In recend History Apple ended softwaresupport based on the computer model e.g. Imac late 2015, imdependent on the used cpu (i5 or i7).
If apple continues this way the end of support on a macbook pro m3 would be the same as with m3 max.
Is it likely that the end of softwaresupport for a mac mini m1 is different to a macbook air m1?
Apple will have a hard time to explain this because technically they dont differ much.
What are your expectations about this?
Apple's obsolete policy has nothing to do with performance ( i5 vs i7). There is no "keep alive" performance benchmark they run.
"... Products are considered vintage when Apple stopped distributing them for sale more than 5 and less than 7 years ago. ...
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Products are considered obsolete when Apple stopped distributing them for sale more than 7 years ago. "
Learn about your options for getting service and parts for Apple devices that are past their warranty period.
support.apple.com
The Intel Macs are pretty much being dropped when they hit the 5 year mark after the M-series transition. (Apple is being deliberate in phasing out Intel.) Phasing out M1 won't be as aggressive, but pretty likely isn't going to stretch past that 5-7 mark. This policy is multiple decades old. It has nothing to do with who makes the CPU package.
Some folks will 'hand wave' at this is a hardware thing and macOS updates is a 'software' thing. Macs are not licensed decoupled from hardware. Apple's general view is that they sell systems ; not only hardware (which happens to have some software) or only software (that happens to come with some hardware). When the hardware is basically obsolete , the whole thing is.
The other thing folks 'hand wave' at is some corner case exceptions. If Sales stopped in June and new macOS comes out in October. Basically Macs stop at different times of the year then macOS.
About a decade back Apple used to sell macOS updates. They do not anymore. Pragmatically users pay for the upgrades when they buy the Mac. That means it is a fixed budget to allocate for upgrades for that hardware. When aggregate users stop paying in, then the countdown clock start. "No pay , no work" after the pre-pay runs out.
M1 Mini 'passed away'
January 2023
This page provides a product summary for each Apple model. The intent is to provide our best recommendations regarding current product cycles, and to provide a summary of currently available rumors for each model. This page is based on rumors and speculation and we provide no guarantee to its...
buyersguide.macrumors.com
M1 MBA March 2024
https://www.macrumors.com/2024/03/04/apple-discontinues-m1-macbook-air/
Will the MBA get an extra year. Maybe , maybe not. That is why Apple gives themselves 5-7 wiggle room to cut it off. The M1 MBA really a way of pushing the price down by selling increasingly older machine. The Mac Pro 2013 was pushed well past an expected lifetime ( 6 years) and dropped into Vintage faster than 5 years. If Apple assigned +6 years to Mini and +5 to the MBA they could both drop off in 2029 together for OS upgrades. ( a shrinking amount of security patches likely would come. )
