any problems the vintage/obsolete lists would be, well, obsolete. This is nothing really to do with software, Apple generally supports macOS on Macs for a few years they've become obsolete, then artificially cuts off support. But that's a different matter.

    And then dosdude1 releases a patcher so your older Mac will still run new OS releases.

    Parts for most Macs will be available on ebay for decades.

    Guys like Rossmann can still do component-level repairs, they don't care what Apple says about "obsolete".
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