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Desktops (Apple) Intel Iphone Apple

Apple Says All Mac Minis With Intel Are Now Vintage (macrumors.com) 46

Posted by BeauHD from the end-of-an-era dept.
Apple has officially designated all Intel-based Mac minis as "vintage" or "obsolete," marking the end of an era. This means Apple no longer guarantees parts or service for these devices, as they've surpassed the 5- to 7-year support window. 9to5Mac reports: Apple periodically adds devices to its ever-growing list of vintage and obsolete products. That happened today, as spotted by MacRumors, with two noteworthy "vintage" additions: iPhone 6s and Mac mini (2018). The latter product is especially significant, because the 2018 Mac mini was the last remaining Intel model that was not yet labeled either vintage or obsolete.

So what are those timelines exactly? Per Apple's definitions: Vintage: "Apple stopped distributing them for sale more than 5 and less than 7 years ago." Obsolete: "Apple stopped distributing them for sale more than 7 years ago." [...] Since these products are now considered vintage, Apple no longer guarantees that parts for repairs will be readily available.

Apple Says All Mac Minis With Intel Are Now Vintage More | Reply

Apple Says All Mac Minis With Intel Are Now Vintage

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  • A year or so ago, I bought a 2012 model to serve as a home fileserver and media center. Given it just sits idling most of the time, I'm not too worried about it being obsolete. I have other computers for gaming or other heavy processing.

    • Re: (Score:2, Funny)

      by SlashbotAgent ( 6477336 )

      it just sits idling

      With fan and disk spinning, capacitors losing capacitance, rubber feet gluing to the shelf...

      • The spinning disks are only in the external RAID enclosure. I'll worry about the caps going bad if and when it happens (I have Macs that are even older that still run fine), and I shift the Mini around every so often and the shelf is glass so I'm not worried about rubber feet getting sticky.

    • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

      by crow ( 16139 )

      It might pay to upgrade, though likely not in this case. It would be worth measuring the actual power draw, multiply Watts times 24*365.25 / 1000 * (cost per KwH from your power bill).

      Let's do the math:

      I see someone reported a 2012 Mac Mini drawing 9.1W, and power at $.16/KwH (national average), that comes out to only $12.76/year. So you're not likely to be able to save enough to pay for an upgrade. But if you were in Massachusetts at $.28/KwH with a home-built server drawing 65W, that's about $160/year,

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by shanen ( 462549 )

      Which OS are you running on it? I'm thinking of converting mine to Linux, but wanted to make sure I got the last of my files off of it first... Funny that the migration utility doesn't support escape from Apple World, eh? Or maybe someone around knows the secret?

      (I have booted it to Ubuntu from USB, but couldn't figure out the trick for a dual boot and at this point would just prefer to format the universe and start over. Don't really care about preserving any Apple software, though kind of curious why I co

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by bobm ( 53783 )

        I have a few mini's and run ESXi on 2 of them, one is a 2012 model and it runs amazingly well. I have both OSX, Linux and Windows10 guests running. Not gaming but serving up video, etc.

        It's also legal to run OSX on ESXi since it's a Mac so you don't have to mod ESXi to allow it.

      • Install rEFInd and you should be able to dual-boot. I dual-booted a 2019 Intel Mac Mini recently with MacOS and Ubuntu. While it worked, there aren't good drivers for the Mac stuff in Ubuntu. I can get close, but I needed to use a dongle for WiFi and basically had only 2D graphics/VESA. You are probably better off just booting Linux exclusively and making your old computer into a server.

      • It's stuck on Catalina, as it won't take any of the the OS 11+ updates. The only software I've installed on it (other than the baseline set that comes with Catalina) are Firefox, Chrome, Kodi, and SoftRAID.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by shanen ( 462549 )

          Thanks for your belated response, though the thread you started didn't provide me with much help towards my goal of converting my old box to something useful and reasonably safe...

          Feeling like I should just pull the trigger and wipe it, but I keep wondering if I've missed any files I created that were stored in places I didn't spot...

