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Apple Says Final Intel MacBook Air and Apple Watch Series 5 Now 'Vintage'

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Apple today added the final 13-inch MacBook Air powered by Intel processors, the Apple Watch Series 5, and additional products to its vintage products list. The iPhone 11 Pro was also added to the list after the iPhone 11 Pro Max was added back in September.

macbook-air-march-2020.jpg

The full list of products added to Apple's vintage and obsolete list today:

  • MacBook Air (Retina, 13-inch, 2020)
  • iPhone 8 Plus 128GB - other capacities were already vintage
  • iPhone 11 Pro
  • iPad Air 3, Wi-Fi + Cellular - Wi-Fi-only models not yet vintage
  • Apple Watch Series 5, Aluminum, 40mm
  • Apple Watch Series 5, Aluminum, 44mm
  • Apple Watch Series 5, Ceramic, 40mm
  • Apple Watch Series 5, Ceramic, 44mm
  • Apple Watch Series 5 Hermes, 40mm
  • Apple Watch Series 5 Hermes, 44mm
  • Apple Watch Series 5 Nike, 40mm
  • Apple Watch Series 5 Nike, 44mm
  • Apple Watch Series 5, Stainless Steel, 40mm
  • Apple Watch Series 5, Stainless Steel, 44mm
  • Apple Watch Series 5, Titanium, 40mm
  • Apple Watch Series 5, Titanium, 44mm

The final Intel MacBook Air was introduced in March 2020 and featured a 1.1GHz dual-core Intel Core i3, 1.1GHz quad-core Intel Core i5, or 1.2GHz quad-core Intel Core i7 processor, depending on configuration. It only remained on the market for eight months before it was discontinued when Apple debuted the M1 MacBook Air in November of that year as part of its initial Apple silicon launch.

Apple considers a device to be vintage after more than five years have passed since the company stopped distributing it for sale. Apple and Apple Authorized Service Providers may offer repairs for vintage devices, but only if parts remain available.

In addition to the newly vintage products, Apple today shifted the special-edition Beats Solo3 Wireless headphones released in 2018 to celebrate the 90th anniversary of Mickey Mouse from the vintage list to the obsolete list.

Apple considers a device to be obsolete once more that seven years have passed since it was offered for sale, and hardware service is generally unavailable for those devices. Mac laptops are, however, eligible for an extended battery-only repair period of up to 10 years from the date of discontinuation, subject to parts availability.

Article Link: Apple Says Final Intel MacBook Air and Apple Watch Series 5 Now 'Vintage'
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2025/12/31/final-intel-macbook-air-apple-watch-series-5-vintage/
  • Wow
Reactions: addamas
Does that mean the M1 MacBook Air will be vintage next year? Or since Walmart is still selling it new, it's 5 years from when they stop making them?
 
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Plutonius said:
Good luck getting Apple to replace a battery in a MacBook Air now that it is vintage :(.
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MacRumors said:
Apple considers a device to be obsolete once more that seven years have passed since it was offered for sale, and hardware service is generally unavailable for those devices. Mac laptops are, however, eligible for an extended battery-only repair period of up to 10 years from the date of discontinuation, subject to parts availability.
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Unless they run out of parts, shouldn't be a problem for a few more years.
 
DEMinSoCAL said:
I feel sorry for anyone who bought that short-lived and anemic MacBook Air with Core i3 instead of M1.
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The i7, like I bought, was mostly a solid machine. Yeah, it ran hot (expected), but it and the i5 were the only quad intel MBAs made and they served their purpose as a good bridge for those of us who wanted to be sure everything was solid on the AS side before moving over.

That said I bought it well aware of the rumors about Apple’s ARM transition, I imagine people who didnt buy it knowing Apple would likely supersede it with new procs in a few months were probably less pleased than I
 
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progx said:
My Apple Watch Series 8 cellular gets about a day and a half. I bought it 6 months after launch. Had a Series 5 until 2024 since 2020, it lasted about a day.

Were you using the original Watch? That one had pretty bad battery life.
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They last a day and a half for the first year, then about a day. Depends on what you do, I guess, but a lot of working out with GPS usage kills them faster as you increase the battery cycle count quicker.

Mine started dying, even with a full battery, when I would run outside on below-freezing days. Battery health was still above 80%.
 
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winxmac said:
It will not get iOS 27 [20] but could still receive updates to iOS 26 possibly for another year.
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I hope it will, there have been a few years when Apple migrated all devices supporting iOS [X] to iOS [X+1].

It would enable them not to have to develop any patch for EoL devices...
 
seek3r said:
The i7, like I bought, was mostly a solid machine. Yeah, it ran hot (expected), but it and the i5 were the only quad intel MBAs made and they served their purpose as a good bridge for those of us who wanted to be sure everything was solid on the AS side before moving over.
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Same for me. I had bought my Mac mini (late 2018) i7 in 2019. I knew I could wait for the Apple Silicon to hit its stride before I need to upgrade. Got the mini M4 around the launch time. Rewind about 20 years ago, I bought a PowerBook G4 1.5Ghz 15” after the Intel transition was announced. Thought I was being smart about it… but I learned quickly the G4 was the wrong PPC machine to buy a laptop with. Should’ve gotten an iMac G5 instead or stretched out my iMac G3 SE a little longer. I got a MacBook (2008 unibody) three years later.

seek3r said:
That said I bought it well aware of the rumors about Apple’s ARM transition, I imagine people who didnt buy it knowing Apple would likely supersede it with new procs in a few months were probably less pleased than I
Click to expand...
Not everyone stays dialed in. I’m sure people were angry, but the vast majority who just use them for their intents and purposes carried on until they needed to upgrade.
 
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