Apple might be giving people a solid reason to finally upgrade their 2012 MacBook Pro

By Oliver Haslam
published

How old of a MacBook is still good for a student?
How old of a MacBook is still good for a student? (Image credit: Joseph Keller/iMore)

What you need to know

  • Apple will reportedly mark the 2012 MacBook Pro as obsolete this month.
  • Obsolete machines can't have repair work carried out by Apple or its partners.
  • This was the first MacBook Pro with a Retina display.

The 2012 MacBook Pro will be marked as obsolete later this month, according to a report. Obsolete Macs cannot be repaired by Apple Stores or Apple's repair partners.

An internal memo notes that the 2012 MacBook Pro will become obsolete worldwide on June 30, according to a MacRumors report. The machine is already "vintage" and was still able to be repaired. But that won't be the case soon.

In an internal memo today, obtained by MacRumors, Apple has indicated that this particular MacBook Pro model will be marked as "obsolete" worldwide on June 30, 2020, just over eight years after its release. In a support document, Apple notes that obsolete products are no longer eligible for hardware service, with "no exceptions."

This particular MacBook Pro might be eight years old, but it has a fond place in the heart of many Mac fans. It was the first MacBook Pro to get Apple's famous Retina display and ushered in a new era of high-resolution Macs. It might have taken a long, long time but all of Apple's notebooks now have Retina displays after the 2018 MacBook Air refresh.

If you're toting a 2012 MacBook Pro, now might be the time to consider upgrading to something a little newer. And, no doubt, speedier! The MacBook Air and MacBook Pro lines have both seen new releases recently and are both well worth taking in.

Oliver Haslam
Oliver Haslam
Contributor

Oliver Haslam has written about Apple and the wider technology business for more than a decade with bylines on How-To Geek, PC Mag, iDownloadBlog, and many more. He has also been published in print for Macworld, including cover stories. At iMore, Oliver is involved in daily news coverage and, not being short of opinions, has been known to 'explain' those thoughts in more detail, too.

Having grown up using PCs and spending far too much money on graphics card and flashy RAM, Oliver switched to the Mac with a G5 iMac and hasn't looked back. Since then he's seen the growth of the smartphone world, backed by iPhone, and new product categories come and go. Current expertise includes iOS, macOS, streaming services, and pretty much anything that has a battery or plugs into a wall. Oliver also covers mobile gaming for iMore, with Apple Arcade a particular focus. He's been gaming since the Atari 2600 days and still struggles to comprehend the fact he can play console quality titles on his pocket computer.

2 Comments
  • Nothing wrong with an obsolete device. I'm still using two 2011 Mac Mini's because they are still doing the job.
  • I had a 15" 2012 MacBook Pro until last November when I bought a 27" iMac. I decided to gift my MacBook Pro to my two older grandchildren, ages 8 & 10, for Christmas. the MacBook Pro was used mainly as a desktop with separate monitor and keyboard, so it was in nearly pristine condition with good battery life left. I had the original box, so they felt like they were getting a new computer when they opened it up. I wiped the memory and re-installed the most current OS, so it felt like a new computer. My grandchildren went from having to share the family computer to having probably the best computer for themselves. In the current pandemic, as the grandchildren did schoolwork and activities from home, the MacBook Pro has been sensational. This has been a great "second life" for my old laptop.