“This month saw Apple declare one of its MacBooks obsolete,” Ewen Spence writes for Forbes. “The final ‘white’ MacBook with the plastic casing has passed through the system and is now considered a relic. Those out in the wild will not magically stop working, but repairs are going to be uneconomical compared to buying a replacement.”
“Curiously Apple could not do this on a global scale as a number of territories have consumer protection laws that backs up an expected lifespan of a product in excess of Apple’s preferred duration – which is exactly why these laws in place,” Spence writes. “Inside these moves you can see Apple’s strategy for the Mac computers take shape, especially the MacBook and MacBook Pro machines. How often can Tim Cook and his team get consumers to buy a new Mac?”
Spence writes, “If Apple can create two blocks of macOS fans, with half buying a new macOS machine in years divisible by four, and the other half in the even year that lands in the middle of that cycle, it will have replicated the successful formula that has seen the iPhone generate significant growth and revenue for Apple over the years.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Specious poppycock.
Apple obsoletes products when they become obsolete. Laws blocking such routine tagging do not make the products any less obsolete.
As for “sneaky strategies,” this is now a company that’s letting the Mac Pro languish for over four years by the time a new usable, salable one finally appears. When it comes to Macs, assuming they have much of a strategy at all is a stretch.
They may be in the process of developing a Mac strategy again, as they’re likely tired of hearing how royally they screwed up the Mac (especially on the desktop) through paralyzed mismanagement and also due to the fact that, despite Apple’s best efforts and even with old product on the shelves, Mac sales are again on the rise YOY.
Apple failed big time letting it’s laptop, desktop and pro units go so long without updates. Yet, they seem to keep updating the Mac OSX software. Cook needs to change the attitude of Apple back to when Steve Jobs was around. Get those lazy VP’s like Eddie Cue, nose to the grindstone or kick him out of Apple.
It wouldn’t be a problem if Apple 1) Updated its hardware more frequently and 2) Made at least some computers which were upgradeable.
> Made at least some computers which were upgradeable
Minor tweak: made at least some *entry-level* computers which were upgradeable. The larger iMacs you can upgrade RAM yourself, but you pay $1800 minimum for the privilege.
Good point!
Still have one of those and after replacing the HD with an SSD and upping the memory (yeah, try THAT with any Mac laptop today), the little white monster screams.
Yep, same with my 2012 MBP. The SSD upgrade didn’t give it as much of a speed boost as I expected, but my work MBP with PCIe flash SSD is hard to beat.
“How often can Tim Cook and his team get consumers to buy a new Mac?”
Depends on how thrifty the user is, but 4 years is minimum and 6 more likely. The 2012 MBPro is still a great upgradeable laptop.
I’d’ve bought a new MacBook Pro if Apple stupidly didn’t ditch the MagSafe® power port.
@scooteristi
And the I/O. I need USB Type-A because that’s what most peripherals use. Ethernet and an SD card slot are a bonus.
I’ve done the same upgrades on my late 2011 13” MacBook Pro. I also swapped out the optical drive for a 2TB hard drive.
Yes but that should not be an excuse to go 4-6 years between updates. Apple has to keep up with the hardware performance/value of the competition. Fashion alone will not maintain Apple long term. I hate it that Apple is like the Bang&Olefson of computers: all sizzle, insane price, no steak.
So agree with MDN on this. Considering the outright neglect of Macs by Apple, this article is just clickbait and frankly, doesn’t deserve the bump in clicks that MDN will afford it.
“How often can Tim Cook and his team get consumers to buy a new Mac?”
Never. In my case. And I am not the only one.
It was a great machine. I will miss it. And I will miss the Apple that I loved. But I’m. It buying another Mac. Ever.
It’s all crap and cynical exploitation now.
Good luck to them.
Me too. My next laptop will be a System76 Oryx Pro – running Ubuntu (Linux). Not kidding.
Apple makes up all of the rules of this game and the labels “vintage” and “obsolete” are mostly arbitrarily applied to machines that could churn on another 2-3 years and sometimes longer. Things don’t just magically become “obsolete” and then Apple applies the label. They purposefully label older machines as “obsolete” because it dramatically encourages people to buy new whether they need to or not.
Designed obsolescence is helped when you’re in control of all of the language around it.
Consumers are pretty good on their own at figuring out if their Mac is too old to repair or upgrade. That can be a conversation with an independent Mac Technician or an Apple “Genius,” but we already know what the latter is going to say.
I just want an updated iMac. It’s time. Stop with the laptops. Nobody want to buy somethings new and then feel it’s already obsolete because they made a newer version. They used to have somewhat dependable cycles now it’s all crap. I don’t want a laptop. I have an iPad. I want a new desktop!!!
My friends have a two-year old MacBook Pro. It was having freezing problems so they took it in to the Apple Store. The Apple “Genius” said something to the effect that the MacBook Pro has a “floating memory card” (or something like that) and the MacBook could not be moved until it had completely booted up. He said this was normal and the only solution was “customer behavior modification.”
What kind of BS is this?! What the hell has happened to Apple? Laptops that can’t be moved?!!!
Has anybody else experienced this?
Is this the new Apple way of getting you to replace your MacBook Pro?
My friends ended up sending the machine back to Apple for a circuit board replacement. The AppleCare warranty will run out soon. Will they be stuck with an Apple POS the next time it fails?