With each new iPhone release, a selection of existing devices always gets shown the door, and now that the iPhone 14 range has launched, four older iPhone models (and an Apple Watch) have been removed from the Apple Store.
This routine trimming of models keeps Apple's device portfolio clean and tidy, maintaining clearly defined high-end, mid-range and affordable offers by shifting older models down the range. It also ensures potential iPhone owners looking for a bargain don't fork out for older models that are similar in performance or ability to newer models; when the company is looking for the best possible sales figures on its newest and best iPhones.
While this rundown notes every model that's just been removed from Apple's first-party sales channels, practically all models, storage configurations and colorways of the affected devices will likely remain up for grabs from third-party retailer for some time to come, not to mention, you'll start to see major iPhone deals on the whole lot, if you don't run into any already.
Here's a list of the iPhones getting discontinued:
iPhone 11
The iPhone 11 was a colorful, powerful device when it launched, heralding the shift away from numerals back to numbers for the new wave of Face-ID toting iPhones; introducing new design elements that have persisted on subsequent generations in the process.
Sure, Apple isn't selling it directly anymore – with the base iPhone 12 now serving as the new entry-level full-screened iPhone, but provided you can get behind the inferior LCD viewing experience (compared to newer models' OLED displays), there's still plenty of oomph in the iPhone 11 if you can find it elsewhere.
iPhone 12 Mini
While the absence of a new Mini entry within the iPhone 14 range wasn't a shock – rumors had heralded its replacement with the iPhone 14 Plus months ahead of the line's September 2022 launch – it was sad to lose the iPhone 12 Mini in the process.
This means that the iPhone 13 Mini is now the only 5.4-inch iPhone you can still buy directly from Apple and unless a sudden influx of demand surfaces between now and next September, come the launch of the iPhone 15 line in 2023, we might see the iPhone Mini line die out completely.
iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max
It's not surprising that Apple shelved the iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max this year. The iPhone 14 and 14 Plus leverage the same chipsets and the same lead cameras, meaning the gap between these particular models from generation to generation is particularly small.
The moment you find an iPhone 13 Pro or Pro Max for the same or less than their equivalent non-Pro iPhone 14 counterpart, snap it up. Aside from losing out on an additional year of OS updates, the previous Pros' lord telephoto cameras, faster charging and higher refresh rate displays over their successors.
Apple Watch Series 3
Apple also finally discontinued the Apple Watch Series 3 this year, in light of the new Apple Watch SE 2.
The Watch 3's decommission has been a long time coming, have had an impressive run on users' wrists since it debuted in 2017.
