Apple Says Original 12-Inch MacBook Will Be Obsolete at End of June

[MacRumors]

Apple plans to add the original 12-inch MacBook to its obsolete products list on June 30, according to an internal memo obtained by MacRumors. Once classified as obsolete, the laptop will no longer be eligible for repairs or service at Apple Stores and Apple Authorized Service Providers, as parts will no longer be available.

Apple classifies a product as technologically obsolete once more than seven years have passed since the company stopped distributing it for sale. The original 12-inch MacBook was discontinued in April 2016 upon the release of a second-generation model with improved specs, so the laptop recently crossed that seven-year mark.

Introduced in March 2015, the 12-inch MacBook featured a thin and light design that weighed just two pounds, and it was also Apple's first fanless notebook. Pricing started at $1,299, with the original model's standard specs including a 1.1GHz dual-core Intel Core M processor, integrated Intel graphics, 8GB of RAM, and a 256GB SSD.

Key design aspects of the 12-inch MacBook included a single USB-C port for charging and data transfer, an all-new Force Touch trackpad, and a terraced battery design that allowed for a larger battery to fit inside the notebook's thin chassis.

Unfortunately, the 12-inch MacBook was also the first MacBook model to feature Apple's infamous butterfly switch keyboard design, which is prone to failure and was eventually dropped from the entire MacBook lineup after years of complaints and lawsuits. Apple last updated the 12-inch MacBook in June 2017, and it was discontinued in July 2019.

Article Link: Apple Says Original 12-Inch MacBook Will Be Obsolete at End of June

 

[tripsync]

forget the single usb-c port, it was super underpowered. needed the power of an M1 to be appealing.

 

[phill85]

My favorite computer I have ever had was the April 2015 MacBook 12”. I need to get the battery replaced asap :s

EDIT: “Appointment confirmed” For my “VIN,MACBOOK (RETINA, 12-INCH, EARLY 2015) Battery performance”

Not wasting any time😅

 

[TheYayAreaLiving 🎗️]

I wish Apple would bring a 12" MacBook back. It's an ideal display screen size for so many people. Just flawless!

 

[LawJolla]

Form factor is the absolute best. Everyone LOVED it.

But it was missing horsepower.

We need an M-Powered version!

 

[pshady]

forget the single usb-c port, it was super underpowered. needed the power of an M1 to be appealing.

I would by an M1/M2 version of the exact computer immediately.

 

[Dave245]

Be good if Apple made this with their own M chip so it stayed thin, improved battery and made a 15” version.

 

[jz0309]

RIP ...
maybe an 11" MBA again Apple?

 

[Longplays]

The original 2015 model is more than 8 years old.

By this time it should only receive macOS Security Updates until its 9.5th year.

Replace it on its 120th month.

A Macbook 12" would be a good candidate for a 3nm M3 next year.

 

[Lucas Curious]

when Apple announced their cool running M chip on the Mac mini, I was confident that the first MacBook to have it would be this 12" so I immediately sold my 2015 and 2017 12" MacBooks only to get refreshes of the Air. I have since been waiting, dreaming that perhaps Apple is saving the 12" for the M3 chip and I can travel with a MacBook yet again.

 

[trifero]

I don´t think to leave my beloved Macbook 12" 16GB Core i7 behind. Even supports Ventura.

 

[TalkieToaster]

I want that form factor and footprint back, it's the perfect size to carry around. Making macbook airs bigger than that is silly

 

[dandyryan]

put an M3 in there and it would be everything apple wanted for the iPad Pro but never achieved.

 

[TalkieToaster]

I wish Apple would bring a 12" MacBook back. It's an ideal display screen size for so many people. Just flawless!

SAME! They keep harping on making airs bigger and that's idiotic! The pros can be bigger it's the smaller footprint that is a better design for airs.

 

[macduke]

To be fair it was obsolete when it launched. So freaking slow and the flex in the frame around the trackpad...ugh.

Wish Apple would do a proper 12" today. Really the Air should come in 12" and 14" sizes instead of 13" and 15". But Apple loves making everything bigger nowadays.

 

[rappr]

It would be great if Apple released an updated version of this laptop as is, with an M-Series chip. I don’t trust the current industrial design team to not make an updated version thicker, heavier and uglier.

 

[sw1tcher]

Form factor is the absolute best. Everyone LOVED it.

But it was missing horsepower.

We need an M-Powered version!

There was an M-powered version. Intel Core M 🤣

 

[Nautilus007]

This computer was ahead of its time.
One of my favorite machines, just needed a little more power...and a few more ports.

I remember I was irritated that it launched without the illuminated apple logo, who would have thought they would remove that from all laptops.
Was iconic.

 

[erikkfi]

it was also Apple's first fanless notebook

False. The clamshell iBook (1999) was passively cooled. No fan.

 

[yegon]

I had one but returned it in the window. Tremendous form factor at the time, utterly woeful performance for what I wanted it for.

 

[Spaceboi Scaphandre]

Bro the thing was obsolete the moment it came out. No fans, one USB-C port, butterfly keyboard, and overpriced.

They should've waited until the Apple Silicon transition to try this design. Maybe they could use it or the wedge Macbook Air design as a Macbook SE.

 

[LeeW]

Best device ever in 12" apart from the keyboard and the performance.

 

[dustin_]

God I loved my 12" MacBook. I'd still be carrying it around now if it were usable. Apple, release one w an M2 (or M3 ) & I'll buy it tomorrow!

 

[settsu]

It's absolutely insane to that arbitrarily short lifecycles for computers are acceptable and, instead, not a huge point of shame. For a company to be seen as "innovative" while continuously releasing products that are intentionally designed to have an artificially low useful life shorter than it takes for a kid to finish elementary school is just laughable. Apple and any other company doing so should be publicly mocked. Widely, loudly, and repeatedly until they do better.

 

[okkibs]

Good riddance. Trash performance from day 1 and hands down worst reliability of any Macbook since the 2007/2008 MBP. Wouldn't accept one for free. And many that somehow survived all the defects they came with from of the factory were eventually taken out by the single port breaking (with the early Apple USB-C design the ports wore out quickly hindering reliable contact) and making charging impossible. Of course for any repairs you had to take that entire thing apart, in contrast current-gen Macbooks are a dream to repair.

Apple themselves indirectly admitted they can't make a device that tiny work reliably by scrapping that entire butterfly keyboard design and increasing the thickness on their later Macbook models again to accommodate the thicker keyboard.