Despite Apple claiming that its products are meant to be durable, most of us have come face to face with a broken device at one time or another. Fortunately, the company provides repairs for its products at Apple stores, whether you need something as simple as your iPhone screen fixed or a device replaced altogether for a larger manufacturing issue. But the service does not extend to all Apple products. Many older Apple devices might be past their coverage timeline, and now Apple has removed the option of repair service from one popular product. Read on to find out if something you own can no longer be fixed by the company.
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Apple just added the fourth-generation iPad to its obsolete product list.
ShutterstockOn Nov. 1, Apple changed the classification of its fourth-generation iPad to "obsolete," according to an internal memo obtained by MacRumors. Currently, the model is still listed on Apple's vintage products list, but MacRumors reported that the company is expected to make the official switch soon.
According to Apple, products are considered "vintage" when the company stopped distributing them for sale more than five years ago, but less than seven years. After seven years, products are then considered obsolete. The fourth-generation iPad was released in 2012 and it was permanently discontinued in 2014, per Ars Technica. This iPad was available with either a white or black front screen, and will have either a A1458, A1459, or A1460 model number on its back cover.
Apple will no longer fix obsolete products.
ShutterstockThe change from vintage to obsolete may not sound like a big deal, but it is. Most Apple products must be able to be fixed by the company's service providers for a minimum of five years after Apple stops distributing them. But some products may be fixed for up to seven years, as required by law, as long as parts are available. After seven years, Apple will stop service for almost all of its products, including the fourth-generation iPad.
"Apple discontinues all hardware service for obsolete products, with the sole exception of Mac notebooks that are eligible for an additional battery-only repair period," the company warns. "Service providers cannot order parts for obsolete products."
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You might be able to get this iPad serviced by other providers.
iStockGoing the Apple route isn't the only way to get your old iPad fixed, however. There are other service providers you can seek out, and according to Apple, there is also a network of more than 5,000 Apple-certified technicians, known as Apple Authorized Service Providers (AASP), who might be able to repair an obsolete device. But Apple Insider warns that even certified technicians are limited by the availability of parts from third-party sources.
Not only that, but these types of repairs are not necessarily cost-effective. And according to One Zero, it will likely be difficult to get a third-party service provider to agree to repairing a vintage or obsolete device. "The AASPs I've spoken to in the past have told me they don't bother with customers looking to repair older devices," Rob Link, a right-to-repair advocate who owns a company that sells repair parts for older devices, including older iPads, told OneZero.
But Link also added, "I don't believe I ever ran into an Apple device I couldn't find a part for somewhere in the world. This is true today with most of the top tier independent repair shops."
Apple also just quietly discontinued a product.
ShutterstockThis is not the only major change the tech giant has made recently. Apple just quietly discontinued its 21.5-inch iMac desktop computer after removing it from its online store on Oct. 29, MacRumors reported. The company confirmed it would no longer be selling this product, despite it being reportedly popular with schools and education institutions due to its budget-friendly price as the smallest screen size available in its lineup. Now, only 24-inch and 27-inch iMacs are still being sold by Apple.
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