Apple declares first 5K iMacs to be vintage

The first iMac with a Retina 5K display is one of several models that Apple has declared as vintage this week.

In the past, declaring a vintage model meant it could no longer be repaired by an Official Service Provider and Authorized Service Centers, although Apple began an extended repair program for some models in 2018. Many of the listed models will likely still be repairable for the foreseeable future. if the service center has parts for it.

Due to the fact that Apple actively opposes repairs in third-party services, the end of official support may mean that if there are problems with the motherboard or power supply for which there are no spare parts, the entire device will have to be disposed of, despite the fact that the other components are working.

Also, users are disappointed that Apple does not allow the use of the 5K iMac in Target Display mode, which at least allowed the devices to be used as monitors with the new Mac Mini.

Full list of models declared vintage:

• iMac (21.5-inch, Late 2013)
• iMac (27-inch, Late 2013)
• iMac (21.5-inch, Mid 2014)
• iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, Late 2014)
• iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, Mid 2015)

It should be noted that almost all models are equipped with at least a quad-core processor and 8 to 32 GB of RAM.

Even if there are no hardware problems with the devices, declaring a vintage model means the end of major OS updates, which will eventually stop working software that requires the latest OS version. The 2013 models no longer received the Big Sur upgrade. Minor updates will continue to be released to fix security issues.

Interestingly, due to the new law, devices purchased in France after December 31, 2020, the manufacturing company is obliged to service and provide spare parts for seven years after the last delivery date to the distribution channels.