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

[Dented]

You're forgetting one key thing - in most of the areas of improvement, Apple were first.

I believe they were the first to include a Retina display. I believe they were the first to include automatic graphics switching. They were the first (I think) to use a PCI-e SSD in a laptop. They were the first to add a large buttonless trackpad. Would we have all of those things now if Apple hadn't pushed $$$ in those areas? We'll never know. In the future maybe, but you cannot say Apple hasn't "innovated".

You don't sound very sure about their "first" status yourself, and that's probably because most of what you mention was inevitably coming to other machines at or around the same time. Does anyone believe that laptops wouldn't be using higher resolution screens or SSDs now without Apple? More pixels, faster - it's all just natural progression driven by component availability, not innovation.

You can argue that the glass multitouch trackpad, and more specifically the gestures it allows in software, was innovative - but the innovation there came a long time ago. My 2009 MBP has a multitouch trackpad that's still great to use. Taking the physical button out as they have done recently, adding force touch, these are relatively minor engineering refinements to a direction of travel already long established.

Nowadays, most mid-high end Windows laptops look very much like Macs. Most have high res displays. Hell, the website for Dell XPS says "precision-carved from a single block of aluminium for durability". Sound familiar?

The aluminium unibody was indeed innovative and much copied, but it also originated in 2008.

Apple have taken a bit of a leap with the USB-c only approach. Windows laptops have had USB-c support for a while, but did we see many accessories? No. Apple push USB-c, and we are already seeing much higher support. It's a transition period. Yeah it's gonna suck while we have to use adapters. But without that push, people will stick with legacy tech. Let's be honest, the only real drawback of the new MBP is having to use adapters. Other than the lack of ports, it's a fantastic machine.

When will the SD card in my camera transition into a USB-C device? What exactly is wrong with continuing to support the devices we all own and use at the moment (like, for example, the iPhone) and leaving it to the device manufacturers to make compelling new USB-C products that we actually want to upgrade to?

It's a transition period, fine - so build a laptop that can handle that transition, not one that pretends the transition already happened years ago, and is consequently not fit for purpose right now.

And no, sorry, the new models do have other drawbacks - the poor keyboards, the downtick in battery life, the hiked up prices, and - compared to the machine I'm typing on now - the complete inability to upgrade or extend the life of the hardware. I've mentioned it before but thanks to that feature alone, my entry level 2009 MBP now has the same RAM and a bigger SSD than even the "entry level" Touchbar model today. Will anyone buying a MBP in 2016 be able to say the same in 2023?

 

[SadBoy Pro]

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.

Y'all need to learn up on optimisation

 

[Steve.P.JobsFan]

Have a WiFi/Bluetooth4.0 card to be delivered tomorrow to check if Continuity/Handoff/WakeWithWatch works.

Please let me know how it works!

 

[mmomega]

Please let me know how it works!

Will do. USPS just pushed back delivery until next week, so I'm not exactly happy with that but it gives me something to look forward to on Monday.

 

[^^BIGMac]

2011 15" Mac Book Pro here...

 

[grimakis]

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.

Those are already obsolete. The reason Apple is making these obsolete is because they haven't been manufactured for 5 years, and this is their standard policy.

 

[Izzy Swift]

I'm not worrying about my old MacBooks being obsoleted, but I have had issues with things like iPhone pictures not going to iPhoto on 17" MacBookPro running 10.6.8 after I upgraded the iPhone and iPad to newest systems. i Photo does start up and doesn't "see" phone or pad. Now I can't get mail on it either even though nothing has changed pw-wise. Mail comes in fine on Pad and Phone. Soooo is this a conspiracy on Apple's part to jump on the train again? I started life
on a MacPlus. I'd hate to switch to Windas now.

 

[Brammy]

I'm not worrying about my old MacBooks being obsoleted, but I have had issues with things like iPhone pictures not going to iPhoto on 17" MacBookPro running 10.6.8 after I upgraded the iPhone and iPad to newest systems. i Photo does start up and doesn't "see" phone or pad. Now I can't get mail on it either even though nothing has changed pw-wise. Mail comes in fine on Pad and Phone. Soooo is this a conspiracy on Apple's part to jump on the train again? I started life
on a MacPlus. I'd hate to switch to Windas now.

Yeah,

I think the problem you're having is around 10.10 (and a little earlier) a lot of the iCloud and Photos stuff required the latest versions on both OS X and iOS. Your iPhoto problem is likely due to Apple getting rid of iPhoto in 10.11, but if you're running iOS 9 or 10, it came with Photos. So, iPhoto is a legacy app that I don't think can take the feed from Photos anymore.

If you're running 10.6 on your Mac and iOS 9/10 you're going to have a lot of these little weird issues. I'd upgrade to at least El Cap and see if the problems go away.

 

[Dented]

Yeah,

I think the problem you're having is around 10.10 (and a little earlier) a lot of the iCloud and Photos stuff required the latest versions on both OS X and iOS. Your iPhoto problem is likely due to Apple getting rid of iPhoto in 10.11, but if you're running iOS 9 or 10, it came with Photos. So, iPhoto is a legacy app that I don't think can take the feed from Photos anymore.

