Apple Officially Obsoletes First iPad With Lightning Connector

Alongside adding the iPhone 6 Plus to its list of vintage and obsolete products, Apple today also updated its list to officially consider the fourth-generation iPad released in 2012 as obsolete.

ipad 4 lightning
The fourth-generation ‌iPad‌ was marked internally at Apple as obsolete in November, but it had not updated its public list to make it official until today. The fourth-generation ‌iPad‌ was announced in November of 2012 and was the first ‌iPad‌ to feature the Lightning connector, revealed for the first time on the iPhone 5 announced weeks earlier.

Alongside the introduction of the Lightning connector to the ‌iPad‌, the fourth-generation ‌‌iPad‌‌ was twice as fast and had up to three times better graphics than the previous model.

Apple today also updated its list to officially mark the Mid-2010 and Late 2012 Mac mini models as obsolete.

Popular Stories

Google maps feaure

Google Maps Quietly Added This Long-Overdue Feature for Drivers

Wednesday December 10, 2025 2:52 am PST by
Google Maps on iOS quietly gained a new feature recently that automatically recognizes where you've parked your vehicle and saves the location for you. Announced on LinkedIn by Rio Akasaka, Google Maps' senior product manager, the new feature auto-detects your parked location even if you don't use the parking pin function, saves it for up to 48 hours, and then automatically removes it once...
Foldable iPhone 2023 Feature 1

Apple to Make More Foldable iPhones Than Expected [Updated]

Tuesday December 9, 2025 9:59 am PST by
Apple has ordered 22 million OLED panels from Samsung Display for the first foldable iPhone, signaling a significantly larger production target than the display industry had previously anticipated, ET News reports. In the now-seemingly deleted report, ET News claimed that Samsung plans to mass-produce 11 million inward-folding OLED displays for Apple next year, as well as 11 million...
iOS 26

iOS 26.2 Coming Soon With These 8 New Features on Your iPhone

Thursday December 11, 2025 8:49 am PST by
Apple seeded the second iOS 26.2 Release Candidate to developers earlier this week, meaning the update will be released to the general public very soon. Apple confirmed iOS 26.2 would be released in December, but it did not provide a specific date. We expect the update to be released by early next week. iOS 26.2 includes a handful of new features and changes on the iPhone, such as a new...
iOS 26

15 New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 26.2

Friday December 5, 2025 9:40 am PST by
Apple is about to release iOS 26.2, the second major point update for iPhones since iOS 26 was rolled out in September, and there are at least 15 notable changes and improvements worth checking out. We've rounded them up below. Apple is expected to roll out iOS 26.2 to compatible devices sometime between December 8 and December 16. When the update drops, you can check Apple's servers for the ...
AirPods Pro Firmware Feature

Apple Releases New Firmware for AirPods Pro 2 and AirPods Pro 3

Thursday December 11, 2025 11:28 am PST by
Apple today released new firmware designed for the AirPods Pro 3 and the prior-generation AirPods Pro 2. The AirPods Pro 3 firmware is 8B30, up from 8B25, while the AirPods Pro 2 firmware is 8B28, up from 8B21. There's no word on what's include in the updated firmware, but the AirPods Pro 2 and AirPods Pro 3 are getting expanded support for Live Translation in the European Union in iOS...
iOS 26

Apple Seeds Second iOS 26.2 Release Candidate to Developers and Public Beta Testers

Monday December 8, 2025 10:18 am PST by
Apple today seeded the second release candidate version of iOS 26.2 to developers and public beta testers, with the software coming one week after Apple seeded the first RC. The release candidate represents the final version iOS 26.2 that will be provided to the public if no further bugs are found. Registered developers and public beta testers can download the betas from the Settings app on...
iPhone 14 Pro Dynamic Island

iPhone 18 Pro Leak Adds New Evidence for Under-Display Face ID

Monday December 8, 2025 4:54 am PST by
Apple is actively testing under-screen Face ID for next year's iPhone 18 Pro models using a special "spliced micro-transparent glass" window built into the display, claims a Chinese leaker. According to "Smart Pikachu," a Weibo account that has previously shared accurate supply-chain details on Chinese Android hardware, Apple is testing the special glass as a way to let the TrueDepth...
AirTag 2 Mock Feature

Apple AirTag 2: Four New Features Found in iOS 26 Code

Thursday December 11, 2025 10:31 am PST by
The AirTag 2 will include a handful of new features that will improve tracking capabilities, according to a new report from Macworld. The site says that it was able to access an internal build of iOS 26, which includes references to multiple unreleased products. Here's what's supposedly coming: An improved pairing process, though no details were provided. AirTag pairing is already...
ipad blue prime day

iPad 12 Rumored to Get iPhone 17's A19 Chip, Breaking Apple Tradition

Wednesday December 10, 2025 12:22 pm PST by
The next-generation low-cost iPad will use Apple's A19 chip, according to a report from Macworld. Macworld claims to have seen an "internal Apple code document" with information about the 2026 iPad lineup. Prior documentation discovered by MacRumors suggested that the iPad 12 would be equipped with an A18 chip, not an A19 chip. The A19 chip was just released this year in the iPhone 17, and...
studio display purple

Apple Studio Display 2 Code Hints at 120Hz ProMotion, HDR, A19 Chip

Thursday December 11, 2025 4:19 am PST by
Apple's next-generation Studio Display is expected to arrive early next year, and a new report allegedly provides a couple more details on the external monitor's capabilities. According to internal Apple code seen by Macworld, the new external display will feature a variable refresh rate capable of up to 120Hz – aka ProMotion – as well as support for HDR content. The current Studio...

Top Rated Comments

Agit21 Avatar
50 months ago
Add the lightning port to the vintage list Tim.
Score: 20 Votes (Like | Disagree)
xXRainKingXx Avatar
50 months ago
The real iPad 3.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
kyjaotkb Avatar
50 months ago
Man, iOS 6 on this thing was *flying* I will always miss "updating" it to iOS7...
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
MrGimper Avatar
50 months ago
I remember being absolutely livid when this launched 6 months after I'd purchased my ipad 3... pretty much proving that the A5x was gimped.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
zarmanto Avatar
50 months ago
My 2012 Mini has worked great for many years, and with a recent upgrade from HDD to SSD, I suspect it will continue to run without issue for several more years. I will admit, I'm starting to consider repurposing it, though... with the conclusion of macOS software support on that hardware, it may end up becoming another Linux server in its next life, much like a 2010 Mini Server sitting in my home office.

Our household still has three of those iPads, too, largely working but in various states of disrepair, because kids.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
glitch626 Avatar
50 months ago
My first iPad. Loved that thing and it lasted forever. Decided to give it to my Dad when I got my Pro. He absolutely mangled it.

Attachment Image
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)