    • It powers on??? Call the Vatican!
      I worked at place that got five* of the gen 2 'pizza box' deals, and within three years, four of them were in the dumpster, which I guess is the only fix for when they suddenly cease powering on ("what do you expect for a budget model?" I was told on ars or some other mac forum)

      *for the record, I was against this purchase, as I had already been around the block with the gen 1s which were fitted with ipod hard drives that lasted about 16 months like most ipod HDs. But at lea

    • Same with my 2014. It's been upgraded with an SSD and has an external HD as well. Runs the current version of Linux Mint Cinnamon just fine.

      I was looking for a 2018 for the stereo cabinet, but the prices refuse to go down, probably because they can run Linux. Can the 2018 Minis run Windows 11.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by wwphx ( 225607 )
        I looked at the iFixit for installing an SSD for my 2014 Mini and noped out of it. I'll stick with its internal HD and go to booting external if it ever dies.

        • It's not that hard. The most difficult part is getting the power connection to the logic board back on.

          The special NVME is pricey, but some people have had luck with m.2 adapters to use much cheaper standard NVME sticks. That can be up to 1 TB whether Apple or m.2. The SATA drive can be up to 2 TB, so that is a three TB server. You can even Fusion Drive it if you want at least under Monterey.

          The 2.6 GHz 8 GB RAM 2014 Mini makes a fine server under Linux or MacOS. I'd have my doubts about the 1.4 GHz versio

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by wwphx ( 225607 )
      I picked up a 2014 Mini a few months ago, and will be getting my 2015 MacBook Pro repaired Friday and back in service. Meanwhile, my 2015 27" iMac sits waiting for me. My main mac is a '23 M2 Max with 64 gig of ram.

  • Typing from (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Valgrus Thunderaxe ( 8769977 ) on Tuesday April 15, 2025 @05:10PM (#65308599)
    a 16 year old Optiplex. Works "fine" for me with Debian.

    • And just like the 2018 Mac Mini, Dell might refuse to repair it if they don't have any more parts for it.

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by antdude ( 79039 )

      Intel Macs can run Linux too. ;)

      • Which is what a lot of "vintage" Macs, cheap on eBay, will be used for, as Apple has deemed them "unworthy" of their time and attention.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by antdude ( 79039 )

          I hope its ARM devices can be easily reused like Intel. Hence why got the last 2020 Intel MBP for its VMs, native Linux, etc.

      • They have to be custom distros to run though. The T2 chipsets require pre-patched distros, so you can't just download and install any Linux distro.

        https://wiki.t2linux.org/

        Those T2 chips also cause issues trying to install macOS on unsupported hardware with OpenCore Legacy Patcher.

        https://github.com/dortania/OpenCore-Legacy-Patcher/issues/1136

  • Many apps are already ARM only (Score:3)

    by xack ( 5304745 ) on Tuesday April 15, 2025 @05:30PM (#65308657)
    As the pool of old macs to test intel code on is shrinking, many developers are going ARM only on their apps. I remember that by around 2010 that PowerPC was mostly dropped by the majority of apps.

    • Apple Silicon devices can run x86_64 binaries via Rosetta 2. Are real Intel devices really required for testing the binaries of most apps? We have so many Intel Mac Minis that this isnâ(TM)t a problem for us. Testing on the latest macOS is a different issue. Testing on Apple Silicon doesnâ(TM)t have as many devices for us either.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by dfghjk ( 711126 )

        "Are real Intel devices really required for testing the binaries of most apps? "

        Yes

        "Testing on the latest macOS is a different issue."

        Are real latest macOS releases really required testing the binaries of most apps?

        • "Are real Intel devices really required for testing the binaries of most apps? "

          Yes

          Why?

          "Testing on the latest macOS is a different issue."

          Are real latest macOS releases really required testing the binaries of most apps?

          Yes, absolutely. API's change and more restrictions come in to operation, etc. Our QA tends to be slow about upgrading, for various reasons and this can be problematic. Intel vs. ARM hasn't had any differences for us other than forcing on correct code signing in order to run on Apple Silic

    • Five years after a major architecture change sounds about right, given Apple's history. M68k was supported up to about 1998-1999. PPC software updates ended around 2010. So 2025 would make sense as the last year of Intel- Mac support.

    • Part of the reason I gave up on Macs was that a bunch of software I used was never rebuilt for Intel. I just got sick of repeatedly having support for stuff I used dropped. They dropped "classic" MacOS support, PowerPC support, 32-bit x86 support, Carbon support, and it's only a matter of time before they completely drom x86-64 support.