If you're running 10.6 on your Mac and iOS 9/10 you're going to have a lot of these little weird issues. I'd upgrade to at least El Cap and see if the problems go away.

This is something else I'm quite unhappy about with the direction apple's taking - previously iPhoto was a standalone app and there was at least some hope that you could install the latest version whatever OS you were on, but now of course Photos is treated as part of the OS and not being able to install Sierra (for entirely arbitrary reasons known only to Apple) also means being out of date with Photos, which inevitably means incompatibilities with iCloud creeping in over time.

I have 70k of photos in iCloud, and no doubt Apple are rubbing their hands with glee and expecting me to upgrade due to their cleverness, but actually it's just making me feel like iCloud isn't a sustainable or reliable home for these photos, and I really need to find another solution. One which isn't designed to part me with £thousands every few years unnecessarily.

 

[Machiz]

Love love love my 17" screen. Professional Editing means screanspace is good! Love the Card reader for my cameras SxS media, fastest download option available. Love having a DVD burner to deliver DVD's, store data, watch movies, etc. All of these Pro features which I use in my editing world, are now gone, and without support, all but extinct. Are there pro features on the new machines? (Other than the name "Pro")

 

[jsalda]

I just took my 2011 15" MBP in to the Apple Store to get a new battery and fans. Told the Genius I had 16GB RAM and SSD on it and he says "I bet it's a beast." Yes, it is, and the new ones are glorified iPads.

 

[Izzy Swift]

Yeah,

I think the problem you're having is around 10.10 (and a little earlier) a lot of the iCloud and Photos stuff required the latest versions on both OS X and iOS. Your iPhoto problem is likely due to Apple getting rid of iPhoto in 10.11, but if you're running iOS 9 or 10, it came with Photos. So, iPhoto is a legacy app that I don't think can take the feed from Photos anymore.

If you're running 10.6 on your Mac and iOS 9/10 you're going to have a lot of these little weird issues. I'd upgrade to at least El Cap and see if the problems go away.

That's what I expected -- and feared. Just about all my apps on the old machine hover around the same age as the machine itself. I usually upgraded Macs and software every five years but now age has taken my beauty and I no longer work as hard or have enough clients to justify keeping up with the times as much. Sigh! I'll look into El Capitan but I've also lost track of system numbers named after cats and Spanish officers. I guess I'll have to dip my feet back into the user groups -- are there any still around? [Joke]

 

[shawnforever]

I just took my 2011 15" MBP in to the Apple Store to get a new battery and fans. Told the Genius I had 16GB RAM and SSD on it and he says "I bet it's a beast." Yes, it is, and the new ones are glorified iPads.

Same here. My old beast has 2 SSDs (Data Doubler Kit) and 16gb RAM. It'd be a shame if we couldn't run macOS 10.13.

 

[Guy Clark]

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.

Which only goes to prove that older Macs are better Retina display or not. But lets also be honest here who is going to regularly need in excess of 16gb RAM, if at all. 16gb RAM is ample for even the most demanding of tasks.

 

[temhawk]

I only skimmed through the first six or so pages of this thread so forgive me if this is late.

My 2011 MBP:

• 17 inch display, 1920x1200 screen res
  
• 9 I/O ports (Ethernet, FW, TB, USB, PCIe, line in/out) and MagSafe
  
• upgradeable RAM and storage (I could even replace the optical drive with another SSD or HDD if I so fancied)
  
• tactile escape & function keys that can be remapped on a per-app basis (really, what's the point of having a touchbar? 90% of the examples I've seen so far can be and always have been easily achieved with on-screen controls and/or the trackpad)
  
• still runs lots of legacy apps in separate 10.6.8 partition (blazingly fast - every time I switch it almost feels like everything is happening a fraction of a second before I even give a command, that's how palpable the difference is. Finder windows appear instantly and remain responsive when key-scrolling and expanding subfolders with thousands of files)

All of the manufacturing issues aside, Apple's 'Pro' lineup, nearly six years later, doesn't excite me much.

 

[Macyourdayy]

Same here. The only issue I have with my six year old MBP is the dingy screen (relatively speaking) and the processor speed (I have the 2.4Ghz Core 2 Duo). Aside from that it is still a pretty solid machine. I don't know about you, but my MBP got so bad before the upgrades that just opening Safari would lock up the computer so badly that I had to force-reset it. It was a nightmare. Couldn't use the thing.

There may come a day when all portable computers have soldered-on parts, but as of right now, Apple is one of the few manufacturers whose computers are virtually irreparable. So, when it's time to re-up for a laptop, I'm going to buy from a manufacturer that gives me some more options. Why not?

Soldered on parts is one thing, the price/performance ratio is another. I bought my late 2011 17" straight after they canned them and introduced the soldered ram retina boxes. Now my best option seems to be a refurbed 15" retina which still has actual ports, replaceable battery and drive and can run 4-5K screens.
Arrrgghhh.....
[doublepost=1480975074][/doublepost]

I only skimmed through the first six or so pages of this thread so forgive me if this is late.

