Your old 2012 MacBook Pro will soon be officially "obsolete"

By Chris Burns/June 1, 2020 3:06 pm EST

Apple will soon move another MacBook to the official "obsolete" list, a list where old Apple products go out to pasture. Once a device has been added to the obsolete list, Apple no longer offers support at their official Apple Store repair desk. Older devices that'll soon be moved to the list of obsolete hardware can still be fixed now – until that day comes.

Today's news deals with the Mid-2012 model of the 15-inch MacBook Pro with Retina Display. If you've got a device that fits that description and you've been meaning to get it in for a checkup or a fix, now's the time to do so. According to a note obtained by MacRumors today, Apple will move this computer to the "obsolete" list as of June 30, 2020.

As this device is moved from the "Vintage" list over to the list of "Obsolete" devices, one can reasonably assume some similar devices will also move there soon. It does seem odd that a 2012 product would move from one list to the other before devices released earlier than this. Below you'll see a list of products that are still on the "Vintage" list that've not yet moved to "Obsolete."

• MacBook Air (11-inch, Late 2010)

• MacBook Air (11-inch, Mid 2012)

• MacBook Air (13-inch, Mid 2011)

• MacBook Air (13-inch, Mid 2012)

• MacBook Pro (13-inch, Early 2011)

• MacBook Pro (15-inch, Early 2011)

• MacBook Pro (17-inch, Early 2011)

• MacBook Pro (13-inch, Late 2011)

• MacBook Pro (15-inch, Late 2011)

• MacBook Pro (17-inch, Late 2011)

• MacBook Pro (15-inch, Mid 2012)

• MacBook Pro (Retina, Mid 2012)

• iMac (21.5-inch, Mid 2011)

• Mac Pro (Mid 2012)

Any of these products on the "Vintage" list that are as old or older than the MacBook Pro of which we speak at the head of this article are effectively on thin ice. It could be any time now that they move to the pile of Obsolete products.

Per the official list of Apple vintage and obsolete products, "Obsolete products are those whose sales were discontinued more than 7 years ago." Apple's product lists do not follow year-by-year moves from Vintage to Obsolete.

For instance the iPad 2 and iPad 2 3G are both Vintage, but the iPad 3rd-gen (Wi-Fi) is Obsolete. The iPhone 4 CDMA (8GB) is Vintage, while the iPhone 4 CDMA (non-8GB) is Obsolete. All iPhone (original), 3G, and 3GS models are Obsolte, while iPhone 4S and iPhone 5 are Vintage. Everything newer than iPhone 5 is not yet Vintage.

Apple does not repair any BEATS products that are co-branded with MONSTER. All other Beats products that are Vintage in the USA are considered Obsolete in the rest of the world.