  • refurbs don't count (Score:5, Insightful)

    by v1 ( 525388 ) on Tuesday April 15, 2025 @05:32PM (#65308667) Homepage Journal

    just an FYI, Apple goes by the date of sale when determining warranty category for parts availability. So if you bought a refurb of a late model, it may still technically not be "vintage" yet.

    My laptop, the VERY last intel model sold, I got as a great deal on a fully loaded refurb (4tb ssd etc) and it JUST went out of 3 yr applecare less than two months ago. It's out of warranty, but Apple won't consider it "vintage" for another two years.

    Of course this article is concerning regular new sale date ranges, which don't apply to mine, which is a small hole in a large wall.

  • Still going strong with 6 disks (6 and some TeraBytes of RAID6) 3 disks I have replaced during 13-14 years of 24/7 operation. (not very heavily loaded, but still.) Not My backup, but I've been wondering will this things psu / chipset ever gona give up.... BTW: qnap still offering regular fixes for vulns... APPLE: eat sh&/

  • My "vintage" macbook pro still kicks ass (Score:3)

    by EmperorOfCanada ( 1332175 ) on Tuesday April 15, 2025 @08:12PM (#65309053)
    I have to use some windows software. There are many fields where windows is not optional. Engineering is most certainly one of them. Thus, I need to run windows in a VM on a mac, if I am going to use a mac. The arm versions of windows are aspirational, not functional. I would argue wine on intel linux is far more "real". While I appreciated the performance of my silicon and its battery life, the reality is that my "vintage" intel mac of no particular power, is very good, it performs well, and it has an acceptable battery life. I would go so far as to argue that few users of laptops need more than what my 2018 macbook pro delivers. The simple reality for me, though, is I also need nVidia. So, my primary machine is a lenovo with a solid nvidia card onboard. The mac is more what I now take to the beach. While I don't use a mini, I would suspect any mini of the same "vintage" with 16gb will meet most people's needs just fine.

  • Lets you run the current macOS on long-obsolete intel Macs. It also runs on Arm.

    There are some limitations for very old equipment, but middle-aged stuff runs with similar performance as it did with its "final" officially-supported version of macOS.

    • OCLP may come to an abrupt end this fall, and if not then next year. There won't be an Intel version of the OS.

      The Minis were cut off sooner than I expected. The higher end Intel minis were sold until the end of 2022. It's usually 5 years after they stop selling them. I suspect the minis got cut early due to the HD 630 graphics are not up to the new GUI Apple is promising for the fall. But then there should be a few laptops also off the supported list.

  • How soon will all of Intel be vintage? Intel CPUs are already not even an option for me to consider.

    • Intel Mac Pro, released 2019, sold until mid 2023, so call it 2022 bases on OS release plus 5 or 2027.

      But what they just did with the 2018 mini was 2022 plus 3, and it's dead. So I'd bet the Intel Pro goes down next year.

      Apple abuses the Mac pro users badly. The very expensive G5 Pros were left on MacOS 10.5. The 2012 Mac Pro was sold with a standard video card that Apple couldn't be bothered to write a Metal driver for, so running Mohave required a new video card, but that only worked for another year.

      The

      • The i3 “2018” Mac Mini was discontinued in 2020 when the first Apple Silicon Mini came out - so that’s definitely “vintage”. The i7 “2018” Mac Mini remained on sale until early 2023 so that shouldn’t b3 vintage yet. Yes, I’ve checked the actual Apple vintage products list and it does just say “2018 Mac Mini” but it also clearly stares the 5-7 year rule so one or the other is just plain wrong. The vintage/obsolete rules seem to be based on a

  • My primary development machine is a 2018 Mac Mini; I'd consider upgrading it to an ARM-based Mini (since Mac Minis are pretty inexpensive) except I develop cross-platform code that I need to compile and test under MacOS, Linux, and Windows, and I would prefer not to have more than one computer at my desk. Currently I handle that by running MacOS plus VMWare Fusion guests for Windows and Linux; is there anything comparable in performance/usability when running an ARM based Mac?

    My impression is that there is

  • please?

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