Apple just declared a bunch of Macs obsolete – these are the affected MacBook and iMac models

Macs from 2016, and also models from as recently as 2018 are now classified as vintage, too

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Applehas just declared a freshbunch of Macsobsolete, and some other models have been moved to the vintage category, including MacBooks from as recently as 2018 in the latter case.

9 to 5 Macspotted that Apple has updated its comprehensivelistof both obsolete and vintage Macs, with the following new additions.

The Macs now designated as obsolete are:

And the Macs which are now classified as vintage are:

As a quick refresher, Apple regularly moves Macs into these two categories, with obsolete meaning that the product in question stopped shipping to shelves over seven years ago. In this case, Apple (or its official servicing partners) will no longer provide parts for repairs on the obsolete Macs.

The vintage classification isn’t as serious, and applies to hardware that’s five years old – in this case, repairs and parts are available, but the latter may be limited. It’s essentially a warning that the Mac is on its way out, and at seven years, the machine reaches obsolete as noted.

Analysis: Progress – and profits – versus sustainability

Obsolete does not, of course, mean that your Mac needs to immediately be binned. It does, however, mean that if something goes wrong with a component, you’ve pretty much had it. (We should note that some obsoleteMacBooksmight be eligible for battery repairs for an extended period, as Apple reminds us on its support page linked above).

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Even with a vintage Mac, you may find that a needed part isn’t available, or that you have to hunt for it. We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again – it feels like Apple moves a bit too soon in pushing these Macs out of the ‘fully supported for repairs’ category, in a world where ideally we’re looking to give hardware more longevity in an effort to achieve better sustainability.

Of course, Apple shoves older machines out of the door on the software side of the equation, too. The latestmacOS Sequoiameans that in the case of aMacBook Air, you need a model from 2020 to run theoperating system. Or an iMac from 2019 or later, to pick another example – far from every relatively modern Mac can run macOS 15 (check here for a full compatibility list).

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Darren is a freelancer writing news and features for TechRadar (and occasionally T3) across a broad range of computing topics including CPUs, GPUs, various other hardware, VPNs, antivirus and more. He has written about tech for the best part of three decades, and writes books in his spare time (his debut novel - ‘I Know What You Did Last Supper’ - was published by Hachette UK in 2013).

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