Apple Inc. AAPL has sent the 2017 MacBook Pro to the purgatory after years of macOS updates. As a result, it won't receive the upcoming macOS Sonoma update, scheduled to be launched at the September 12 event.
What Happened: The 2017 MacBook Pro with Touch Bar has now been assigned the "vintage product" tag by Apple, which means it will no longer receive macOS updates, according to the company's product service page.
This comes just days ahead of the September 12 event, and the expected launch of M3-powered MacBooks later this year.
Apple usually considers five-year-old products as "vintage" – this essentially means users should not expect major software updates or guaranteed availability of spare parts.
While Apple usually supports its products for a relatively long time, MacBooks don't get updates for as long as many Windows products do. Still, the 2017 MacBook is six years old now, so it might not affect as many users. These MacBooks will still be functional, though, so users don't really have to abandon them just yet.
Why Is It Important: The issue with the 2017 MacBook Pro is its keyboard – Apple introduced the ‘Butterfly' keyboard on MacBooks in 2015, and the 2017 MacBook Pro uses it, too.
After numerous reports of these keyboards malfunctioning, Apple acknowledged the issue and recalled the faulty units.
However, now that the 2017 MacBook Pro has been given the "vintage" tag, if you have this MacBook and the keyboard develops a problem, Apple's authorized service centers may not have the spare parts available to service it. You will also have to keep in mind that the MacBook is now out of the warranty period as well.
On a positive note, though, Apple has only accorded it the "vintage" status, not "obsolete" – obsolete products are ineligible for any type of repair, while those called vintage might qualify for repairs depending on the availability of spare parts.
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