Apple's First MacBook Pro With Retina Display is Now 'Vintage'

[CausticSoda]

It's amazing how Apple's laptops keep getting worse.

No it's not, it is quite deliberate. It's all about them preparing for the day when they can ditch their computer lineup and focus on iPhones, iPads and toys. When we stop buying their overpriced, underperforming Macs, they can point to it as evidence that people don't want computers anymore. It's a shame.

 

[sir1963nz]

I'm still rocking my 2011 MacBook Pro that I upgraded with more RAM and an SSD. It went 'vintage' last year but with the upgrades it's still going strong. Been using it every single day 6+ hrs a day without fail, I'm even typing this on it now.

Shame Apple has spoiled their MacBook Pro line with the non-upgradeability, lack of ports and their obsession with slimness

Yep thats what I did too with 2011 MBP. Unfortunately it has died.

I refuse to pay Apple prices for RAM/SSD, I need REAL ports built in (USB, FW,Ethernet, SSD,headphone socket,Thunderbolt) I have no interest in paying hundreds more for a long list of adaptors or expensive hubs that I am obligated to carry with me everywhere I go.

I have NEVER cared about how slim the laptop is except when they got so slim they are in danger of tipping over when they sit on your lap.

I want as Magsafe, it has save my butt so many times with the dogs rushing past and catching the power cord.

So, at this stage I would like to say Sorry to Barebones, Adobe, Microsoft, Micromat, Subrosasoft, Filemaker, etc etc etc etc, I won't be buying anymore software from you because Apple has pushed me to Linux. Apple don't make hardware I want, Hackintoshes are too much agro, OSX server has lost so much functionality that its now useless for my needs, and so I am forced into Linux.

Sorry guys, been a good run for over 30 years

 

[BornAgainMac]

I hope the next MBP (2018 or 2019) would be better than my 2015 MBP.

 

[profets]

I find it astonishing how many older MacBooks are still performing flawlessly, which is a testament to Apples hardware standards that supersede some of the competition. The 2012 MBP is still just as a fast since the day one Purchase.

Feels crazy how fast these past 5-10 years have flown by. In our clinic we have ~30 iMacs, most of them 2011 models. ~3 years ago or so I replaced all the disk drives inside with SSDs. They’re 7 years old now and run just as fast as when they were brand new.

I still have to turn down the monthly call from Apple Business reps about upgrading or leasing new machines.

 

[oldmacs]

My 2012 13" MBP without the retina display is also not on the list, I think because it was still available the year(s) after it's creation.

It was available till October 2016 so it’s still got a while to go

 

[Beatty003]

On June 11, 2012, at its annual Worldwide Developers Conference, Apple introduced its first MacBook Pro with a Retina display. Impressed by its thinness, the crowd at Moscone West erupted with a huge round of applause.

The notebook was also praised in many reviews, which awarded it top marks for its mix of functionality and portability. Marco Arment, a well-known developer, even called it "the best laptop ever made," with a "crowd-pleasing design."

"Introduced in 2012, less than a year after Steve Jobs died, I see it as the peak of Jobs' vision for the Mac," said Arment, in a blog post last year.

In addition to being the first MacBook Pro with a Retina display, the 2012 model had a much slimmer design compared to previous models, after Apple removed the built-in Ethernet port and optical disc drive for CDs/DVDs. The external design of the notebook remained largely unchanged through 2015.

Despite being thinner, the 2012 to 2015 era MacBook Pro had an array of connectivity options, including a pair of Thunderbolt and USB-A ports, an HDMI port, a SD card slot, and a MagSafe power adapter that breaks away safely if tugged.

I/O on 2012 MacBook Pro with Retina display​

By comparison, the 2016 and later MacBook Pro has two or four Thunderbolt 3 ports, depending on the model, that can deliver power, USB, DisplayPort, HDMI, and VGA over a single cable. Apple in turn removed dedicated USB-A and HDMI ports, an SD card reader, and MagSafe from the notebook.

I/O on 2016-and-later MacBook Pro​

While the latest MacBook Pro lineup hasn't led to any significant declines in Mac sales, which Apple reports on a quarterly basis, a subset of customers continue to favor the older models. In fact, Apple continues to sell one configuration of the 2015 MacBook Pro, priced from $1,999 in the United States.

For those clinging to a 2012 model, however, there's a bit of bad, but inevitable, news.

Just over six years after Apple released the Mid 2012 model 15-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display, which is more than a fair amount of time, Apple has officially classified it as "vintage" or "obsolete" depending on the region.

What this means is that at least five years have passed since the model was last manufactured, meaning that Apple and Apple Authorized Service Providers are no longer obligated to provide hardware service or replacement parts, except in the state of California and Turkey, where required by law.

Of course, if you own a 2012 MacBook Pro, there is nothing stopping you from following one of iFixit's many do-it-yourself repair guides.

Apple routinely updates its vintage and obsolete products list with additional devices as they age, so this was to be expected eventually, but it's still somewhat of a sad reminder that the first MacBook Pro with Retina display has nearly reached the end of its life. Anyone still using one is now on their own in terms of hardware.

