Some DJI users face September support cutoff for older hardware

DJI is preparing to close the chapter on another batch of legacy enterprise hardware, giving drone operators one final reminder that support for four older products will officially end on September 1, 2026.

The company has announced that after that date, it will no longer provide product inquiries, technical support, or repair and maintenance services for four discontinued products: the Zenmuse Z30 zoom camera, Zenmuse XT S thermal camera, Manifold 2 onboard computer, and Datalink 3 wireless transmission system.

While the announcement doesn’t come as a surprise — production of all four products ended years ago — it marks the final step in DJI’s product lifecycle for equipment that helped shape the company’s early enterprise ecosystem. Production stopped in April 2021 for Datalink 3, May 2021 for the Zenmuse Z30 and Zenmuse XT S payloads, and September 2021 for the Manifold 2.

As always, DJI is thanking customers for their long-term support while explaining that electronic products have a “fixed life cycle” due to technological advances and changing operational requirements. The company explains it periodically reallocates resources to focus on newer technologies and products.

The company also notes that once support ends on September 1, it will no longer offer assistance with technical questions, maintenance, or repairs for these products. DJI encourages customers who are still using the hardware to upgrade to newer models that continue to receive service and support.

Products that served enterprise pioneers

Although these products are no longer part of DJI’s current lineup, each played an important role during the rapid growth of commercial drone operations.

The Zenmuse Z30 was one of DJI’s first dedicated long-range inspection cameras. Introduced in 2017, it featured a 30x optical zoom along with 6x digital zoom, allowing inspectors to examine power lines, cell towers, bridges, and other infrastructure from safer stand-off distances instead of flying close to structures. It became a popular payload for the Matrice 200 series as well as the Matrice 300 RTK, particularly among utility companies, public safety agencies, and industrial inspectors.

The Zenmuse XT S represented DJI’s partnership with FLIR to bring thermal imaging to enterprise drones. Designed for applications such as firefighting, search and rescue, inspections, and emergency response, the camera allowed operators to detect heat signatures invisible to standard RGB cameras. While newer payloads such as DJI’s H20T and H30T have since integrated multiple sensors into a single unit, the XT series helped introduce aerial thermal imaging to many commercial drone programs.

The Manifold 2 wasn’t a camera at all. Instead, it served as an onboard computing platform that enabled developers to run AI models, computer vision algorithms, and autonomous flight applications directly on DJI aircraft. Before edge AI became commonplace in commercial drones, Manifold 2 gave researchers, universities, and enterprise developers a powerful way to build custom aerial applications.

Meanwhile, Datalink 3 provided long-range wireless communications between DJI aircraft and ground equipment, making it useful for industrial and research projects that required telemetry, command, and data transmission beyond standard consumer drone links.

For many enterprise customers, this announcement won’t require immediate action because these products have already been out of production for roughly five years, and most organizations have gradually migrated to newer DJI Enterprise platforms.

However, some operators — particularly utilities, research institutions, and organizations with long equipment replacement cycles — may still rely on these systems for specialized workflows. After September 1, any hardware failures or technical issues will need to be handled without official DJI assistance, making replacement planning increasingly important.

The timing also reflects how much DJI’s enterprise portfolio has evolved. Modern payloads now combine high-resolution zoom, wide-angle imaging, laser rangefinders, thermal sensors, AI-assisted object detection, and cloud connectivity in a single package — capabilities that previously required multiple separate products.

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