Apple released the iPhone 5s in September 2013. But if you still have one, Apple has just defined it as obsolete. So, its repairability has just changed, among other things. Here’s what it means.
Apple iPhone 5s, released in September 2013.
Here’s the thing, the phone is almost 11 years old. In electronic terms that’s an eternity. But Apple products are pretty long-lasting, and the 5s was cutting-edge in its time. It was only the second iPhone to move the screen size up from 3.5 inches to 4 inches, and it was one of the first really skinny phones around.
It introduced the Touch ID fingerprint sensor in the Home Button on the front of the phone, something which drew confused looks at first, until people tried it and loved the security it offered. The liked it even more when Apple introduced Apple Pay, centered on the Touch ID button.
Then there was the Apple A7 chip, the first 64-bit processor in an iPhone.
So, what does obsolete mean, in Apple’s terms?
From now on, Apple Stores and authorized service providers will no longer offer repairs or other hardware fixes, such as battery replacement, for example.
Chances are, if you have an iPhone 5s, you might have already had the battery refreshed as few gadgets have batteries that keep going for 10 years or more.
You may not have had the phone that long, and in fact it’s a different time period that determined the move to being classified as obsolete. Apple declares the change when a product has not been distributed for sale for seven years.
For the last two years, the iPhone 5s has been in a different classification, vintage. You can still get a vintage product repaired, but only if the parts are available. Vintage status has just been applied to two different Apple products, the sixth-generation iPod touch, released in 2015 and the iMac with 21.5-inch display and Retina 4K display, late 2015 edition.
If you have an iPhone 5s and the battery hasn’t been replaced or is delivering limited efficacy, don’t despair: switching to any other iPhone will give you a leap forward in design, performance and features that may make you wish you’d upgraded already.