When I say you can still get service in an Apple retail store, they will generally help you. . . but it will be on a pay per service basis. I have had experience where they have waived such fees on “vintage” Macs and have even swapped them out, but do not expect it. They are not in any way required to do so under their terms of service. It will be on an individual choice of the Genius you talk to and/or the store manager. All you can do is try.
Do not expect any help at all on PowerPC Macs. . .
“Best effort” is an official Apple Store policy. They aren’t going to turn you away with your Macbook the day after it’s declared “obsolete.” They won’t have any parts for it, and any recently-minted Geniuses won’t be trained on it, but they’ll take their best shot, and call in the guy who’s been there the longest to see what he knows.
The last PowerPC Mac shipped when most of the Geniuses were in high school (or younger), so you’re probably out of luck on hardware, but they could take a crack at software issues.
Thanks for this thread. I checked and currently I am OK on phone and MacPro.
A little off topic what to do with older MacPro’s and old IPhones. They just sit on a shelf but we don’t know how to safely get rid of them, worried about information still on these devices.