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Apple Adding Late 2012 iMacs to Vintage and Obsolete Products Pilot Program at End of January

Friday January 11, 2019 6:03 am PST by Joe Rossignol
In an internal memo distributed to Apple Authorized Service Providers, obtained by MacRumors, Apple has indicated that Late 2012 model 21.5-inch and 27-inch iMacs will be added to its vintage and obsolete products list on January 30.


Vintage and obsolete products are typically no longer eligible for repairs or replacement parts from Apple or Apple Authorized Service Providers, but the memo states Late 2012 model iMacs will be eligible for Apple's pilot program that will permit extended service through January 30, 2021 worldwide, subject to parts availability.

Other products in the pilot program include the iPhone 4S, iPhone 5, Mid 2012 models of the MacBook Air and Mac Pro, and Mid 2012 to Early 2013 models of the MacBook Pro. The program began in January 2018 and was expanded in August.

Vintage products are those that have not been manufactured for more than five years, according to Apple.

Related Roundup: iMac
Tag: vintage and obsolete
Buyer's Guide: iMac (Neutral)
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shaunp
11 months ago
At this rate the 2013 Mac Pro will be 'vintage' yet still on sale....;)
Rating: 14 Votes
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first-to-tea
11 months ago
This should be illegal. Products should be supported for repair up to 10 years, no less. 7 years is simply unacceptable. This especially is important since Apple suggests its business is “environmental”. More repairs will ensure a more sustainable outcome for the environment.
Rating: 11 Votes
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2ilent8cho
11 months ago
Well thats 2 of my devices going Vintage this year then. Shame they will not be offically supported hardware wise still for repair as they both don't miss a beat and perform as good as the day i bought them.
Rating: 8 Votes
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TheFluffyDuck
11 months ago
2012 iMac was the worst Apple computer I have ever used. The hard drive was so slow to the point of being unusable. Being a university computer I couldn't rip it open and put in an SSD as much as I dearly wanted too. So slow and crappy it took 2-5min to load MS office. I just defaulted to my MBP. It became a paper weight on my desk. I dont know what they were thinking still shipping with 5600 rpm hard drives. Such a bottle neck.
Rating: 7 Votes
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marzer
11 months ago
My 2012 iMac is the best Mac I ever owned. Core i7, Fusion drive, GTX 680MX GPU which is still a good performing graphic card today (probably the best GPU ever put in an iMac). My 2017 iMac with the Radeon 580 Pro doesn’t feel as smooth, wasn’t a huge leap in performance given the 5 year difference, but my son won’t trade with me, he prefers the 2012’s Nvidia card for gaming.
Rating: 6 Votes
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varsity
11 months ago

2012 iMac was the worst Apple computer I have ever used. The hard drive was so slow to the point of being unusable. Being a university computer I couldn't rip it open and put in an SSD as much as I dearly wanted too. So slow and crappy it took 2-5min to load MS office. I just defaulted to my MBP. It became a paper weight on my desk. I dont know what they were thinking still shipping with 5600 rpm hard drives. Such a bottle neck.


As a Mac repair technician (not at all affiliated with Apple) the 2010-2012 iMac or Macbook with an SSD is an amazing upgrade. If you still have it I would recommend you pop one in. You should rally consider this as we do these all the time for our customers with amazing results. As for Apple moving to put these iMacs in a vintage status this is ridiculous and just a move to boost their profits by selling new and not repairing good machines. Terrible for the environment and harmful to independent small business.
Rating: 6 Votes
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Mr. Dee
11 months ago
I think 7 years is a good run on hardware these days and we all know, even when Apple stops supporting it, still last a long time in working condition and will likely still get macOS updates up to 2021. I have a PowerBook G4 from 2001 I bought off eBay and was impressed how well the previous owner took care of it. We are talking about and almost 20 year old laptop.
Rating: 5 Votes
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KazKam
11 months ago
I'm on one of those late 2012 27" bad boys as I type this. It's dutifully and capably been my primary work machine for the past five years, along with a gorgeous 27" Thunderbolt display, and it's still going strong! I future proofed it a bit with 32GB RAM, but I fully expect it to last three more years easy. Great machine.

I also have one of the 27" mid-2010 iMacs at home. It isn't my primary machine anymore, but it's still doing great as my living room machine with an SSD upgrade... those had the magnetic screen attachment, relatively easy to take apart and upgrade.
Rating: 4 Votes
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bobob
11 months ago

2012 iMac was the worst Apple computer I have ever used. The hard drive was so slow to the point of being unusable. Being a university computer I couldn't rip it open and put in an SSD as much as I dearly wanted too. So slow and crappy it took 2-5min to load MS office. I just defaulted to my MBP. It became a paper weight on my desk. I dont know what they were thinking still shipping with 5600 rpm hard drives. Such a bottle neck.

[MEDIA=youtube]ue7wM0QC5LE[/MEDIA]
Rating: 4 Votes
Avatar
BigBoy2018
11 months ago

2012 iMac was the worst Apple computer I have ever used. The hard drive was so slow to the point of being unusable. Being a university computer I couldn't rip it open and put in an SSD as much as I dearly wanted too. So slow and crappy it took 2-5min to load MS office. I just defaulted to my MBP. It became a paper weight on my desk. I dont know what they were thinking still shipping with 5600 rpm hard drives. Such a bottle neck.


You can totally open those up. Just go to iFixit. I've replaced the spinning drives in 4 different 'thin' iMacs, both 21.5 and 27 inch.

Cutting the seal is not too hard, then there's only two connectors between the screen and the board. Once the screen is off, replacing the hard drive is simple. Then with replacement adhesive strips, which also are not to hard to put on, reconnect the screen, get it lined up right, and boom you're done.

https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/iMac+Intel+21.5-Inch+EMC+2544+Hard+Drive+Replacement/16729
Rating: 4 Votes

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