Apple has quietly expanded its obsolete products list, adding three Intel-based MacBook models that will now receive almost no official hardware support. As reported by Macworld, two 13-inch MacBook Pro units from 2017 and 2018, along with the 2018 Retina MacBook Air, were reclassified from vintage to obsolete status, a shift that effectively ends Apple’s repair obligations for these machines under normal circumstances.
Under Apple’s internal product lifecycle, devices discontinued more than five but less than seven years ago are labeled vintage and remain eligible for repairs based on parts availability. Once a product crosses the seven-year threshold after its final sale, it is declared obsolete, and Apple stops servicing it except in narrow cases. The only meaningful exception is a battery-only replacement, which Apple offers for up to 10 years after a laptop is discontinued, subject to the company having the necessary components in stock. Desktop machines do not get that battery carve-out.
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The latest additions mean that every Intel-era MacBook ever sold has now reached either vintage or obsolete status. The last Intel MacBook Air to remain outside that category was declared vintage in January, and the three models moved this week join a growing list of legacy portables that Apple considers beyond meaningful service life. For users still relying on these notebooks, the practical impact is that any future hardware failure could leave them with limited or no authorized repair options.
However, the Intel transition is not yet fully closed on the desktop side. The final Intel-powered Mac mini and Mac Pro were sold until 2023, and both models remain eligible for full hardware support because they have not yet hit the five-year vintage threshold. Apple began shipping its first Apple Silicon Mac in late 2020 and stopped selling new Intel-based Macs in 2023, but the long tail of installed Intel hardware means the company will continue managing legacy service cases for years to come.
