Every so often Apple will release a list of Macs that are now considered “vintage” or “obsolete”. You’ll probably find yourself wondering what exactly Apple means by “vintage” and “obsolete”.
Here is how Apple defines the terms:
Vintage: Products that have not been manufactured for more than five and less than seven years ago. Apple has discontinued hardware service for vintage products with a few exceptions that can be found here.
Obsolete: Products that were discontinued more than seven years ago. Apple has discontinued all hardware service for obsolete products with no exceptions. Service providers cannot order parts for obsolete products.
On Tuesday, Apple added certain Mac models to its obsolete and vintage lists with the Late 2009 iMac, Mid 2009 MacBook Air, Early 2009 Mac Pro being designated “vintage” and Early 2008 MacBook and MacBook Pro designated “obsolete”.
But while Apple might dub these Machines “vintage” or “obsolete”, with the help of MacSales.com, you can make your older Mac anything but.
- Late 2009 iMac: MacSales.com can help you upgrade up to 32GB of RAM, and/or add a high-performance SSD or a high capacity HDD.
- Early 2009 Mac Pro: Bring powerhouse performance to your Early 2009 Mac Pro with up to 128GB of memory, an OWC SSD or evan a Sapphire 7950 graphics card.
- Early 2008 MacBook, MacBook Pro: Add OWC memory, or a high performance SSD. You can also get a battery replacements with up to 50% more capacity than the factory battery for your MacBook.
- Mid 2009 MacBook Air: Get up to a massive 480GB of high performance SSD storage. And check out our selection of MacBook Air batteries to keep your machine going strong.
By upgrading your “vintage” or “obsolete” Mac, you’ll not only bring a new world of performance possibilities, you’ll also avoid unnecessarily creating electronic waste. You can even purchase Used Macs from MacSales.com and get a new-to-you Mac while saving money. Used Macs from MacSales.com are OWC Warranted and backed by OWC’s expert support team.
Want to know exactly which MacSales.com upgrades your Mac can take? Check out our convenient My Upgrades page to search by your Mac model and only see results that are compatible with your machine.
Related article: Help your “old” Mac Pro compete with a 2013 model
Hi, I have a Macbook pro mid-2009 and I’d like to upgrade it’s hardware, though the OS is stuck to Mountain Lion (10.8), so several apps aren’t functioning anymore. I tried to upgrade it, but I could not find anyway, since the version 10.9 is no more available. Anyone knows a way to upgrade to version 10.9, or even 10.10? Thanks!
My wife has a late 2006 13″ Macbook currently running OS 10.6.8. What, if anything, can be done to upgrade this old girl?
Hi, Larry. Without knowing the exact model of the MacBook or what is currently installed, adding an OWC SSD and more memory will do wonders for its performance. And if the battery is beginning to show its age, we have replacements for that too which can be found at this link. If you have any other questions, feel free to contact our customer service team!
How can you tell the age of your Mac? I have an IMac 27inch model identifier IMac 10.1. Also I have a MacBook Pro 15inch model identifier MacBook Pro 3..1
Hi Harry, you can do so by plugging your Mac’s serial number in on this Apple Support page or by checking out the My Upgrades page at MacSales.com. That said, the iMac 10,1 is a Late 2009 model and the MacBook Pro 3,1 is either Mid 2007 or Late 2007.
Is there any way to add a second Thunderbolt port to a 2012 Mac Mini? The newest version has two TB ports but sacrificed FW800.
The single TB port on my 2012 Mac Mini is dedicated to running my monitor (no daisy chain).
Hello Bob,
Thank you for your question. There would be no way to add a second Thunderbolt port to any computer at this time. You can however daisy chain Thunderbolt and still use your monitor. All you will need to do is make sure the monitor is the last device in the chain.
If you have any questions, please contact our Technical Support Team! We will be happy to help.
I just upgraded my parents Late-2009 iMac (Core 2 Duo) with a 1TB SSD (used OWC’s special cable) and maxed out the RAM to 16GB.
What a massive difference this made. Can’t recommend this enough to people. Have done this for several other family member’s aging MacBooks as well. All feel like brand new machines after doing this.
At Apple’s end, the only change that matters is when a model will no longer get operating system updates. For older Macs, getting parts and service from Apple makes no economic sense long before they go obsolete. Turning to companies such as OWC makes more sense.
One suggest. You know these older products. Not all Macs are created equal. Why not create an online guide that recommend which to get and which to avoid. We’d save money. You’d get added business.