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Apple has added the iPad Air 2 and iPad Mini 2 to its list of ‘vintage’ products.
The company will give a product vintage status when when it has been out of official circulation for more than five years but less than seven years. At this point, Apple will continue to provide service and parts for its vintage products, subject to availability.
After that seven year period has expired, Apple shifts its vintage products to ‘obsolete’ status. At this point the company discontinues all hardware services for the product.
Certain MacBook products continue to maintain a valid battery-only repair period beyond this obsolete status.
There have been a couple of notable Apple devices entering vintage status in recent times. Perhaps most notably, the original Apple Watch became a vintage watch towards the end of 2021.
In this case, we’re experiencing a sunsetting phase for two extremely popular Apple tablets.
The iPad Air 2 first landed in October 2014, and provided the first Touch ID-enabled tablet in the range. It was also notable for being significantly slimmer than the original iPad Air.
The iPad Mini 2 launched almost a year earlier, on November 2013. It was perhaps most notable for including a 2048 x 1536 resolution display, which made it considerably sharper than previous iPad screens.
Owners of vintage Apple devices are advised to pursue any necessary repairs while it’s still possible, or else consider finally replacing them before they become outright obsolete.
