Apple Support Community forums to close permanently on 20 November 2026

Apple closes its support forums

Apple has announced that the Apple Support Community, its long-running user support forums, will close permanently on 20 November 2026. According to 9to5Mac, the company stopped accepting new posts with immediate effect, leaving the site in a read-only state until the final shutdown.

The company's statement was brief. Apple did not offer an official explanation for the decision, and no replacement service has been announced.

A forum with a long history

The community dates back a long way. It began in 1998 as the Apple Tech Exchange, was later renamed Apple Discussions, and relaunched as the Apple Support Communities in 2011.

For many years it mixed contributions from paid community specialists employed by Apple with answers from volunteers. It was once a common first stop for people troubleshooting problems with Apple devices.

Why Apple may be shutting it down

Apple has not said why it is closing the forums, so any explanation is speculation. Writing in a personal opinion piece, 9to5Mac's Ben Lovejoy suggested the move was likely about streamlining operations and cutting costs, and noted that Apple's chief executive, John Ternus, has been focused on improving efficiency.

Lovejoy also pointed out that company-run forums carry a reputational risk, since customers often use them to criticise corporate decisions. This remains an unconfirmed interpretation, not an official reason.

A familiar pattern

Apple is not the first company to take this step. Verizon did something similar earlier in 2026 with its own community forum, which launched in 2008. Verizon also switched its forum to read-only access immediately before closing it altogether.

The parallel suggests that long-running manufacturer forums may be falling out of favour as support moves elsewhere.

What it means for users

Until 20 November 2026, readers can still browse existing threads on the Apple Support Community, but they cannot add new posts or replies. After that date, the archive will disappear entirely.

In the opinion of 9to5Mac's columnist, the forum had declined in usefulness over the years, with many answers offering basic steps or a dismissive tone, and many users now turn to communities such as Reddit instead. Readers looking for help with Apple products may want to save any useful threads they rely on before the site closes.