Apple Officially Obsoletes First iPad With Lightning Connector - MacRumorsOpen MenuShow RoundupsShow Forums menuVisit ForumsOpen Sidebar
Skip to Content

Apple Officially Obsoletes First iPad With Lightning Connector

Alongside adding the iPhone 6 Plus to its list of vintage and obsolete products, Apple today also updated its list to officially consider the fourth-generation iPad released in 2012 as obsolete.

ipad 4 lightning
The fourth-generation ‌iPad‌ was marked internally at Apple as obsolete in November, but it had not updated its public list to make it official until today. The fourth-generation ‌iPad‌ was announced in November of 2012 and was the first ‌iPad‌ to feature the Lightning connector, revealed for the first time on the iPhone 5 announced weeks earlier.

Alongside the introduction of the Lightning connector to the ‌iPad‌, the fourth-generation ‌‌iPad‌‌ was twice as fast and had up to three times better graphics than the previous model.

Apple today also updated its list to officially mark the Mid-2010 and Late 2012 Mac mini models as obsolete.

Popular Stories

Apple Card iPhone 16 Pro Feature

Apple Card Promo to Offer Free AirPods Pro 3

Friday May 15, 2026 8:59 am PDT by
Starting as early as next week, customers who sign up for an Apple Card at Apple's retail stores in the U.S. will receive $249 cash back when they purchase AirPods Pro 3, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. The promotion has yet to be officially announced by Apple, so exact terms and conditions are not available at this time. AirPods Pro 3 are priced at $249 in the U.S., so customers who...
Apple WWDC25 iOS 26 CarPlay Light mode 250609

Six Popular iPhone Apps Now Available on CarPlay

Thursday May 14, 2026 9:10 am PDT by
Apple's CarPlay system for accessing iPhone apps on a vehicle's dashboard screen has received six popular apps in recent weeks: ChatGPT, Perplexity, Grok, Google Meet, WhatsApp, and the indie artist streaming platform Audiomack. Make sure you have the latest version of each app and they will automatically appear on CarPlay. ChatGPT Starting with iOS 26.4, CarPlay supports voice-based...
ipad mini 7 blue

OLED iPad Mini: Release Date, Pricing, and What to Expect

Thursday May 14, 2026 5:08 am PDT by
According to the latest rumors, Apple is close to launching its next-generation iPad mini. So what should we expect from the successor to the iPad mini 7 that Apple released over a year ago? Read on to find out. Processor and Performance Apple is working on a next-generation version of the iPad mini (codename J510/J511) that features the A19 Pro chip, according to information found in code...

Top Rated Comments

56 months ago
Add the lightning port to the vintage list Tim.
Score: 20 Votes (Like | Disagree)
xXRainKingXx Avatar
56 months ago
The real iPad 3.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
56 months ago
Man, iOS 6 on this thing was *flying* I will always miss "updating" it to iOS7...
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
MrGimper Avatar
56 months ago
I remember being absolutely livid when this launched 6 months after I'd purchased my ipad 3... pretty much proving that the A5x was gimped.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
56 months ago
My first iPad. Loved that thing and it lasted forever. Decided to give it to my Dad when I got my Pro. He absolutely mangled it.

Attachment Image
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
zarmanto Avatar
56 months ago
My 2012 Mini has worked great for many years, and with a recent upgrade from HDD to SSD, I suspect it will continue to run without issue for several more years. I will admit, I'm starting to consider repurposing it, though... with the conclusion of macOS software support on that hardware, it may end up becoming another Linux server in its next life, much like a 2010 Mini Server sitting in my home office.

Our household still has three of those iPads, too, largely working but in various states of disrepair, because kids.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)