He May 20, 2026 It will be a bitter date for many digital readers. Amazon has confirmed that Kindle and Kindle Fire released in 2012 or earlier will no longer receive support from that date, meaning it will no longer be possible to purchase, borrow or download new content from the Kindle store on these devices. Books already downloaded can continue to be read, but the door to new titles will be closed directly on the device.
The affected models are: Kindle first generation (2007), Kindle DX and DX Graphite (2009 and 2010), Kindle Keyboard (2010), Kindle 4 (2011), Kindle Touch (2011), Kindle 5 (2012), Kindle Paperwhite first generation (2012) and several Kindle Fire models from 2011 and 2012. There is also a detail that should not be ignored: if you factory reset your device after that date or unlink your account, you will be disconnected from the Amazon ecosystem with no possibility of return.
A decision that does not convince users
The reaction in communities like Reddit has been one of great annoyance. The most repeated argument is the most obvious: these devices continue to work perfectly. Several users are precisely those who complain that these electronic readers continue to do the only job for which they were purchased. For many, an e-reader is not a smartphone that is renewed every two years, but something that should last indefinitely as long as it reads well.
Amazon, for its part, is trying to soften the blow. The company offers a discount of 20% on a new Kindlealong with a credit of 20 dollars in the storevalid until June 20, 2026. It is quite clear that the real goal is to push towards an update. For those who do not want to update, there is the alternative of jailbreaking and installing KOReader, a natively compatible EPUB reader that can connect to services such as Google Drive.
If you are thinking about making the jump to a current model, the Kindle Paperwhite —one of our recommended readers— is still a very solid option, with a 7-inch screen, water resistance and autonomy of weeks.
To what extent is it acceptable for a company to cut off access to content on a device that you bought and that still works?
