Amazon discontinuing support for older Kindles in May

[jhowell]

Reported on Reddit, a user in Australia received this email from Amazon:

Dear Customer,

Thank you for being a longtime Kindle customer. We're glad our devices have served you well for as long as they have. Starting May 20, 2026 — 14 to 18 years after their initial launches — we are discontinuing support for Kindle devices released in 2012 or earlier. Here's what this means for you:

* You can continue to read books already downloaded on these devices, but you will not be able to purchase, borrow, or download additional books on them after that date.

* If you deregister or factory reset these devices, you will not be able to re-register or use these devices in any way.

Affected devices include Kindle 1st and 2nd Generation, Kindle DX and DX Graphite, Kindle Keyboard, Kindle 4, Kindle Touch, Kindle 5, and Kindle Paperwhite 1st Generation.

To minimize any disruption, we're offering a promotional code for 20% off select new Kindle devices as well as a $30 AUD eBook credit that will be automatically added to your account after purchasing a new device (valid through June 20th, 2026, 11:59pm AEST - Terms and Conditions apply). Our newer Kindle devices bring meaningful improvements in screen quality, performance and accessibility — and you'll have access to your complete Kindle library and the Kindle Store. You can also continue to read all your books on our free Kindle apps (Android, iOS, Mac, and PC) and Kindle for Web.

If you have any questions or require assistance, please visit the Help page.

Sincerely,
The Kindle Team

https://www.amazon.com/help/kindle/devicedeprecation

[axu2]

TLDR: ending kindle store downloads and registering for 1st-5th gen kindles on may 20 2026

[Frogm4n]

So everything pre-KFX is being cut off.

[Ebookus]

although I buy fewer books from Amazon these days, this just might be the reason that get's me to not buy from them at all.

[Dr. Drib]

So let me get this straight:

If I (again) register my barely working Kindle DX-G (with a bad screen and depleted battery), and it does not need to be returned, then all I do is register it before May 20, and then I should be able to get 20% off (plus $30 AUD ebook credit) on select Kindles. Is this the deal?

[Quoth]

Originally Posted by Frogm4n

So everything pre-KFX is being cut off.

My Kindle Keyboard (K3) is getting erratic and I just opened the pack and checked the cell. Cell is OK, So I'm doubly glad to not waste €20 on a new battery.

The Paperwhite 3 downloads can no longer be archived or read on a different device, even though the FW hasn't changed.

Amazon can end your account for various reasons and then even a new kindle can't read the books you bought.

Currently you can't buy Amazon ebooks with DRM (most of them) but only have a long term lease. Amazon can terminate your account and then you can't download any titles. When the Kindle dies, the ebooks are gone. It's not a purchase but a lease of unknown duration.

Publishers and self-publishers should not give Amazon any exclusivity on ebooks as you can't be sure what you buy today can be read tomorrow!

DRM is taking away your rights and does not stop commercial pirates.



They've deleted people's content

[Quoth]

A 20% discount to keep buying on an ecosystem where you could lose the content at Amazon's whim is a very poor deal.

I was already thinking I'd not buy more Amazon ebooks, so I have the rest of April to get the rest of any series that's Amazon exclusive, if it's really worth it.

I actually deleted most of the ebooks in my which lists a couple of days ago when I realised the PW3 is now pointless and the Kindle Keyboard can freeze mid operation and only randomly restart.

[xyzzy_foo]

I'm not sure if this is a related topic, but there are reports that new logins are no longer possible on K4PC 1.17.1 (44183).

It seems we need to look into this further.

[axu2]

Posted this topic in hacker news: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47678320

Original Reddit post: https://www.reddit.com/r/kindle/s/VEaU8N3WWQ

[Quoth]

It's been difficult to register older Kindles for ages.

The increasing awkwardness of Amazon may encourage some to pirate.

There are no shortage of legitimate PD and commercial ebooks that can be read on anything and are never remotely deleted.

[Yapyap]

Not shocking, really. I guess it was only a matter of time since that March change for post-2012 Kindles.

I dusted off my old first generation Paperwhite last year, determined it still works (if very slow and the battery’s not holding a charge too well), and figured I can use it now that my Oasis isn’t good for that purpose any more, if I ever for some reason need to buy a book on Amazon (I’ve largely avoided it for a while now), but I guess not.

[odamizu]

Originally Posted by jhowell

Reported on Reddit, a user in Australia received this email from Amazon:

Bummer. Guess it's a good thing I didn't go through the cost and trouble of attempting to replace the dying battery in my K5 (aka K4BNT).

I've not yet received anything from Amazon regarding my K5. I wonder if this will be a gradual roll-out or if all pre-2013 devices will be hit worldwide on May 20.

The next question is whether Amazon will expand the list of post-2012 Kindles that get locked down via some backdoor without a software update.

[JSWolf]

I've not gotten any email from Amazon saying my Kindle Touch is no longer going to be supported.

How is Amazon going to handle this in the EU?

[Aleron Ives]

Has anyone used a jailbroken Kindle to look at how Amazon identifies your device? I wonder if it would be possible to forge the version strings in specific packets to spoof your Kindle's identity into appearing as a newer device to get around the blockade.

[issybird]

It's hard to know exactly how to extrapolate from this to markets other than Australia, other than assuming all devices of these vintages will be dead in the water.

My take from a US perspective:

• A 20% discount on a new device is lousy. We could get that at any time by swapping in the old device.
• Most if not all of these devices have already been subject to very nice upgrade deals (much better than this one).
• I have a keyboard and have heard nothing. It hasn't been able to connect to the store in yonks, but it still downloads. Which has been handy, *cough, cough*. I assume that will no longer be the case sometime in the near future. The question is whether download and transfer will still work and the inference is that it will not. The email coyly doesn't mention that specifically when it lists the other methods of accessing books that will end.

My bottom line which I suspect puts me at odds with most posters here, is that these are ancient gadgets! No device lasts forever. And I can't imagine that many valued Amazon customers still read on these. The specs stink and the batteries are moribund. Heavy kindle book buyers moved on long ago, even if only to their phones.

And for those who are outraged that Amazon is trying to enforce the "license" thingy, that's what you signed on for when you hit the Lease Buy button. It was always implicit and lately in the US it's been explicit.