APPLE'S TIME MACHINE: THE JOURNEY FROM TRENDSETTING TO OBSOLETE

They are only new for so long, and the tech industry moves fast. The devices we fell in love with inevitably grow old and become increasingly anachronistic. Every so often, Apple, a behemoth of innovation, reviews its lineup and moves its older models into the realm of ‘vintage’ and ‘obsolete’. The latest model to join the dustbin of history? The iPhone 5S.

THE INEXORABLE MARCH OF PROGRESS: APPLE LABELS IPHONE 5S AS OBSOLETE

Apple has just relaunched the iPhone 5S, to much fanfare, with a fresh silver case and a slightly bigger screen. The previous model – the iPhone 5S – is sitting in Apple’s Hall of Obsolescence. Like Galileo and Bruno, it’s destined to be forgotten. Or at least, it will disappear from Apple’s support page, where products deemed ‘obsolete’ get a grim entry: ‘No longer sold by Apple’ it reads, ‘service parts may not be available.’ Apple designates items as obsolete after they have not been sold for more than seven years, at which point the company stops servicing the hardware. This puts an end to any number of repair jobs – even service providers who don’t sell or refurbish Apple’s products are not allowed to order parts for Apple’s obsolete ones.

The device’s descent into obsolete limbo illustrates just how quickly obsoletism and forced iteration come around. With the last big software update – iOS 12 – hitting the iPhone 5S in 2018, the device is no longer fit for purpose as a modern mobile gadget according to Apple’s own standards of mobile software and security.

TOUCH ID AND 64-BIT PROCESSING: A LEGACY OF INNOVATION

Though the phone is now an old one, it’s worth noting how the iPhone 5S introduced the first fingerprint sensor called Touch ID. Apple did not just add a fingerprint sensor to their devices, they launched the most advanced fingerprint authentication system. The sensor was integrated into the home button, and the way it was designed and implemented really made a difference in terms of security. The hardware includes a capacitive optical sensor and the software was created to read the ridge patterns of the fingerprint. The iPhone 5S was also the first smartphone with a 64-bit processor, called the Apple A7 Chip. Apple has always been one of the companies that drive innovation in the smartphone industry.

CONSIDERING AN UPGRADE? APPLE'S NEWEST OFFERINGS AWAIT

Even for those of you still using an iPhone 5S as your daily driver, when you make the leap to one of the latest iPhones, you’ll be stepping into a realm where performance, polish, and software innovation are all unified. With the debut of iOS 17, you’re being invited into the best of Apple’s software engineering, improved with new features, increased security, and better UI designs.

BEYOND THE IPHONE 5S: WHAT ELSE IS VINTAGE IN APPLE'S LINEUP?

Last October, Apple updated its vintage and obsolete products list – and it’s not just the iPhone 5S that’s getting long in the tooth. On Apple’s list, released on 10 October 2021, you’ll also find the sixth-generation iPod touch (released in 2015), and the mid 2015 iMac with a 21.5-inch, 4K display, which became vintage last month. Though consumers facing repair issues can still take their vintage Apple products to an Apple-authorised service centre or a vendor authorised by Apple, repair parts might not be available, complicating repair efforts.

THE LIFECYCLE OF TECH: EMBRACING CHANGE WHILE REMEMBERING THE PAST

This transition from use into obsolescence is the larger story of the life cycle of devices such as an iPhone 5S – as new technologies emerge, they eventually replace older technologies, which leave legacies of innovation that help to define what will come next. This commitment to innovation, for Apple, means that they are always improving on what is possible with computing and communication; pushing the boundaries of what is possible; setting new standards that others have to challenge.

ABOUT APPLE: A LEGACY OF INNOVATION AND EXCELLENCE

But it’s also something more. At its best, Apple is an engine of innovation and design, melding function and aesthetics. In 1976, its founders Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak unleashed the Apple I, a sleek and elegant personal computer that blazed a trail that the world of tech would follow for decades. A few years later, Apple launched the Macintosh, the first personal computer to feature a graphical user interface. In 2007, under Jobs’s leadership following a decade-long absence, Apple broke new ground again with the iPhone, reinventing the smartphone from the inside out. Its latest iteration, spelled iPhone 5S at this writing, has already passed into obsolescence (think ‘obsolete’), but even its seemingly ephemeral successor will develop whatever core attributes Apple fosters in its latest creation. It will mesh better with our online existence, becoming more integral to the modern rhythm of living. It’s an interesting paradox.

Every Apple device, whether obsolete or ‘cutting edge’, is a woven piece of that larger fabric of technological progress. Next time an iPhone 5S goes the way of the bezel, celebrate it, too. It’s part of the story of our world now.