After the memory crisis began, repairs for RAM, SSDs, graphics cards, and other related products have produced many cases that leave people speechless. Many people found there were no replacement parts available, and in the end they could only get back the original purchase price. But now the same products have already gone up substantially in price, and buying a new one means paying a lot more out of pocket. In the case that has surfaced, Apple handled things in the exact opposite way, directly upgrading the old machine to the latest-generation product.
Recently, a lucky netizen shared on Reddit that he originally just wanted to replace the battery on his 6-year-old Retina MacBook Air and also asked if the screen could be repaired. After calling Apple customer service, he unexpectedly got the answer, “a free replacement with the latest M5 MacBook Air”—truly something to be envious of.
Image source:Wccftech
I just wanted to replace the battery on my 6-year-old MacBook Air, and Apple Support just upgraded it to an M5 MacBook Air for free.
A Reddit user named simalary44 posted on the r/macbook subreddit, saying they have a 2020 13-inch Retina MacBook Air, the last Intel model. It was announced in March 2020, uses a 10th-generation Intel Core processor, and was priced from NT$31,900 in Taiwan at the time.
However, this MacBook Air stopped being his main machine long ago. He now uses a 2023 14-inch M3 Pro MacBook Pro. The Air is just a backup, and it has been sitting idle for a while because the battery is almost dead and it’s gotten so slow he can’t stand it.
Before he called, he already had a pretty good idea. He knew this 2020 model had already been marked as a “vintage product” on Apple’s official website. Apple might still offer hardware repairs, but parts were subject to availability, so there was no guarantee it could be repaired. What was more unusual was that this MacBook Air still had AppleCare coverage, which he himself hadn’t even known. He had just used AppleCare to get the screen on his MacBook Pro replaced, and figured he might as well ask while he was at it whether there was still any chance of getting the battery and screen on this old MacBook Air repaired.
After inquiring, he was put on hold for a few minutes, then transferred to a senior advisor, who opened by saying, “Today is your lucky day”—they were going to upgrade him to an M5 MacBook Air. At no point in the process did anyone ask about the machine’s current condition or run any diagnostics; customer service only asked for shipping information and whether it was okay to cancel the existing AppleCare+ contract, and the remaining warranty cost would be refunded to him.
All he has to do is turn off Find My, sign out of iCloud, erase the Mac, and then send the old machine back.
我知道當維修不划算的時候，換一台比較舊的機器給你不是什麼稀奇的事，但我根本沒開口要求，就從 Intel 直接跳到 M5，這對我來說還是太瘋狂了。
Apple Support is upgrading me to M5.
byu/simalary44 inmacbook
On Apple’s Taiwan website, the 13-inch M5 MacBook Air now starts at NT$42,900, with an entry configuration featuring a 10-core CPU and 8-core GPU. The one he got is the 10-core GPU version, also equipped with 16GB of memory plus a 512GB SSD, priced at NT$46,400 on the official website. In other words, an Intel MacBook Air that started at NT$31,900 in 2020 was upgraded for free after 6 years of use to an NT$46,400 M5 MacBook Air—an absolute steal.
As for why Apple is so generous? A netizen claiming to work in Apple’s customer service department said they do this often, and the people they do it for are all “lucky customers who paid for AppleCare+,” because Apple no longer has parts for outdated models. The only solution is to set the customer up with the same product still sold on Apple’s official website; in the case of the MacBook Air, that’s the M5.
He also added that in the U.S., AppleCare+ monthly payment plans automatically renew, and as long as they are not canceled, coverage continues, which is why it is possible for a Mac that has already been classified as a vintage product to still have AppleCare coverage.
But not everyone is that lucky. A former employee who says he spent 13 years at Apple said he handled only two or three such device-replacement cases over his entire career.
In the comments section, another user also said his Apple Watch Series 5 broke. He had AppleCare, but it was also a vintage product. Apple emailed him that day, saying they would send him one after the Series 12 is released:
Source: KOCPC Chinese