The iPhone 6 is now a “vintage” product. That doesn’t mean it’s now cool for hipsters to use one – it’s the classification Apple uses for products it stopped selling five years ago, and somewhat limits the repair options.
The iOS handset was hugely successful in its day, and probably still holds the title of the best-selling smartphone ever.
iPhone 6: Anyone remember ‘bendgate’?
The iPhone 6 was Apple’s answer to those wanting a larger display: it jumped from 4.0 inches to 4.7 inches. That brought on an epic surge of sales. Read the Cult of Mac review for a reminder of how great the device was.
But it wasn’t all smooth sailing. This was one of the largest phones ever from Apple, and was more prone to being accidentally bent. And “bendgate” affected the bigger iPhone 6 Plus even more.
The iPhone 6 launched on 2014, but Apple kept it in its product lineup until September 2017. That was five years ago so the the handset is now vintage.
It’s ‘vintage’ not ‘obsolete’
Now that it is classified as vintage, the product can still get serviced by Apple and authorized service providers, but that’s “subject to parts availability,” according to Apple.
In 2024, iPhone 6 will be labeled obsolete, and that’s will be the end of the line for authorized repairs.
The iPhone 6 Plus launched at the same time, but was discontinued earlier. It already went vintage in February 2022.
Ed Hardy has been writing full-time about tech for 25 years, and using it for much longer than that. His intro to Apple was a Macintosh Classic II (which he still has), but now he uses a 13-inch iPad Pro as his primary computer. He’s written for NotebookReview, TabletPCReview, and Brighthand, as well as other sites.
