The Cupertino giant updates its vintage product catalog, sentencing two milestone devices in design and performance, while the market speculates about a future without notches and with foldable screens.
In a move that tech enthusiasts knew was coming, yet carries undeniable symbolic weight, Apple has made its move in its particular museum of obsolescence. The California-based firm has this week added two iconic devices to its global list of products declared obsolete: the revolutionary iPhone X and the 15-inch MacBook Pro with an Intel processor, manufactured in 2018.
The first to receive the technical death certificate is the handset that, in 2017, broke with the tradition of physical buttons. The iPhone X was not only tasked with celebrating the device’s first decade but also introduced the controversial and iconic “notch” at the top of its display. That small cutout, housing the front camera and facial recognition sensors, became the hallmark of subsequent models and the starting point for the “all-screen” aesthetic that would dominate the following decade.
The Weight of the Expiration Date
Belonging to Apple’s blacklist implies a drastic service cutoff: owners of an iPhone X or that MacBook Pro will no longer be able to visit official Apple stores or authorized service centers for hardware repairs. The company considers that, with nearly a decade under their belts, these devices have completed their life cycle.
In the case of the smartphone, the lack of hardware support is compounded by an even more obvious drawback for the average user: the inability to update to the latest iOS operating system. Those still holding onto this model are facing an increasingly demanding app ecosystem and unpatched security vulnerabilities, making the recommendation to upgrade an urgent necessity.
Meanwhile, the 15-inch MacBook Pro added to the list represents the swan song of an architecture. This laptop, released in 2018, was one of the last banners of the Apple-Intel alliance. The company changed its computing course in 2020 with the introduction of its own M1 processors, a transition that has proven to be a resounding success in terms of energy efficiency and performance, leaving Intel’s chips behind.
Looking to the Future: The Definitive Goodbye to the Notch?
Beyond the mere announcement of service termination, Apple’s decision to retire the iPhone X in 2026 takes on a prophetic tone. The industry and analysts agree that this year could be the perfect stage for the company to present its next great design leap: the long-rumored foldable iPhone Ultra.
But the transformation wouldn’t stop there. The most recent leaks suggest that Apple is finalizing a 2027 iPhone 20 Pro with an all-glass design and, most notably, without any kind of notch or cutout on the front. If confirmed, this model would mark the definitive epitaph for the aesthetic that the iPhone X itself popularized nine years ago, closing a historic chapter to make way for a new era of devices with clean, fully immersive displays.
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