Apple's support team should still be able to answer questions about macOS and be able to perform software troubleshooting if needed.

Apple's website does not list the Late 2012 model 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display, released in October 2012, as "vintage" yet. Only the 15-inch model, released in June 2012, carries this distinction.

Article Link: Apple's First MacBook Pro With Retina Display is Now 'Vintage'

 

[trifid]

He comparing a 2012 quad core to a 2017 dual core, so results are totally irrelevant...

Q-6

No, the point is the 2012 is very much relevant today in 2018, and nowhere near "near end of life". And that discontinued hardware support is unnecessary forced obsolescence whether justified or not. This 2012 rMBP can easily last 5-10 more years and have comparable performance to some 2016-2018 Macs.

 

[CatalinApple]

Mine has been running the Mojave beta nicely.

View attachment 769051

For the 2018 models at the very least Apple should lower the price, improve the keyboard reliability / key travel, and increase the display resolution (6 years of 2880x1800 is enough, and I don't want to use a scaled resolution to get the same amount of screen space other laptops provide natively, though of course with software HiDPI support that still isn't as good as it is in MacOS).

So I should pay because of other peoples' stupidity?

Seriously though, I'm sure there were some cases of this happening, but I don't believe it was a widespread problem. Same goes for the RAM. Neither one was particularly hard to replace and you had to be extremely careless to damage something.

I am running the public beta of macOS Mojave on the same MacBook Pro model. How many gigabytes of RAM do you have? Mine has 8. Do you think this respective model will receive another round of macOS updates or is Mojave the last one?

 

[Beatty003]

My 2012 15" rMBP's battery has a lifespan of 20 minutes before it dies at 78%, dead pixels, ghosting issues, busted speakers, laggy as hell, and missing all four nubs on the underside. Poor girl is ready to be put out of her misery but I need Apple to fix the butterfly keyboard before I upgrade.

 

[nwcs]

I remember all the complaints about the original rMBP and the lottery for which display was better, etc. Some things don’t change.

 

[Queen6]

No, the point is the 2012 is very much relevant today in 2018, and nowhere near "near end of life". And that discontinued hardware support is forced unnecessary obsolescence whether justified or not. This 2012 rMBP can easily last 5-10 more years and have comparable performance to some 2016-2018 Macs.

That's Apple's way, it's always pushed for obsolescence, more so in recent years wanting you to replace your Mac's more frequently...

Q-6

 

[fireguy286]

Still rocking the maxed out mid 2012 launch rMBP. it is getting a bit long in the tooth for some things but if vintage status is supposed to make me upgrade they are mistaken. Probably my last given the current status of the lineup.

 

[RumorConsumer]

Ahh, come on Apple. Unless you begin to finally upgrade those Mac machines the entire fleet is going to become “vintage.” Get off your duff and do somthing. Either improve the hardware or dump the entire lot..

Stop the incessant port elimination. WiFi and bluetooth just doesn’t cut it. We want and require actual hardware to hardward connectivity via USB, RJ45, firewire and a myriad of hardware hardwire connectivity.. Thin is thin enough and I don’t want to fight that heavy slick skinny thing trying to keep it in my lap or on my desk..

Nobody needs onboard RJ45, you’re living in the past.

 

[ambientdaw]

I hope Apple comes out with some NEW Vintage laptops. Vintage quality designs. Newest components.

 

[szw-mapple fan]

It's amazing how quickly people forgot how much everyone complained about this machine when it came out.

 

[Naraxus]

I'm glad I got the battery replaced with it earlier this year. I was expecting the move. The 2012 rMBP is the best laptop I've ever owned

How easy is it to replace the battery in a 13 MBA and should I do it myself? I'm leaning towards doing it myself and saving some hassle with Apple and cost

 

[dampfnudel]

Another mind boggling example, a 2017 mac only slightly faster than a 2012 mac. Perhaps if Apple loves the environment so much they should extend hardware support considering these machines keep screaming performance-wise and are nowhere near end of life? Nevermind, forced obsolescence is more profitable.

I'm not sure that's a fair comparison when you're comparing a professional MacBook Pro 15" with a "CafeBook", irregardless of the difference in years.

 

[jonnysods]

Seriously - what a great machine. Just mind blowing when it came out. I like my 2016 MBP. But wow, the 2013 15" maxed out rMBP had my heart.

 

[lcseds]

Worse than what?
[doublepost=1530737115][/doublepost]
32gb ram would kill battery life. This is a portable computer; if that much ram is needed, a desktop should be the purchase.
[doublepost=1530737177][/doublepost]
And why did Apple start doing this? Because end users were installing poor quality third party batteries, destroying their computers, and then demanding Apple fix them.

Citation? Sounds like your basic Apple defense. That's one thing I have not read about in all my years following Apple. Nice Bull***t

 

[donster28]

At the current rate, how long before the entire range is 'vintage'?

This made my day.

 

[69650]

They’re killing off Macs faster than they’re releasing new ones.

