Apple to Obsolete Select 2009 to 2011 Macs at End of Year

[MacRumors]

Apple plans to add select 2009 to 2011 model Macs to its vintage and obsolete products list on December 31, 2016, according to an internal memo seen by MacRumors.

The following Macs will be classified as either vintage or obsolete in the United States, Canada, Japan, Europe, Latin America, and the Asia-Pacific region:

o MacBook Pro (15-inch, Early 2011)
o MacBook Pro (17-inch, Early 2011)
o Mac mini (Early 2009)
o MacBook (13-inch, Mid 2009)

The aforementioned Macs will no longer be eligible for hardware service or new parts from Apple or Apple Authorized Service Providers, except in Turkey and California, where Apple will continue to provide repairs and documentation for up to two years, or December 31, 2018 in this case, as required by local statutes.

Vintage products are those that have not been manufactured by Apple for between five and seven years. Obsolete products are those that were discontinued by Apple more than seven years ago. Apple and Authorized Service Providers make no distinction between obsolete and vintage products outside of Turkey and California.

Article Link: Apple to Obsolete Select 2009 to 2011 Macs at End of Year

 

[840quadra]

2011 feels a bit rushed TBH, but I guess that is still a good run for HW support. Hopefully OS support is continued for a considerable time.

 

[nikhsub1]

Yeah really, I've got some 2011 machines running just fine...

 

[cube]

There's no replacement for cMBP.

 

[LordQ]

The 17" MacBook Pro was an extraordinary machine!

 

[iapplelove]

Guess my mid 2012 classic MBP is on the endangered species list.

 

[charlieroberts]

its crazy to think that my rMBP is only one year younger than those!

 

[macduke]

I had an early 2011 15" MBP that I replaced with the retina 2012 model. They aren't significantly different hardware wise. That 2011 model was and still should be pretty powerful. It has a quad-core i7 and SSD with a graphics card plenty powerful enough to drive a non-retina display. Can't remember, does this mean it won't get macOS updates either?

We're coming into a weird age where computers aren't getting much faster each year but companies are still having to obsolete older ones despite the fact that they still run fine. It's weird and seems wasteful.

 

[Stella]

Even the early 2011 MacBook Pros are still very capable and run latest OSX extremely well ( as long as you have SSD ).

 

[lamerica80]

Aw my 2009 mini haz a sad now.

 

[macsrcool1234]

Why not just go the whole way and make everything outside the newly updated macbooks obsolete?

Since that's exactly what they are in todays world.

 

[Zaren]

5 years has always been Apple's standard cutoff for support, so this is nothing new. Nobody made a big deal about this previously.

 

[BornAgainMac]

For people that like old hardware from 2011, Apples sells the vintage 2013 Mac Pro that still sold in the original packaging that you might want to check out.

 

[TimCookMustGo]

I have an early 2011 15" MBP. I have yet to find a worthy replacement worth my money. Apple, this is a problem. I waited all this time to have the following:

• Weak, under-powered machine
• Dongles are required
• Gimmicky Touchbar
• $2,400 Starting Price
• No Function Keys
• 16gb RAM cap

Let's get Tim out of there. Please. Seriously.

 

[TailsToo]

My Early 2011 15" MBP is still chugging along. The MB needed to be replaced last year, due to the video card issue, but the performance of the new MacBook Pros doesn't warrant a $3000+ expenditure.

 

[macduke]

Hey, on the bright side, it's nice to see a Mac Mini on the MacRumors homepage.

 

[iosuser]

How does the 2011 Pro have a shorter life than the 2009 MacBook 13

Guess Apple wants to nudge a few more people into buying the 2016 Pro..

 

[TailsToo]

I have an early 2011 15" MBP. I still have yet to find a worth replacement worth my money. Apple, this is a problem. I waited all this time to have the following:

• Weak, under-powered machine
• Dongles are requires
• Gimmicky touchbar
• insane prices

Thanks Tim!

Totally agree - I was ready to buy when the late 2016 models came out, but they are totally underwhelming, especially considering they are mostly glue and solder.

 

[Oblivious.Robot]

I guess my 2012 MacBook Pro is going to be on the list next year then?
My first venture into Apple ecosystem, it's 4 years old and it looks and feels as good as new.

Definitely going to hold on to it till at least end of 2018, and then pass it on.

 

[Blackstick]

5 years since last date of new sale= Vintage. 7 years - Obsolete.

 

[v0lume4]

My mid 2010 MBP is still in the running? Yes! Here's to another six years!

To be fair, my MBP got darn-near unusable before I upgraded the RAM to 8GB and swapped out the HDD for an SSD. I couldn't do that with the Macbooks Apple is selling these days.

 

[DoctorKrabs]

Apple is making the 2011 Pro MacBooks obsolete because of the GPU failures that they don't wan't to deal with. That's why the 13 inch 2011 (and 2010 and even 2009) models aren't being made obsolete as well.

 

[840quadra]

I had an early 2011 15" MBP that I replaced with the retina 2012 model. They aren't significantly different hardware wise. That 2011 model was and still should be pretty powerful. It has a quad-core i7 and SSD with a graphics card plenty powerful enough to drive a non-retina display. Can't remember, does this mean it won't get macOS updates either?

We're coming into a weird age where computers aren't getting much faster each year but companies are still having to obsolete older ones despite the fact that they still run fine. It's weird and seems wasteful.

Just as one example, The Early 2009 Mac Mini already wasn't supported by Sierra before this announcement. In the past, other systems had lost OS support before they were declared obsolete.

OS Support has often been a crapshoot with Apple and their older systems.

 

[loby]

Hey, on the bright side, it's nice to see a Mac Mini on the MacRumors homepage.

This is a refreshing entry, quite true.

 

[ladycsr]

My 2009 MBP is literally more Pro and usable than the 2016.
I will wait till 2017 and see what apple presents before probably bailing to Windows land.