Apple recently announced its “Welcome home” event for October 13, where it’s widely expected to debut its first-ever smart home hub, a new HomePod mini, and, finally, a new Apple TV 4K, four years after launching its last model.
But just ahead of next week’s event, Apple has updated its “vintage” products list, adding the first-generation Apple TV 4K, which launched in 2017.
MacRumors first spotted the change, and by marking the original Apple TV 4K as “vintage,” Apple is essentially saying that hardware support for the device is now much more limited.
This isn’t all that surprising to see, as Apple already dropped software support for the device this year. Its latest tvOS 27 update supports only the second-generation Apple TV 4K (2021) and the third-generation Apple TV 4K (2022).
With Apple on the cusp of releasing its fourth-generation Apple TV 4K, the timing here certainly raises eyebrows, but it aligns with how the company designates “vintage” products.
What exactly does Apple’s “vintage” mark mean?
Repairs might not always be possible
Apple classifies its older products in two ways: vintage and obsolete.
Vintage, which the original Apple TV 4K is now classified as, means Apple stopped selling it more than five years ago, and repair services are now much more limited and dependent on parts.
On the other hand, when Apple marks a product as “obsolete,” it means it stopped selling it over seven years ago and no longer offers any repair services.
Apple stopped selling its original first-gen Apple TV 4K in the fall of 2021, after launching the second-gen model. Since that was five years ago, that’s why Apple has now marked it “vintage.”
If you have a first-gen Apple TV 4K, all this really means is that if it breaks and you want to get it repaired, doing so won’t be as easy as it used to be. That said, since the device launched in 2017, you’d probably be much better off spending your money on a newer model if you find yourself in this situation.
Apple is expected to unveil its highly anticipated fourth-generation Apple TV 4K at its “Welcome home” event on October 13, with key upgrades rumored to include an A19-generation chipset, Wi-Fi 7, and Siri AI support.
