An overseas user, simalary44, recently recounted their remarkable Apple after-sales experience: Upon seeking repairs for their 2020 Intel-based MacBook Air, plagued by a drained battery and sluggish performance, Apple offered a complimentary replacement with a 13-inch M5 MacBook Air (featuring 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD, and a 10-core CPU/GPU). This particular model is now deemed a "vintage product" by Apple's official classification—meaning it has been discontinued for over 5 years but less than 7 years—and typically, only limited inventory parts are available for such repairs. However, Apple’s customer service took a generous leap by upgrading the user to a brand-new machine, on the condition that the user cancels the AppleCare contract associated with the old device, signs out of iCloud, and wipes the data clean.

Previously, there have been similar instances where a 2018 MacBook Pro user was pleasantly surprised with a 16-inch M4 Max model as a replacement, and a 2019 Intel MacBook Pro user received a free upgrade to an M5 version. Such practices likely align with Apple’s broader strategy to minimize repair costs for aging devices while simultaneously elevating the user experience.