The 13-inch MacBook Pro with a Retina screen released in late 2012 was a groundbreaking model in its day. But now, many years later, it’s been classified by Apple as obsolete.
This means that getting repairs or even spare parts for this device just got much more difficult. But it has been out of production for more than 7 years.
Remembering the 13-inch MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Late 2012)
In mid-2012, Apple released the first MacBook Pro with a high-resolution “Retina” display. This was a 15-inch version, and a few months after came the 13-inch one.
The laptop was built around a 2.5GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 processor, with 8GB of RAM. It came running OS X Mountain Lion. The ports also show how long ago it was released. There’s an HDMI port, two USB-A ports, an SD card reader, two Thunderbolt ports and a MagSafe charging port.
Apple kept the first 13-inch MacBook Pro with a Retina display in its product lineup until 2014 but then discontinued it. As it’s now been 7 years since then, the computer is on Apple’s list of obsolete devices.
As an interesting side note, the non-Retina 13-inch MacBook Pro released in mid-2012 is years away from being listed as obsolete as Apple kept offering it for a surprisingly long time. It’s not even vintage yet. But the original Retina MacBook Pro went obsolete in summer 2020.
Some MacBooks are vintage, others are obsolete
macOS and iOS computers and peripherals are considered vintage five years after they were last manufactured. With this designation, they can still get serviced by Apple and authorized service providers, but that’s “subject to availability of inventory,” according to Apple.
Vintage Macs can even get operating system upgrades. The 13-inch Retina MacBook Pro released in late 2013 is classified as vintage, so it’s also on Apple’s list of computers compatible with macOS Big Sur, the latest version.
After two more years, products are labeled obsolete, which is the end of the line for authorized repairs. “Apple has discontinued all hardware service for obsolete products with no exceptions. Service providers cannot order parts for obsolete products,” notes the Mac maker. That’s harsh, but it happens 7 years after the computer was discontinued, not 7 years after the launch.
Via: MacRumors
