The Apple iPhone has profoundly impacted modern society since its original release in 2007. While many early adopters have since moved on to subsequent models, there are still people out there who treasure their older devices. In a blow to their technology purists, an internal Apple document was recently leaked indicating that the original iPhone model will officially be classified as vintage and obsolete on June 11, 2013.
The document also defined what the terms vintage and obsolete mean in the context of Apple devices, labeling the original iPhone vintage in the United States and obsolete in the Asia-Pacific region, Canada, Europe, Japan and Latin America as well as in Apple Retail Stores.
“For vintage products in the U.S., service parts are only available to repair older Apple products purchased in the state of California, as required by statute,” the internal document stated. “Owners of these products may obtain service and parts from Apple service providers or Apple Retail Stores within the state of California. Apple does not provide parts nor service documentation for obsolete products. Obsolete products (obsolete and vintage in the U.S.) cannot be facilitated as Mail-In Repairs to AppleCare Repair centers.”
As The Telegraph indicated, in 2007, the original iPhone sold 6.1 million units for its first year, and the model was discontinued in 2008 following the launch of the iPhone 3G.
The leaked document also named numerous MacBook devices that are set to become obsolete or vintage on the same day. This means that for those of you with a particular affinity for your old iPhone or MacBook, it will likely be even more important to keep these devices in top working order because options for repair or support will be significantly reduced in just over a month's time. Luckily, you have iResQ's iPhone repair and MacBook repair services to help fix any problems that may surface.