O'Grady's PowerPage

Tag: 2017

  • Apple adds three new devices to its “vintage” and “obsolete” product lists

    Apple adds three new devices to its “vintage” and “obsolete” product lists

    You may love certain Apple products, but they all become vintage or obsolete at some point.

    Apple on Tuesday added its 2017 13-inch MacBook Air to its “vintage” products list, meaning the device is now only eligible for repairs at Apple Stores and Apple Authorized Service Providers if parts remain available.

    The notebook was the final MacBook Air model released prior to Apple’s redesign of the machine, wherein it would give the MacBook Air a Retina display in 2018.

    Apple also included the iPad mini 4 tablet and the 32GB Apple TV HD configurations in its “obsolete” products list, which indicates that neither of these devices is eligible for any kind of service whatsoever.

    The iPad mini 4 was launched in 2015, and discontinued in 2019, which the Apple TV HD was first released in 2015 and discontinued in October 2022, when the third-generation Apple TV 4K launched. However, only Apple TV HD units with 32GB of storage are considered obsolete for now.

    A “vintage” device was last distributed by Apple for sale more than five years ago, while for “obsolete” that timeframe rises to seven years.

    Stay tuned for additional details as they become available.

    Via MacRumors and support.apple.com

  • Apple Pay may be making inroads into the Indian marketplace after almost a decade of effort, legal wrangling

    Apple Pay may be making inroads into the Indian marketplace after almost a decade of effort, legal wrangling

    After nearly a decade of legal and financial wrangling, Apple Pay may be en route to India.

    According to 91mobile, Apple Pay, which first debuted in 2014, could be headed for the Indian marketplace. Reportedly, Apple is in discussions with Indian banks, local government regulators, and also Visa and Mastercard.

    Apple is said to be negotiating fees with assorted card issuers, and as such, there’s been no confirmation. The issue of card payments is its own hurdle, as since 2022, Apple has not accepted credit or debit cards in India.

    Instead, users of services such as the App Store or Apple Music in India have had to use what’s called the Unified Payments Interface (UPI). This service is the dominant payment platform in India, and other firms must apply for a licence to integrate with it. Apple is reported to be unwilling to do this at first, as the process of applying to and integrating UPI is complicated. At present, both Google and Samsung Wallet work with UPI.

    Should this deal go through, it’ll suit those using credit cards or making international payments as opposed to day-to-day UPI-based spending. Still, the deal would function as a benchmark of progress into the Indian market, which Apple has desired since at least 2017. The UPI roadblock and applying for a license could bring their own headaches, as Apple would have to set up data storage facilities in India, or work with a local partner.

    There was also an issue regarding biometric authentication, then Touch ID and later Face ID. According to Indian law, biometric authentication would have to be validated by an external government agency each time it was used.

    Stay tuned for additional details as they become available.

    Via AppleInsider and 91mobiles

  • Rumor: Next-gen iPad may feature A19 chip, break away from trend of using previous-generation processors

    Rumor: Next-gen iPad may feature A19 chip, break away from trend of using previous-generation processors

    The next-generation low-cost iPad may skip a processor generation and use Apple’s A19 chip.

    Per Macworld, an “internal Apple code document” that leaked provided information about the company’s 2026 iPad lineup. According to prior documentation discovered by MacRumors it had been suggested that the ‌iPad‌ 12 would be equipped with an A18 chip, not an A19 chip. The A19 chip was just released this year in the iPhone 17, and it would be unusual for Apple to use a current-generation chip in the low-cost ‌iPad‌ due to cost.

    Apple’s low-end iPad has not had a current-generation chip since the iPad 4, which came out when Apple was still crafting AX chips for its tablets. The ‌iPad‌ 5 that came out in 2017 used the A9 chip that was originally introduced in the 2015 iPhone 6s, and since then, the ‌iPad‌ has been equipped with an A-series chip that’s a generation or two behind the chip in the most recently released ‌iPhone‌.

