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

[JamesPDX]

1. Bluetooth
2. Bluetooth (A BT2.1 mouse doesn't even have much interference)
3. Agreed
4. Who uses thumb drives today? I have not seen one since 11th grade..and I'm now a junior in College.

Well, except for the small Apple Bluetooth keyboard on one machine, I disallow Bluetooth and WiFi on my Pro Tools machine.

I use and roll my own USB OS installers. They can be handy inside and in a controlled environment. I would never take one to work. I'd consider any USB plugged into another device that is not on my wired network to be potentially infected.
http://www.businessinsider.com/hackers-usb-sticks-2016-4
http://www.businessinsider.com/hackers-usb-sticks-2016-4

Unfortunately and dumbly, thumb drives are required for a lot of software and plugin licenses. Akin to the iLok or the e-Licenser, these awkward leftovers from the 1990's should just go away. The UUID of a given machine is plenty to register for ownership and licensing for Avid, Waves, VSL, Slate, VILabs, Steinberg, Focusrite, etc. And you have to download the software anyway. FFS, it's 2016.
This mindset of dongles could explain why at least two of these companies are using broken encryption -or none at all- on many of their pages. Like this one:

 

[GhostRaider]

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

Nah it's not. As a matter of fact this machine has Metal graphics support. So Apple will keep support for this model for a good while.

 

[dilbert99]

well thats not true though. 2011 models still had user replaceable batteries. And my 2012 model is not obsolete yet...

The person was commenting that their retina MBP only had a year til it was obsolete.
I was commenting on that and when it is obsoleted, they are out of luck if the battery starts to fail.
Even if you can get a third party battery, it will be next to impossible to replace safely.

 

[Marcos Cerutti]

my 2009 MBP must have been on that list for a while. still working like a champ!

I got a 2009 MBP 17", man... loaded with 8gb ram and ssd; I run Pro Tools 12, despite Avid says its not a supported machine... I can tell you, this machine runs flawlessly

 

[dilbert99]

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

Thing is computers are lasting longer nowadays so it is a bigger deal. Less bloated OS slowing the machines down.

 

[femike]

Aw my 2009 mini haz a sad now.

I'll be still using my early 2009 macmini until they bring out another macmini. I think its been thru 6 OS upgrades and still performs very well. Never had any trouble with it.

 

[anthorumor]

At this rate, they might as well stop making computers.

 

[Spectrum]

Early 2011 MBP here, SSD and 16GB RAM. Running better than it has ever run when it was new (except maybe under Snow Leopard). Even running Sierra.

Mine's still running 10.6.8 lol!

 

[Guy Clark]

When Apple deem models obsolete it means little or nothing. The Macs in question are not going to suddenly stop working. Furthermore I wouldn't entertain a Mac released after 2011. Newer models are not user upgradeable. The older 21.5/27" iMac manufactured between Late 2009 and Late 2011 had considerable advantages.

1) Built-in Superdrive
2) Easily user upgradeable and serviceable. You could literally strip them down and carry out a full service following the excellent iFixit tutorials and upgrade the Hard Drive or fit an SSD if desired. On the 2012 21.5" iMac you can't even readily upgrade the RAM.
3) They have the ability to run multiple OS X releases including Snow Leopard which of course includes Rosetta and is the purest of of all OS X releases as no iOS features were included.

If you are fortunate enough to have one of these wonderful machines be it Intel Core 2 Duo or Intel i5 Sandy Bridge you are on to a winner. Of course we pour over the latest iMacs upon a visit to the Apple Store but when we return home, the truth hits home as we have the better deal.

I have a Late 2009 21.5" iMac 3.06GHz Intel Core 2 Duo CPU, NVIDIA GeForce 9400 256mb Graphics fitted with a 1TB Seagate SSHD and 12GB DDR3 RAM. Even after 7 years of service it continues to fly.

Put quite simply. Older Macs are better.

 

[JosephAW]

If you think about it my brand new late 2014 Mac Mini is only 3 years away from being obsolete.
Meanwhile my Mac Pro 1,1 running 10.11 with more storage and memory options than my mini is humming along just fine.

 

[Dave245]

I still have my 2011 15" MacBook Pro, it has been a great machine for me, it has seen me through University, video editing, photoshop tasks and has all around been the best laptop i have ever owned. The 2011 MacBook Pro was the very first Mac i ever owned and is one of the reasons i love Mac's over Window's computers, the other reason is my 2012 iMac, again another great computer!

 

[Stella]

I used a USB thumb drive twice last week. Also we used them to keep digital certificates at a previous employer . No emailing them.

Your world view is narrow.

