Apple declares three devices are officially ‘vintage’ including popular iPhone & AirPods – is yours on the doomed list?
APPLE has added three popular devices to its doomed “vintage” list which spells headache for some owners, including iPhone.
The tech giant routinely confines older gadgets to history, categorising them as vintage before becoming totally obsolete.
When a device falls into the vintage category it means repairs can become quite difficult.
While they’re still eligible for repair it is based on the availability of parts which will eventually run thin.
Apple has a simple way of defining what is vintage – these are products that the firm stopped distributing for sale more than five years ago but less than seven years ago.
After seven years, they become obsolete resulting in no hardware service at all.
Top of the list is the iPhone X, which was released back in November 2017.
The handset was the first iPhone to adopt the infamous “notch” at the top of people’s screens.
It also led to Touch ID being replaced with Face ID.
The iPhone X also shocked the world with its price tag, reaching the £1000 / $999 mark.
Meanwhile, the first-generation AirPods are now on the vintage list too.
These are the pair that were announced in September 2016 at the same time as the iPhone 7 – the first iPhone to launch without any headphone jack.
The three products officially added to the “vintage” list are:
- iPhone X
- First-generation AirPods
- First-generation HomePod
Here is the full list of “vintage” iPhones as it now stands:
- iPhone 4 (8GB)
- iPhone 5
- iPhone 6
- iPhone SE
- iPhone 8 Red
- iPhone 8 Plus Red
- iPhone X
And these are the iPhones that are obsolete:
- iPhone
- iPhone 3G (China mainland) 8GB
- iPhone 3G 8GB, 16GB
- iPhone 3GS (China mainland) 16GB, 32GB
- iPhone 3GS (8GB)
- iPhone 3GS 16GB, 32GB
- iPhone 4 CDMA
- iPhone 4 CDMA (8GB)
- iPhone 4 16GB, 32GB
- iPhone 4 GSM (8GB), Black
- iPhone 4S
- iPhone 4S (8GB)
- iPhone 5C
- iPhone 5S
- iPhone 6 Plus
- iPhone 6s (32GB)
- iPhone 6s Plus (32GB)
Time to upgrade?
Analysis by Jamie Harris, Assistant Technology and Science Editor at The Sun
If you own an affected device you only really have two choices.
Fix any issues you’re aware of now while parts are still available – but bear in mind that the cost to get this repair may not be worth it compared to the value of your smartphone today.
Or, upgrade.
Of course, upgrading to a brand new phone is expensive but it may cost you less in the long run compared to repairs, especially as your current phone will be more prone to further breakages and is likely to go completely kaput soon.