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

[bladerunner2000]

Got some numbers to back up that claim of "humiliation"?

Yeah, the lack of numbers cuz you know Apple won't share anything. It's only going to get worse in the coming months seeing how much of a RIP OFF the new MacBooks are and absolutely nothing worthy of purchasing on the desktop end.

It's going to be bye-bye to Apple for a lot of people. Get used to it.

 

[NT1440]

Yeah, the lack of numbers cuz you know Apple won't share anything. It's only going to get worse in the coming months seeing how much of a RIP OFF the new MacBooks are and absolutely nothing worthy of purchasing on the desktop end.

It's going to be bye-bye to Apple for a lot of people. Get used to it.

So...no.

 

[Romy90210]

They should just stop building computers and focus on re-releasings iPhone 6(s) every year with minor specs bump. Oh wait.. They are already doing that.....

 

[keysofanxiety]

Have you ever worked in insurance companies or in Networking? They run Windows servers on most "Legacy" hardware you say is horrendous.
Microsoft supports legacy I would hate to see what would happen if one day they just decided not to support anything over 5 years old.

1) DELL/HP servers are completely different when compared to consumer notebooks. Servers still have parts manufactured for them until the cows come home. You know this. It's disingenuous to mention it because it's not at all what was being discussed.

2) An OS supporting legacy hardware has nothing to do with the OEM no longer manufacturing legacy hardware.

 

[Nick11Mac]

The mid 2010 MBP I gave over to my daughter-in-law is still going strong. So no complaints.

 

[LeadingHeat]

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.

I was wondering about that. I have a 13 inch MBP from 2011 and was wondering if it not being included on this list was a typo.

 

[Mighuel]

Can't remember, does this mean it won't get macOS updates either?

I think obsolete and vintage machines have receiced OS updates, at least in the past.

 

[Naraxus]

So...no.

So...yes

https://www.google.com/search?q=mac+sales+decline&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8

 

[Lone Deranger]

So by Apple's own standards, their only Mac Pro model is more than half way towards being obsolete. Yet somehow it is significantly more expensive than when it was introduced 3 years ago(!!!) What a crock.

 

[bcave098]

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

I wouldn't think so, they usually provide hardware support up to 5 years since it was discontinued. They just discontinued it this month.

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.

The 13-inch mid-2010 (and 2009, both including the 15- and 17-inch models) is already considered vintage and has been for a while.

 

[bernuli]

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

This never really bothered me until now when the current product line hardly has anything that is much better than what they are obsoleting. Especially considering all they removed.

 

[citysnaps]

Why not just go the whole way and make everything outside the newly updated macbooks obsolete?

Since that's exactly what they are in todays world.

Sounds like you've never owned one.

 

[drewyboy]

Standard Apple pricing. Apple has always been priced high.

1. Apple pricing has NOT "always been priced high". From at least 2008-2015 prices were competitive compared to like hardware.

Yep. Same as every other comparable laptop of similar weight, size, and battery life.

2. I thought Apple was suppose to be "premium" or "pro"? So now you're saying it's just a normal everyday laptop? You can't have it both ways.
[doublepost=1480437894][/doublepost]

So by Apple's own standards, their 3 year old Mac Pro is more than half way towards being obsolete. Yet somehow it is significantly more expensive than when it was first introduced. What a crock.

That's apple logic. Wait... maybe it's tim cook logic. Either way, it is a crock.

 

[az431]

Weak, under-powered machine

Not true, but if you intend to use it as a hammer, the lighter weight of the 2016 model would make it less powerful than the heavier 2011 machine

Dongles are required

Most users will not need any dongles nor are any "required" to use it

Gimmicky Touchbar

That you may personally find that you can do without it doesn't mean that it is "gimmicky" or not useful for most people

No Function Keys

It does have function keys - see touchbar

16gb RAM cap

This subject has been beat to death. This is an Intel hardware limitation, and for 99.999% of users 16 GB is more than enough. I use a Mac for 3D rendering and animation and seldom see more than 8 GB used. The average app only uses 200 MB. There is no performance increase or any other tangible benefit from having more memory than you need.

 

[bernuli]

2011...the last year apple put matte screens on there computer

Still tremendously miss the matte screen on my 08 laptop. In the office I can close the blinds and turn off the lights. But unless I get a window seat on an airliner, I end up with some pretty frustrating Apple computing.

 

[weaverra]

For people that like old hardware from 2011, Apples sells the vintage 2013 Mac Pro that still sold in the original packaging that you might want to check out.

Other than more cores not much has changed in the Xeon world. The the default SSD is actually faster than most Xeon workstations in it's class.

 

[Trusteft]

The sad thing is, Apple is better in this than other companies.
The positive thing is that even after all these years if you need help you will still be able to find spare parts, ram, hdd/ssd, etc.
I do wonder (not really I know what is going to happen) what is going to happen to the millions of laptops that don't have user replaceable drives and memory, when they become "obsolete", as soon as they require repair/replacement of parts. Suddenly they will all be thrown to garbage. Very wise...

*sigh*

 

[weaverra]

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.

2016 base model would smoke your 2009.

 

[GeneralChang]

I was frankly amazed that my 2007 iMac was supported for as long as it was, in hardware and software. It was classified as vintage in 2014, and received OS updates to both Yosemite and El Cap. I believe it's now considered obsolete, and it didn't get the update to Sierra, but it's still getting some security updates on El Cap, and will probably continue to be useful and generally supported by software and security updates for another year or so.

That's a full decade of use. What a machine.

 

[drewyboy]

This subject has been beat to death. This is an Intel hardware limitation, and for 99.999% of users more than 16 GB is not a necessity.

1. This was an Apple limitation. They knowingly chose a CPU that had the limitation.

2. 99.999% of users hu? Where's the data on that number? So you're telling me that assuming Macrumors has 1 million members, we can't find at least more than 10 that actually need more than 16GB?

 

[GeneralChang]

I had an early 2011 15" MBP that I replaced with the retina 2012 model. They aren't significantly different hardware wise. That 2011 model was and still should be pretty powerful. It has a quad-core i7 and SSD with a graphics card plenty powerful enough to drive a non-retina display. Can't remember, does this mean it won't get macOS updates either?

We're coming into a weird age where computers aren't getting much faster each year but companies are still having to obsolete older ones despite the fact that they still run fine. It's weird and seems wasteful.

Typically software support continues for a while after a machine is classified as vintage, but at that point the writing is on the wall.

 

[TMRJIJ]

Every rebuttal you listed has biased fanboy written all over it.

Not really. Just common sense.

 

[GeneralChang]

1. This was an Apple limitation. They knowingly chose a CPU that had the limitation.

And which CPU would you have rather they put into their Pro level laptops? Core M Kabylake?

 

[LordVic]

I think the most amoosing thing about the obsoletion of 2011 Macbook pro's and earlier is that for Apple's actual laptops, thats barely 2 generations old.

sure, it's 5 years at this point, but the updates were so slow that it's really a raelity that 2011 laptops are still in heavy use.

heck, weren't they still selling the 2011 era MacBook pro till this year?

the question is: Why? are they just cutting it off due to some sort of driver / hardware issue they don't want to support anymore (like they did previous), or just because they don't want to support them anymore.

 

[GeneralChang]

2011 feels a bit rushed TBH, but I guess that is still a good run for HW support. Hopefully OS support is continued for a considerable time.

My 2007 iMac was getting the new OS every year till Sierra, but even still it just downloaded a security patch for El Cap like two weeks ago. I'd bet the 2011 lineup will keep getting the software support for a few years, at least.