Apple products generally have a good reputation for their lengthy in-store hardware support and longterm software support, but did you know there reaches a point where Apple marks its products as “vintage” and “obsolete”?

Apple has just added three of its MacBooks to the dreaded obsolete list, which may mean you will struggle to fix your laptop should it become faulty in the coming months and years.

When your iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch or AirPods reach a certain age, it becomes more difficult to get them repaired with genuine Apple parts because once a product is marked as obsolete, Apple no longer offers any of its hardware services to them.

“Products are considered vintage when Apple stopped distributing them for sale more than 5 and less than 7 years ago,” Apple says on its website.

“Products are considered obsolete when Apple stopped distributing them for sale more than 7 years ago […] Apple discontinues all hardware service for obsolete products, and service providers cannot order parts for obsolete products. Mac laptops may be eligible for an extended battery-only repair period for up to 10 years from when the product was last distributed for sale, subject to parts availability.”

As spotted by MacRumors, Apple has just added the following three MacBooks to the obsolete list:

• MacBook Air (11-inch, Early 2015)
• MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2017, 4 Thunderbolt 3 Ports)
• MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2017)

That’s pretty good going for the 11-inch MacBook, which is now more than 10 years old. The highly portable mini-screen laptop is sorely missed by Apple die-hards, who can now only select 13-inch MacBooks as the smallest computer screen Apple offers.

The other two MacBook Pro models have now reached eight years of age and will be much harder to repair now. Given all these devices’ age, it’s unlikely Apple is pushing out major software updates such as new versions of macOS to them, though they may still occasionally receive security updates, which would make them more than safe to continue using.

Obsolete Apple products won’t stop working, it’s just an acknowledgement that Apple no longer services them.

As well as these sunsetted laptops, Apple has marked 2017’s iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus as vintage. These phones launched eight years ago alongside the iPhone X, which ditched the Home Button and Touch ID for Face ID for the first time.

The iPhone 8 line up was the cheaper option that year that retained the design of the iPhone 6, except with a glass back and wireless charging for the first time.

Apple says it will still offer repairs for vintage products subject to parts availability. You can expect the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus to become obsolete in two years.