I like this post because it's factual ! and long term support is much worse when one looks at the competition.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Apple Says Fourth-Generation iPad Released in 2012 is Now Obsolete
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
I like this post because it's factual ! and long term support is much worse when one looks at the competition.
You mean this thing I bought almost 10 years ago won't go on forever and ever and ever?
They did this when they said they wouldn't update the software on my Mac SE/30 to OS X, WTF? I paid like $5000 for that in 1989, and now they want me to buy another Mac? This works fine, why should I have to spend so much more money on....(drifts off into old-man rant about how things were different when he was a kid)
They did this when they said they wouldn't update the software on my Mac SE/30 to OS X, WTF? I paid like $5000 for that in 1989, and now they want me to buy another Mac? This works fine, why should I have to spend so much more money on....(drifts off into old-man rant about how things were different when he was a kid)
That's wild! Do you just have the IIe itself or peripherals too?interesting.... Apple's official list shows the Apple II as "obsolete"I still have a brand-new, never-opened, sealed Apple IIe in my basement. My parents bought it for me right before I was leaving for college. It didn't arrive until a month after I left... so it's been sitting for years and year. I'm hoping some day I'll sell it for $5000 on eBay or something.
And yes, that'd likely be worth a fortune on eBay if you can get a couple vintage computer fans into a bidding war. When you decide to do it, be sure to post the auction in various key locations, like the Apple II enthusiasts group on Facebook, the vintagecomputing subreddit, and others. You'll do well.
If only there was an industry standard that Apple was already using that was superior in every way to lightning...
while I generally agree re: planned obsolescence (my biggest gripe is the apple watch that realistically lasts 3 years before becoming mostly unusable due to software updates and necessity of pairing with the phone and it's own updates...) 9 years on an iPad I feel like is a pretty decent lifetime these days. things have advanced so far and components to keep a 9 year old iPad alive if needs repairs have got to be hard to come by.
Mine still chugging along for trivial duties.
It was “the last good Mac Mini” for a few years as it was better than it’s weaker dual core successors.
Didn't Apple bring back the Apple Watch Series 3 when they introduced the Series 5? In any case, that explains why it took 9 years to go "obsolete" instead of the usual 7.
Usually it is 7 years after they stop selling it as "new" in stores. Another poster pointed out that they discontinued it in 2013 but briefly brought it back in 2014 as a lower-priced option (sort of like the current $329 version).
Well, with Apple switching to their own in-house CPUs and GPUs, I wouldn’t be surprised to see the support for Macs cross the 10 year line.
The problem is between 2010-2015, Apple switched from Nvidia to AMD for the graphics cards, introduced Metal, and introduced things like T1 and T2 while still using Intel processors.
The reason so many Macs from 2010-15 i’ve been dropped in the last several versions is mainly because they were ditching Nvidia drivers, dropping GPUs without Metal support, and other things they consider legacy.
Personally I don’t like the speed at which they’re doing it, I do not think that Monterey should have ditched all of the 2013-15 Machines that it did so quickly, but I understand why they’re doing it.
But I think the fact that the iPad air2 from 2014 which runs on an Apple CPU and GPU is still getting software support today, but the iMac that was introduced on the same day with Intel isn’t is a sign that Apple Silicon computers will be supported for much, much longer than Intels were ever supported for.
I wouldn’t be surprised if the M1/M1pro/M1max computers were still getting software updates into the 2030s
Being declared obsolete only means that Apple will not be issuing new software updates. Your device still works fine and you can likely still use it for the 10 years you mentioned. You might want to make sure to turn off software updated in the App Store so you don't get apps that can't run on your iPad.
Apple does accept devices as trade in on purchases or just for credit. Not sure how much you would get for an old iPad like that, but you can check online.
Apple does a pretty good job of supporting their devices with software update much longer than most other vendors. It is a little sad when a beloved device is no longer supported but you can still give it a good home in its old age. ?
And to be fair, especially since the changes over the past four revisions have been so minimal, the Apple Watch Series 4 and up all can last a good 3 years.
Series 0 through 3 struggle, why they’re still selling the 3 is just confusing to me, but the series 4 from 2018 runs amazingly still.
Plus, the series 4, SE and 5, and then again with series 6 and seven share CPUs, so they should all perform about the same over the years.
I thought when Apple released the Series 4, they kept the Series 1 as the cheaper option and dropped the 3 until they released the Series 5.
That ipad was my very first Apple device. Having used a friends one I waited patiently for the new model and ordered it on Day 1. Yes yes yes, new tech is always incoming, but seriously, 7months. It hurt and made me very wary of buying any other Apple stuff for a long time.
Was there a big difference between the iPad 3 and iPad 4 other than the switch to Lightning?
The 4 always felt like Apple wanting to finish the switch to Lightning. It looks practically identical except for the charging connector.
Mine's still going strong, even on Monterey!
The A6 was quite a jump in performance over the A5. Other than that and the connector they were functionally identical.