Old and outdated – targeting Apple products: which devices you should now avoid

Whether iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, Apple TV, MacBook or iMac: Apple has many products in its range – and usually many generations. The selection is sometimes difficult, because models that should have been discarded long ago are still being sold, especially through third-party providers. We therefore show you Apple products that you should no longer buy and present you with suitable, modern alternatives.

iphone 11

Apple presented the iPhone 11 for the first time at the end of 2019 – and stopped selling it at the end of 2022. However, if you own an iPhone 11, you don’t have to worry yet: update support should run until 2026. However, you shouldn’t buy a new iPhone 11, as there are simply better alternatives from Apple.

The alternatives:

For example, if you are looking for a cheap Apple smartphone and also love the classic design, you should get this
iPhone SE 2022
( to the test ) take a closer look. On the other hand, if it’s one of the newer smartphones that shouldn’t cost too much, it could
iPhone 13
( to test ) the right model for you: The iPhone on offer costs little more than the older iPhone 12, for example

apple watch 3

The Apple Watch 3 can still be found on sale, but it is no longer a good choice from a value for money perspective. The features are clearly limited, the display is outdated and the memory is tight. In addition, the Watch 3 is damn slow in comparison. Also a KO criterion: The new WatchOS 9 is no longer played for the 3-model.

The alternatives:

It’s on a similar price level, but it’s worlds better
Apple Watch SE
( to the test ) – thanks to its first-class display and great performance, it is actually one of the best smartwatches on the market. The
apple watch 7
( to the test ), i.e. the direct predecessor of the current Smartwatch.

iPad Pro (2020)

The 2020 iPad Pro models are the last Pro iPads not to ship with the M chip. Specifically, this affects the models iPad Pro 12.9 inches (4th generation) and iPad Pro 11 inches (2nd generation). Overall, the performance is still okay, but no comparison to the subsequent iPads with an M1 chip. Depending on the application, an upgrade is therefore not absolutely necessary. If you are making a new purchase, you should only start with the 2021 Pro models.

The alternatives:

Both the iPad Pro 11 inch (3rd generation) (to test) and the iPad Pro 12.9″ (5th generation) (to test) run with the M1 chip. The difference to the current M2 chip can be verified using a benchmark, but the performance boost is actually irrelevant in practice. Only heavy users who do complex video editing, for example, should notice a difference in speed at all. The other innovations, such as the hover function of the pencil, are rather negligible.

Apple TV HD

The Apple TV HD is many years old and therefore technically outdated. Nevertheless, you can find many offers on the Internet – at absurd prices. Here we can only advise you to keep your hands off this old box.

Alternative:

There is really only one correct answer here: the
Apple TV 4K 2022 with 128 GB of memory.
Don’t go for the 64GB version. You only save 20 euros here, but you get the clearly inferior device. Because not only is the memory smaller, there is also no LAN connection. In addition, only the large version is thread-compatible and can be used as a smart home center according to the brand new Matter standard.

Macs with Intel CPU

At the end of the series, a general tip that relates less to a specific product: In the past, Apple used Intel processors for its computers. Some models are still in circulation here, such as the iMac 27, the Mac Pro or the Mac Mini, which is getting a bit old.

Long story short: Don’t buy an Apple device with an Intel CPU anymore. The in-house
M chip
is significantly more performant. In addition, Apple will gradually make all Intel models disappear. It therefore makes little sense to still rely on old Intel devices.

Comparison instead of test: What’s the difference?

For this comparison, a specialist editor from our partner CHIP.de examined test reports from other publications as well as the most popular offers (“best sellers”) and customer opinions from online retailers. Based on this, the product selection was made. For the selection of the top devices, models with more than four stars and a reasonably high number of ratings come into question. A selection of customer reviews was read and devices were selected that, based on the professional assessment, meet the needs of the users. The products have not been tested in the CHIP test center.

All products that the CHIP test center had in the laboratory can be found in this list of the best. Products that have also been tested by our other cooperation partners can be found in the test & purchase advice and in the CHIP.de consumer portal.