The second-gen Apple Watch has hit the obsolete list: Here’s what that means

When an Apple product reaches a certain age, Apple renders it either “vintage” or “obsolete.” For people still toting around a second-gen Apple Watch, your time has come. Apple put the Series 1 models on its obsolete list, which means the company has run out of parts and the watch is no longer serviceable. 

It joins the Series 2, the other half of the second generation of Apple Watches, which was added to the obsolete list last year. 

It can be a bit confusing. The Apple Watch Series 1 and the Apple Watch Series 2 are both considered the same generation. Back in the good old days, the original Apple Watch didn’t have an official Series designation. Thus, when the Series 1 launched in 2016, the original Apple Watch was retroactively referred to as Series 0. The Series 2 was also launched in 2016 alongside the Series 1, so both are considered second-generation products from Apple. 

Apple stopped selling the Series 2 when the Series 3 came out, but left the Apple Watch Series 1 on sale for another year as a low-cost option alongside the Series 3. Thus, the Series 2 went to the vintage and obsolete lists a year before the Series 1. The good news is that the whole second generation is now on the obsolete list, so the confusion ends today. Moving forward, each Series is its own generation, starting with Series 3. 

What does it mean when an Apple product is obsolete?

The way Apple’s product life works is fairly predictable. Apple releases a product, sells it for a while, and then stops when a newer product comes out. After five to seven years (depending on the product), Apple puts the product on the vintage list. This means Apple has ceased making new parts that the company can use to repair broken devices. However, Apple and Apple Authorized Service Providers (AASPs) can still repair the devices as long as they still have the parts to do it.

Once Apple runs out of parts, the product winds up on the obsolete list and can no longer be repaired through Apple. 

Since parts can come and go at varying intervals, that likely explains why the Apple Watch Series 4 is already on the obsolete list, despite being a couple of years younger than the Series 1 or Series 2. 

What does this mean for me?

If you own an Apple Watch Series 1, it simply means that you can no longer get the watch repaired through Apple. Third-party repair shops may be able to repair the watch, but they won’t have access to official Apple parts to do it. In short, it means that it’s probably finally time to upgrade your aging watch. We hear the Apple Watch Series 10 is pretty good.