Apple declares two iPhones vintage and the Apple Watch 2 obsolete

The iPhone XS Max and iPhone 6s Max are now considered vintage devices.

Apple has renewed its list of vintage and obsolete devices, adding a couple more smartphone models and a watch. Now, the iPhone XS Max, released in 2018, and the iPhone 6s Plus (2015) are officially called “vintage” devices.

Typically, Apple considers products vintage when it stopped distributing them for sale more than five and less than seven years ago.

Devices labeled as vintage may be limited in availability for repair in authorized Apple repair centers. Users can get a vintage device repaired only if a center has enough spare parts.

If a device passes the seven-year mark after distribution, it becomes “obsolete.” The iPhone 6 Plus with 32GB of RAM is already in this category.

As spotted by MacRumors, the Apple Watch 2, released in 2016, is also now considered obsolete.

The company discontinues all hardware services for obsolete products, meaning they can no longer be repaired at the official Apple repair center.

The only way for users to fix obsolete devices is at unauthorized repair shops.

In addition to repairability issues, vintage and obsolete devices may not get iOS and security updates. Apple doesn’t say for how long devices may be supported. However, macworld notes that users can typically expect five years of OS and six years of security updates.

Though the company often goes beyond these timeframes.