Bad luck if you own this popular iPhone model – its now ‘obsolete’

Another iPhone down.

The iPhone 6 Plus is now considered to be obsolete, meaning Apple can no longer help you repair the device. 

The iPhone, which had a 5.5-inch display, was launched in September 2014, with key features including larger screens than previous models and Apple Pay support. 

But, the tech giant has just added the phone to its rolling list of outdated devices, which are no longer sold or have available parts for maintenance.

A device is considered to be obsolete once it reaches its seven-year mark, but because ‘vintage’ devices were discontinued between five and seven years, users can get part replacements for another two years.

When the phone was first released ten years ago, it was sold for £619, which is slightly cheaper than the cost of the latest device, iPhone 15 which goes for £800. 

The company discontinued the iPhone 6 Plus in 2016, however, the iPhone 6 – which was released in the same year – remained available for another two years. 

Not being able to update your phone can make you vulnerable to cybercriminals as you won’t have the latest security software.

The stage before obsolete is known as vintage.  

‘Products are considered vintage when Apple stopped distributing them for sale more than 5 and less than 7 years ago,’ Apple’s Support page says.

‘Products are considered obsolete when Apple stopped distributing them for sale more than 7 years ago.’

Another Apple device that is slowly running out of time is the iPad Mini 4, which is now considered vintage. 

One reason why Apple renders older models obsolete is that it may not be financially viable for the tech giant to fix hardware on all products as well as new ones. 

As it shifts into its twilight years, users will still be able to get software and hardware updates for the iPad Mini 4 before it’s called obsolete. 

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