It was already in the news that iPhone 5 from Apple had been transitioned to the vintage stage and couldn’t be supported officially anymore. However, there’s a new report shared by 9to5Mac which suggests that the vintage hardware might soon get its new life as Apple plans to launch a program for extending the time period for which the old device can be repaired by the company.
Some unnamed sources suggest that this new program will include iPhone 5 first and then a few Macs and is presumably going to be extended to various other hardware as well in its due course. This report also enlists all devices that are expected to be a part of this program as it starts off. These include:
- iPhone 5 (GSM/CDMA)
- MacBook Air (13”, Mid-2012)
- MacBook Air (11”, Mid-2012)
- iMac (27”, Mid-2011) – US & Turkey only
- iMac (21.5”, Mid-2011) – US & Turkey only
We might also know the devices already that will be further added on to this initial list as well. The report suggests that MacBook Pro (15”, Mid-2012) and iPhone 4S will extend this list by 30th of November 2018 while “the MacBook Pro (Retina, 13”, Late-2012), MacBook Pro (Retina, 13”, Early-2013), MacBook Pro (Retina, Mid-2012), Mac Pro (Mid-2012), and the iPhone 5 (GSM) will be added to the list on 30th December, 2018.
Now, it covers lots of people for sure and as Apple seems to be providing repairs for the vintage hardware apparently based on their part availability. What this means is that when you walk into the Apple Store only to find out that the part that needs to be replaced in your iMac 2011 is not available, you won’t be able to do much about it.
Nevertheless, if you are lucky enough, you can expect your vintage device to be up and running once again soon after this new repair program is launched by Apple. So, just wait and watch!