My 2011 MBP:

• 17 inch display, 1920x1200 screen res
  
• 9 I/O ports (Ethernet, FW, TB, USB, PCIe, line in/out) and MagSafe
  
• upgradeable RAM and storage (I could even replace the optical drive with another SSD or HDD if I so fancied)
  
• tactile escape & function keys that can be remapped on a per-app basis (really, what's the point of having a touchbar? 90% of the examples I've seen so far can be and always have been easily achieved with on-screen controls and/or the trackpad)
  
• still runs lots of legacy apps in separate 10.6.8 partition (blazingly fast - every time I switch it almost feels like everything is happening a fraction of a second before I even give a command, that's how palpable the difference is. Finder windows appear instantly and remain responsive when key-scrolling and expanding subfolders with thousands of files)

All of the manufacturing issues aside, Apple's 'Pro' lineup, nearly six years later, doesn't excite me much.

Yep.

 

[Macyourdayy]

Yeah,

I think the problem you're having is around 10.10 (and a little earlier) a lot of the iCloud and Photos stuff required the latest versions on both OS X and iOS. Your iPhoto problem is likely due to Apple getting rid of iPhoto in 10.11, but if you're running iOS 9 or 10, it came with Photos. So, iPhoto is a legacy app that I don't think can take the feed from Photos anymore.

If you're running 10.6 on your Mac and iOS 9/10 you're going to have a lot of these little weird issues. I'd upgrade to at least El Cap and see if the problems go away.

I'm still using iPhoto as I'm running 10.9.5 on my late 20011 17". It sucks in pics from the ipad and phones (9.3.5) from the cloud just fine, probably from photo stream. If you've got iCloud Drive enabled, you're probably screwed in the photos department though. As much as I love Snow leopard, I can't use it for day to day syncing with any iCloud enabled stuff, disappointing as that is. Mavericks seems to be the next best thing, even though it's a resource hog, as it runs many legacy apps including Motion from FCP 7.

 

[mmomega]

Please let me know how it works!

Well.

It works perfectly.

Handoff and Continuity works as well as unlock with Apple Watch.
Running on macOS 10.12.2

 

[Izzy Swift]

I only skimmed through the first six or so pages of this thread so forgive me if this is late.

My 2011 MBP:

• 17 inch display, 1920x1200 screen res
  
• 9 I/O ports (Ethernet, FW, TB, USB, PCIe, line in/out) and MagSafe
  
• upgradeable RAM and storage (I could even replace the optical drive with another SSD or HDD if I so fancied)
  
• tactile escape & function keys that can be remapped on a per-app basis (really, what's the point of having a touchbar? 90% of the examples I've seen so far can be and always have been easily achieved with on-screen controls and/or the trackpad)
  
• still runs lots of legacy apps in separate 10.6.8 partition (blazingly fast - every time I switch it almost feels like everything is happening a fraction of a second before I even give a command, that's how palpable the difference is. Finder windows appear instantly and remain responsive when key-scrolling and expanding subfolders with thousands of files)

All of the manufacturing issues aside, Apple's 'Pro' lineup, nearly six years later, doesn't excite me much.

I've been using my 17 inch MBP (10.6.8 no partition - never thought of partitioning for a newer system) for publishing work and only using an auxiliary screen for put the menus. The onboard screen has worked out just fine for all sorts of graphic work. I'll keep using it as long as it starts in the morning but upgrading systems means upgrading some pretty old and unavailable software. All in all, perhaps my favorite Mac and my first was a 512.

 

[Dameatball]

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

[doublepost=1488005512][/doublepost]Tim Cook is obsolete.
5 years and 1 watch. you suck

 

[JackieInCo]

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

I have a 2012 classic as well. I don't use it all the time and it's only 1.5 years old now because I bought in July of 2015. I'll keep using it till it breaks whenever that is. I have a 2015 MBP that I bought a month before that I use most of the time.

 

[pastrychef]

[doublepost=1488005512][/doublepost]Tim Cook is obsolete.
5 years and 1 watch. you suck

Maybe you'd be happier with someone like John Sculley?

 

[Eriamjh1138@DAN]

If my 2011 MPB is obsoleted at the end of 2017, then no more updates, right? I'm running Sierra, but honestly, I don't use any of the siri and junk they added since El Cap.

 

[pastrychef]

If my 2011 MPB is obsoleted at the end of 2017, then no more updates, right? I'm running Sierra, but honestly, I don't use any of the siri and junk they added since El Cap.

Yes, Apple regularly drops support for old systems. Typically, its between 5-7 years, but this is not written in stone.

 

[FreakinEurekan]

If my 2011 MPB is obsoleted at the end of 2017, then no more updates, right? I'm running Sierra, but honestly, I don't use any of the siri and junk they added since El Cap.

Not at all. The Mid-2007 iMac has been on the Vintage list since 2013 and Obsolete in 2015, it was supported for updates through El Capitan. The Late 2009 MacBook went vintage in 2015 and it still runs Sierra. VIN/OBS only affects hardware service, not software support.