1. Bluetooth
2. Bluetooth (A BT2.1 mouse doesn't even have much interference)
3. Agreed
4. Who uses thumb drives today? I have not seen one since 11th grade..and I'm now a junior in College.

 

[Macyourdayy]

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.

My late 2011 was pretty hopeless till I replaced the original HDD that only tested at around 40-45MB/s with a WD 5400 that scored 90ish. Then 16MB of 1600mhz ram and an SSD as well in the optical bay (6GB connection) and now it's 85% as fast as the 2015. Only problem is the non Retina display and inability to drive more than 2500x1600 external, but there's no way I'm getting one with soldered in HDD.

 

[Guy Clark]

I used a USB thumb drive twice last week. Also we used them to keep digital certificates at a previous employer . No emailing them.

Your world view is narrow.

I am constantly using Thumb Drives. Rely on the Cloud for storage. No thanks not for me. Furthermore until you are without a CD/DVD Drive you don't miss it but believe me I would. The amount of data I have Backed up to Dual Layer DVD's is astronomical.
Backups keep them physical on External Drives, Thumb Drives And Dual Layer DVD's there really is no substitute.

 

[Brian Y]

I doubt we'll have any trouble software-support wise, El Capitan runs on anything 2007+ pretty much, so that's 9 years old.
[doublepost=1480512248][/doublepost]

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.

Yes, your machine is way more pro. A Core2Duo is obviously far superior to a Quad Core i7 for anything pro. And I'm sure your drive, connected by SATA2, is far more pro than the PCI-e SSD in the new ones. And I'm sure your screen resolution is really great for pro 4k video editing. Oh, and of course your 9600M graphics chip is faaaaaar superior to anything in the AMD 4xx series.

 

[Dented]

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.

Completely agree. I added an SSD and maxed out the RAM of my 13" 2009 MBP this year, and it flies along now on El Capitan. It's sad to say it but this "obsolete" machine is lot more useful than the current replacement. In built CD/DVD, SD card slot, magsafe, a keyboard with decent travel, and all in a perfectly compact package - in seven years it's difficult to see what they've genuinely improved on other than the natural increases in horsepower and updated USB.

What's also sad is that I raved about the Mac for the first few years of ownership and was absolutely certain that I'd be an OS X user for life - but as things stand it's pretty much a given that when this trusty model eventually packs up I'll be going back to Windows. Apple has systematically removed any value for money from their computer line, with move to soldered-together hardware that cannot be upgraded, patchy and unpredictable support for older machines (no Sierra for me, which also now means no new Photos, Pages and other apps mostly for little or no reason), a policy of removing as much functionality as possible with each new generation, and price increases that almost defy belief.

 

[jscooper22]

Had my 2011 MBP since, well, 2011. Works like a champ (granted I swapped in an SSD a couple years ago).

 

[Cineplex]

Weren't some of these being sold last week? lol

 

[Dented]

Yes, your machine is way more pro. A Core2Duo is obviously far superior to a Quad Core i7 for anything pro. And I'm sure your drive, connected by SATA2, is far more pro than the PCI-e SSD in the new ones. And I'm sure your screen resolution is really great for pro 4k video editing. Oh, and of course your 9600M graphics chip is faaaaaar superior to anything in the AMD 4xx series.

The problem is, literally everything you just mentioned in regards to the new model is simply the result of natural progress over the past seven years. Of course the processors, drive controllers, and display hardware is all faster and more powerful now. That's all due to the continual improvement of components supplied by others, Moore's Law in effect. If Apple had built a 2009 MBP design today it would have all of that as a given.

So what have Apple themselves actually improved? Well they've made it thinner and lighter and.. well thats it. And rather than doing that in any clever or innovative way, they've achieved all this slenderness simply by taking stuff out and making it do less. There's nothing smart about that. Yes taking out the superdrive and virtually all the ports will make it lighter, but that's because you're getting less stuff.

The logical conclusion of Apple's trajectory is to simply sell you an empty box for twice the price. It will be the thinnest and lightest thing they've ever made, and it will do nothing at all.

 

[0098386]

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

My main computer is a 27" 2011 iMac. Works flawlessly with OSX and Windows 7. I installed an SSD where the OS's and apps live, a bluray drive, a 3tb HDD, 16gb ram... just really pushed the machine as much I could. There hasn't been an iMac to replace this one yet.

I've also got a maxed out 2014 15" MBP but it doesn't do much currently. It's nice to have such large storage in a Mac.
[doublepost=1480513316][/doublepost]

The problem is, literally everything you just mentioned in regards to the new model is simply the result of natural progress over the past seven years. Of course the processors, drive controllers, and display hardware is all faster and more powerful now. That's all due to the continual improvement of components supplied by others, Moore's Law in effect. If Apple had built a 2009 MBP design today it would have all of that as a given.

