AppleCare requires upgrade to Catalina to provide support?

[svenmany]

Hi there,

I've been working with Apple support to address a problem with TimeMachine backups on my 2018 MacBook pro. I have Apple Care for this machine and it's running the latest version of Mojave. They've been great. Currently, the issue is with engineering and I'm waiting for a response. However, before sending the issue off, the senior technical advisor warned me that I might be required to upgrade to Catalina.

I found this quite remarkable, especially considering that the upgrade to Catalina disables 32 bit programs. (I've been holding off on the upgrade because one program that I use has yet to release a Catalina version.) I also found it remarkable since Mojave is not an old OS; I really would have thought that Apple would have a commitment to support this version.

I would love to hear thoughts from the community on this issue. I've really never thought through what is Apple's commitment to me when I buy Apple Care.

 

[cmaier]

Hi there,

I've been working with Apple support to address a problem with TimeMachine backups on my 2018 MacBook pro. I have Apple Care for this machine and it's running the latest version of Mojave. They've been great. Currently, the issue is with engineering and I'm waiting for a response. However, before sending the issue off, the senior technical advisor warned me that I might be required to upgrade to Catalina.

I found this quite remarkable, especially considering that the upgrade to Catalina disables 32 bit programs. (I've been holding off on the upgrade because one program that I use has yet to release a Catalina version.) I also found it remarkable since Mojave is not an old OS; I really would have thought that Apple would have a commitment to support this version.

I would love to hear thoughts from the community on this issue. I've really never thought through what is Apple's commitment to me when I buy Apple Care.

This is standard procedure. They always say you “might” need to update to the latest OS and version. Typically you don’t.
Don’t worry about it until they actually make an issue of it.

 

[svenmany]

Thanks for your response cmaier. I think I'll survive if they insist I upgrade since there's only a single piece of software I use that won't run; and they should have the Catalina version soon. At this point, I'm just puzzled by the situation.

I feel Apple's position is unreasonable. Imagine I bought a computer to run a bunch of 32 bit programs. I've checked it out and everything worked fine. I also loved the iTunes program. I decide to buy it with Apple Care, happy that I'll be supported for the next three years.

One month later Apple releases a new operating system. Also, I start having some problems with Time Machine. I don't want to upgrade since all the programs I run and iTunes would be lost to me. Apple should be obliged to support me with my original purchase.

Admittedly, for me it was a year, not a month. But, still, Apple should be obliged to support the OS that shipped with the machine until the warranty runs out. And, if they advise a customer to upgrade to a later OS and that upgrade happens in the warranty period, they should be obliged to support that newer OS until the warranty runs out.

 

[AustinIllini]

I work in technical support for a major software company.

When it comes to software issues, the development company will always want you to go to the latest version of the product. Unless the issue is security or very serious, Apple isn't going to patch Mojave for this issue. For this reason, they want you to get to Catalina, an operating system they're more likely to fix than Mojave.

 

[svenmany]

I agree with your point AustinIllini; companies don't want to support older versions of their software. I'm a software developer and don't have that luxury. Most software products (commercial and open source) are in the same boat. My confusion is not about what Apple wants to do, it's about what Apple is responsible to do. I think I have a reasonable argument which would put consumer protection laws on my side, though I'm going to drop it and deal with the upgrade if Apple insists.

As a software professional you might be aware of semantic versioning. It discusses major versions, minor versions, and patch versions. Apple's visible versioning only exposes major and minor versions (the "10" part is just a brand). Minor versions are supposed to not introduce breaking changes, changes that would cause problems for other software or users that use new minor versions but don't upgrade to new major versions. Major versions with breaking changes make no such promise. Catalina is a very extreme version of a breaking change from the point of view of the end user, since 32 bit apps have stopped working.

Most all software that I use as a developer and regular user has continuing support for older major versions after a new major version comes out. I could point to many, many examples if requested. I was so shocked that Apple support suggested that they no longer support the prior major version only 2.5 months after a new major version has come out.

Taking a good look at myself, I realize that I do trust Apple to support me with this problem without forcing me to upgrade. Suggesting that I might have to upgrade is just their first play to see if I would cooperate. I'm confident the issue won't require a new OS minor version. Support will just help me clean up something on my machine; the problem I'm having is a common one and there are various fixes that work for people.