It’s the end of an era as Apple has finally placed the mid-2012 MacBook Pro, the final MacBook Pro with an optical drive, on the company’s obsolete list.
Apple maintains a vintage and obsolete product list that updates based on how long it has been since a product was for sale. Some vintage products may be eligible for service, while obsolete products are not.
The notebook joins other recent editions such as the iPhone SE as well as the 12.9-inch iPad Pro. Devices in the vintage list haven’t been for sale for at least five years. Obsolete products haven’t been for sale for seven years.
In certain cases, such as in given regions of France, owners of Apple products purchased in 2021 or later can obtain service and parts from Apple or service providers for seven years after the date the product model was last supplied by Apple. In most cases, obsolete products lose their ability to be serviced by Apple or authorized service providers. In the case of MacBooks, the notebooks may be eligible for an extended battery-only repair period for up to 10 years from when the product was last distributed for sale.
Apple opted to discard the optical drive among the Jony Ive era, which pursued thinner notebooks. An external optical drive called the SuperDrive is still available, but connects over USB-A and is considered obsolete as well.
Still, it was a fun machine, easy to dig into, easy to upgrade, easy to expand, and it’ll be missed.
Via AppleInsider, support.apple.com, and Ars Technica