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Will Apple end support for Snow Leopard?

Delighted

Delighted

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Feb 25, 2012
253
1
Wirelessly posted

Just a curious question. Does Apple ever end support for older OS(updates, etc.)? And if they do, is Apple known to make an annoucement of it?

I know with Microsft they annouce a date when they will officially stop issuing updates to their Windows XP. Just wanted to see if Apple does the same or differently.
 
would that affect someone who has applecare, & needs some service done to their mac that has a previous os? will I still be able to get my mac fixed even if has a past os?
 
Yes, if your AppleCare is still valid, then they will still service your Mac - but AppleCare will run out before support is dropped for the machine.
 
Apple tend to stop supporting an OS fully after two OSs have been released after it. So basically, Snow Leopard is totally out of support when Mountain Lion is released.
 
roadbloc said:
Apple tend to stop supporting an OS fully after two OSs have been released after it. So basically, Snow Leopard is totally out of support when Mountain Lion is released.
Click to expand...
Curiously enough, Leopard still receives a tiny level of support in the form of updates to things like iTunes. That too will be dropped once ML arrives, if previous history is a reliable guide.

Previous history suggests that:
  • Apple no longer releases 10.X.Y updates once 10.X+1.0 is available in final form
  • Apple no longer releases security updates for 10.X.Y once 10.X+2.0 is available in final form
  • Apple discontinues ALL updates for 10.X.Y once 10.X+3.0 is available in final form
This has been true since 10.1 (which wasn't promoted with an animal name).
 
Snow Leopard may end up hanging around longer that Apple anticipates for the simple reason that it was the last version to support Rosetta. I know a lot of users who won't upgrade because of this issue, and I am among them.
 
C. Alan said:
Snow Leopard may end up hanging around longer that Apple anticipates for the simple reason that it was the last version to support Rosetta. I know a lot of users who won't upgrade because of this issue, and I am among them.
Click to expand...

I really, really doubt that ...

Apple doesn't care about Rosetta anymore - which is why it is not included in Lion. Remember, Apple forces people off old technology by making it unusable with anything new. If developers haven't updated by now, then maybe it's time to look for an alternative.
 
roadbloc said:
Apple tend to stop supporting an OS fully after two OSs have been released after it. So basically, Snow Leopard is totally out of support when Mountain Lion is released.
Click to expand...
I would normally agree with you except that they're doing OS upgrades more frequently and they need a certain amount of OS support to hardware that Lion dropped support for.

r.j.s said:
Apple doesn't care about Rosetta anymore - which is why it is not included in Lion. Remember, Apple forces people off old technology by making it unusable with anything new. If developers haven't updated by now, then maybe it's time to look for an alternative.
Click to expand...
I'm torn on this one. I think between Rosetta and the machines that were dropped by Lion, you might see an extra year or so of support for Snow Leopard.

Of course most of the support I expect is the security updates and they won't drop Snow Leopard from upgrades to existing software where possible. (iLife, iWork, Safari, etc).
 
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