Apple stops selling 2015 15-inch MacBook Pro model on Apple.com
Following the release of the 2018 MacBook Pro refresh, Apple has quietly, finally, stopped selling the 2015 MacBook Pro as new on Apple.com after a three-year run. — The refresh of Apple's MacBook Pro page early on Thursdayeradicated the listing for the 2015 model.
Context & Ripple Effects
Apple's page refresh quietly ended the three-year run of the 2015 15-inch MacBook Pro as a new purchase on Apple.com, the last holdout from the pre-2016 design era on the store. The timing follows directly from the 2018 MacBook Pro refresh, and reporting around that discontinuation noted the 2016 redesign significantly outsold the 2015 machine — so this was demand-driven cleanup, not sentiment.
It also fits an established cadence: Apple had already pulled the 12-inch MacBook and previous-generation MacBook Air in mid-2019, and would later retire the entire 15-inch line when the 16-inch model arrived (November 2019) — each refresh now doubles as a cull of legacy hardware.
First-order effects
- Buyers who preferred the 2015 chassis lose the only new-unit path to it; remaining stock shifts to resellers and refurbishers at whatever premium scarcity supports.
Second-order effects
- Apple's lineup consolidates fully around the post-2016 design, raising the stakes for its reliability record — every subsequent defect or repair program now applies to the whole pro laptop line rather than a parallel legacy option.
Third-order effects
- The pattern across these retirements points to Apple treating each product generation as disposable infrastructure: once a successor ships, prior designs exit the catalog within days, pushing the secondary market to absorb long-tail demand for older Macs.
The trend: Apple is shortening the shelf life of outgoing Mac models to near-zero after each refresh, making the refurbished and resale channel the de facto home for legacy hardware.