So what have Apple themselves actually improved? Well they've made it thinner and lighter and.. well thats it. And rather than doing that in any clever or innovative way, they've achieved all this slenderness simply by taking stuff out and making it do less. There's nothing smart about that. Yes taking out the superdrive and virtually all the ports will make it lighter, but that's because you're getting less stuff.

The logical conclusion of Apple's trajectory is to simply sell you an empty box for twice the price. It will be the thinnest and lightest thing they've ever made, and it will do nothing at all.

Yup - sad isn't it? It's like they hit a creative peak some time ago, before Jobs' death so I'm not going to be one of those "Sack Tim" folks. Maybe it's Ive. The guy's just phoning it in now.

 

[Brammy]

I don't have much of a problem with the machines coming out of hardware support. Even if the dGPU dies (again) on my 2011 MBP, the extended warranty was fair. At some point, I don't see the value in spending serious money (like a logic board replacement) on a 5 year old computer. I'd rather put that money towards a newer computer with a better screen and faster bits and bobs.

The ports thing isn't that big a deal. You can get cables, or the dongles are $10. There are flash drives with dual USB C and USB A connectors, so you don't need a dongle to connect a flash drive. I'd probably just a couple of those and call it a day.

I terms of lightness, yes, I'd prefer my laptops to be lighter. My 15" weighs almost 6 lbs. The newer ones are less. When you're dragging them around all day, I'd prefer them to be a tad lighter and not take up my entire bag.

 

[Stella]

I doubt we'll have any trouble software-support wise, El Capitan runs on anything 2007+ pretty much, so that's 9 years old.
[doublepost=1480512248][/doublepost]

Yes, your machine is way more pro. A Core2Duo is obviously far superior to a Quad Core i7 for anything pro. And I'm sure your drive, connected by SATA2, is far more pro than the PCI-e SSD in the new ones. And I'm sure your screen resolution is really great for pro 4k video editing. Oh, and of course your 9600M graphics chip is faaaaaar superior to anything in the AMD 4xx series.

The AMD 460 Pro ( not a full AMD 460RX ( low end itself) - 460 Pro is around 15% slower )- the "best" GPU you can add to a MacBook Pro 2016 is a low end graphics card. Not so "Pro"! The 450 / 455 Pro are scratching the bottom of the barrel.

 

[yurc]

uh oh...even im already doing so many internal refresh and parts upgrade...but im still worry my 2012 cheese grater will became endangered species in near future timeframe...until time come and apple doesn't release serious computer (which likely only develop more iOS stuff)..my choice is just unofficial mac

 

[DavidStaples]

Wow, 2011 is obsolete? I mean, I guess if it's an eMachines or something perhaps... but I've got a 2008 that still works just fine. I only bought the 2016 to replace my stolen 2014 that I had bought for the extra speed / time savings. I guess such is the world that we live in...

 

[Thunderhawks]

You say we shouldn't support Apple's R&D because they have money. Following that logic, your employer shouldn't pay you because you have money. But you denied and tried to twist your original statement once you realized the flawed logic you used. You tried to use random specs to support your argument, when clearly you don't understand how a computer works because you ignored the specs that actually matter.

You are so totally lost and twist things around. R&D was never discussed.
It was mentioned that to enjoy all the features and the future of macOS we should help support Apple.
That is what I responded to and I never mentioned any specs.

I said with the billions they have they do not need support. They have to listen better to what customers want to EARN support. (At least mine)

I don't know why you keep mentioning that an employee (or me) should not get paid because they have money.
Apple is a company which creates and sells products. I don't.

But, if you want to make a comparison that works: An employee who does shoddy work over a long period of time (and that is what Apple is doing a lot these days) should either be talked to and given a chance to correct her/himself or be fired.

The talking to means I don't buy their current product, so they can correct what they are doing, the firing would mean I switch to something else.

I don't know how much clearer I can make that.

Summary:

Apple: You make good products - you get my money (So, I would support them)

Apple: You make things I do not need or want - you don't get my money (So, I would not support them)

In that context their billions don't matter, but would enable them to correct things.

PS: I just bought a used 2015 MBP which is the last one we can upgrade ourselves to a larger SSD. Since I use my computers about 8 - 10 years, that gives Apple a chance to create products I may want to buy.
I am a very patient person and have since 1984 outwaited Apple many times. I know they take a little longer sometimes to come around and it is also not always in their control.