IBM Power 780 (9179-MHB / MHC / MHD)
You have a Power 780. Here's what that means in 2026: IBM's flagship modular Power7 system, out of IBM hardware support since 2019-2020, running on borrowed time on IBM i 7.3.
The Power 780 (9179-MHB, later MHC and MHD under the POWER7+ refresh) was IBM's flagship modular Power7 system: architecturally similar to the 770 but with a higher performance ceiling and a distinctive TurboCore mode, which deactivates some cores in exchange for a substantially higher clock speed on the remaining cores -- a configuration IBM specifically aimed at per-core-licensed enterprise database workloads.
780 at a glance
Where it stands in 2026
780 lifecycle status
| Milestone | Date | What It Means |
|---|---|---|
| Withdrawn from marketing (MHD) | November 20, 2015 | No longer sold new by IBM. |
| End of standard IBM support (MHD / POWER7+) | December 31, 2020 | IBM no longer provides hardware maintenance, machine code updates, or security patches. |
| IBM i ceiling | IBM i 7.3 only | IBM i 7.4 dropped Power7 support entirely -- there is no OS upgrade path on this hardware. |
| IBM i 7.3 standard support ended | September 30, 2023 | Paid Service Extension available through September 30, 2028; no IBM support path after that. |
Dates per IBM's Power7/POWER7+ withdrawal and end-of-service documentation. Used pricing per published reseller data as of 2026.
See our hardware value page for current used-market pricing context and our migration comparison for what a modern Power8/Power9/Power10/Power11 enterprise replacement looks like.
Related
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Related Reading
What IBM Power7 End of Support Actually Means
End of support is not a shutdown switch. Here is exactly what changed -- and what didn't -- when IBM Power7 passed its own end-of-service dates in 2019 and 2020.
The IBM i 7.3 Ceiling: What It Means for Power7
IBM i 7.4 dropped Power7 support entirely, making IBM i 7.3 a hard software ceiling -- and that ceiling itself lost standard support in September 2023.
Third-Party Maintenance (TPM) for Power7, Explained
TPM keeps Power7 hardware running past IBM's own support window, at a fraction of OEM cost -- but it cannot restore IBM's firmware or IBM i patch stream.