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How Apple Decides Which Products Are ‘Vintage’ and ‘Obsolete’

The surprising definitions present serious challenges for repairability

Maddie Stone
OneZero
7 min readMay 26, 2020

Apple’s Phil Schiller introduces the 2012 iMac. Photo: Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images

For the past eight years, I’ve been working mainly on a late 2012 iMac. I’m no Luddite, but the computer has held up well over the years, and I’ve never felt the need to replace it. Recently, though, my iMac developed its first serious tic: The fan has started to power on loudly every time the computer goes to sleep. While the computer is long past warranty, I decided to call up Apple to see if the company could offer any help. When I did, I learned my iMac is considered “vintage” and was told Apple won’t touch it.

Instead, an Apple Support representative referred me to an Apple Authorized Service Provider (AASP) in my area. When I called the shop, the owner told me he could take a look at the device but would make no guarantees. What’s more, because of the coronavirus pandemic, his shop was experiencing a three-week backlog. I had two choices: Hunt around for a way to fix my iMac faster, or hand off the computer to an Apple-approved repair business and wait several weeks for a diagnosis.

The Apple Support representative I spoke with was quick to offer his opinion: “You only want to go to the guys we recommend,” he told me. I chose to keep shopping around.

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OneZero
OneZero

Published in OneZero

OneZero is a former publication from Medium about the impact of technology on people and the future. Currently inactive and not taking submissions.

Maddie Stone
Maddie Stone

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How Apple Decides Which Products Are ‘Vintage’ and ‘Obsolete’ ......aka why consumers will, yes they will, eventally turn against apple products.

Bumstead expects to see many more laptops that are bricked by activation locks or shredded by e-waste recyclers because it’s more cost-effective than disassembling them. “The future is ...

THIS. Corporate and automotive plastic and ewaste are really horrific. I paid to have my old ipad fixed and now it's just an annoying music player (it continues to bug me for their 10,000 required passwords). Gah. Thanks for this post as it made me feel more supported than Apple does!

Apple builds durable stuff. They just refuse to support it.
I'm typing this on a 2011 iMac. I have a 2009 MacBook Pro on the table next to me that's undergoing its monthly wipe-and-reinstall of a four-year-old OS that has been unsupported for about…