Apple won't repair another 8 Macs after adding them to its vintage list

MacBook Pro on a table
(Image credit: Joseph Kelle/Future)

Apple has added eight new Macs to its ongoing vintage product list, with machines originally released in 2015 and 2016 joining the pile.

Apple adds products to its vintage list once it has been five years since the company last sold them. As a result, it also means that Apple Stores and Apple Authorized Service Providers are unlikely to offer service on them, although there may be rare circumstances where spare parts remain available and a repair is possible.

Of the list of eight Macs, first spotted by MacRumors, the most notable is probably the very first MacBook Pro with Touch Bar. That machine was first released in 2016, while the 2016 12-inch MacBook has also been added to the same list.

Both of Apple's latest Macs are powered by the M2 chip, with M2 Pro, M2 Max, M2 Ultra, and M2 Extreme variations all expected to debut in due course.

Old before their time

The list of Macs added to the vintage list includes some that were popular at the time, not least that 12-inch MacBook mentioned earlier. The 27-inch Retina 5K iMac is another Mac that was much-loved, but is now joining a growing list of products that Apple deems too old.

The full list reads:

  • MacBook (12-inch, Early 2016)
  • MacBook Air (13-inch, Early 2015)
  • MacBook Pro (13-inch, Early 2015)
  • MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2016, Two Thunderbolt Ports)
  • MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2016, Four Thunderbolt Ports)
  • MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2016)
  • iMac (21.5-inch, Late 2015)
  • iMac (27-inch, Retina 5K, Late 2015)

Apple has also added the 9.7-inch iPad Pro models to its vintage list — those devices were first released in 2016.

All of this comes just weeks after Apple released its latest hardware, arguably some of the best Macs to date. The new MacBook Air and MacBook Pro are both powered by Apple silicon, something that wasn't available when these vintage Macs were on sale.

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.