Apple’s first MacBook Pro with Retina Display is officially obsolete

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MacBook Pro Retina
So long and thanks for all the pixels.
Photo: Outsider.ne.kr/Flickr CC

Time sure passes quickly! Today, Apple added its first-ever MacBook Pro with Retina display to its “obsolete” list around the world, meaning that it can and will no longer provide any hardware support for it.

Obsolete products are ones whose sales were discontinued more than 7 years ago. In the case of the MacBook Pro, it went on sale in June 2012 and was discontinued in February the following year.

Apple’s most advanced MacBook of the era

The 2012 Retina MacBook Pro was described as the “most advanced Mac ever built” and “most beautiful computer we’ve ever made” upon its release. At the time, it was the world’s highest resolution notebook display, with 75% less reflective glare than previous models.

Alongside the beautifully backlit, 15.4-inch Retina display, it featured a new slimmer design than previous versions — more in line with Apple’s breakthrough MacBook Air. It was just 0.7 inches thick and weighed under 4.5 lbs. Inside, it had a quad-core Intel Core i7 processor, offering up to 2.7GHz, with a Turbo Boost up to 3.7GHz. It also offered up to 768GB of internal flash storage, in addition to seven hours of battery life.

More controversially, this was also an early example of a MacBook in which the internal components were difficult to get to by average customers. RAM was soldered in place, storage was non-upgradable, and it was a major challenge to replace the battery. The 2012 MacBook Pro with Retina Display retailed for around $2,799 upon release. Today, you’ll probably get around $500 to $600 for it.

Check out the original keynote introduction of the 2012 Retina MacBook Pro below:

In May, Apple added five new MacBooks to its vintage list, meaning that they have passed the five-year mark. Unlike obsolete products, vintage Macs can still be serviced by Apple and authorized service providers. However, this is subject to the availability of components.

Did you own the 2012 MacBook Pro back in the day? Do you still use it today? Let us know in the comments below.

Via: MacRumors

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