    The current iPad 11 model, which was released in March 2025, uses the A16 chip, which first debuted in the iPhone 14 in 2022. Subsequent iPad models have used chips from earlier iPhones as well.

    The model numbers listed in Macworld’s report are also unusual. It says that J581 and J588 are the codenames for the upcoming 12th-generation ‌iPad‌, but codenames are typically sequential. Apple generally uses codenames to reference unreleased devices in its software.

    In addition to the A19 leak report, the Macworld article suggests that the next-gen iPad Air will use an M4 chip, and that both the next-gen iPad and iPad Air will feature APple’s N1 networking chip. The N1 chip is an Apple-designed Bluetooth and Wi-Fi chip that’s more energy efficient than chips designed by third-party companies.

    Apple is expected to release the new ‌iPad Air‌ and ‌iPad‌ models early in 2026.

    Stay tuned for additional details as they become available.

    Via MacRumors and Macworld

  • Apple publishes list of Macs compatible with macOS Tahoe

    Apple publishes list of Macs compatible with macOS Tahoe

    If you’ve been hanging onto an Intel-based Mac and hoping to run Apple’s forthcoming macOS Tahoe operating system, you’re not going to like this.

    Apple on Monday unveiled the latest version of macOS and in the process cut a bunch of Intel Macs from the compatibility list. Unfortunately, the list of Intel-based Macs that will be able to run the forthcoming operating system is looking exceptionally lean.

    Per Macworld, just a handful of Intel Macs support macOS Tahoe:

    • The 16-inch MacBook Pro from 2019
    • The 13-inch MacBook Pro from 2020 with four Thunderbolt ports
    • The 27-inch iMac from 2020
    • The Mac Pro from 2019

    This comes as a surprise, with Apple not supporting macOS Tahoe on the following Mac models:

    • MacBook Air (Retina, 13-inch, 2020)
    • MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2018, Four Thunderbolt 3 ports)
    • MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2018)
    • MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2019, Four Thunderbolt 3 ports)
    • MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2019)
    • MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2019, Two Thunderbolt 3 ports)
    • MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2020, Two Thunderbolt 3 ports)
    • iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, 2019)
    • iMac (Retina 4K, 21.5-inch, 2019)
    • iMac Pro (2017)
    • Mac mini (2018)

    The previously mentioned Macs will still get security updates for two years, so they’re not exactly obsolete, but less than five years of OS updates for some models, which seems out of character for Apple.

    Stay tuned for additional details as they become available.

    Via Macworld

  • Apple adds several Macs to its vintage and obsolete product lists

    Apple adds several Macs to its vintage and obsolete product lists

    Your beloved Mac can’t be top of the line forever, and Apple on Monday added three Mac models to its vintage products list as well as nine additional Mac models from its vintage list to its obsolete products list.

    The company classified the following Mac as vintage:

    • MacBook Air (Retina, 13-inch, 2018)
    • MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2017, 2 Thunderbolt 3 Ports)
    • MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2018, 4 Thunderbolt 3 Ports)

    The following Macs are now classified as obsolete:

    • MacBook (Retina, 12-inch, Early 2016)
    • MacBook Air (13-inch, Early 2015)
    • MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2016, 2 Thunderbolt 3 Ports)
    • MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2016, 4 Thunderbolt 3 Ports)
    • MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2016)
    • MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Early 2015)
    • iMac (21.5-inch, Late 2015)
    • iMac (Retina 4K, 21.5-inch, Late 2015)
    • iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, Late 2015)

    Apple classifies a device as “vintage” once more than five years have passed since the company has stopped distributing it for sale. Apple Stores and Apple Authorized Service Providers can continue to offer repairs for vintage products for up to two additional years, but only if Apple still has repair parts available for the device.

    Products are considered obsolete once more than seven years have passed since it was distributed for sale. Apple Stores and Apple Authorized Service Providers typically do not repair obsolete products, but MacBook battery replacements may remain available for up to 10 years after the device was last distributed.

    Stay tuned for additional details as they become available.

    Via MacRumors and Apple