 

[Avenged110]

Completely forgot to keep an eye on this. I guess I have about 3 years left to get a fresh battery for my late-2013 15" rMBP. Love this machine. It's still going just as strong as the day I got it (still running Mavericks, too). When it dies, I'm just going to get another haha. Long live ports and the scissor keyboard.

 

[Turbolarry]

Speaking of vintage- I have an iMac from spring 2009- never any problems. It's using Lion 10.7.2. I may not be able to make secure transitions online because the browsers supported may not have the latest security features - I get it. But there's reasons. My MacBook Pro is 2011. In late 2015, when I shut down my Mbp while in in-patient rehab after surgery, I could not boot up the next morning. Prior to that I rarely shut down, opting for sleep. But the vram - display was all in hues of vibrating red and purple- sort of oscillating.
The shut down, but not able to start up sent alarms. The sr. advjdor sent me a shippinge box- I found out there was a recall. It was the video issue. All new logic board, display replaced, new battery, etc.
It took 4 days from shipping Fedex to receiving. No cost. I even got support from Apple to get files transferred to my iMac via FireWire cable to share screen.
Fast forward 2 years. Another issue- logic board again? Mother board/logic board- just 2 years later? Not good! No internal damage- but they couldn't repair parts. Had to replace - 2 years later!!? And I was told at the store it's vintage! I'm not happy! $550 later! Is that the life cycle to replace a logic board???
Another situation.october2016. I download iOS 10 for my iPhone. Then it won't allow me to sync-my phone to iTunes - due to lion on my mcp. The Apple Store iinstalled Mavericks to my mcp, so the MVP sees my iPhone- but I c annot access my ( iPhoto's) I won't go into the hassles I endured having to wait dAGAIN, when I now needed iPhoto (photos).
But I now need Yosemite- but at the Apple Store im told vintage . And vintage is what I'm told by my advisor! But I need Yosemite and I know I'm going to run into the same b.s. Like what happened installing iOS 10. So I cannot install iOS 11 without Yosemite.
And from what I researched, I can install
Yosemite OS OOn my MBP and still run my Adobe creative suite 5.5. MASTERCOLLECTION. I also own CS4 master collection. And cs3 design suite.
I could upgrade free to high sierra, but that would render myCS5.5 suite useless.

And with the several thousand bucks invested in adobe software, I'm in no position to put it on the shelf to collect dust and shell out $50. /month for subscriptions. The basics in Photoshop, illustrator, indesign are all the same.

So besides having Apple consumer relations look into the out of pocket expense for replacing a logic board /GPU only 2 years after the recall, I don't understand why the problem with getting Yosemite. I don't think ElCapitan will work. And I don't know of a verifiable way to ensure elcapitan will work.
But to be told I can't get Yosemite for my Mbp, because it's vintage makes no sense.
Someday I may get newer. But with everything I read-Will it be another Mac?
After reading about butterfly keyboard, perhaps there is a lot of credibility about
declining quality of Mac's.

And the iMac? I have a used G4- the original G4 was damaged by a power surge spike. Once I get the G4 set up and connected on the network, I'm going to install my quark xpress 7 and all quark files from the iMac to the G4. And that will handle those files, and use CS 3 or 4.
Then the iMac will only upgrade to mountain Lion, maybe Mavericks, and that's as far as that goes. I may not be able to sync my iPhone 6 with the iMac, but I need Yosemite so I can install ios11. This is what a starving mac user and graphic designer does when you don't have a blank check.

Any suggestions on other ways of getting Yosemite? And consumer relations?
Thank you
Larry. Designer58 (at) Comcast (net).

 

[imageWIS]

My 2011 15" MBP has died (GPU death). Went and looked at what I would buy to replace it, the answer was nothing.
Apple does not produce a machine I am willing to spend my money on.
This is the first time since my Mac 512KE that I have no good choices for upgrading.

and so begins my journey into Linux.......

This is the exact reaction TONS of people have. I personally have spoken to at least 20 professionals from different industries that either have their laptops given to them by work (and they get to choose what they want) or they use their personal computer to work and all of them can afford to get a MBP and all of them dislike Apples current MBP offerings.

I'll give a specific example: person working in the VC world, got handed a maxed out MPB with emoji, I mean touch bar. He was given a massive screen at work to plug the computer into if needed, but the important bit is the computer itself as he has to travel a lot for work. The largest percentage of his time is spent on Excel. The emoji bar has now moved the ESC key to the right of where it used to be and it's no longer a physical button.

This has caused the button to be mis-pressed, that is to say he wants to press it but either doesn't hit it because the position isn't where it is ON EVERY OTHER KEYBOARD IN THE WORLD and because there is no key travel feedback letting him know that it's been pressed. When you spend hours a day, every working day on Excel, this adds a barrage of unnecessary extra time spent trying to press a button... in 2018...!

 

[CosmoCopus]

Yes you are right, the previous benchmark screenshots I posted were single-core benchmarks. These are multi-core, 2012 outperforms 2017:

https://browser.geekbench.com/macs/277

Ha! Nice comparison... a 2012 15” quad core to a 2017 13” dual core?? And before I believe you compared it to a MacBook?? LoL