If you’ve ever typed an Apple error message into a search engine, there’s a good chance the answer came from the Apple Support Community. That place is going away.
On Tuesday evening, Apple put its user-to-user discussion forums into read-only mode and posted a notice saying the site “will permanently close on November 20, 2026.” MacRumors reported that the last post appears to have gone up at 5:49 p.m. Pacific time on Nov. 10. You can still browse and search old threads, but you can’t ask a new question or reply.
What Apple said
The notice on the site is short. It points people to “the official Apple Support site” and thanks the members “who have contributed their time and expertise to help others.” Apple told MacRumors it decided to close the forums “after a careful evaluation of strategy and customer needs.” It gave no other reason.
The sign-in button is still there, but 9to5Mac found that it now leads to an internal login page for Apple employees.
Why this is a bigger deal than it sounds
The forums go back to 1998, when Apple launched them as Apple Tech Exchange. They became Apple Discussions in 2000, Apple Support Communities in 2011, and Apple Support Community in 2022. That’s almost three decades of people solving each other’s problems: odd Mac bugs, iPhone battery drain, printers that won’t print, old software nobody else remembers.
Many of those answers exist nowhere else. Apple’s own support documents cover how things are supposed to work. The forums covered what to do when they don’t.
The big unknown is the archive. As The Verge points out, Apple hasn’t said what happens to all those posts after Nov. 20. If the site goes dark, decades of search results could start leading to dead links.
It may not be just the U.S. forum
German site Macwelt says closure notices also appear on Apple’s community forums for China, Korea, Japan, and the Spanish- and Portuguese-language sites. The German and French forums were still working normally when it checked, but Macwelt says internal sources told it those will close too. Apple hasn’t confirmed that.
What to do before November 20
- Save the fixes you depend on. If a forum thread holds the one workaround that keeps an old Mac, printer, or app running, save a copy now. In Safari, choose File > Export as PDF, or use the Share menu to save the page. A bookmark won’t help if the page disappears.
- Know where to go next. For official help, use the Apple Support site or the Apple Support app on iPhone and iPad. You can still contact Apple Support directly for chat, phone, or repair appointments.
- For the weird stuff, try other communities. MacRumors suggests its own forums and Reddit as places where people still trade fixes with each other.
The takeaway
Apple is giving users ten days’ notice to close one of the oldest corners of its online presence. The official reason is vague, and the fate of the archive is the part that matters most. Until Apple says those threads will stay online, assume they won’t, and save what you need this week.
Sources: MacRumors (Nov. 10), 9to5Mac (Nov. 10), The Verge (Nov. 11), Macwelt, and the notice on Apple Support Community.
Reporting reference: MacRumors ↗