Apple now considers common iPhone and Airpods as ‘vintage’

Two Apple products that are still relatively common and used by a lot of people have just been branded as ‘vintage’.

These labels are a lot more important than some people realize, because they determine whether certain products still receive updates and service.

The latest products to join the ‘vintage’ list are the first-gen Apple AirPods, and the iPhone X.

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AirPods and iPhone X are now in a limbo that will last two years.

Because two years from now, they’ll be considered obsolete.

‘Vintage’ vs ‘Obsolete’ – How does Apple policy work?

Apple labels its products as ‘vintage’ five years after they’ve been discontinued.

When a product becomes ‘vintage’, it means it will no longer receive relevant updates, but Apple will still provide after-sales service.

Translated, any future iOS update will not be available to iPhone X users, but if you own iPhone X and the screen breaks or the battery needs replacing, it’s still possible.

Two years after ‘vintage’ comes ‘obsolete’.

Once a product is considered obsolete, compatible hardware is no longer available, and therefore, after-sales service is de facto no longer possible.

Apple is under pressure from the EU to change some of its policies, for example that’s why it now allows ‘sideloading‘ and why iPhone 15 is fitted with USB-C.

This means that, sooner or later, this particular policy might change, too.

But, for now, this is how it works.

When does a product become obsolete?

It’s important to point out that the ‘timer’ starts when products are discontinued, not when products are launched.

For example, the counter hasn’t started for iPhone 13 yet, because even though it was unveiled three years ago, it is still available from the Apple website.

This means that, realistically, it generally takes about ten years for a product to become obsolete.

For instance, iPhone 5s and iPhone 6 Plus, both recently added to the list, were launched in 2013 and 2014 respectively.

Some of the images used for this story were generated with AI