Apple declares three devices are officially ‘vintage’, including the popular iPhone and AirPods – why you should upgrade now

APPLE has added three popular devices to its doomed “vintage” list, meaning headaches for some owners, including the iPhone.

The tech giant routinely consigns older gadgets to history, categorizing them as vintage before they become entirely obsolete.

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When a device falls into the vintage category, repairs can become quite difficult.

While they are still eligible for repair, this is based on the availability of parts that will eventually become scarce.

Apple has a simple way of defining what is vintage – they are products that the company stopped distributing for sale more than five years ago, but less than seven years ago.

After seven years, they become obsolete, resulting in no hardware service.

At the top of the list is the iPhone X, launched in November 2017.

The device was the first iPhone to adopt the infamous “notch” at the top of people’s screens.

This also led to Touch ID being replaced by Face ID.

The iPhone X also shocked the world with its price, reaching the £1,000/$999 mark.

Meanwhile, the first generation AirPods are also on the vintage list.

This is the pair that was announced in September 2016 at the same time as the iPhone 7 – the first iPhone to launch without a headphone jack.

The three products officially added to the “vintage” list are:

• iPhone X
• First generation AirPods
• First generation HomePod

Here is the full list of “vintage” iPhones as it stands now:

• iPhone 4 (8GB)
• iPhone 5
• iPhone 6
• iPhone SE
• iPhone 8 Red
• iPhone 8 Plus Red
• iPhone X

And these are the iPhones that are obsolete:

• iPhone
• iPhone 3G (Mainland China) 8GB
• iPhone 3G 8GB, 16GB
• iPhone 3GS (Mainland China) 16GB, 32GB
• iPhone 3GS (8GB)
• iPhone 3GS 16GB, 32GB
• iPhone 4 CDMA
• iPhone 4 CDMA (8GB)
• iPhone 4 16GB, 32GB
• iPhone 4 GSM (8 GB), black
• iPhone 4S
• iPhone 4S (8GB)
• iPhone 5C
• iPhone 5S
• iPhone 6 Plus
• iPhone 6s (32GB)
• iPhone 6s Plus (32GB)

Time to update?

Analysis by Jamie Harris, assistant technology and science editor at The Sun

If you have an affected device, you only have two options.

Fix any issues you know about now while parts are still available – but remember that the cost to get this repair may not be worth it compared to what your smartphone is worth today.

Or update.

Of course, upgrading to a new phone is expensive, but it may cost less in the long run compared to repairs, especially since your current phone will be more prone to further breakage and will likely be completely destroyed soon.