Apple Says Fourth-Generation iPad Released in 2012 is Now Obsolete - MacRumors
Skip to Content

Apple Says Fourth-Generation iPad Released in 2012 is Now Obsolete

by

Apple classified the fourth-generation iPad as an obsolete product as of November 1, meaning the device is no longer eligible for hardware service worldwide, according to an internal memo obtained by MacRumors. The fourth-generation iPad has yet to be added to Apple's public-facing vintage and obsolete products list, but it should be soon.

ipad 4 lightning
Released in November 2012 alongside the original iPad mini, the fourth-generation iPad did away with Apple's classic 30-pin connector and adopted the Lightning connector that had debuted in the iPhone 5 just weeks earlier. The fourth-generation iPad also gained Apple's A6X chip for up to twice the CPU performance and up to twice the graphics performance of the A5X chip in the third-generation iPad that had launched in March 2012.

Apple also classified the Late 2012 model Mac mini as an obsolete product as of November 1, according to the memo.

Tag: Vintage and Obsolete Apple Products

Popular Stories

apple price hike

Apple Just Increased Prices on MacBooks, iPads, and More

Thursday June 25, 2026 5:44 am PDT by
Apple today dramatically increased device prices across multiple product lines. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. After temporarily taking it down earlier today, Apple's online store is back up with a series of product price increases. The changes are as follows: HomePod mini: $129, up from $99 (+$30) HomePod: $349, up from $299 (+$50) Apple TV: $199, up from...
Read Full Article • 966 comments
Apple Up Arrow Fearture

Apple Explains Why It Raised Prices on 14 Products Today

Thursday June 25, 2026 10:42 am PDT by
Apple today raised prices on many of its products, including all Macs and iPads, as well as the Apple TV, HomePod, HomePod mini, and Vision Pro. We shared a list of the price increases, which range from $30 for the HomePod mini to up to $1,300 for the Mac Studio. iPhone, Apple Watch, and AirPods prices have not changed, at least for now. In a statement shared with MacRumors, Apple said it...
Read Full Article • 306 comments
Mac Studio Feature

M5 Ultra Mac Studio Could Launch in 2026 With Up to 768GB of RAM

Thursday June 25, 2026 2:30 pm PDT by
Despite price increases across the Mac line, Apple is still planning to release a new Mac Studio as soon as this year, reports Bloomberg. Apple plans to introduce a new M5 Ultra chip as the final option in the M5 family before it transitions to the M6, M7, M7 Pro, and M7 Max. The M5 Ultra will come in a new version of the Mac Studio, which hasn't been updated since March 2025. The Mac...
Read Full Article • 158 comments

Top Rated Comments

M
MacFather
61 months ago
Memories...

Score: 19 Votes (Like | Disagree)
uller6 Avatar
uller6
61 months ago
RIP 2012 Mac mini. You were truly a workhorse.
Score: 19 Votes (Like | Disagree)
TMRJIJ Avatar
TMRJIJ
61 months ago
We thank you for your service, iPad (4th Generation)
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
L
Lounge vibes 05
61 months ago

When Apple was a good brand, it was the user who decided when something was obsolete or not (and who was in control of not changing something when it just worked (TM)). And this was one of the strongest selling points of the Mac. Now Apple changed the game.


What Fantasy are you living in?
If anything, Apple supports their devices longer than they ever have.
Let's not forget about how Apple completely cut support for PowerPC only after one major upgrade post Intel transition.
If you bought any PowerPC computer in 2005-2006, you were kinda screwed by 2009.
Snow Leopard didn't support these computers, iLife 11 Didn't support these computers, the Mac App Store didn't support these computers, so after a while you were kind of just stuck with what you had.
Or who can forget the iPhone 3G. Released in 2008, sold at a reduced price up until June 2010... and then got its last software update that November.
2 years. Even the original iPhone got close to 3.
So yeah, I have no idea what reality you're living in where Apple used to never let devices go obsolete, but it is just far, far from reality.
At least today, Apple let's the iPad Air2, a device introduced in October 2014, run the latest iOS in 2021/22. And it runs it very well. That's 7 full years of software support, and I wouldn't be surprised to see an 8th.
2000s Apple wouldn't even be able to promise 7 years of support, let alone deliver.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
lleial Avatar
lleial
61 months ago

Yeah, I'm using our iPad 4 the same way.
Back in 2017, my gf and I did this road trip on the East coast of Canada and we used the iPad 3 (32GB and 3G) for photos, videos and navigation! It worked flawlessly with more than enough battery; My mother has had to throw out over half a dozen android tablets, probably spending much more than what I did back in the day (700€), during the same time, which today is almost a decade!

Attachment Image
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
840quadra Avatar
840quadra
61 months ago
Read this article and most responses to this thread on my older iPad 3. I downgraded it to iOS 8. Much faster and more stable than the later iOS 9 on these things.




Still read many sites on it daily, watch video podcasts in my kitchen, and monitor my home Blue Iris DVR from it.

Attachment Image
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Read All Comments